Fine, then they should do it. Maybe install the new ones, and then replace the older ones. This would also be a solution for the lack of lockers in many schools, BTW, but every time I’ve mentioned it, someone has said, “Yes, but you’re thinking about it logically.”

If we were dealing with an agency that cared they would have the bike lock up areas in view of the street with lighting and security cameras. They would have a security force that would be riding the trains and checking stations. They would have ticket inspectors checking for fair evaders. They would dump the planned gates that would make the system even less secure and use that money to put people on trains and at stations. This is a simple low tech solution that will work and even increase ridership because riders would know that they would be safe from crime on trains, venders, obnoxious riders as well as homeless people who just ride to get out of the weather.

How about police that gasp, actually get out of their cars. They sit in their patrol cars outside of stations and idle around. I’ve never seen a sheriff actually in the train station, let alone riding one of the trains. People evade the fares so easily not just because there are no gates, but there is never any police around to ticket for fare evasion, let alone fight crime and make our city safe. Lets make the police do their job before we start talking about abandoning transit use.

The answer in my opinion:

- U-Racks (with instructional stickers on how to lock up securely)
- Well lit area with foot traffic around it (not in the dark off to the side)
- Security (who will clean up around the area, who will say hi to the people, who will take pride in his job, and who rides the Metro and/or a bike)
- And last but not least, if people would sue the Metro once and for all for not accommodating cyclists, maybe they will listen.

(Unless that’s “blke stations”, in which case it’s two words.)

Then again, ever since I saw the yellow police tape around the 7th and Metro station a couple weeks ago from the murder that had happened there, I’ve been a bit leery of the ole MTA and train riding. Eeee.

That’s it. I’m saying it:
Looks like we (cyclists in general) got snoozled by the MTA with Measure R.

Not too surprising given their demonstrated lack of ability to think creatively and find innovative solutions to the litany of traffic related problems we face in LA.

But if we could get some money from the local returns in Measure R and somehow get a creative smart person into the job of spending that on smart bike infrastructure….

It could happen.

I also don’t know why they didn’t provide better lighting for the bike areas. At the station nearest to me, both the lockers and the racks have no lighting near them. It’s not that easy to lock and unlock a bike without light.