@MetroLosAngeles Twitter Tuesday

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Welcome to Twitter Tuesday, a weekly feature here at The Source in which we’ll round up the latest Metro related tweets in the Twitterverse. To follow Metro on Twitter just search for @MetroLosAngeles. We recommend adding the #MetroLosAngeles tag to your tweets to get our attention.

And when it comes to complaints, the best way to get them addressed is to use the Customer Comment Form on Metro.net. There you can provide all the detail needed so that customer service reps may best address your problems.

Remember to tag your tweet pics with #artoftransit. This one is courtesy of @inc1979.

Remember to tag your tweet pics with #artoftransit. This one is courtesy of @inc1979.

#ArtOfTransit

inc1979: Photo: M is for Morales & @MetroLosAngeles
http://tumblr.com/xdx33vlsgw

neelsodha: Hey @metrolosangeles check this subway station’s stairs (Sukharevskaya) on the Russian Metro
http://t.co/iieawNo

thedudeabides: Union station @metrolosangeles
Union station @metrolosangeles

inc1979: Photo: @metrolosangeles Del Mar Gold Line Station – Pasadena
http://tumblr.com/xdx34gr7q5

@FredCamino It’s @Metrolink at Union Station @metrolosangeles #artoftransit
http://img.ly/5oT5

javi_verified: Sitting in #LATraffic for not taking @metrolosangeles #artoftransit NOT
Sitting in #LATraffic for not taking @metrolosangeles #artoftransit NOT

zachbehrens: A reason I take @MetroLosAngeles instead of driving: the 101 Freeway (photo taken from bus).
A reason I take @MetroLosAngeles instead of driving: the 101 Freeway (photo taken from bus).

thedudeabides: Red line @metrolosangeles
Red line @metrolosangeles

plusmetro: Transit Photo of the Day: Entrance to the #MetroLosAngeles Harbor Transitway Bus Services. #445 #Bus
http://t.co/NbHiR8N

#MetroWin

stevenmwhite: Well, @metrolosangeles was so fast I got here 15 minutes earlier than expected. Gold Line was packed. Great to see that. #win

javi_verified: Full train in green line @metrolosangeles..good to know that LA is taking advantage of public transportation even when out for summer school

wesadena: 405 closure hysteria = Y2K freak outs. helpful @metrolosangeles website with countdown clock!
http://bit.ly/ir3RXm

transit_tweets: @metrolosangeles The NICEST bus driver is at the wheel of the 217 Vermont/Sunset right now. She’s the best! :D

ale_schrader: Very excited about the Expo Line! Thanks, @metrolosangeles, for bringing mass #transit to L.A.
http://yfrog.com/h4brzmyj

@PBunches Hey @metrolosangeles, you need to give an award to the female bus driver assigned to Route 720/Bus#9349 today. She’s a PRO! #jobwelldone

@blinkie @metrolosangeles and LA Sheriffs, good job on crowd control at Union Stn. Gold Cup crowds very orderly.

@ChicCircuit Heading to #IMATS on public transit. Easy breezy @metrolosangeles. Ain’t never seen a girl dressed up on the train? Get over it.

More tweets, including #MetroFail after the jump! Continue reading →


The art of transit

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photo by Michael Andrade, via Flickr

Nice photo taken with an iPhone on the Washington Metro. Michael took the photo with the Hipstamatic app and then used some other apps to add texture and lighting.

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.

Transportation headlines, Tuesday, June 28

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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 blog.

Your carbon footprint isn’t small just because you take the subway (GOOD)

This short but tasty blog post explains that the amount of greenhouse gases generated by each person’s activities is a complex thing to calculate. A lot of it depends on not where you live, but on how much goods you consume and where they come from. That said, the post concedes that taking public transit is, in fact, a good way to reduce your carbon footprint, even if you have an electricity-sucking large TV in every room of your house.

Beverly Hills mayor writes a letter to Metro (Beverly Hills Patch)

Mayor Barry Brucker penned a short letter to Metro CEO Art Leahy saying that the Beverly Hills City Council may soon consider taking a position on the Westside Subway Extension project. Brucker says that public testimony before the Council is pushing them to oppose the entire project and possibly the 30/10 Initiative if an alignment is selected by the Metro Board that would tunnel under Beverly Hills High School. “Please review this new information and call me if I can further emphasize the seriousness of the City Council’s and the community’s resolve,” Brucker writes.

IRS bumps up mileage deductions (Washington Post)

Due to high gas prices, the feds say they’re bumping the mileage deductions for those who use their vehicles for business from 51 cents per mile to 55.5 cents. That, of course, means less money collected by the feds for all sorts of government activities. Including transportation.

L.A. can’t afford to neglect its pedestrians and cyclists (NRDC blog)

The NRDC’s Adrien Martinez writes that he was disappointed to read about $176 million of Measure R money that Metro intends to spend on South Bay road improvements. He also says that he doesn’t anything specific about the improvements, but he thinks they are being pushed by the construction industry and their lobbyists. Okay. He might have added the projects were also approved by the 68 percent of county voters who voted for Measure R.

Transit forecast for Tuesday, June 28

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For a complete list of planned service advisories please visit the Service Advisories page on Metro.net. And for the latest service alerts follow @MetroLAalerts on Twitter.

Blue Line

After 8:15pm, Blue Line trains run every 30 minutes due to construction work for the future Expo Line.  Please see schedule here.

Dates: through Tuesday.

Gold Line

At Soto Station, due to necessary elevator maintenance work, the elevator located between the platform and mezzanine level will be out of service beginning 7am Monday and return to service on Tuesday.

Affected passengers are advised to use the Mariachi Plaza Station and eastbound Line 30 towards Indiana Station to complete their trip.

Dates: through Tuesday.

Green Line

Due to track maintenance between 9:15am and 2:00pm, Eastbound trains to Norwalk will leave 10 minutes later than regular schedule.

  • Eastbound trains to Norwalk will depart Redondo Beach at 9:21am, 9:40am, 9:59am, 10:14am, 10:29am, 10:44am and every 15 minutes through 1:59pm, then 2:09pm and resume regular schedule.
  • Westbound trains to Redondo Beach will depart Norwalk on regular schedule.
  • During this time, trains in both directions will share ONE track at Hawthorne Station.  Please check train destination signs and station announcements before boarding.

Dates: through Thursday.

Line 105

Due to street paving the listed line will be on detour between between San Vicente Blvd. & La Cienega Blvd.

Northbound: Regular route to La Cienega Blvd. and Beverly Blvd., then continue via La Cienega Blvd., to (L) Melrose Ave., (R) San Vicente Blvd., (R) Division 7 and regular route.

Southbound: Depart the layover Five (5) minutes after scheduled departure time via (L) San Vicente Blvd. (L) Melrose Ave. (R) La Cienega Blvd. and regular route.

Dates: 8am-5pm, through Thursday.


Reconstruction of Baldwin Park Bridge makes room for new carpool lanes on I-10 corridor

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Baldwin Park Boulevard Bridge spans the I-10. Photo courtesy of Caltrans, District 7

Baldwin Park Boulevard Bridge spans the I-10. Photo courtesy of Caltrans, District 7

Caltrans announced today that it has completed the reconstruction of the Baldwin Park Boulevard Bridge in order to accommodate new carpool lanes that are being built on the San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10).

The Baldwin Park Boulevard Bridge is part of the San Bernardino Freeway HOV project that is adding two miles of carpool lanes, east and west, on a portion of the I-10 freeway from the San Gabriel Valley Freeway (I-605) to Puente Avenue.

Metro programmed $6.3 million to fund the reconstruction of the bridge, a component of the $169 million HOV lane project.

Metro Director John Fasana, a city councilman from neighboring Duarte, said the reconstruction and seismic retrofit of the bridge improved the safety of the bridge, which connects the south section of Baldwin Park to the north section of the city via Baldwin Park Boulevard. The reconstruction provided greater clearance and wider sidewalks.

In a news release announcing the completion of the reconstruction, Caltrans noted the new carpool lanes under construction beneath the Baldwin Park bridge are projected to carry about 1,300 vehicles (or 3,300 persons) per hour during peak traffic times.

This stretch of I-10 is considered a key commuter and goods movement corridor linking Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire. More than 240,000 vehicles travel the two-mile section daily.

The Los Angeles County HOV system is part of a larger regional HOV system that serves the five counties of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The system currently covers over 960 lane miles, which represents over 68 percent of the HOV lane miles in the entire State of California.

L.A. soccer fans hop on the Gold Line to the Gold Cup Championship

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Fans celebrating on the Gold Line. Go Metro!

Fans celebrating on the Gold Line. Go Metro!

Soccer fans crowded onto Gold Line platforms and trains on Saturday as they headed to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to watch U.S. versus Mexico at the 2011 Gold Cup Championship.

Metro transportation planner Andres Di Zitti was working that night making sure crowds made it safely to and from the event – and he snapped these pictures of fans going Metro to the game.

And despite the U.S. loss at home (Mexico won 4-2), crowds were respectful and calm.

[flickrset id="72157627063956294" thumbnail="square" photos="" overlay="true" size="large"]

New York Times: In Europe, the car comes last

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This story from the front page of today’s New York Times describes the vast cultural, social and political differences between the United States and Europe when it comes to the personal automobile.

From the opening paragraph:

While American cities are synchronizing green lights to improve traffic flow and offering apps to help drivers find parking, many European cities are doing the opposite: creating environments openly hostile to cars.

Read that last bit again: Europeans are creating environments that are openly hostile to cars.

In Zurich, pedestrians and trams rule the streets and the private automobile is pushed to the sidelines.

In Zurich, pedestrians and trams rule the streets and the private automobile is pushed to the sidelines. (Photo by Torcello Trio via Flickr)

And people aren’t rioting in the streets – in fact more people are choosing to give up their cars. In Zurich, where there’s been a particularly active effort to push cars to the periphery, 45% of households are carless and those that do have cars are driving them less.

Compare that to Los Angeles, where closing down a few miles of freeway for a single weekend has been likened to the apocalypse. Nevermind that the temporary 405 closure is happening in order to widen the freeway to make room for more cars.

In Copenhagen “vast swaths of streets” have been closed to car traffic. In Paris car lanes have been traded for bike lanes. Meanwhile, back in L.A. we struggle to get cars off of a single lane on Wilshire Boulevard for just a few hours each weekday to make room for buses that carry more people than the cars on the same street.

So what do you think? Is European style urban planning – and the resulting inconvenience to drivers – something we should be doing in the U.S. (and in L.A. in particular)? Or is this European social planning forcing people from their cars and into a more inconvenient lifestyle? Read the article and then take our poll and leave a comment.