Uber/Lyft fees, Llamas, big infrastructure in America: HWR, Feb. 26

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They’re not allowed on Metro either — unless you can fit them in a carrier you can carry 🙂

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The ballpark would be on the parking lot at center of the above aerial view. Credit: Google Maps.

Take the Blue Line to see your Los Angeles Angels of Long Beach? The city and the ball club are in early talks, with the Angels free to move from Anaheim after their lease expires following the 2020 season, reports the Long Beach Post.

The site under discussion is a giant parking lot just east of the downtown arena and convention center. In case you’re curious, it’s about a half-mile walk to the nearest Blue Line station.

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Metro wants to study taxing Uber and Lyft rides to help reduce traffic and fund the building of projects in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, reports the LAT. Metro staff wants the Metro Board to approve a study of this and congestion pricing on Thursday as part of the Re-Imagining LA County plan.

No one really knows what percentage of traffic consist of Uber and Lyft vehicles in our region. But San Francisco studied the issue and found:

  • On a typical weekday, TNCs make more than 170,000 vehicle trips within San Francisco, approximately 12 times the number of taxi trips, representing 15% of all intra-San Francisco vehicle trips.
  • TNC trips are concentrated in the densest and most congested parts of San Francisco, including the downtown and northeastern core of the city. At peak periods, TNCs are estimated to comprise 20-26% of vehicle trips in Downtown areas and the South of Market. At the other end of the range, TNCs comprise 2%-4% of peak vehicle trips in the southern and western part of the city.
  • On an average weekday, more than 5,700 TNC vehicles operate on San Francisco streets during the peak period. On Fridays, over 6,500 TNC vehicles are on the street at the peak.
  • TNCs drive approximately 570,000 vehicle miles within San Francisco on a typical weekday. This accounts for 20% of all local daily vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and includes both in-service and out-of-service mileage. Taken over total weekday VMT, which includes regional trips, local TNC trips account for an estimated 6.5% of total weekday vehicle miles traveled.

That’s a lot of Uber and Lyft cars. I suspect the percentage in our region isn’t as high given more people drive here. What’cha think about a fee, readers? In the LAT, Uber and Lyft say they are willing to pay — if other drives also most.

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The NYT takes a look at the ongoing kerfuffle over the California bullet train project and asks can America still build really big infrastructure projects?

The answer: not as much as we used to. Seems to me a lot of the big projects these days involve airport renovations. LAX, for example, has been rebuilding its terminals in recent years and has a slate of upcoming projects, including the automated people mover.

Anything I’m not thinking of?

Art of Transit

Old Union Pacific passenger car at the Fillmore rail museum. Photo courtesy Steve Hymon.

Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects

9 replies ›

  1. Everybody’s flipping out about Congestion Pricing, I’m sitting here hoping Metro revisits its oppressive no llamas policy.

    • Well played…if we’re going to talk about llamas, we should also be talking about alpacas. Just sayin…

      Steve Hymon
      Editor, The Source

  3. So Metro wants to tax my 3 mile Uber ride that I’m required to take because of the incompetence and unreliable service in areas outside of Downtown and the Westside.

    How about you get good first so that we don’t have to rely on rideshare service to begin with Metro?? You are the problem.

    You know I’d be fired by now if I solely relied on the system.

    Explain how you can beat my 40 min drive to work vs your 90 min ride (55 min thanks to Uber/Lyft) via Transit?? Solve that problem first, then talk to me about taxing others.

  4. Innovation doesn’t mean coming up with new ways to tax people. Innovation requires creativity and unique solutions to problems. There is no funding shortage at the MTA, there is an innovation shortage. Not sure how I feel about ridesharing in general but Uber and Lyft solved a problem with another government transportation monopoly – taxis. They did this with no government funding and a couple million dollar investment. The MTA gets billions every year. We should be asking them for advice, not taxing them.

  5. I realise that TNC means a service like Uber or Lyft, but, in the future, please explain what TNC means before using that term in your article. Thanks.

  6. Taxing just Uber/Lyft is insanity. Impose fees on ALL vehicles, but don’t single out Uber/Lyft vehicles that (a) assist in reducing drinking and driving and (b) allow individuals to ditch car ownership and use Metro alternatives for multi-modal transit.

  7. Every rail line in the Metro system is busted right now. Its all been built, and is terribly managed. I was at a Red Line station last week and saw the time table wind down with no train and when I asked if there would be an announcement on the intercom, the guy on the other end literally said “Get off the phone!” It was extra rude.

    I also went to take the Red Line this weekend to work, and a sign said “Lower platform to board all trains” Guess what? As the elevator went down, I saw the Union Station train pull off!!!!! I called again and asked what happened and the woman on the line said “Someone is coming to take the signs away right now..” I asked “could they please hurry, people are confused.” And she told me “No!” In the rudest tone. Again, I was taking a 460 which is a two hour ride!!!!!

    Metro sucks now, and weve given them all of this Tax Money. Phil Washington, I hope youre reading this. You suck as a CEO, and the system is NOT FOR THE PEOPLE. Stop trying to find ways to make money!

    No matter who you complain to, we know theyre all dead in the water. Its a waste. (Thumbs down).