The update for the iPhone version of the app is now available for free from the iTunes store.

The Android version of the app also has the update.

To learn more about the app, see this previous post.

Fans advised to Go Expo, arrive early for Roger Waters: The Wall concert at the L.A. Coliseum May 19. Photo by Sean Evans.

What if they gave a concert and nobody came because they were stuck in traffic? That’s exactly what concert promoters for Roger Waters: The Wall want to avoid when the worldwide tour lights up the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this Saturday night.

And the timing couldn’t be better because the Expo Line, which just opened one day short of the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, is ready to rock ‘n roll to the first of many, many concerts and events at the Exposition Park destinations it so readily serves.

Roger Waters: The Wall is a worldwide concert tour performance of the Pink Floyd album The Wall by Roger Waters, the co-founder and principal songwriter of the archetypal progressive band Pink Floyd. The historic production of Roger Water’s aural and visual masterpiece of alienation and transformation will be performed in its entirety featuring a full band and state-of-the-art production.

You can still buy tickets at LiveNation.com. If you’re feeling adventurous, just go for it. Leave early, hop on the train and line up for day-of-show tickets at the Sports Arena box office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or at Gate 4 and Gate 19 at the L.A. Coliseum starting at 4 p.m.

And getting there is easy on Expo. Take the Metro Expo Line to the Expo/Vermont station or Expo Park/USC station.  Plan your best route using the Trip Planner at metro.net.  Trains run every 12 minutes throughout the day and every 20 minutes after 7 p.m.  The last train westbound to La Cienega/Jefferson Station departs Expo Park/USC and Expo/Vermont stations at 12:43 a.m. and 12:45 a.m.  Fare is $1.50 per boarding or buy an all-day roundtrip pass for $5 at convenient TVM machines located at the entrance to the stations or just use your TAP card.  You can also park for free at parking facilities located at La Cienega/Jefferson Station (5664 W. Jefferson Bl, LA 90016) and at the Crenshaw Station (3428 Exposition Bl, LA 90018) and hop on the train from there.

More on getting there from the Live Nation news release:

Take transit not traffic to Roger Waters: The Wall concert

To celebrate Bike Week LA, we’re publishing a Why You Ride series with the winners of the 2012 Golden Pedal Awards, Metro’s annual competition for great stories about commuting via bicycle.

Given the scale of Los Angeles, bicycling to work can seem intimidating, but taking transit and using bicycle paths can make a cycling commute less stressful. Kate Mayerson wrote to tell us how her boyfriend, Jose Guzman, has replaced a “brutal” car commute through the Cahuenga Pass with a short trip on the Red Line and a sweet bicycle ride down the Chandler Bikeway.

Photo courtesy of Kate Mayerson.

Name: Jose Guzman
Start: Hollywood
End: Burbank
Distance: 5.5 miles bicycling + 2 miles on the Metro Red Line
Time: 40 minutes

Kate describes how Jose went from driving to cycling:

“We live in Hollywood and Jose works in Burbank. The Cahuenga Pass separates Burbank and Hollywood, and limits the number of routes Jose can drive to work. Commuting in the mornings by car isn’t so bad, but the evenings are brutal. Last summer, Jose found his evening commute stretching to over an hour to travel eight miles home. Almost daily concerts at the Hollywood Bowl meant that traffic was awful. He was coming home late, tired, and frustrated.

“Jose had an old bike and decided he would try bicycling to work. He took the Red Line subway to North Hollywood. From there, he rode the Chandler Bikeway to within a few blocks of his office. It only took one day, and he was hooked. Although it was hard at first, he persevered. He learned new routes to and from the subway station, started bringing a change of clothes in his backpack, and used an iPhone app to track his time and mileage.

“Bicycling to and from work soon became a major part of his life. He bought a new, lighter and faster bike, new gear to make his commute easier, and met his fellow bicycle and Red Line commuters. He encouraged his coworkers to commute with him, and we started bicycling together for fun on the weekend.

“As an added benefit, Jose gets all his exercise on his bike and is in the best shape of his life. Before he began cycling, Jose would wake up extra early to go on a run. Now, he gets his exercise and commute done at the same time! He comes home earlier, relaxed and feeling good.

“I never thought it would be possible to have a sustainable, healthy, happy commute in Los Angeles, but Jose has showed me that it is. And for that, he should receive a Golden Pedal.”

Thanks for that great story, Kate and Jose, and for sharing with us how healthy, happy commutes are possible in Los Angeles! We’ve sent you two boxes of Clif bars to sweeten your morning commutes and weekend bike rides.

Have bike lanes, will travel: Expo/Mid-City Ride Group shot. Photos by Dave Sotero

This morning a group of 50+ cyclists from throughout L.A. participated in the “Expo/Mid-City Ride” as part of Bike Week L.A, a weeklong celebration of bicycling for work, school and other destinations throughout L.A. County.

The group ride followed fresh new bike lanes that parallel the recently opened Expo Line between Exposition Park and Culver City, and passed major destinations along the way, including University of Southern California, Jesse Brewer, Jr. Park, Rancho Cienega Sports Complex and Ballona Creek Bike Path.

The ride, organized by Metro and LADOT, was intended to help introduce new and seasoned bicyclists to the nearly six miles of new bicycle lanes now part of L.A.’s rapidly expanding bikeway network. Dan Dabek, executive director of C.I.C.L.E, served as ride leader. Members of the LAPD’s Bicycle Unit also joined the ride to provide ride support, although they did not cork intersections. The group obeyed traffic signals along the 10-mile round-trip ride.

The first phase of Expo features on-street bike lanes, officially qualifying it as a multi-modal transit corridor. The second phase, set to open in late 2015 or 2016, will feature mostly off-street bike paths similar to the Metro Orange Line in the San Fernando Valley.

When asked how many cyclists had yet been on the Expo bike lanes near the Ballona Creek Bike Path, only three people raised their hands. That means more and more L.A. cyclists will be exposed to the possibilities of connecting with the Expo Line and then riding the creek path to Marina Del Rey and the beach this summer.

Here are some photos from the ride:

Cyclists congregate at Exposition Park in front of Expo Park/USC Station.

LAPD's Bicycle Unit joins the ride.

Cyclists stop at a red light and watch Expo train pass at elevated station.

Expo Line meets cyclists heading westbound on Exposition Boulevard.

Cyclists stop for a breather at the portion of the bikeway that connects with the Ballona Creek Bike Path.

Cyclist gives the thumbs up.

Riders wait out the traffic light at the intersection of Exposition Boulevard and Harcourt Avenue as Expo Line crosses.

Metro staff have recommended that the Westside Subway Extension tunnel under part of the Beverly Hills High School. An assertion repeatedly made by Beverly Hills officials in recent months is that there are no schools or school buildings with train tunnels under them (here are a pair of examples, one from the media, one from an elected official in the comments section).

This is not true but the assertion keeps getting made in various forms. It is a topic worth revisiting, given the Metro Board of Directors’ hearing requested by Beverly Hills that is scheduled for Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at Metro headquarters. The hearing’s topic: the possibility of Metro tunneling parts of the Beverly Hills High School campus.

The following are four engineering schematics from Metro’s response to the latest report by Exponent, an engineering consultant hired by the city of Beverly Hills. As the schematics show, tunnels for electrically-powered trains go under or near school buildings and property — and they do so in Los Angeles.

Esperanza Public Elementary School and Camino Nuevo Charter Academy in the Westlake district of Los Angeles are above the Red/Purple Line subway.

West Portal Elementary School in San Francisco is over tracks for the San Francisco Muni L line.

Rooftop K-8 Public Alternative School in San Francisco is over a train tunnel for the San Francisco Muni L and M lines.

The Northwest School, built in 1905, sits over train tunnels for the University Link light rail in Seattle.

There are rail tunnels and stations below schools in other U.S. cities, according to Metro. In California these include the Bentley School in Berkeley, East Sylvan Middle School in Portland, Ore., Jefferson Middle School in Washington D.C. and the Global Village School in Decatur, Georgia.

Here is a look at some of the transportation headlines gathered by us and the Metro Library. The full list of headlines is posted on the Library’s Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

California bullet train chief seeks environmental exemptions (Los Angeles Times)

California High-Speed Rail Authority Chairman Dan Richard is hoping to obtain exemptions from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other state environmental laws that could further delay the project’s construction. Some Central Valley growers are among those gearing up for a legal battle against the Authority. In the past, the Chairman has said the Authority would not seek an outright exemption from state or federal environmental laws.

All aboard for NoHo Depot restoration (Los Angeles Daily News)

The Daily News reports on the progress of Metro’s work restoring the century-old Lankershim train station in North Hollywood. With 100-plus years of lead-based paint and asbestos shingles that need to be removed, Metro is working to preserve as much of the original structure as possible. The environmental cleanup phase is expected to be completed by the end of May.

An electrifying freight solution on the 710? Siemens working on it (Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles is considering a new electric freight trucking system that uses overhead electrical wires to power the vehicles. The system known as eHighway operates like modern-day streetcars and some electric buses. With freight trucks a leading source of vehicle emissions, the technology might help Los Angeles reduce emissions on its major trucking routes. Siemens is working to implement a pilot project along the 710, a major route for moving freight between the ports of Long Beach and L.A. and inland destinations.

Photo via Metro Transportation Library and Archive

Metro has just issued a press release warning motorists to be careful near the soon-to-open Orange Line Extension or risk being ticketed. Safety education is the goal but LAPD and LASD are carefully monitoring the area and will issue tickets to violators.

LAPD and LASD Strictly Enforcing Traffic Laws Along the New Four-Mile Metro Orange Line Extension, Opening This Summer

Motorists and pedestrians take note: During pre-revenue testing along the Metro Orange Line Extension the Los Angeles Police and County Sheriffs departments are strictly enforcing traffic laws and will continue to do so after the four-mile busway opens this summer.

To stress caution and careful behavior, Metro also is reaching out through newspaper and web advertising and public safety messages to schools, homes, community centers and businesses near theSan Fernando Valley busway extension.

The Extension is an addition to the popular Orange Line that currently runs from the Metro Red Line Station in North Hollywood to Warner Center in Woodland Hills. It will expand the line north from the existing Canoga Station to the Chatsworth Metrolink Station, linking Ventura County with the L.A. County Metro system.

As with any new mass transit line, the public needs to develop behavior patterns that will help keep it safe. The police and sheriffs presence, combined with Metro outreach, is aimed at promoting driving, walking and biking safely along the line between Canoga Station at 6610 Canoga Ave. and the Chatsworth Metrolink Station at10047 Old Depot Plaza Road.

Safety training began in March at K through 12 schools within a 1.5 mile radius of the line, at public libraries, senior centers and recreation and community centers. More than 10,000 safety notices are being distributed to homes and businesses throughout the area and community education will continue after the summer opening.

During on-going testing, buses are running intermittently along the busway. As testing continues, as well as when the line opens, the public is advised to be safe around the bus path and to:

– Obey ALL warning signs and traffic signals when crossing the busway intersections.

– Be alert at all times when near the busway.

– Watch for buses from both directions.

– NEVER walk, run, ride bicycles or drive on the busway.

– Remember to push the pedestrian crossing button to activate the “Walk” signal.

– Use the crosswalks. Never jaywalk across the busway or use the busway as a shortcut.

– Always look both ways before crossing the street. 

When the Orange Line opened in 2005, 7,000 to 8,000 boardings a day were predicted. Now there are more than 25,000 daily boardings. For more information on the Metro Orange Line go to metro.net/projects/orangeline.

Car-free cyclist Nate Baird, an LADOT bike program planner, wears his blessings at Good Samaritan Hospital bike week event.

Avid cyclist Andy Leeka, CEO of Good Samaritan Hospital, rides to his job in downtown Los Angeles most days of the week. He was there on cue to welcome scores of cyclists this morning arriving en masse for an interfaith blessing, breakfast and a bike check.

The interfaith ceremony bestowed blessings from a Catholic priest, an Episcopalian priest, an Iman, a rabbi, and a Buddhist monk on groups of bicycle clubs and cyclists from nearby and as far way as Ventura and the Channel Islands.

To celebrate Bike Week LA, we’re publishing a Why You Ride series with the winners of the 2012 Golden Pedal Awards. The Golden Pedal Awards are Metro’s annual competition for great stories about commuting via bicycle. Our first winner is Jung Lee, a Metro intern who is seriously dedicated to biking to work.

Name: Jung Lee
Start: Torrance, CA           
End: Union Station
Distance: 18 miles, one way
Time: 45 minutes

Photo courtesy of Jung Lee.

Jung commutes from Torrance to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles on his bicycle – an 18-mile ride. Clocking in at 45 minutes, his commute is as fast as it would be if he were driving during rush hour!

Jung was nominated by his colleague Joe Simpson, who writes:

“Jung is what I aspire to be someday. He arrives to work dripping wet and promptly cleans up for a very productive day. Because I’m a chicken, I ride the Santa Clarita bike paths on weekends, but Jung rides through traffic, over the hillside, on the river bikeways, and anywhere to get in to work. Sometimes he even does a workout ride before riding in. He doesn’t own a car and bikes EVERYWHERE. Very inspiring.”

We asked Jung why he rides to work, and he said:

“Los Angeles has wonderful weather conditions throughout the year. What better way to enjoy the warm sunshine days than commuting to work on a bike. As someone who works indoors for a majority of the day, cycling to work is often the only time I get to enjoy the outside weather and get my daily exercise. Plus, coming to work after an hour or more on the bike helps me to become relaxed and energized for the work day. I always come into the office with a smile on my face and with a clearer mind.  Commuting to work via bike is also enjoyable in that with each pedal stroke, I get a little bit richer from not spending money on gas and parking.”

Congratulations Jung, and thanks for being an active transportation inspiration! Look for a very large box of Clif bars coming your way soon!

We frequently hear from readers and riders who want to know if Metro will be providing cell phone service and/or wi-fi in the Red and Purple Line subway.

Answer: the agency is working on it and has recently received proposals from several firms. The hope is to choose a winning firm in late summer.

The Metro staff report to the Board of Directors is below (pdf here):

Cell service in subway report