LOS ANGELES | Transportation News & Discussion

[sopas ej]

What irony.



From blogdowntown/KPCC:

Metro bus lines will be detoured and delayed during CicLAvia Sunday

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The fourth official CicLAvia event is gearing up to take over Downtown streets this Sunday, and ironically, causing detours and delays for one of its sponsors, Metro.

About 35 bus lines, mostly to and from Downtown will be impacted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by the event aimed at promoting use of public transportation, bicycles and exploring the city.

CicLAvia community organizer Joe Linton said that while there will be some inconvenience for Downtown Metro riders, a series of "soft" closures will allow buses through every four or five blocks to minimize detours on streets like Figueroa Street and Broadway.

As one of CicLAvia’s main sponsors, Metro is supportive of the event -- even if it does require some route adjustments.

Read the rest here.

[K 22]

Originally Posted by Allnatural85

I think Sepulveda would be the better choice as it can connect to the westside via the pass but I'm not familiar with local traffic on either street.

Another option I've read is to mix and match. Run part on Van Nuys, part on Sepluveda.

[202_Cyclist]

This is fantastic news. Bike-sharing has been an overwhelming success here in DC.

Bike Sharing Is Coming to Los Angeles

Nate Berg
Apr 15, 2012
Atlantic Cities


Image courtesy of the Atlantic.

"Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has just announced that the city will open its own bicycle sharing system. The 4,000-bike, 400-station system will be rolled out over two years, likely beginning in late 2012.

"It's an opportunity to use bikes to a greater degree than we have in the past, and just to give people an alternative to the single person automobile, says Villaraigosa. He's hoping the new system, along with the expansion of bike lanes and the public transit system will change the way the city moves. "This is a city that’s realized that it's got to move on."

Unlike systems in many other cities, L.A.'s bike sharing system will be implemented, operated and funded by a private company. It'll be the largest privately funded bike sharing system in the country, according to Navin Narang, founder of Bike Nation, the L.A.-based company that will be running the system. Bike Nation is a relatively new player in the field, with just one other bike sharing system in the works – a 200-bike system in Anaheim that's expected to open in June..."

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/com...-angeles/1768/

[StethJeff]

I'm pretty surprised that there wasn't any discussion on CicLAvia whatsoever on SSP after this weekend's event. Heck, I'm surprised there isn't a thread devoted to it by now. Best community event I've ever participated in, really incredible stuff. Way more fun than the Long Beach Grand Prix.

I woulda thought that CicLAvia woulda been an LA forumer's greatest and wettest dream.

[Swede]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Bike Sharing Is Coming to Los Angeles

Nate Berg
Apr 15, 2012
Atlantic Cities
[...]
"Bike Nation is a relatively new player in the field, with just one other bike sharing system in the works – a 200-bike system in Anaheim that's expected to open in June..."

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/com...-angeles/1768/

Which makes me wonder if they'll be interoperable, i.e. will the cards for one be usable on the other? Would make sense for all of SoCal to have one card for all bikeshares, especially ones run by the same company.

[202_Cyclist]

Swede:

Which makes me wonder if they'll be interoperable, i.e. will the cards for one be usable on the other? Would make sense for all of SoCal to have one card for all bikeshares, especially ones run by the same company.

I assume all the LA County bikes will be interoperable, just as in DC you have the bikesharing in the District, Arlington, and soon in Alexandria and Rockville.

Anaheim is thirty miles from downtown, Hollywood, and Venice. It is also in Orange County, not LA County, so I think that will be an entirely separate system.

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Swede:


I assume all the LA County bikes will be interoperable, just as in DC you have the bikesharing in the District, Arlington, and soon in Alexandria and Rockville.

Anaheim is thirty miles from downtown, Hollywood, and Venice. It is also in Orange County, not LA County, so I think that will be an entirely separate system.

Interesting about Anaheim. Unlike LA, where there are quieter parallel streets to the larger streets (i.e. bike on 4th street, 8th street, 7th street, Charleville, etc.. compared to Wilshire, 3rd street, etc..)...there is nothing of the sort in Anaheim. Biking with 4 lanes of cars going the same direction is way more dangerous than biking on Hollywood boulevard with 2 lanes going the same direction. I cannot imagine safe biking on Katella or Harbor unless bike lanes were put in.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Unlike systems in many other cities, L.A.'s bike sharing system will be implemented, operated and funded by a private company.

That leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[202_Cyclist]

Villaraigosa wants voters to extend sales tax to fund transit
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will pitch his proposed November ballot measure to L.A. County voters in his State of the City speech Wednesday evening.

By Ari Bloomekatz
Los Angeles Times
April 18, 2012

"Faced with a congressional stalemate over transportation funding, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants county voters to approve an indefinite extension of a half-cent sales tax used for transit projects.

A proposed November ballot measure will be a centerpiece of Villaraigosa's State of the City address Wednesday evening at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, according to the mayor's office.

It marks the latest effort by the mayor, who is trying to cement a legacy as a transportation visionary during his final year in office, to borrow against future tax revenues and rapidly expand L.A. County's transit system..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,1807416.story

[K 22]

Expo opens next Saturday and apparently it's going to be FREE the entire weekend. No Culver City or Farmdale stations yet.

Congrats, LA.

[Quixote]

For those of you who have some time to spare:

• Video Link

[Allnatural85]

the portion from USC to DTLA seem a tad slow... but great video =)

[JDRCRASH]

^ No surprise, really, when you consider that the Blue Line portion is slow as it is. The slow speed in the tunnel/trench is what puzzles me, tho.

[all of the trash]

Metro rail system maps across metro stations and blue line trains are updated now and have the expo line included. Our transit map is starting to look like serious business. Exciting stuff

[Busy Bee]

Technical Question:

Why is the trackway sometimes, for lack of better terminology, girder rail encased in concrete, but at other times standard rail on concrete ties? Seems like it would have been much cheaper to use standard rail/ties or rail/concrete base and maybe encourage grass or groundcovering (Barcelona, Lyon, etc.). Also would have brought a nice strip of green to a very concrete intensive place.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Technical Question:

Why is the trackway sometimes, for lack of better terminology, girder rail encased in concrete, but at other times standard rail on concrete ties? Seems like it would have been much cheaper to use standard rail/ties or rail/concrete base and maybe encourage grass or groundcovering (Barcelona, Lyon, etc.). Also would have brought a nice strip of green to a very concrete intensive place.

LA doesn't get enough rain to have grass growing without using sprinkler systems. Haven't you read any news of the yearly fire storms in southern California before? Southern California is also running short of water, and water usage rates are fairly high. Having grass on a block here and there is possible, but not along the entire rail corridor.
As for why the use embedded rail in some locations and not others, I haven't a clue. But it probably has more to do with rain water runoff than anything else, with the possible exception that's what the individual neighborhood wanted.

[OhioGuy]

Wow, there was certainly a lot of stopping at intersections. LA is building rail lines, but they aren't necessarily building rapid transit. Though the purple line, once it finally opens, will certainly be a good addition!

(I'm sure the Expo line will be a good addition as well, but not as good as it could be if it were completely grade separated, or at the very least had better signal priority at all of the intersections it crosses at-grade.)

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Technical Question:

Why is the trackway sometimes, for lack of better terminology, girder rail encased in concrete, but at other times standard rail on concrete ties? Seems like it would have been much cheaper to use standard rail/ties or rail/concrete base and maybe encourage grass or groundcovering (Barcelona, Lyon, etc.). Also would have brought a nice strip of green to a very concrete intensive place.

It seems like they're using an attractive granite ballast instead of limestone - which also extends the life of the track. Limestone is universally recognized as a terrible ballast material, but often used on transit/commuter rail lines.

If Metro ever decided to stop using herbicide on their rights-of-way, they'd soon get all sorts of drought-tolerant vegetation to soften the edges. Germany banned herbicides, so their tracks and railyards have all sorts of growth between tracks, etc. The plants actually soak up water, which lessens the load on the drainage system, and their roots reduce erosion in the ballast. Usually we think of killing weeds as a necessary part of maintenance, but it's purely a matter of aesthetics. The vibration of the trains passing should create enough disturbance to prevent weeds from growing to any appreciable size, and if it doesn't, you can send a guy out periodically with a weed-whacker.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by ardecila

If Metro ever decided to stop using herbicide on their rights-of-way, they'd soon get all sorts of drought-tolerant vegetation to soften the edges. Germany banned herbicides, so their tracks and railyards have all sorts of growth between tracks, etc. The plants actually soak up water, which lessens the load on the drainage system, and their roots reduce erosion in the ballast. Usually we think of killing weeds as a necessary part of maintenance, but it's purely a matter of aesthetics.

Average yearly rainfall for Munich = 31.9 inches
Average yearly rainfall for Frankfurt = 22.1 inches
Average yearly rainfall for Berlin (airport) = 23.5 inches

Average yearly rainfall for Los Angeles (city center) = 14.98 inches
Average yearly rainfall for San Monica = 12.69 inches
Average yearly rainfall for Anaheim = 13.55 inches
Sources = weather.com

And from wiki.......
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than 16 inches. A common definition distinguishes between true deserts, which receive less than 10 inches of average annual precipitation, and semideserts or steppes, which receive between 10 inches and 16 inches.

The LA basin qualifies as a semidesert. Germany, on the other hand, averaging between 22 to 32 inches falls under temperate deciduous forests. Neither CA-DOT nor does Metro have to spray herbicides to kill grasses along their right-of-ways. The LA climate does that well enough.

How dry is Los Angeles really? Due to dry summers in Southern California, rainouts at Dodger Stadium are rare. Prior to 1976, the Dodgers were rained out only once, against the St.Louis Cardinals, on April 21, 1967. That rainout ended a streak of 737 consecutive games without a postponement. The second home rainout, on April 12, 1976, ended a streak of 724 straight games. No rainouts occurred between April 21, 1988 and April 11, 1999 - a major league record of 856 straight home games without a rainout. April 21, 1988, was the last of three consecutive rainouts from April 19. That is the only time consecutive games have been rained out at Dodger Stadium. If the Dodgers didn't fertilize and water their grass at Dodger Stadium, there wouldn't be any.


image source = http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ult...s/B/biomes.gif

[M II A II R II K]

Villaraigosa's legacy rides on transit plan


April 18, 2012

By David Zahniser, Ari Bloomekatz and Kate Linthicum

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,6390361.story

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's bid to indefinitely extend a transportation sales tax marks perhaps a last chance to jump-start what he hopes will be the cornerstone of his legacy: dramatically expanding rail service in L.A. A year before he leaves office, the mayor is desperate to break a logjam that has stalled his vision of quickly building a sprawling, interconnected rail system, including a subway extension across the traffic-clogged Westside.

With congressional Republicans blocking his effort to tap a major source of federal financing, Villaraigosa is turning once again to the voters — hoping they will extend a half-cent sales tax increase he backed four years ago beyond its 2039 expiration date. The move would allow officials to borrow against nearly 50 years of future tax revenue and quickly raise an additional $8 billion for highway and transit projects.

.....