Go Metro Weekends, Memorial Day Edition

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Take advantage of the long weekend and Go Metro! There’s lots of great all-weekend events to keep you occupied. Ride the Gold Line to Little Tokyo and enjoy live jazz at the Los Angeles Jazz Collective Memorial Weekend Festival. The Green Line gets a little love this weekend thanks to Fiesta Hermosa, and event celebrating everything Hermosa Beach – with free shuttles to the event from an lot near the Redondo Beach Green Line Station. The The 25th Annual Jazz and Reggae Festival takes place on Sunday and Monday at UCLA and should satiate anyone’s need for culture, music and community.

It’s probably a good weekend to remind readers to take advantage of Metro’s Destination Discounts – they’re a great way to save a little cash by going Metro to participating destinations.

All events are subject to change or may be be sold out, please check with the venue before making plans.  To plan your trip and to check all other transit options, please consult Google Transit or the Metro Trip Planner.

Friday, May 27

Gangi at The Echo
Since completing their 2009 Spaceland Residency, Gangi has been garnering rave reviews of their live show from sources ranging from SPIN to LA Record.
Website: http://www.attheecho.com/
When: 8:30pm
Price: $8
Where: The Echo, 1822 Sunset Blvd.
Nearby Metro Bus Stops: Glendale/Park (92), Sunset/Park (2/302, 4), Sunset/Alvarado (704, 2/302, 4, 200, 603)

Los Angeles Jazz Collective Memorial Weekend Festival
Four shows and thirteen groups – live jazz!
Website: http://bluewhalemusic.com/
When: 9pm Friday, 3pm Saturday, 8pm Sunday
Price: $10
Where: The Blue Whale, 123 Astronaut E S Onizuka Street
Nearby Metro Rail: Gold Line Little Tokyo/Arts District Station, Red/Purple Line Civic Center Station
Nearby Metro Bus Stops: Los Angeles/1st (30, 40/42, 439, 442)

More weekend events, after the jump. Continue reading →

A portion of 405 freeway will be closed on the weekend of July 16-17 for Mulholland Bridge demolition work

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UPDATE 6.2.11 - Click on detail above for a set of maps that illustrate detours for planned closure of a portion of the I-405 July 16-17.

UPDATE 6.2.11 - Click on detail above for a set of maps that illustrate detours for planned closure of a portion of the I-405 July 16-17.

Here is the news release issued today by LAPD, LAFD, CHP, LADOT, Metro and Caltrans:

Countdown to the Closure: Extended 53-Hour Closure of I-405 Freeway Between U.S. 101 and I-10 Planned in Mid-July for Mulholland Bridge Demolition Work

Los Angeles, Calif. – Plan Ahead, Avoid The Area, Or Stay Home. That’s the message public safety officials are sending to the public in anticipation of a planned 10-mile, 53-hour closure of the I-405 freeway between the U.S. 101 and I-10 on the weekend of July 16-17, 2011 for planned demolition work on the Mulholland Bridge, part of a major I-405 improvement project.

The Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Fire Department, California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Metro and Caltrans are informing the public in advance that if they do not have a critical need to be in or near the vicinity of the closure, they are being asked to avoid the area.

The specific freeway closure boundaries are as follows:

  • Northbound I-405: 10-mile closure between I-10 and U.S. 101
  • Southbound I-405: 4-mile closure between U.S. 101 and Getty Center Drive Ramps

Motorists who must travel through the Los Angeles metropolitan area are advised to use alternate freeways within the region, including the 5, 15, 23, 55, 57, 101, 118, 126, 210, 605 and 710 freeways to bypass the impacted area. In addition, public transportation options are available such as the Metro Rail service within L.A. County and Metrolink servicing the five county Southern California region. Additional alternate route information will be made available on the project web site at www.metro.net/405.

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Transportation headlines, Friday, May 27

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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.

Westside drivers prevail over buses while Liemert Park (sorta) gets a rail station (KCRW)

On KCRW’s flagship local news program, Which Way L.A.?,  host Warren Olney dug into two of the Metro Board’s decisions from its meeting yesterday. Guests Damien Newton (L.A. Streetsblog) and Eddie Hager (LeimertParkBeat) discussed the Board’s decision to approve a Crenshaw/LAX Line station at Leimert Park — if it can be done within the existing budget — and to select the 7.7-mile alternative for the Wilshire bus lanes project.

LADOT orders 84 MCI commuter coaches powered by compressed natural gas (MCI Media Center)

This press release from Illinois bus manufacturer MCT announces the purchase of 84 CNG buses by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation for its Commuter Express service. The purchase — supported by a large grant from the Federal Transit Administration — will help LADOT replace almost all of its 94 aging diesel buses with cleaner-burning natural gas ones. As the release notes, one fully occupied Commuter Express bus represents on average 49 cars not on L.A.’s streets.

Panasonic reaps benefits of mass transit tax credit (Marketplace)

American tech stalwart Panasonic has relocated its corporate headquarters to Newark, N.J., just a block from Newark Penn Station. The incentive? Well a $100 million tax credit doesn’t hurt, but a major component was the company’s interest in shoring up its “green” bona fides. As CEO Joe Taylor put it, “we couldn’t possibly demonstrate our commitment and our credibility to being a green company, and ask 1,000 people to drive to work every day.”

Development lacking along L.A.’s light-rail Expo Line (L.A. Times)

Speaking of TOD, Times writer Roger Vincent examines current real estate development along Expo Phase One — or the slow pace thereof, in his view. A recent arrival, the Blackwelder development, houses a variety of businesses in the media and arts fields near the future La Cienega station. And Culver City envisions mixed-use developments at its Venice and Robertson station, although nothing is eminent. The takeaway: Mass transit in-and-of-itself can’t spawn new developments. Cities that want to foster transit-oriented development might consider taking concerted action, for instance, by reducing parking requirements and allowing for somewhat greater density around transit hubs.

The art of transit

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photo by The Hamster Factor, via Flickr

Nice sunset shot of the overhead electrical wires for the train in Gothenburg, Sweden. I like the barely visible bus that is to the left of the tracks. It’s possible to see the entire street scene using processing software, but the above is the image posted by the photographer on Flickr.

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.


 

Transit forecast for Friday, May 27

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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

Due to maintenance, trains may be delayed 1-3 minutes at Willow Station.

Dates: today only.

Lines 204, 754

Due to special event the listed lines will be on detour between Pico Blvd. & Olympic Blvd.

Northbound: Regular route to Vermont Ave. and Venice Blvd. then continue via Vermont Ave. to (R) Pico Blvd., (L) Westmoreland Ave., (L) Olympic Blvd., (R) Vermont Ave. and regular route.

Southbound: Regular route to Vermont Ave. and 8th St., then continue via Vermont Ave. to (L) Olympic Blvd., (R) Westmoreland Ave., (R) Pico Blvd., (L) Vermont Ave. and regular route.

Dates: through Tuesday, June 2.


Other Board actions taken today

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Two loose ends from today’s Board of Directors meeting:

•The Board approved rolling passes for TAP cards — meaning that weekly and monthly passes will be good seven and 30 days from the time they’re purchased instead of being tied to the calendar. Metro’s target date to begin such sales is Aug. 1. Staff report

•The Board also approved plan to distribute transponders for the ExpressLanes congestion pricing project on parts of the 10 and 110 freeways. The big to-do in this item is that transponders will be available through AAA, making it easier for motorists to get them. Earlier Source post

$4.145 billion annual budget for Metro approved by Board

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In the sixth hour of their monthly meeting on Thursday, the Metro Board just approved a $4.145 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

It’s the largest budget in the agency’s history, mostly due to money being spent on the construction and planning of Measure R transit and road projects approved as part of the half-penny sales tax increase in 2008.

Here is the press release from Metro:

The budget will keep Metro fares at current levels, however, the Metro Board today approved lowering the cost of the Metro day pass from $6 down to $5 for a one year test starting Aug. 1 to help attract commuters and others squeezed by rising gas prices.

In FY 12 Metro will trim some unproductive bus lines that were either underutilized or that duplicate service operated by Metro, the municipal bus operators or by the expanding Metro Rail system. Trains are being tested for the first phase of the Expo light rail line that will run from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City past USC. An opening date has not yet been announced but it should be soon.

Metro CEO Art Leahy stressed that Metro is not skimping on maintenance or on street supervision and is focused on improving on time performance, equipment reliability and cleanliness. He also said he is positioning the agency to strategically add service where it’s needed and to give commuters and others more incentives to beat the high price of gas. Service is being added to the Silver Line express bus service from the South Bay into downtown Los Angeles, the Metro Gold Line and the Metro Red Line subway. In addition, Metro will be adding service on selected bus lines to ease overcrowding.

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