A distracted driving reminder

Posted by

In case you need a reminder that you’re endangering the lives of others when screwing around with your cell phone when behind the wheel, then check out the above, courtesy of the folks from Pixar.

Too bad the video doesn’t also tackle the issue of distracted walking: I can’t begin to count how many pedestrians I see walking across the street while thumbing away on their phones. Really? You’re “what are you wearing?” text can’t wait another 10 seconds? Same applies to people walking around train platforms texting and with headphones on.

By the way, you can screw around with your cell phone all you want when riding transit. You may not always get a signal — hey AT&T, you do know Highland Park exists, right? — but there’s always off-line distractions, too.

Metro ridership shows slight uptick in May

Posted by

Before I get to the latest ridership numbers, I wanted to include my daily nag to take our latest survey above — if you haven’t already. I suspect results from this poll, which I’ll discuss at a later date, may have something to do with the ridership numbers below.

As for the latest Metro ridership numbers from this past May, there was a slight increase over May 2010 (39,423,063 compared to 39,258,435). Most of the gains were on the bus side of Metro operations, but Metro Rail saw an increase, too.

Overall, Metro and many other agencies are still trying to reach ridership highs of 2008. On a national level, ridership was slightly up in the first quarter of 2011, according to stats compiled [pdf] by the American Public Transportation Assn.

The prevailing view among many agencies across the country is that the recession, unemployment, fluctuating gas prices, dips in funding for transit and accompanying service cuts have all impacted ridership in the past three years.

Continue reading →

Transportation headlines, Wednesday, June 15

Posted by

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.

Senate vote to repeal ethanol tax credit fails, but some in GOP break ranks (Washington Post)

Federal subsidies for ethanol — that fuel made in the U.S. mainly from corn — top $5 billion a year, and that has some deficit-conscious lawmakers taking a harder look at the program’s value. However, a vote in the U.S. Senate yesterday to end the subsidy failed to gain enough votes to avoid a filibuster. While many lawmakers argued that it’s important to find alternatives to imported oil, making fuel out of food crops can have serious adverse impacts on the price of food. Lester Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute, noted in a 2006 Washington Post editorial the stark terms: “The grain required to fill a 25-gallon SUV gas tank with ethanol would feed one person for a full year.”

Transportation boss wants screens with commuter info in bus shelters (Chicago Sun Times)

Chicago’s new Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein wants to bring high-tech digital information displays to the city’s 2,200 sheltered bus stops. The plan comes after Klein successfully implemented a similar pilot project as transportation chief in Washington D.C. The Windy City’s signs would display real-time bus arrival information, as well as other nearby transportation services like bike- and car-sharing facilities.

By 2015, nearly one in five Angelenos won’t have access to transportation (L.A. Streetsblog)

Transportation for America has released a new report titled “Aging in Place: Stuck without Options” that examines how well cities are prepared for a generation of aging Baby Boomers who will become increasingly dependent on transit. L.A. Streetsblog digs into the data and finds that the Los Angeles metro area is in the middle of the pack nationally in terms of seniors’ mobility. But a lot of work still needs to be done. A couple areas that need improving include enhancing pedestrian safety at intersections near transit stations and boosting bus and neighborhood shuttle service.

Big Blue Bus costs major moolah to run (Santa Monica Daily Press)

Ever want to know what it takes to run a municipal bus service day-in and day-out? This meaty piece breaks down the cost of running Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus into the big pieces — purchasing 3,000,000 gallons of natural gas fuel for the 125-bus fleet — and the smaller ones — printing timetables.

The art of transit

Posted by

photo by Zach Behrens, via Twitter

Nice shot of folks boarding a Metro bus processed with the Instagram app for iPhones. Zach, of course, was the long-time editor at LAist and is now overseeing KCET’s web efforts, including their SoCal Focus blog.

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 Wednesday, June 15

Posted by

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.

Gold Line

Due to vehicle testing after 9pm, southbound trains to East LA or Union Station may depart Sierra Madre Villa 2 minutes later than normal.

  • Southbound trains may depart Sierra Madre Villa at 9:22pm, 9:42pm, 10:02pm, 10:22pm and every 20 minutes until last train at 12:40am. Times are approximate and subject to minor work related delays.
  • Southbound trips continuing to East LA Atlantic will depart on regular schedule from Union Station.
  • During this time, trains in both directions will share ONE track at Allen Station. Please check train destination signs and announcements before boarding.

Dates: today only.

Red Line

Due to track maintenance work after 8:30pm, trains from North Hollywood will depart up to 5 minutes later than regular schedule.

  • Inbound trains to Union Station will depart North Hollywood at 8:59pm, 9:19pm, 9:39pm, and every 20 minutes until 12:39am, and then 12:54am.  Times are approximate and subject to minor work related delays.
  • During this time, trains in both directions will share ONE track at Hollywood/Highland & Hollywood/Vine Stations. Please check train destination signs and announcements before boarding.

Dates: today only.

Lines 200, 212/312, 217, 222, 780

Dues to movie premiere the listed lines will be on detour between Highland Ave. & Orange Dr.

  • Line 212 night service after 7:30 P.M. and all Line 312 service
    Northbound: Regular route to La Brea Ave. and Fountain Ave., then continue via La Brea Ave. to (R) Hollywood Blvd. (R) Sycamore Ave. (R) Hawthorn Ave. to Temporary layover
    Southbound:     Depart via Hawthorn Ave. to (L) La Brea Ave., and regular route.
  • Line 217
    Northbound:     Regular route to Hollywood Blvd. and Fuller Ave., then continue via Hollywood Blvd. to (R) La Brea Ave., (L) Sunset Blvd., (L) Highland Ave., (R) Hollywood Blvd. and regular route.
    Southbound:     Regular route to Hollywood Blvd. and La Palmas Ave., then continue via Hollywood Blvd. to (L) Highland Ave., (R) Sunset Blvd., (R) La Brea Ave., (L) Hollywood Blvd. and regular route.
  • Line 222
    Southbound:     Regular route to Hollywood Blvd. and Las Palmas Ave., then continue via Hollywood Blvd. to (L) Highland Ave., (R) Sunset Blvd., (R) La Brea Ave., (R) Hollywood Blvd., (R) Sycamore Ave., (R) Hawthorn Ave. to Temporary layover
    Northbound:     Depart via Hawthorn Ave. to (L) La Brea Ave., (L) Sunset Blvd., (L) Highland Ave., (R) Hollywood Blvd. and regular route.         
  • Line 780
    Eastbound:     Regular route to Fairfax Ave. and Santa Monica Blvd., then continue via Fairfax Ave. to (R) Sunset Blvd., (L) Highland Ave., (R) Hollywood Blvd. and regular route.
    Westbound:     Regular route to Hollywood Blvd. and Argyle Ave., then continue via Hollywood Blvd. to (L) Highland Ave., (R) Sunset Blvd., (L) Fairfax Ave. and regular route.

Dates: today only.

Service advisories for the Blue Line and Green Line, after the jump. Continue reading →


Westside Mobility Plan kicks off round of community meetings

Posted by

Community members peruse displays highlighting local mobility issues.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation held the first of a series of spring community meetings last night in Venice. The goal of these meetings is to introduce the community to the Westside Mobility Plan, which will examine mobility challenges and needs in the notoriously congested Westside.

The impetus for this plan comes from the Los Angeles City Council, who — like perhaps all Angelenos — had seen mobility deteriorating on the Westside and so “requested a comprehensive study to develop potential short-, mid- and long-term multi-modal solutions,” according to the plan’s website.

While the study’s primary focus is the city of Los Angeles, LADOT and its consultants are coordinating their project with neighboring cities, L.A. County and Metro. Continue reading →

"Out The Window" youth videos are a good reason to tune into Transit TV this week

Posted by

Bus riders: whatever your feelings are about Transit TV, you might want make sure to pay attention to the programming on those bus bound televisions this week. “Out The Window” is a project that brings local youth and artists together to create video art that will be displayed on all Metro bus routes throughout the city.

Forty short videos produced by 75 high school students and their artist teachers will be airing all week on Metro buses. The videos will appear for five minutes every half hour on Transit TV  during the work week and for 45 minutes of each hour this weekend.

Transit TV is donating the air time for these videos to be aired. The project is a collaboration between Freewaves, Echo Park Film Center, Public Matters and UCLA REMAP.

If you’re not a regular bus rider but would still like to see the videos in their intended environment, Out The Window is holding two video watching bus rides. The first ride starts at 9:30am on Saturday, June 18 and it tours East L.A. with Public Matters and East L.A. Renaissance Academy students. The second ride meets at the Echo Park Film Center at 12pm on Sunday, June 19 and makes its way down to the Santa Monica Pier on the Metro Rapid 704. For more information please visit the Out The Window website.

While the bus is the intended screening room, the videos can also be viewed online at
http://out-the-window.org/videos/
.

Have you seen the videos on the bus yet? Do you enjoy this kind of presentation on Transit TV? Let us know in the comments.