Dodger Game Express

I had the privilege of attending the Dodgers' home opening on Tuesday afternoon and utilized the free Dodgers Express bus from Union Station to just outside the field level entrance at the stadium. For someone like me that works at Union Station there could not be a more practical means of transport to the game and this service will save me a considerable amount of money ($15 per game). It being a sold out game, the Express bus was running fairly frequently and I waited a mere 10 minutes to board. My fellow riders were particularly rowdy as we had less than 30 minutes until the first pitch and the traffic on Cesar Chavez was brutal. Some suggestions I heard from the riders included: 1. creating a bus only lane before game time to allow for faster trip times
2. allowing the bus to turn right from the far most left lane into the parking lot rather than having to travel in the congested center and right lanes
3. having a bus only travel lane once we've entered the line for parking
My personal suggestion is that they make more than one drop off to allow those people with reserve and top deck level tickets to disembark closer to their seats. I would imagine that those individuals sitting at the field level will probably be driving to the game seeing that $150+ per ticket was in their budget. I didn't take the Express back to Union Station as I was lucky enough to have the bearded man pick me up and take me to dinner, but I will at some point during the season and report back on how it fairs. I suspect that it might be faster to walk down to Sunset Bl. and take a regular Metro bus (Route #2, 704) but that will also be part of my research. Finally, I want to test out if I can make it back from a 7:00pm game to Union Station in time to make the final Gold Line train (that is if the game ends in 9 innings, and doesn't last 5+ hours like Wednesday's game). All good information to know whether it is truly possible to attend a Dodger game in L.A. sans personal vehicle.

Overall, I was impressed with the Metro representatives on hand to direct people to the bus, and especially amazed at the driver for putting up with all those awesomely rowdy and crazy Dodger fans. Here's hoping that after this year, it will be seen as a reliable and necessary service that either the Dodger organization or Metro will make available every season and not just if funding is provided by the Southern CA Air Quality Management District. For more information on why and how this was funded, please read the LAist article.

There will never be enough $

The L.A. County Metropolitan Transit Authority (aka Metro) released its operating budget for the next fiscal year and anticipates the operating budget will be far below what it needs to be. The obvious solution for Metro is to reduce service and increase fares. Yet, one of the main reasons Metro does not raise more money from its fare box is that the system as it stands today is inefficient and difficult to use as a primary form of transit. The long wait at the bus stop and the number of transfers necessary to get from Point A to Point B is why ridership continues to decrease. The only people left to ride Metro are those who are forced to because they have no other option. There will not be an increase in ridership until Metro realizes that cutting service and increasing prices is not the only answer. How about optimizing a system that has not been radically changed in several decades? Why not work on creating an integrated Regional System where local city transit systems connect to a concentrated Metro System which serves Downtown, major commuter routes and other centers of L.A. life. There was going to be such a system, it was called Metro Connections, and it was basically shelved after barely even getting off the ground 2 years ago. I'm just hoping that with this new set of impending service cuts Metro finally does something about Express Route #460 which travels a whopping 27 miles each way from Downtown to Disneyland! I really would like to know what the ridership looks like on that gem as well as an explanation as to why the L.A. County Metro is paying for service that should be left to the Orange County Transit Authority. For more information please read the LA Times article.

Gold Line Drama

This past week in L.A. there's been a deluge of rain and wet weather, but luckily for this public transit commuter the actual trip time hasn't been severely affected. That is until this morning when around 4:00am a tree fell on the tracks and caused closures from Sierra Madre Villa Station to Southwest Museum Station. As my home station is Mission in South Pasadena, I knew I'd be in for an adventure to get to work. I assured the bearded man not to worry and feel free to take our one rain proof vehicle (Scooter in pouring rain didn't sound like a good idea). I departed at 8:10am hoping to at minimum catch Route 176 that travels to Figueroa and York and transfer to Route 81 that travels down Figueroa through Downtown L.A. Lucky for me I managed to walk right on the bridge bus transporting passengers between the stranded stations and Southwest Museum Station. For the 2 stops we visited (Highland Park and Southwest Museum) I found Metro staff to be informative and quickly moving people along as best as possible. I made it to work in about 50 minutes, or about 3 times as long as it would take on a normal operation day.

I did hear from other co-workers at stations farther northbound (Fillmore) there was little to no Metro presence or explanation regarding the situation. I understand that it is difficult to react quickly, but information is key. With the no-cost, instant ways to transmit timely information via Twitter, there is little excuse for Metro in not keeping their riders informed of service disruptions. I know a few months ago Metro was looking for a blogger to keep the public abreast of developing transit issues, but it appears they have a greater need for a Twitter account manager transmitting issues like today's in real time.

Luckily for me, close to 25% of my department takes the Gold Line to work so there was much sympathy and understanding when I arrived to work 30 minutes late. Looking forward to taking the Gold Line Eastside extension this afternoon to Mariachi Plaza for a michelada at Eastside Luv!

In the Battle of Rail vs. Bus...

Rail vs. Bus has been a consistent battle since completion of the Blue Line in 1990. By connecting Long Beach to Downtown L.A., the transit planners resolved some of the commuter headaches of the 710 and 110 freeways. In 1993, the Red Line opened it's first leg from Downtown to MacArthur Park and exposed all the difficulties with building a heavy rail line (a.k.a. subway) in a city as developed and busy as Los Angeles. Other communities began clamoring for their own rail lines and the expansion continued with the Green (traveling on the 105 fwy.), Gold (Pasadena to Downtown and now to East L.A.) and the faux Orange (technically a Bus Rapid Transit system, but close enough for the Valley). Now Metro officials have declared that Crenshaw Blvd. should receive it's only Light Rail from the Expo Line which is currently underway to the existing Green Line.

I am personally not 100% convinced that rail is the best way to spend transit dollars in a city as sprawling as Los Angeles, but it is understandable why it continues to win the battle vs. bus debate.

Metro caused me to move

Shortly after I started taking the bus on a regular basis from Whittier to Downtown L.A., two things happened: 1) I got a new job located at the transit hub in L.A., aka Union Station and 2) my bus commute became unbearable on one rainy day in early October. The benefits of my work being located at THE transit hub are enormous. Rather than having to take a very slow Municipal bus line (a.k.a. Montebello Bus) and having to transfer to an equally slow Metro bus (#33/#333) to get to Pico-Union, I now had the advantage of taking a very slow Metro bus (#270) to several very fast, Express buses by a variety of transit providers. It didn't cut down the overall trip time by much, but it did allow me to walk to the bus stop from my house. This all worked out very nicely until one day it rained in L.A. And for those of you who aren't native Angelenos this means the entire city is thrown into chaos.

I had arrived to work relatively on-time most days via my new route and was surprised at how even the unpredictable rain didn't affect my travel time to work. Unfortunately, it was the ride home where my faith in bus transit started to wear thin. I waited at my stop next to the El Monte Busway for any express bus that was headed towards El Monte Bus Station. As I stood there, three buses that would have taken me to my transfer point were so full that two didn't stop and one stopped loading passengers. By the time I was able to board Foothill Transit's Silver Streak I had missed my transfer connection. For a regular route, this wouldn't be a problem, but the Metro 270 only runs once an hour! Add that the cold weather and rain and I called in the cavalry and asked the bearded man to come pick me up.

This long roundabout story played a large part in our decision to move to a location where I'd be within walking distance of a Metro Gold Line stop that has a frequency of approximately every 8 minute during peak hours. It means no more transfers, no more waiting at a stop wondering if the bus will ever come and a 99% likelihood I'll have somewhere to sit. More to come on the move, and the ever evolving result of having only 1 car in a city ruled by what you drive.

Riding around on 2 wheels

Today I spent most of my trip on the Montebello Bus Line 41 sleeping until I realized I was about one stop away from where I needed to get off. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people talk really loud on their cell phones in the bus. Apparently the guy behind me was frustrated about some Architect Committee members sending out rogue e-mails with other people blind copied. The fact that I even know this much proves how loud and obnoxious this one sided conversation was. Anyways, after exiting on 3rd and Spring I walked down to 6th and Spring to wait for the 33/333. It took about 10-15 minutes for the bus to arrive, but once boarded we had to wait an additional few minutes to allow a rider in his wheelchair on the bus.

This got me thinking how difficult it must be to get around a city like L.A. in a wheelchair. Owning a van with a wheelchair lift is VERY expensive, plus having to modify it with hand controls is another cost. But for $.25 someone can travel on Metro throughout the County. This is a huge public benefit that is not often considered when talking about public bus transit. The bus also allows disabled individuals to be dropped even closer to their destination as opposed to the fixed routes of light rail/subway/busways. Unfortunately, there remains several problems for disabled passengers when using Metro: 1) not all buses have the wheelchair lifts/they are not always working; 2) the frequency of the bus service can lead to VERY long commutes; 3) the passenger must always know where he/she wants to get off so the bus driver can assist them in debarking, which requires extra planning and research on the part of the rider.

Overall, I would hope that by improving the overall bus system for all riders, disabled passengers would benefit even more as they depend on public transit for the majority of their transportation needs.

Total transit time today: 90 minutes; 50 minutes from Whittier to Downtown L.A.; Transfer wait: 10-12 minutes; 10 minutes from Downtown L.A. to Pico Union

Redesign

Thank you to my few loyal readers, but I have decided to take this blog in a different direction. What prompted my decision has mostly to do with an advertisement I saw for a transit blogger for Metro's website. The purpose of this blog was to inform readers of on-goings in the transit world and progress on projects, Measure R money, etc. As I'm now a frequent commuter of multiple bus lines within L.A. County, I thought it might be interesting to report on what I see and hear while on the people's limo.

So let's begin with a review of Montebello Bus lines 41 and 341 (the Express). This line travels down Beverly Blvd beginning at either Norwalk Blvd in Whittier or Montebello Blvd. for the Express. After several trips on this line, I'm very impressed with the bus driver's service, the timeliness, and the cheap fare ($1.10 for regular, $1.30 for Express). The 341 travels on the 60 fwy. to the 101 fwy, exiting 4th Street before it continues Downtown. In total, the Express saves approximately 15 minutes in total trip time.

After I get downtown, I then need to make my way over to Pico Union. This second leg of my trip is unfortunately very tedious. There are 3 options: Metro Line 33 which starts at 7th and Spring and requires a 3 block walk to transfer, Metro Line 333 (limited stops) which begins at Union Station, and the Dash D route to the Dash- Pico Union route.

At first, I rode line 33 because it came the most frequently and dropped me off within 3 blocks of work. The line 333 is faster because of the limited stops, but comes less frequently and drops me off about a 1/2 mile from work. Finally the Dash combo drops me off the closest, but requires an extra transfer (although does save $0.75).

I have finally tried all three combos and believe Metro Line 333 to be the winner. Although it requires the longest walk to work, it saves time with less stops and comes frequently enough to warrant waiting out the extra few minutes in comparison to the Dash. Plus, it's drop-off point is in a safer neighborhood than Metro Line 33.

What I learned today was how inefficiently dispatched many of the Dash routes can be. The entire ride our driver was peppered with requests to spread out so that there was more space between him and the buses before and after him. The lack of specificity by the dispatcher allowed for no one to actually take responsibility for creating the required space and was very ineffective. I tend to believe that this is just how it's always been done at Dash without any ability to prove that it's useful or efficient.

Next up, a review on upcoming projects at Metro and an update on Measure R funding.