Despite the elimination of transit subsidies from our Greenhouse-Gas-Battling Governor and the Democratically controlled state legislature, Metro is pushing forward with plans to expand and improve bus service thanks to increased funding from Measure R.  A report to the Metro Board's Measure R committee shows that just because the state has bowed out of the transit funding game, all is not lost for those who supported Measure R because they wanted better bus service.

While specific plans aren't yet available, you can get an idea from both the report and the handout to the committee what Metro's priorities are.  For example, they aren't saying, "increasing number of buses at rush hour for the 704 line" but are saying, "Wilshire Blvd. to address existing crowding."  Metro is expressing these priorities for the 20% of Measure R that is going towards bus service:

Clean Fuel Bus Purchases
Added Fare Freezes or Reductions
Added Bus Lines
More Frequent Service
Longer Hours of Operation
Restructured Bus Lines

Not sure how Metro is going to both freeze or reduce fares and meet the stated goal of their draft Long Range Plan to have their farebox recovery ratio rise to 33% by 2010, but other than that these look like the kind of changes people expected when they voted for Measure R.

Meanwhile, the picture is less rosy for other municipal operators.  Thirteen of the sixteen local transit operators are going to use all or part of their Measure R subsidy to "replace lost funding" including Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus and the City of Los Angeles' DASH service.

Yesterday, LAist reported, based on an LADOT report, that roughly 1,000 people a night rode the Red Line during the expanded late night hours of the holiday season.  The report admitted that because the plan had been adopted so late in the year, that there was insufficient lead time to market the program.  Remember, the late night service was funded privately, so if we want to see the service again we have to convince them that the service can be even better in 2009.

A report on how late night DASH service was received was more dire.  The DASH Service ran for only 13 nights and attracted 1,847 people boarding the service, an average of 142 per night, or 5.4 boardings per bus per hour.  However, the time to promote the service was even more limited than for late nights on the Red Line, funding was secured a week before the program launched.  For example, LA Live, which needs several weeks lead time didn't even run an ad for the service.

The future of late night Red Line and DASH service may be uncertain for now, but we can be certain that the quicker funding is found for the next holiday season, the more people will use the service.  I'm certain that Blogdowntown, which not only covered the late night service but helped bring about its funding, will have details on what we can do to make sure the service comes back.  In the meantime, feel free to leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments section.

Photo: Fire Monkey Fish/Flickr

News and opinion continues to come in on last week's horrific crash between a DASH bus and 58 year old pedestrian Gwendolyn Coleman.  The most important of which came yesterday when Steve Hymon reported at LA Now that the police have determined that Coleman had the right away and a green light when the DASH bus slammed into her.

Gwendolyn Coleman, 58, of Burbank was hit by a city of Los Angeles DASH bus at 5th and Flower streets about 6:35 a.m. Coleman had the green light to cross and the driver of the bus did not see her because of a blind spot, said Richard French, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

The DASH bus was turning from 5th onto Flower when the accident happened. First Transit, the company that operates the buses for the city, said Thursday that the driver of the bus had been put on suspension pending an investigation.

Putting aside my dislike of the word "accident," there is one other problem with this statement from the LAPD.  If Coleman was crossing the intersection legally, the "blind spot" is either such a severe flaw that the intersection should be closed immediately or is a result of a driver that wasn't paying close attention.  Either way, we're a long way away from a resolution to this issue.

In other news, last week LAist reported that an impromptu memorial to Coleman was erected at the crash site and today City Watch wonders how with pedestrians getting struck down the City Council can possibly be considering raising speed limits.

Photo: Tom Andrews/LAist

Hat Tip to alert reader Ingrid Peterson.

Yesterday morning, a DASH bus crashed into a woman in the crosswalk on Flower Street, just after 5th, in the cross walk that leads to LA public library.  First hand accounts of the crash were pretty graphic and the pedestrian is assumed dead since, in the words of one witness, "there were chunks of blood and brains smeared everywhere."  Despite the somewhat spectacular and graphic nature of the crash, it hasn't been reported on any traditional news outlet, print or broadcast, to the best of my, and google's, knowledge.

At this point, the cause of the crash hasn't been determined as a full investigation will be undertaken because the victim passed away. 

The obvious thrust of the investigation will most likely focus on whether or not the bus ran a red light.  Transit watchers county wide have long complained that Metro and other bus drivers can basically ignore red lights without any worry of being stopped.  A thread on Midnight Ridazz on bus driver behavior was full of complaints about red light running and The Bus Bench has already documented that Metro Rapids see red light laws as optional.

While any crash involving a pedestrian is a tragedy, perhaps this is the spark that local transit providers need to take the red light running more seriously.  At this point it's too early to know whether the driver, pedestrian, or other both were at fault, but what isn't debateable is whether or not traffic safety laws should apply to all vehicle drivers.

(Update: 10:32 A.M. - The LAPD has confirmed that details are being held until their investigation is finalized.  However, unless there is more of an outcry on the incident, there won't be any announcements to the press.  Also, LAist has more details on the crash here)

Tucked away at the end of last week's City Council meeting was an update on the Dodger Shuttle, the city-provided bus service to Dodger Stadium that ran for the second half of the baseball season and the playoffs.  In brief, the program was an overwhelming success.  Transporting over 700 riders each way, the program averaged 1,406 total boardings per game.

However, as often happens with transit programs, success breeds funding problems.  In this case, the need for more shuttles, and the Dodgers playoff run, ballooned the cost to the city, which provided the shuttles for free with no financial support from the Dodgers, from $70,000 to $150,000.  The cost of providing the shuttles for next season, even taking into account the new proposed fare of $3 for a round trip ticket is over $380,000.

For at least one City Councilman, that cost may be too high.  City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who was very critical of the Dodgers for not ponying up some funds for the pilot project this season, pressed the LADOT on Friday on whether the Dodgers were going to be any more giving next season, the answer?  Not likely.

With Downtown Businesses taking a lead by funding more the extended hours for DASH and Metro trains on weekends, the likelihood that the shuttle will continue during a budget crisis is somewhat dimmed.  With all of the public relations surrounding the launch of the shuttle, it's unlikely that the city would just let it fall to the wayside completely, but to have the transit service that the city needs it will probably involve some investment from the Trolley Dodgers, an investment beyond writing press releases and designing a trolley logo.

Photo: Los Angeles Streetsblog "Elected Leaders" Photostream

Tonight is the night that late night train service on the Red Line begins in Downtown Los Angeles.  Rising to the occasion, LADOT has also extended the hours for DASH service so buses will be in place to support the transit lines.  All of this is great news, LA is finally realizing that late night trains are a relatively inexpensive way to bolster business AND make our roads a more safe way to travel.

And Los Angeles is ready to celebrate this event with a party.  I received more than one invitation to take part in a "Red Line Barhop" in my inbox, and social planning website Thrillist even put together a list to help us all out.  As Thrillist notes:

LA barhopping sucks: take your car, and risk DUI, or take the subway, and discover both that we have a subway, and that it stops running before last call. Or at least it did: starting tomorrow, the Red Line from North Hollywood to Downtown's running every 20 minutes, 'til 3am on weekends through the end of the year. Here're some suggestions for each stop -- with the exception of Vermont/Beverly and MacArthur Park/Westlake, where getting off the train risks certain death and, worse, probable thirst.

I'll probably be skipping the festivities.  Maybe I'm getting old, or maybe I already have a way to celebrate non-motorized transportation by drinking; but you transit riding kids have a good time.  And don't be afraid to stay out as late as you want to.

Photo: Jon Shoemaker/Flickr

LADOT has officially joined in the effort to bring late night transit service to downtown Los Angeles.  A new report by the Department encourages the City Council to fund their proposal to run late night bus service along two routes in the Downtown.

However, while their is support for the bus routes, the proposal won't move forward without private funding.  The cost of running the late night service will be $180,000 for 2009, and while LADOT will provide the buses for the service they are asking private business, who just coughed up over $50,000 for Metro's late night train service pilot program, to  cover the cost of transit services that will benefit their businesses.  If only they would take the same stand with the Dodgers.

Blogdowntown has some information on routing and cost:

The added route travels east on 7th street, north on Main to 1st street, south on Broadway to 9th and then loops back up to 8th street before heading west to join up with the original line at the 7th/Metro Red Line station.

In response to a City Council motion by Transportation Committee Chair Wendy Greuel and Councilman Tom LaBonge, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation studied the feasibility of providing Wi-Fi Internet service on Commuter Express Buses.  Their conclusion?  It's too expensive to pursue right now.

The city estimates that the cost of installing the necessary equipment would be over $500,000, which would be more than enough to cover the cost of the Dodger shuttle for the next three years, with another $1.3 million needed for the first five years of service.   In addition, there was little enthusiasm from riders for the service.  Only 17% of riders who responded to an LADOT survey didn't already have a Wi-Fi capable device and would use Wi-Fi if it were available on the bus.  Of that small number, over those interested were not willing to pay for that service.

While it would certainly be cool to have Internet provided on buses, LADOT is probably on the right track.  More and more people are able to access the Internet via cell phone, Wi-Fi card or other device.  By the time their contract expired in five years, the technology they provide could be nearly obsolete. 

Photo: Wad/Flickr 

The LADOT announced at today's City Council hearing that soon riders will be able to buy monthly DASH passes instead of carrying around a pocket full of quarters every time they want to take the bus. No date was given in the report for when monthlies will be available, but a successful pilot program has already been run on two lines, at the request of Councilmembers Tom LaBonge and Wendy Greuel. That some areas already have monthly passes suggests that all DASH riders will be able to get monthly passes before the summer.

The cost of a monthly DASH pass will be $9.00, or the current cost of 36 individual rides at the full fare. If a rider doesn't ride 36 times per month, LADOT suggests purchasing a ticket book which has 60 tickets for $15 and doesn't provide a discount over the base fare.

LADOT states that demand for a monthly pass increased dramatically because of Metro's decision to terminate the pass reimbursement plan where riders could transfer for free from Metro buses to DASH buses. When this cancellation was announced in the fall of 2007, LADOT was not happy and repeatedly slammed Metro in public meetings and press releases.

While one can certainly question the policy of changing a fare reimbursement plan in the middle of a fiscal year, a "stealth fare hike" as I called it at Street Heat at the time, it is good to see that LADOT is trying to make some good out of the situation by modernizing part of its fare collection system. However, the city shouldn't consider this a last step in modernizing and should continue working with Metro until riders can purchase one card and ride on any of the transit routes offered county-wide.

Photo: Reto Kurmann/Flickr