Metro moves toward "rolling" passes and $5 Day Pass

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Two motions regarding fare media were unanimously approved today by the Executive Management & Audit Committee.

This first motion converts Metro calendar-based passes into “rolling” passes.

Current calendar-based passes are good for the specific week or month they are purchased (i.e. a monthly pass bought in May is only good during that month). The rolling pass system takes the calendar out of the equation and makes it so that duration of a pass begins upon first use (i.e. a 30-day pass bought and used on May 19th would be good through June 17th).

Rolling passes take advantage of the TAP card’s ability to track and intelligently expire fares and gives Metro riders more flexibility when it comes to pass purchases. Regular and reduced fare monthly and weekly passes would be converted to 30-day and 7-day passes, respectively. EZ transit passes are excluded due to regional fare issues. Here’s the staff report.

The second motion (here’s the staff report) reduces the price of day pass from $6 to $5 on a test basis with the goal of enticing new riders looking for transportation alternatives in light of high gas prices and a sour economy. Staff hopes that the dollar discount will make trips that involve transfers more agreeable for riders. A single ride fare on Metro is $1.50; the day pass allows for an unlimited number of rides in a day, so the fourth trip of the day would be discounted for riders.

Board members on the Executive Management & Audit Committee said these are the sort of measures that should be taken to benefit riders and visitors and to encourage more ridership. Staff was also instructed by directors to ensure that riders can purchase day passes on buses even if they don’t currently have a TAP card.

The day pass was created in 2004 with a price of $3. It was raised to $5 in 2008 and $6 in 2010.

Pending approval of the full Board at their regular meeting next week, rolling passes would go into effect on July 1 and $5 day passes would come later in the summer.

Quad gate simulation testing concludes on Eastside Gold Line

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Here’s the item from Metro CEO Art Leahy’s daily email to staff:

We successfully concluded the traffic simulation being conducted at three East Los Angeles intersections located along the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension. The six days of testing began on Wednesday, May 11, 2011. The traffic simulation modified the traffic signals at selected intersections along the Gold Line to simulate gating along the alignment. All signals went to an “all red” signal phase when Metro Gold Line trains were detected to simulate the train pre-emption timing that would occur following installation of rail crossing gates. The primary purpose of the simulation was to identify the potential changes that would occur with Metro Gold Line train operations as well as impacts to motorist, pedestrian traffic and emergency response operations in the corridor.

Our Planning, Operations, Community Relations and Corporate Safety team members worked in close coordination with the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to conduct the simulation. A final report of the simulation findings will be prepared in the coming weeks. The report will be distributed internally and submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission.

The art of transit

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photo by Downtowgal, via submission

This is a nice shot. There’s some blur to convey movement — but not too much. The framing gives viewer an idea how large the articulated buses are. And the bright red looks good offset against the washed out sky. The photo was taken near Metro headquarters in downtown L.A. with a Canon G-10 point-and-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.

Transportation headlines, Thursday, May 19

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Portland mayor boosts money for cycling, takes money from roads (Oregonian)

Mayor Sam Adams boasted recently he’s increasing spending on bike infrastructure in Portland by 17 percent with money largely raised from gas taxes on motorists — and guess what, motorists are complaining. The Oregonian interviewed 18 motorists at a local Arco station and found 14 that said they were against having money diverted from roads to bike lanes and such. Of course, that’s a nice journalistic trick. Reporter goes to the place where he/she will find people who will likely say exactly what you need them to say after being informed — maybe in an unbiased way, maybe not — about the bike funding situtation. “This is intended to save lives and reduce injuries among the city’s growing number of vulnerable road users,” Adams told The Oregonian. “The public – and that includes auto commuters – has told us that they want us to focus on eliminating conflicts on our streets.”

Are you ready for the two-mile challenge? (Welcome to the Fast Lane blog)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood points out that 40 percent of urban trips are two miles or less and 90 percent of those trips are taken by car. What to do about it? Create a contest that challenges people in the warm months to use their bikes instead of their cars for short trips. You can do it, too. My vow: no more driving to the gym for spin class.

New Mexico Road Runner train faces scrutiny (New West)

In 2006, New Mexico did what other places in the West couldn’t quite manage up to then: launch a brand new commuter rail service. The train connects Albuquerque and Santa Fe and is cheap to ride — a day pass purchased online costs $7. And the train has free wi-fi. But the project cost $400 million to get off the ground and — surprise! — isn’t turning a profit. That has some Republicans asking questions about whether the service should be continued or sold off to a private entity. As per usual, the politicians conveniently forget that roads are subsidized, too.

 

Transit forecast for Thursday, May 19

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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: today only.

Red Line

Due to track maintenance work after 8:30pm, trains from North Hollywood will depart 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

Green Line

Due to track maintenance from 10am to 2pm, eastbound trains to Norwalk will run 4 minutes later than regular schedule.  Trains to Norwalk will depart Redondo Beach at 9:51am, 10:08am, 10:23am, 10:38am, 10:53am and every 15 minutes until 1:53pm, then regular schedule.

Dates: today only.

Advisories for Lines 212/312, 217, 222, 780 and Red Bull Soap Box Race after the jump.

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