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.
Subway stations should have attendants (Daily News)
After the recent fatal stabbing in Hollywood, David Murphy writes in this op-ed that while he believes the Red and Purple Line subway in Los Angeles is safe, it would be helpful to have attendants in each station to keep an eye on things. He also adds that his mother rides the Rapid Bus each day, but still doesn’t like to ride it alone. Readers, what do you think?
Going green but getting nowhere (New York Times)
Op-Ed contributor Gernot Wagner argues that individual action to help the environment — recycling, driving less, etc. — isn’t making a difference, especially when it comes to global warming. The problem is everyone needs to take action and that won’t happen, Wagner writes, until everyone actually has to pay for the true cost of their actions, whether it be a carbon tax or some type of cap-and-trade agreement.
Scientists left speechless as vast glacier turns to water (Wales Online)
Check out the photos of the Petermann Glacier in Greenland. In 2009 it looked like, well, a glacier. Scientists went back this year and it looked like, well, water. The cumulative toll of global warming is believed to be accelerating the ice melt in Greenland.
Delays to Gold Line potentially ‘devastating’ (Monrovia Patch)
The city of Monrovia’s efforts to purchase land for a Gold Line Foothill Extension maintenance yard were complicated by a recent court ruling. Gold Line officials say that potential delays to getting the land, in turn, could make it difficult for the Foothill Extension Construction Authority to get needed funds from Metro to build the project. Construction of the main part of the Foothill Extension is still a year away, giving officials time to find ways to obtain the land.
Categories: Transportation Headlines, Transportation News
While I toured Europe a couple of years ago, they had newspaper stands that sold everything from sandwiches, bottled drinks, postage stamps, souvenirs and lottery tickets right at every train station.
Why can’t we have that here? If Metro says trains helps local businesses and promotes economic activity, then why aren’t they supportive of businesses opening up shops directly at the train station? It’s like Metro says one thing and doesn’t do what they say.
Yes, but…
More food equals more rats. Just saying.
Promoting businesses at train stations is a great idea not only for an increase in safety standpoint, but to make things more convenient for transit riders.
I once had an IT conference in Brussels and one thing that I noticed about their train stations were not the number of police officers, but the number of businesses located at each train stations. There was even a 10 minute barber shop that I used while I waited for the train! Why waste 10 minutes of your life just waiting for a train when you can get a haircut while you wait?
Metro should lease or rent out spaces at their stations to local businesses and retailers and make each station a multi-use business property that earns them extra revenue. Pastry shops, pharmacies, noodle shops, coffee & snack bars, newspaper stands, barber shops, Yogurtland, 7-Elevens, In ‘N Out Burger stands, the possibilities are limitless. I’m sure businesses will jump onto this idea if Metro would just let vendors use the train stations to open up shops there; the potential customers will already be there instead of businesses waiting for customers to come to them!
Love the ideas from other commenters about vendors. One of the things I love about transit in parts of Europe and Asia is being able to grab an espresso on the way out of a subway station, or pickup a newspaper. (Yes, gasp, not everyone can afford an iPad — sometimes a paper newspaper can be a good thing.)
I was particularly impressed to see a London Underground station with practical things like a dry cleaners, I think, and an ATM and even a key copier service. This kind of thing makes using transit much more convenient. (Not sure if the area is owned by the same folks as the Tube, or if it’s possible the vendors were in an underground connecting area technically not part of the system, like with LA’s Rush Snack Bar at 7th St Metro Center.)
Stations don’t need attendants or even retail to create “activity” as that doesn’t mean the violent mentals won’t still hang out there asking for your money while you are buying something.
LA Subway stations need more COPS in them, more like when the LAPD was responsible for security before the LASD took that over, too.
LA subway was always seen as NOT having attendants because of the additional COSTS or more employees with more benefits and just more money down the “tube.” Agencies in the US are trying to eliminate attendants where they can and every new system that has come on line in the U.S. doesn’t want them because of the cost.
However, more security and greater presence like it was from day one into the 1990’s makes all the difference in the world. There are people on the subway and Blue line today who would have never dared to even walk by a station because of “too many cops” at stations. This murder on the Red Line was bound to happen, but NEVER would have when security was much better.
Why not make train stations themselves a place to operate businesses?
I was at the Aviation/LAX Green Line Station today and man, that place needs some serious business activity. It’s so dull and boring.
There’s all these plants put up there which just cost taxpayers money to water and maintain those plants. The parking lot there is such a mess with littered trash! And there’s not a single station attendant there to look after the place.
They should just convert some of the island spaces where the plants are to mini 7-Elevens, a mini Walgreens, a Taco Bell or something. I’d also like to buy a 99 cent taco there with my TAP card like they do with HKMTR’s Octopus Card.
Having businesses directly at the train station will make the place more safer and more cleaner as you have retail employees working there looking after the shops and cleaning the surroundings throughout the day. And Metro doesn’t even have to hire anybody to do this and they’ll just earn revenue from renting out the space to businesses.
I’d guess that almost all (if not all) of the subway stations in the system are “safer” than any of the neighborhoods outside of them.
“Subway stations should have attendants”
Add more shops, retailers and merchants into the empty spaces of the subway stations and you add more permanent eyes without even paying for personnel. Metro will even earn revenue from renting out spaces.
Subway stations needs more activity. Right now, it’s just empty and cold because there are no retail activity there.
Look at the contrast between a subway station versus the airport terminals. The airport terminals sees lots of action day and night because of all the restaurants, gift shops, coffee stands, vending machines, etc. All these activities add to more security and increased revenue for Metro.