Tag Archives: metro red line

Bus service detours for Academy Awards, Hollywood/Highland Station closed during The Oscars

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Those of you traveling around Hollywood have probably noticed some bus detours by now due to Oscars prep. Here’s a friendly reminder that you won’t be able to spot Robert Downey, Jr. by  popping up from Hollywood/Highland Station on Sunday because it will be closed.

Here’s the release from Metro:

Metro Red Line subway trains will operate on a regular schedule but will pass through the Metro Red Line Hollywood/Highland Station without stopping on Sunday, Feb. 24 from open to close due to the 85th Academy Awards show at the Dolby Theater. There will be no public access to Hollywood/Highland Station. Customers are advised to use the Hollywood/Vine Station as an alternative and transfer to nearby bus service or walk.

All Metro Red Line trains will resume stops at Hollywood/Highland Station with the start of regular service on Monday, Feb. 25.

Street closures start Sunday, Feb. 17 due to staging for The Oscars. Metro Bus lines 212, 217, 222 and 780 will be detoured along Hollywood Boulevard between Highland Avenue and La Brea Avenue through 6 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, or until barricades are removed.

On the day of The Oscars, Sunday, Feb. 24, Metro Bus lines 156, 212, 217 and 222 also will be detoured along Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard and on Highland Avenue between Franklin Avenue and Sunset Boulevard through 6 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 25, or until barricades are removed.

Specific routes of the detours are listed online on the Service Advisory pages of metro.net. For real-time service alerts, go to metro.net home page or follow @metroLAalerts on twitter.

First phase of Metro Red Line celebrates 20-year anniversary

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“This day is here…”

On January 29, 1993, former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley stood among a swarm of public officials and transit agency staffers on the cramped Pershing Square subway platform. Standing shoulders above everyone else, including then-California Gov. Pete Wilson, Bradley proudly inaugurated the opening of the first modern subway in Los Angeles.

“Twenty years is a long time. That’s how long we have been pushing on this dream, this vision of what we should do in Los Angeles County,” Bradley said, referring to the subway’s quixotic path to reality in ‘93. “I made a promise when I ran for mayor in 1973 that in 18 months, we’d deliver by breaking ground for rapid transit. Well, I missed by only a few months…”

Today, Metro marks the 20th anniversary of the Metro Red Line’s first phase from Union Station to MacArthur Park, a nearly 4.5-mile construction milestone that began a brand new chapter in regional rail construction and placing L.A. among other major cities across the globe with high-speed, high-capacity subways.

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Go Metro to live music: Crystal Castles

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Crystal Castles (ft. Robert Smith) – “I’m Not In Love”

Noticing a trend yet? Thanks to two conveniently located subway stations and a handful of Rapid and local bus lines running on main thoroughfares like Hollywood, Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards, it’s easy to take Metro to the vast array of music venues in Hollywood. Case in point: Go Metro this Saturday night to see Crystal Castles performing live at The Hollywood Palladium! The venue is located on Sunset Boulevard, an easy two block walk from the Red Line Hollywood / Vine Station and is served directly by Metro Local 2.

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Transportation headlines, Thursday, March 22

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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 Headlines blog, which you can also access via email subscription or RSS feed.

Make way for the Expo Line (Blogging Los Angeles)

Here’s a video of the Expo Line test train as photographed from a bike (!) We’re sure it was a bicycle built for two because shooting from a bike would be dangerous. Or maybe the rider’s helmet contained a camera. In any case, it’s fun to see the train skating down the street and the video is pretty cool. Take a look. 

Bay area plan promotes trains that not quite high speed but quicker, at least (Silicon Valley Mercury News)

Under the heading “Maybe creativity can save high-speed rail” this news: Hoping to bring the bonanza of California high-speed rail funds to the Bay Area more quickly, local and state leaders on Wednesday unveiled a strategy to split the $1.5 billion cost to electrify the Caltrain line. The plan would pave the way for quicker commuter trains to zip between San Francisco and San Jose as early as 2018 and for statewide bullet trains to run sooner than expected.

Can travel training services save public transit agencies money? (Transportation Research Board)

In a word, yes. And why, besides money, should those of us not in need of paratransit services care? Because training for the service substitutes — in this case, mass transit — may actually promote independence and quality of life for the folks who can use them. And, need we remind everyone, it could be us one day. Here are some of the services offered by Metro. Metro also is the primary funding source for Access Services Incorporated, the federally-required ADA paratransit service that offers 24-hour-a-day curb-to-curb service to individuals with disabilities. For more information on Access Services call 800-827-0829.

Today in transit history (Primary Resources)

March 22 is an interesting day in L.A. transit history, according to Primary Resources, the Metro Library blog. In 1913 the Pacific Electric Railway extended the San Fernando Valley Line to San Fernando. In 1938 construction began on the Arroyo Parkway connecting Los Angeles to Pasadena. And, last but certainly not least, in 1984 the California Transportation Commission approved $361.2 million in state matching funds in what was an important first step in building the Metro Red Line. The subway project broke ground just two years later. (Hooray!)