One early highlight from today’s Metro Board meeting:
Metro CEO Art Leahy said that he plans to ask the Board at their next meeting — on Aug. 6 — to approve free system-wide rides on Carmageddon II weekend, Saturday, Sept. 29, and Sunday, Sept. 30. He also said that there will be an accommodation for passholders who already will have paid for that service.
During the first Carmageddon, free rides were offered on parts of the Metro system that mostly served the San Fernando Valley and Westside.
Hello Source readers, its been a while since I’ve updated you on metro.net happenings and new stuff — well, here they are, enjoy!
A few new interactive maps and infographics have been added to Metro’s website, the maps use Google Maps API and are usable on desktop, touchpads and mobile devices.
The Go Metro Interactive Map (an update, not new) has been updated with the new Expo and Orange Line, new stations, revised bus connections and more customer amenities such as parking, bike lockers, and bike racks. The map also links each station to Google Maps and YELP for destinations and recommendations near each station.
Go Metro Interactive Map
Good morning, Metro riders and interested parties.
The monthly meeting of the Metro Board of Directors is now underway here at Metro headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. You can listen in by phoning 213-922-6045.
New signage at the Pico Station serving the Blue Line and Expo Line.
The Expo Line opened in late April and since then we’ve received a steady trickle of comments from Metro customers saying that it’s difficult to differentiate Expo Line and Blue Line trains at the two stations they share — 7th/Metro Center and Pico.
A few passengers have even complained of getting on the wrong train and realizing the mistake too late.
A new sign in the 7th/Metro Center station.
As some of you have likely noticed, Metro is working to improve the situation. Among the improvements being:
•Improved announcements on both trains and stations.
•Signs on trains that are more easily visible — Long Beach means it’s a Blue Line train, Culver City signifies an Expo train.
•Better signage at 7th/Metro Center showing patrons where to board Blue Line and Expo Line trains. Both trains use platform 2 on the upper level. The lower level is for Red and Purple Line subway trains.
•Maps and information are being added adjacent to platforms and an alphanumeric system — the ‘E’ — is being introduced to help distinguish the two lines.
Have you noticed any of the improvements? Are they helping? Comment please.
LA County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Mark Ridley-Thomas and Metro Board member/Duarte Mayor John Fasana with their transponders. Photos by Juan Ocampo.
Metro and Caltrans offcials who today announced the opening of the Metro ExpressLanes Customer Walk-in Center in Gardena where the public can open a FasTrak® account and receive a FasTrak® transponder to enable them to enter the Metro ExpressLanes.
The new Metro ExpressLanes walk-in center is located at 500 W. 190th Street in Gardena, a facility that also houses the Metro ExpressLanes customer processing center, responsible for the distribution of FastTrak® transponders. The walk in center is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The center is closed on Sunday.
Mark Ridley-Thomas, LA County Supervisor and Metro Board member, leads the ribbon-cutting ceremony July 25 to open the Metro ExpressLanes Customer Service Center. Included among the officials are John Fasana, Duarte Mayor & Metro Board member; Pam O’Connor, Santa Monica City Councilmember, Metro Board member & SCAG Board member; Michael Miles, Caltrans District 7 Executive Director; Art Leahy, Metro CEO; Stephanie Wiggins, Metro EO, Congestion Reduction Initiative Program; Kathleen Daly, Program Manger, AAA Discounts; Jim Thomas, Thomas Properties Group and former Metro Director and Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke.
See previous post: Metro ExpressLanes Customer Walk-in Center news release
Below is the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting of the full Metro Board of Directors (pdf version here). The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Board room on the 3rd floor of Metro headquarters that is adjacent to Union Station in downtown L.A. You can listen to the meeting online by phoning 213-922-6045.
photo by TCDavis, via Flickr creative commons
There are a lot of photos floating around online of escalators and stairs in subway stations, but relatively few of them manage to be good. Here’s a nicely composed one taken this month in the Washington D.C. Metro. The photo has great lines — the composition is well balanced — and it’s also a good use of the silhouettes of the riders. The photo was taken with a Leica D-LUX 4 point-n-shoot.
To submit a photo for the Art of Transit, post it to Metro’s Flickr group, email it to sourcemetro@gmail.com or Tweet it to @metrolosangeles with an #artoftransit hashtag. Many of the photos we’ve featured can be seen in these galleries on Flickr.
