Art of Transit:
Took the Silver Line to San Pedro the other day. Long haul through DTLA and then free sailing on the 110 ExpressLanes. This is the Port of Los Angeles. Photo by Steve Hymon/Metro.
Angels Flight expected to reopen by Labor Day, officials say (LAT)
It’s been closed since 2013 but a public-private partnership of sorts is going to revive it: “A group of engineering and transportation companies has agreed to maintain and operate the 298-foot railway and cover the cost of several required safety upgrades in exchange for a share of the funicular’s revenue over the next three decades.”
The funicular is a pretty easy way to travel between the Red/Purple Line’s Pershing Square Station and Grand Avenue and Bunker Hill.
Trump to ask Congress for $1T infrastructure plan (The Hill)
Writing out $1,000,000,000,000 is fun! President Trump mentioned the plan during his address to Congress on Tuesday night, but firm details have yet to be released and there has been a lot of internet speculating about how to pay for this and other government programs such as health care, military spending, etc. About all I can add to the conversation: Stay tuned.
Here’s where Metro 34 bike share locations are going in Pasadena (Pasadena Star News)
Mostly in the southwest part of the city, south of the 210 freeway and west of Allen Street. Metro officials say locations were picked that were mostly likely to attract riders, i.e. near Old Pasadena, Caltech, PCC, the Huntington and Gold Line stations. The bike share program is scheduled to launch this summer.
Harriet Tubman’s path to freedom (NYT)
Attentive readers know that the tunnel boring machine for the Crenshaw/LAX Line project is named after Tubman, the leader of the Underground Railroad that helped slaves flee the south. This is a great interactive story that traces the route that Tubman used in eastern Maryland.
Categories: Transportation Headlines
Re: Angels Flight:
Among other things, the rebuild had the cars on separate cables. Had they been on the same cable, like the original, the cable would have had to have snapped in order for the cars to have gotten out of sync with each other, or to have passed anywhere other than the point where they’re designed to pass each other.
Also, it appears that the passing area may have required the cars to negotiate sharper curves than they were designed to.
All in all, it was the same basic cause that cost NASA two orbiters and fourteen lives: overconfidence leading to a disregard of the basic principle, found on the first page of every railroad rule book, “SAFETY is of FIRST importance in the performance of duty.”
At the same time, it WAS another era, an era when we had a much higher tolerance of potential danger to the public.
Steve, what time of the day did you board the Silver Line to San Pedro?
Hi Mary;
About 10:20 a.m. at that stop adjacent to Union Station.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
I suggest you take the Southbound Silver Line from Union Station to San Pedro (950) between 5:00 and 6:00 pm. There is hardly ever “smooth sailing” during this time period. A lot of former 450 commuters still talk about how Metro destroyed their commute. The 950 has added at least 20 – 30 minutes each way to their commute, especially in the evening. I have visions of getting home at 6:15 -6:20 pm in the evening when riding the 450. Now, I am lucky if I get home by 6:40 pm. (We had a lively discussion just two days ago!) The bus is extremely crowded, and Metro has added extra stops. (Manchester & Slauson) Metro has totally ignored the former 450 commuters. Why can’t Metro have a 450 bus similar to the 448 Commuter Express Bus?
As far as I knew, Angels Flight didnt have safety problems in the 50s & 60s, when i rode it.
That was a different line. The only thing this Angels Flight has in common with that one is the cars and the gate/ticket booth at each end. The problem is that the rail and cable system, totally new in 1996, have proven to be unsafe.