How We Roll, Nov. 10; public safety and Metro

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Bus passenger stabbed to death in Highland Park (LAT)

The fatal stabbing occurred on the Metro 81 Local Bus about 10:40 p.m. on Monday night in Highland Park. Police told the LAT that three men boarded a bus at Figueroa and 57th Street and then got into an argument with another passenger, who was subsequently stabbed in the chest. The three men then fled the bus near Figueroa and Meridian streets and remain at large.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is reviewing images taken with security cameras on board the bus.

There are about four part one crimes — i.e. the most serious of crimes — per million boardings on Metro buses and trains, according to the agency, which also says that this type of crime is rare. The agency also says that its buses, trains and facilities have a lesser crime rate than surrounding communities. Here are the most recent monthly summary of crime stats as reported to the Metro Board.

UPDATE, 4 p.m. Wednesday: The LASD announced that one of the suspects has been arrested and booked on a murder charge with bail set at $1 million. Press release

UPDATE, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday: Here is the wanted bulletin from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department with photos of the suspects.

A peek into Metro bike share’s fare structure (Streetsblog LA)

The proposal will go to the Metro Board this month. Under the proposal, the fare will depend on whether users buy an annual or monthly pass or whether they forgo the pass and pay as a walk-up customer — see the post for details. While Streetsblog would like to see bike share as inexpensive as possible to encourage ridership, Joe Linton writes that he thinks the proposal strikes a reasonable balance given the need to get bike share going and the need to generate revenues.

I’m meeting with the bike folks later and will post more about this soon.

Six rail and bus rapid transit lines that Metro should add to its list of long range projects (Landofrye)

norwalk

With Metro in the midst of updating its long range plan and working on a potential ballot measure to raise the countywide sales tax to pay for more projects, Landofrye makes its suggestions. The Sepulveda Pass project, the Green Line extension to Norwalk’s Metrolink station and a northern extension of the Crenshaw/LAX Line are projects, in fact, that local officials have put on draft wish lists for ballot measure funding (see appendix D in this post for the latest on that).

Landofrye tosses out three other ideas: real bus rapid transit projects on both Beverly Boulevard and Ventura Boulevard (i.e. dedicated bus lanes and other BRT features) and a rail line along the Harbor Subdivision that would connect DTLA to LAX. I’m unaware of anything imminent on those three; Metro recently received a federal grant to build the first segment of the Rail-to River pedestrian and bike path on part of the Harbor Subdivision between the Crenshaw/LAX Line, Harbor Transitway and Blue Line.

I do know that the Metro Board has asked Metro to study BRT on Vermont Avenue, one of our area’s busiest bus corridors with the Red Line running under some of the northern segment of Vermont. BRT is one of those things that inspires a lot of talk around the country but a lot more talk than action. As we’ve noted in the past, taking a couple traffic lanes and giving them entirely to a bus is no easy task.

Recent How We Rolls: 

Nov. 9: Expo Line traffic signal testing in SaMo, the human cost of failing infrastructure.

Nov. 6: the future of the Orange Line and lowering your carbon footprint.

Nov. 5: Exxon Mobile and climate change research, 1965’s climate change warning and a pricey Boston parking space.

Nov. 3: why Supergirl should save trains or buses next, train signage issues at 7th/Metro, L.A. weighs slashing parking fines, how officials estimate ridership on future projects

Oct. 30: is The Force with mass transit?, a transit advocate — consumed by guilt — nonetheless buys a car, a commentary on the draft framework for Metro’s potential ballot measure.

I’m also on Twitter and have a photography blog. Metro-related Questions? Email me.

 

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16 replies ›

  1. Speaking from the perspective of a part time Uber and Lyft driver, I’d support a project in extending the Crenshaw/LAX all the way through the Hollywood Hills to the Orange Line.

    Metro should know by now from the shared data that Uber and Lyft provides to the California Public Utilities Commission that there’s actually a strong demand for the north-south routes on West Hollywood and that West Hollywood in general is one of the busiest areas in LA especially during the party time hours and on the weekends.

    Unlike Metro which charges a flat fare, Uber and Lyft fares are based on distance, so riders want the cheapest route possible, which means the shortest route. So when people from the SFV want to go to West Hollywood or vice-versa, they don’t want to go the longer, more expensive way by first heading southeast on the 101 then back west along Santa Monica Blvd. They ask to traverse and cut across the Hollywood Hills via Laurel Canyon Blvd. which is a lot more cheaper as it’s a more shorter route. But the downside is that the route is scary and stressful for us Uber and Lyft drivers because of the narrow windy and dark roads of Laurel Canyon Blvd. during the night time and the upscale residential communities with lots of traffic of nice expensive cars there.

    Going southward to LAX, in the early morning hours there’s a lot of demand for West Hollywood residents going to LAX and again, the shortest, therefore the cheapest route is going via south on La Cienega Blvd. through the oil fields to LAX, not going westward on the 10 and southward on the 405. But that route goes through dangerous intersections such as the diagonal intersection of La Cienega, Burton Way and San Vincente, and the crazy and often congested freeway like roads of La Cienega near the oil fields and Kenneth Hahn State Park.

    • I think you should get out of the UBER business. Both Laurel Cyn. and La Cienega Bl. are great short cuts that seldom are tied up. Not only do you appear to be a non professional driver but one that should stay off the road altogether.

      • “Both Laurel Cyn. and La Cienega Bl. are great short cuts that seldom are tied up”

        Here we go again with “I believe this is so but I provide no proof or data to back up my claims” statements that are worthless arguments today.

        Remember, we live in the age of massive data and searches at our fingertips that allows anyone to fact check your claims in matter of seconds. For traffic data, we have real-time Google Maps data with traffic data provided by Waze.

        Looking at the traffic data of Laurel Canyon Blvd. right now, traffic seems to be moving slow southbound on Laurel Canyon heading towards North Hollywood. Northbound doesn’t look so bad but bottlenecking on the intersection of Laurel Canyon and Mulholland, which is always the case. This is noon time on a Friday so it’ll be interesting to see how the traffic is during the night when everyone’s out drinking in North Hollywood tonight.

        As for La Cienega Blvd. there’s light traffic but currently having moderate to heavy traffic on Slauson and Rodeo. And pretty much stop-and-go north and southbound between Wilshire and Pico.

        What is your data based on? That there wasn’t heavy traffic on these roads back in 1950?

        • As usual you rely on studies not reality. On La Cienega the Uber driver complained about going south over the hill from Rodeo Rd. The speed on Laurel Cyn is always reduced from normal flow due to the back and forth curving road. I have traveled over both streets for many years as a professional driver. If actual experience is outweighed by studies in your mind it’s all to obvious that the studies are flawed. I may also note the Uber driver was not complaining about how tied up both streets are but instead of the higher rate of speed he was afraid to drive at. And in the case of Laurel Cyn. and it’s curving nature, the MTA runs regular bus service on Line 218 up and down it with no problem.

  2. A loop line, yes!!!

    That’s exactly the solution that LA needs to create a single train ride to all quadrants of LA (West LA, Hollywood, Downtown, and the South Bay) from LAX and while also serving transfer connections to any part of LA. Then you can satisfy all the people who say they want a single train to go to LAX with just one single line.

    It makes totally perfect sense. Leave it to someone who is well traveled to understand what other countries have done to come up with this idea. Why didn’t anyone think of this before?

  3. “The Sepulveda Pass project, the Green Line extension to Norwalk’s Metrolink station and a northern extension of the Crenshaw/LAX Line are projects, in fact, that local officials have put on draft wish lists for ballot measure funding (see appendix D in this post for the latest on that)”

    Here’s mine on a map:
    http://i.imgur.com/MtLj0r4.jpg

    If there’s a priority of extensions/conversions of existing lines, it’d be in this order:

    1. Sepulveda (405) Line from SFV, through West LA to LAX and onwards to Norwalk Metrolink Sta.

    2. Extend Crenshaw Line from current terminus all the way up to Laurel Canyon via West Hollywood

    3. Extend the Green Line to Norwalk Metro Link Sta. and southwards to South Bay and Torrance

    4. Purple Line subway to the sea

    5. Convert the Orange Line into rail, extend and link towards Burbank Bob Hope Amtrak Airport onward east to Pasadena

    And hopefully by this time Metro would be actually making some serious money out of running mass transit through much needed fiscal reforms so then new lines can be built such as

    6. A circular “loop” line similar to the Circle Line in London, the Yamanote Line and the Oedo Subway Line of Tokyo and other world class cities that have then (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Railway_loop_lines)

    7. A northwest to southeast line from Malibu down along the Pacific Oceanfront crossing the South Bay over the Vincent Thomas Bridge towards Signal Hill, Long Beach Airport, and Cal State Long Beach

    • It’s apparent your from the SFV. Billion were spent in the last ten to fifteen years widening the 405 at least two times. Perhaps that money would have been better spent on light rail. But no, after those billion your still want more.

      There is little traffic going north-south from the terminus of the Crenshaw Line so why extend it into West Hollywood? The problem is east-west traffic along the Santa Monica /Sunset Bl. corridor from the City of Santa Monica clear to the Silverlake area.

      The Subway to the sea would be great but I doubt we will ever see it built.

      Converting the Orange Line to rail would mean the loss of the line for several years while it is being built. It shouldn’t take everal years but that’s the MTA SOP.

      Lastly the Coastal Commision along with just about everyone else would oppose light rail from Malibu along the coast to Long Beach Airport.

      • “It’s apparent your from the SFV….Perhaps that money would have been better spent on light rail. But no, after those billion your still want more.”

        Presumptions. Even if I did live in SFV, I would’ve had no voice in such matters as when the idea of the Orange Line or the 405 widening project was put forth, I wasn’t eligible to vote due to age restrictions and certainly my views that they should’ve been better spent on mass transit projects were not taken seriously per my youth.

        That is one thing you have to remember these days: Millennials who are voting today never had a voice in this projects 20-30 years ago when all these were voted upon by the older generations; our parents and grandparents’ generations who got around with cars and can think of no other way to get around.

        • These projects were not voted on but instead awarded via political pressure. If you did not vote for these politians perhaps your parents did. But my entire point is billions were spent on widening the freeway while a more serous problem exists going east/west thru West L.A., Beverly Hill, West Hollywood, etc. where light trail should be built as priority one. The entire area was developed with the promise that State Highway 2 would be replaced by a freeway. Said freeway was killed by Jerry Brown when he was govenor previously. The grid lock being experienced today on both Santa Monica Bl. and Sunset Bl. would be deemed unacceptable if it was on a freeway instead of city streets. Not only is it extreme grid lock but it extends clear to the City of Santa Monica border. Whats so damning is the MTA has refused to address the problem while offering the SFV to West L.A. another proposed relief.

  4. In the roughly two decades that I’ve been riding MetroRail to and from concerts at the Bowl and at Disney Hall, (frequently on the SB Blue Line well past midnight), there has been exactly one incident in which my life was in obvious and immediate danger. Fortunately, the Blue Line motorman was already keeping an eye on the individual involved (evidently a disgruntled sous-chef, or maybe a culinary school washout, given the cutlery he was carrying), as he’d been trying to pick fights with several other passengers, so before I had time to figure out a course of action, the aforementioned motorman (to whom I probably owe my life) was already handling the situation.

    Thankfully, in my experience, even the nutjobs who ride MetroRail are, as the late Douglas Adams would say, “mostly harmless.”

  5. The Sepulveda Pass and Norwalk Extension could be vital. Beverly is also a good candidate, and overall Mid City west is pretty friggin dense. From Pico Robertson area, Beverly Center, Westwood between Wilshire and Pico, Olympic blvd west of Downtown, etc.

    Like the regional connector if we could improve existing service, combine and blend tunnels and lines, the system would seem to become more comprehensive. The Pink Subway way back was an excellent opportunity to build something that was crosstown, but we simply don’t have it yet.

    I used to imagine a Subway down Vermont to at least USC/Expo. Last Thursday, I needed to get to Wilshire Vermont from Expo Vermont, and My train arrived at 8:01. I got to Wilshire Vermont by 8:16, which happened to be the exact time my 754 would’ve picked me up so said the Metro app. I’d considered two things on this trip: 1. I had to run to my red line train to make it. Good thing I did. 2. Had my Expo train went a bit quicker, id would have not had to run for that connection.

    Sometimes Metro’s service in decent without trying, it just takes some critical thought and hustle. I noticed people waiting at that 754 stop, when they probably should’ve have taken the way a handful of us did. We arrived sooner unless they were not going as far as Wilshire Vermont and points north. Maybe they felt it was the only way? More stations, more options, more trust in taking what arrives and figuring it out along the way. People do it in cars everyday.

  6. The link “the most recent monthly summary of crime stats” is not working. I get a “This webpage is not available” error from Google Chrome.