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.
USC Students and Faculty Will Benefit from Expo Line (BrighamYen.com)
On a recent visit to Union Station’s Patsaouras Plaza to catch the FlyAway blogger Brigham Yen noticed a long line of USC students and faculty boarding a campus shuttle. While he was ashamed to witness the “slow and almost archaic” process USC students and employees were forced to go through just to make a car-free connection to the school, he does see a much brighter future thanks to the coming Expo Line. Metro’s newest light rail line with have a station that directly serves the USC campus – great news for the 36,000 students and 15,000 employees that call themselves Trojans. FYI: USC is the largest private employer in the City of Los Angeles.
ARVE Error: need id and providerThe True Cost of Gasoline: $15 Per Gallon (The City Fix)
Think $4/gallon gasoline is expensive? Well, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), that seemingly high price is actually discounted by over 70%. The true cost of gas, when you factor in all the hidden costs (including pollution and the health effects of pollution) is closer to $15/gallon. The video above, produced by CIR, uses clever animation and infographics to drive the point home.
L.A. Transit Paintjobs Of The Past: King Tut, Disneyland & Other Notable Livery (Primary Resources)
Metro’s current bus fleet is pretty iconic when it comes to color schemes: the vibrant orange for local buses and deep red for rapid buses really stand out amongst other transit agencies. But as the Metro Library has uncovered, L.A.’s transit history is filled with colorful buses. The library’s Flickr page now features a photo collection of special paint schemes for buses – including the unmissable King Tut bus, painted with Egyptian eyes to commemorate the the arrival of Egyptian antiquities to LACMA in the 1970’s.
10 Most Convenient Cities in America (The Street)
This top 10 list uses WalkScore data, transit data from the American Public Transit Association (APTA) and home value prices from real estate site Zillow. Convenience in this case is defined by the ability to live without a car and walk or take transit to amenities like jobs, schools, groceries and other necessities. That’s a definition of convenience I like. And guess what – Los Angeles makes the cut. Agree or disagree?
Categories: Transportation Headlines
The expo line will no doubt make getting to and from USC easier from most parts of LA because it virtually eliminates the need to take a street bus to the campus when dealing with a commute. Also i don’t think they are going to cut buses that are not duplicated by the expo line. So “i want to drive” may be confusing that with what would be redundant bus service that will be replaced with LRT. In fact, i believe bus connections will be simply be adjusted to connect directly to west side expo stations which will improve overall connectivity.
RE: 10 Most Convenient Cities in America (The Street)
The blogger has totally wrong ANNUAL facts about Los Angeles!
METRO BUS 365,971,760/ANNUAL
TRAIN 94.4 Million/ANNUAL
http://www.metro.net/news/pages/facts-glance/
METROLINK COMMUTER TRAIN
Average WEEKDAY Metrolink Riders [excluding weekend] 40,544 [SEPT 10]. No Annual listed.
http://www.metrolinktrains.com/about/?id=6
MUNI plus the other 42 transit carriers. Too much to count! Santa Monica, Culver City, etc… Those have to be included when one does a survey for Los Angeles County!
http://www.metro.net/around/maps/other-carriers/
I *hate* those buses. They take more than 20 minutes to go less than a few miles, they’re always stuck in traffic, and they’re scheduled such that I always *just* miss a train.
They also have very limited service outside of rush hour and stop running before the night classes are over – totally designed around the faculty and staff, not the students.
Expo Line to USC by September please!
He is right, in the morning we have to wait in line for a shuttle to USC. If it is full you can wait 10-15 minutes before boarding. Expo stops will be great for USC. The problem is no regional connector. Will I ride Gold to Red to Expo? I will try it out, but more than one transfer is a drag man!
Tell me how they are going to benefit by EXPO once they get off stations to get to places in Culver City, Marina Del Rey, and many parts of WLA. How about Fox hills? Many places in WLA are not located by rail stations. I don’t see any improvement on local bus improvement. In fact, there is going to be reduction of bus service. Can people just fly from Expo stations to destinations? If they could, why bother to build the Expo.
Please stop lying to the people.
“I want to drive,”
Thank you for your input. If you notice, the Expo Line article by BrighamYen.com is about a local bus connection to USC that is inconvenient – the Expo Line will create a frequent and fast direct rail connection to USC for these students and faculty. In turn it will make their lives easier. This is no lie.
Rail stations are meant to serve the neighborhoods they reside in – that’s not say that there aren’t bus connections. In your example, residents of Fox Hills could take the Culver City 6 to the Expo/Sepulveda station. Of course, if they wish to get to downtown L.A. or Santa Monica they have other options that do not involve traveling to a light rail station over 5 miles away. Fox Hills is served by Metro 108/358, 110, 439, Culver City 2, 3, 4 and 6.
We appreciate your commentary, but please understand that rail and bus each have their place and advantages and limitations. Please don’t confuse this with lying.
Fred Camino
Contributor, The Source