Hmmm, wonder what Metrolink is trying to promote with this rail car! Here’s the news release from the regional commuter rail agency partially funded by Metro:
Los Angeles – After experiencing record weekend ridership the weekend of Oct. 6, Metrolink is rolling out another eye-catching vinyl-wrapped train car – this one, promoting the popular $10 Weekend Pass. Beginning Monday, Southern Californians will see the 85 foot, royal purple train car traveling throughout the region.
Since the introduction of the weekend pass in July of 2011 weekend ridership has nearly doubled. The $10 Weekend Pass allows for unlimited travel anytime, anywhere system-wide from 7:00 p.m. on Friday through Sunday.
This is Metrolink’s fourth train wrap following two Bike Car wraps and a Breeder’s Cup train wrap.
ABOUT METROLINK (www.metrolinktrains.com)
Metrolink is Southern California’s regional commuter rail service in its 19th year of operation. The Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA), a joint powers authority made up of an 11-member board representing the transportation commissions of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, governs the service. Metrolink operates over seven routes through a six-county, 512 route-mile network. Metrolink is the third largest commuter rail agency in the United States based on directional route miles and the seventh largest based on annual ridership.
Categories: Go Metro, Metro Lifestyle
AFAIK The OC Laguna Niguel-Fullerton service is definitely OCTA encouraged as part of their MSEP program. However, the Fullerton-LAUS service is not increased because BNSF owns the rails for that segment and in the MOU between Metrolink and BNSF, ML is limited to x number of trains per day through this area.
Metrolink from Chatsworth to Union Station takes 45 min. The Orange Line can’t even get you to North Hollywood in that much time. It also doesn’t stop at Northridge, Bob Hope Airport, Burbank and Glendale. Nor could it run through to Orange County. Two different markets. Metrolink needs to live up to its name and become a regional Metro service.
Those of you who want weekend Ventura line service, and mention running it to Chatsworth only – you’re missing the fact that the Orange Line now exists and does this purpose, which is why I doubt we’ll see CW-LAUS weekend service any time soon. Amtrak is there for those who NEED it, but until then…. I doubt it will happen. The ten dollar weekend pass is a great deal where it’s offered, but sadly, I doubt it will be coming to the VC line any time soon. In fact, just last week, Metrolink stopped printing “$10 Weekend Pass” promotional messages on my VC line tickets, which they had been doing for about a year now.
What we need is standardization. We need a system where everyone in the State, from San Francisco all the way to San Diego to agree to what a value of a mile is on mass transit and do away with flat rate fares and move to distance based fares statewide. We need technological uniformity where the Clipper Card, TAP, and Compass Card are interchangeable with one another.
Standardization is the only way to ever get anything right. Can you imagine what the world would be like without standardization? Can you imagine what it would be like if each county set their own rules what time it is, what their idea of a “mile” is, or if each county started issued their own money or banking systems that were incompatible with one another?
Many of these comments point to a big problem with Metrolink: parochialism. Each county wants to pay for service only in its own territory, regional needs be damned and systemwide utility be damned. OC has several trains that run from Laguna Niguel to Fullerton and then stop. How much more useful would they be if they continued to LAUS? I suspect the OC-only trains aren’t heavily patronized, and commuter rail isn’t a good model for local transit anyway.
Operations should be based on need. As long as the current structure exists, Metrolink will never meet its potential, and worse, will be a poster child for what’s wrong with balkanized government control.
Metrolink could run trains from Chatsworth to Union Station. That stretch of track is still within the City of LA and shouldn’t be dependent on other counties for funding. Although demand likely doesn’t warrant weekend service. You can always take the orange line from Chatsworth to the subway. 3 times as long for 1/3 the cost.
There is no reason weekend service couldn’t run on the Ventura County Line in Los Angeles County as far as Chatsworth. Later trains on the O.C. Line (weekdays and weekends) are needed NOW.
“think this could mean metrolink might run on the ventura county line during the weekend?”
Doubtful. That would entail funding from Ventura County Transportation Commission which has no local dedicated sales tax for transportation. They have to use TDA 1/4% and at the moment only can afford the weekday service they fund.
In any case Amtrak (albeit w/more expensive pricing and serving less stations) runs service along that stretch of track.
[…] High gas prices seem to be pushing people to choose public transit around Los Angeles (Progressive Railroading); Metro is trying to capitalize on those numbers by rolling out their $10 Weekend Pass (The Source) […]
Can I still obtain a transfer to metro rail lines?
Hi Joe;
The price of a Metrolink ticket includes free transfers to Metro Rail. Just hang onto the Metrolink ticket.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
They gotta scrape the wrap off the windows! It makes it too difficult to see out.
The reason ridership was up the weekend of October 6-7 is because of CicLAvia.
Loved the Metrolink Weekend pass when I lived down in LA… Which Caltrain up here in the Bay Area would do something similar!!
think this could mean metrolink might run on the ventura county line during the weekend?