This week’s thoughts:
photo by Bradley Tollison, via Twitter
•The more big events in downtown L.A., the better for Metro Rail. Downtown is the hub of the rail system, of course, and events such as the NHL and NBA playoffs I suspect give people a chance to ride a transit system they may otherwise not use.
And every indication is that they are using it.
The victory parade for the L.A. Kings on Thursday at noon is yet another chance to use the system. The parade route on Figueroa between 5th Street and L.A. Live, is easily accessed by the Red/Purple Line subway, Blue Line and Expo Line. The Silver Line also offers easy transfers to Metro Rail in downtown L.A.
On a related note, I went for a nice, long hike across the Dodger Stadium parking lot before a recent game. That’s just a silly amount of pavement, people. Downtown transit-adjacent ballpark, please!
•May ridership estimates are in and show the Expo Line carried 11,347 average weekday boardings, 9,000 on Saturdays and 7,000 for Sundays. In total, there were an estimated 320,627 boardings in May, the Expo Line’s first full month of service. That’s not bad considering that two stations — Farmdale and Culver City — don’t open until June 20.
Again, I’d like to ask for everyone’s feedback who uses the line — use the comment board please. The one issue that keeps coming up is speed, particularly in the stretch along Flower Street.
•The question over whether to ask voters to extend the Measure R sales tax increase finally comes to the Board of Directors this month. The Board’s Executive Management Committee is scheduled to discuss the extension at their meeting on June 21 with the full Board taking up the matter on June 28.
I’m working on a fairly extensive post that should be ready soon about the extension, which is recommended by Metro staff as the best way to accelerate transit and highway projects, among other things.
•Media has overlooked that the lawsuit filed by the city of Beverly Hills against Metro over the Westside Subway Extension alleges that impacts of constructing the Wilshire/La Cienega station were not properly studied (it’s on page 6 of the lawsuit).
The La Cienega station is within Beverly Hills city boundaries and is part first phase of the project between Western Avenue and La Cienega that is currently scheduled for completion in 2020. Up to now, the controversy in Beverly Hills has involved the route of the subway tunnel from the Wilshire/Rodeo station to Century City in the second phase of the project, currently scheduled for completion in 2026.
I guess what I meant was, is their premise legit? They say that the project is a failure (a harsh, and in my opinion premature judgement) because of the way-low ridership, compared to official projections. But the number you post are even lower that *that*. So, should L.A. be concerned that so much money has gone into a line that hasn’t (so far) had much in the way of riders, compared to what Metro expected?
Hi Ben;
I don’t agree that the project is a failure. I think it’s way too early to judge. The entire first phase doesn’t open until tomorrow and the second phase extends the line into the job rich media gulch areas and downtown Santa Monica. Every one of Metro’s rail lines — as well as rail lines in other cities — has seen ridership rise over time, often significantly.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
Just a person,
In that blog that you cited, it says
Taxis are NOT allowed to pick up or drop off passengers at bus stops
This exemption still makes municipal buses hold an unfair monopoly over mass transit.
At first glace, it’s supposed to make sense; you don’t want anything impeding where buses can stop.
What the intent is, if we allow taxis to pick up and drop off passengers at bus stops, it opens doors to true competition, which we’d rather not do because we love the taxpayer funded mass transit monopoly.