Category Archives: Policy & Funding

Yaroslavsky: "full steam ahead" on a transit system

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County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of Metro, has a long post on his blog on the 20th anniversary of Metro Rail.

His point, in short: “that the more you build the system, the more of a system you build.”

Excerpt:

Those projects are part of a new Los Angeles transportation paradigm–one in which trains, buses, bicycles and pedestrians all are important players as we find alternatives to the congested roadways that have eroded our quality of life and limited our access to jobs and cultural attractions.

So when I attend Metro’s official salute to the Blue Line’s 20th anniversary on Friday morning, I will honor all that we’ve accomplished, reflect on all we’ve learned and get ready for all that comes next.

And for our next 20 years, how’s this for a motto: Full speed ahead.

It’s a thoughtful piece and I encourage you to give it a read.

Officials celebrate Metro Rail's 20th anniversary

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Supervisor Don Knabe, who is also the Chairman of the Metro Board of Driectors, talks about the future of Metro Rail on Friday morning.

Metro officials gathered Friday morning near a Blue Line station in downtown Los Angeles to commemorate the recent 20th anniversary of Metro Rail. The Blue Line began service on July 14, 1990 — in the 27 years previous, there was only bus service available in Los Angeles County.

It was a low-key affair, with the speakers saying they believed the county made the right decision to launch a rail program to help people get around.

“Soon we’re going to be right where we should be,” said County Supervisor Don Knabe, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Metro. “While this region has been behind, we’re making a significant effort to catch up with the rest of the world…

“This is the one that stabs you in the heart,” Knabe added. “There were more than 1,000 miles of streetcar lines here and we let it all slip away and now we’re spending billions bringing it back.”

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who is also a member of the Metro Board of Directors, made two key points.

First, Yaroslavsky pointed out that the 30/10 Initiative build a dozen Measure R transit projects in the next 10 years instead of the next 30 would represent the single biggest investment a region in the U.S. has made in upgrading its transit infrastructure.

Second, he said the building of rail and the Orange Line busway were helping those who use and who are dependent on transit get around in a speedier fashion — saving them, in some cases, hours each week. “This is also about the quality of life of every individual man, woman and child in the county,” Yaroslavsky said.

The full press release from Metro is after the jump.

Continue reading →


Today's meeting of the Board of Directors

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The Board of Directors of Metro met Thursday for their regular monthly session (here’s a link to the agenda). It was also the first meeting run by the new chairman of the Board of Directors, Supervisor Don Knabe.

Here are a few highlights of issues they tackled that I thought would most interest our readers:

•The Directors voted to create a “transit court” for the agency to handle disputes arising from tickets issued by the sheriff’s department to bus and train passengers. Under the current system, those disputes go to the criminal courts — a financial burden for them and Metro. “The proposed system will create a two-pronged approach, providing all but the worst offenders an opportunity to resolve citations without appearing in Criminal Courts,” wrote Metro staff in their report on the issue. There is also a revised code of conduct that includes, in my view, nothing shocking — and, yes, the ‘no spitting’ rule is thankfully still in effect. Metro staff report

•The Directors also voted to increase the budget about $33.5 million for the Expo Line’s first phase from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City. That takes the budget for the project from $862.3 million to about $895.9 million. The increase will pay for a new station at Farmdale Avenue adjacent to Dorsey High School, additional fencing to prevent jaywalkers from crossing the track and other improvements along the line. Metro staff report Continue reading →

Hey — take our Century City subway station poll!

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Consider this our daily nag to take our latest poll on issues facing the Westside Subway Extension. As of 3:15, we’re at 1,409 votes and readers prefer a station at Constellation and Avenue of the Stars.

Need more info? Here’s Monday’s post looking at the issues.

At this rate, the number of votes is on track to surpass the big turnout of last week’s poll, which asked readers ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ to a station at Wilshire & Crenshaw. Downward facing thumbs have an 18 percentage point lead in that one.

A discussion on the 30/10 Initiative

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The National Journal website posted a good question today: is the 30/10 Initiative a good idea?

It’s worth a read. Three proponents of the plan have responded thus far, pointing out the benefits of using federal loans and financing to build a dozen Measure R mass transit projects now — not 30 years down the road. The money would be largely repaid by using Measure R revenues.

Don’t care about transportation funding policy, you say? Well, let me put it this way: If you don’t mind waiting until 2036 for the Westside Subway Extension to reach Westwood, then ignore this post. And that’s just one of several projects that would see a greatly accelerated timeline.

Westside Subway Extension poll: Where to put the Century City station?

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This is the second in a series of posts asking readers for their opinions on how best to build the Westside Subway Extension.

This slide from a recent subway public presentation shows the three subway tunnel alignments -- the lines in black -- being considered for the Century City area. The alignment shown by the blue line has several issues, as the slide explains.

Last week, we asked if readers thought a station should be built at Wilshire & Crenshaw, with the tally indicating that 60% of readers thought the station should not be built.

This week’s poll moves west to Century City, where Metro staff are studying two station locations as part of the draft environmental impact study/report that is currently underway: either Santa Monica Boulevard & Avenue of the Stars or Constellation Avenue & Avenue of the Stars. Here’s a Google satellite map showing the area.

I also included the “other” option on the poll for those who believe both alternatives are misguided — this, after all, is just a poll to gauge public opinion and I want all opinions heard. That said, it is extremely unlikely at this stage of the subway planning process that Metro will begin looking at other potential locations.

Here is some basic background on the issue:

*The Santa Monica Blvd. station is on the northern edge of Century City, whereas the Constellation station is two-tenths of a mile closer to the center of Century City and also closer to Fox studios, a major employer. Continue reading →

Readers tilt against subway station at Crenshaw

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We asked readers a week ago what they thought about the prospect of a station at Crenshaw & Wishire on the Westside Subway Extension and above is the response we received as of 10:20 Monday morning.

More than 30 comments were left on the Polldaddy page and they cover the gamut of opinions — from those who think leaving Crenshaw without a station is bad urban planning to those who think the money would be better spent on stations on the Westside that would likely having more boardings.

I’ll post the second of our series of subway polls later today. This one will ask readers for their opinion of where it’s best to put a Century City station.

Metro rail ridership increases in June

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Some good news to close the week: Metro’s rail ridership in June was up significantly over June 2009 — 326,663 average weekday boardings versus 303,712, an increase of 7.5 percent.

The Gold Line did well, with 37,270 average weekday boardings in June 2010 compared to 24,219 in June 2009. Much of that — but not all — is due to the opening last year of the Gold Line Eastside Extension between Union Station and East L.A. But ridership to Pasadena has also increased. On a related note, subway ridership was several hundred boardings a day shy of a record.

I think this is worth noting because most transit agencies have seen ridership slip in the past 18 months due to the ongoing recession.

On the other hand, it’s also worth nothing that Metro bus ridership was flat year over year, showing just a .2 percent gain in June 2010 over June 2009 — 1,156,866 average weekday boardings compared to 1,154,094.

None of this makes for a trend, although it would certainly be nice if this was the start of a trend. It remains to be seen what the July 1 fare increase does to ridership.


Crenshaw station poll awaits your vote

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This is proving to be our most popular poll yet, with 1,181 votes as of the noon hour. And there’s been a big swing in the results since yesterday, with the ‘no’ votes pulling way of ahead of the ‘yes’ votes. Interesting!

If you feel the need to become a little more informed before voting, here’s a link to an earlier post that has the background on the issue.

Also, a note: this is just a poll to gauge public opinion. The results will not determine whether a Crenshaw station gets built. Metro staff are vetting the issue completely in the draft environmental study that’s being worked on and you — the public — will have a chance to comment upon when it’s released. Ultimately, the Board of Directors of Metro will decide the issue.