“Metro does take safety seriously. Just look at how well deputies guarding the Red Line subdued this photographer -- I mean Al Qaeda operative -- earlier this month:”
– Will Campbell In response to ""Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety"
Email la-tips@streetsblog.org or send them anonymously. Tag your photos, links, and videos with "streetsblog".
Overall, we had a favorable impression of the future Gold Line and see how it will be a boon for the communities through which it passes. However, there were some safety concerns we had, especially at the Little Tokyo and Indiana Stations.
Continue reading »
Streetsblog is a daily news source, online community and political mobilizer for the Livable Streets movement.
Learn More…Streetfilms produces videos that show how cities around the world are reclaiming their streets for pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders.
Learn More…Streetswiki is a community-created, online encyclopedia where you can read, write and learn about sustainable transportation policies, practices and ideas from around the world.
Learn More…The Livable Streets Community is a place to organize projects in your own town and connect and share with others who are doing the same.
Learn More…Livable Streets Education helps classroom teachers and schools weave pertinent ideas about urban livability and advocacy into their curriculum.
Learn More…
Damien Newton
While I wasn't here, and Arroyo Fest sounds awesome, I have to think that Ciclovia (or yes, a CicLAvia) is the way to go on this issue. Once businesses see that there's a lot to be gained by having more cyclists and pedestrians on the street, the faster more people we'll have interested in "Livable Streets."
in response to SCAG and City of Los Angeles Thinking About Solutions to the Last Mile Problem
DJB
"Provide cities and counties with an infusion of funds to engage the community in planning."
-----
This gets to a core dilemma. What if the community wants to sprawl? What if they don't care about the financial and environmental costs of suburbia and driving? If you truly engage people like that in a planning process, won't you loose all of the smart growth content you're after?
It's really hard, because land use authority is local, and people, particularly homeowners, tend to vote with their feet. They move to places they like, if they have a choice. Hence, these people probably want things to stay the same way they were when they moved in.
There may be an agonizing tradeoff between wider participation and achieving cities with better environmental performance. What's more important? A good process or a good result?
in response to New Study Quantifies High Personal Costs of Building CA Cities for Cars
wiyum
The intersection of Atlantic and Pomona Boulevards is not located in Monterey Park. It is in East Los Angeles.
I agree that the line comes close to pedestrian areas and can be overwhelming at times, but I also think that people need to be a bit more vigilant. We have a beautiful new line. Let's continue to improve upon it so we can continue to be proud.
in response to A Streets-Level Review of the Gold Line Eastside Extension
Damien Newton
Honestly, Fred?
With the way my writing has been since I've been on a baby-reduced sleeping schedule, I've been waiting for you to point out that I should have written "If Metro WERE getting calls..."
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Erik G.
This is a complete debacle and I would not be suprised if we someday find out that Burke got her house refurbishment and the Brentwood rental that got her tossed from office, paid for by Cubic.
The gates only increased revenues for the initial test BECAUSE METRO STAFFED THE GATES with either their own staff in vests, Cubic staff in vests (neither of which have any authority to check fares) and then sherrif's deputies. I use the Wilshire/Normandie station twice daily and it was pathetic to see such a waste of law enforcement there every single day for over 30 days.
And in the meantime, I HAVE NOT BEEN CHECKED ONCE for a ticket on the Red/Purple Line ever since this asnine turnstile project started, nor have I seen law enforcement on board any trains, save for early morning/off-duty. in-uniform commuters.
I have been told I can't use the one ADA faregate though, because my "bag was not big enough".
in response to Today's Headlines
Fred Camino, The Source
Erik G.-
Duly noted.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Erik G.
Fred,
The Lady Metro didth protest too much. Just state that they were not LA Metro doings, and move on. Surely you can see why some would believe those signs. Maybe that is what your energies need to be spent on.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
David Galvan
@Will: I watched that video. I think the guy could have totally de-fused the situation if he hadn't been such a jackass to the LASD officer. Whole thing made me roll my eyes.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Adam Villani
Build it. I'm a big mass transit supporter, too, but this isn't like other freeway expansion projects. This completes a gap that's caused problems for more than four decades. It's not a matter of "golly, this freeway's crowded; let's make it bigger." It's a matter of improving connectivity and diverting traffic away from surface streets and downtown L.A.
in response to Superfund, Fault Lines, Groundwater All in the Way...Let's Dig a Tunnel!
Fred Camino, The Source
*if* Metro was *actually* getting calls? I was hoping I could bring credibility amongst transit advocates to Metro. Looks like instead I've lost any credibility I have once had! For the record, I didn't lie about Metro getting calls and emails so I could pick on a blog I read from time to time.
Just messing with you Damien. ;)
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
David Pulsipher
thanks for this notice damien. i wrote a letter as well.
in response to Help D.A. Mary Stone Keep the Road Rage Doc Behind Bars
limit
Madness. If anything a gap closure should also be done to connect the 2 with the 101 as previous designed.
in response to Echo Park Community Warns Metro: Hybrid Plan for Route 2 Terminus Untested, Illegal
limit
Multi modal solutions are key. However, I would also like to see additional options such as a cut and cover middle ground.
in response to Superfund, Fault Lines, Groundwater All in the Way...Let's Dig a Tunnel!
Digital Dame
Damien, just one quick comment on your letter:
This line in the first paragraph: "However, no matter how heart-rendering the story"
the term is 'heartrending'
Sorry, can't help it. I'm a hell-on-wheels proofreader ;)
Feel free to delete this comment.
in response to Help D.A. Mary Stone Keep the Road Rage Doc Behind Bars
limit
Typical light rail - full of corp/gov workers in the morning/evening and full of thugs otherwise.
in response to The Gold Line Is Open, Post Your Stories Here
Damien Newton
To be fair, I think if Metro was actually getting calls; they have the right to be annoyed. That being said, the entire post on LA Eastside actually made me laugh out loud last Saturday.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Will Campbell
Metro does take safety seriously. Just look at how well deputies guarding the Red Line subdued this photographer -- I mean Al Qaeda operative -- earlier this month:
http://tinyurl.com/yeqtg3r
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Spokker
Let's have another flame war now :)
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Damien Goodmon
Here’s the thing, Metro actually does takes safety very seriously
I stopped reading after that.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
EL CHAVO!
Now I wish we had printed up some signs to help out on opening day!
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
ubrayj02
JRider, your comment makes no sense!
Do you want to keep the off-ramps or would you rather see them taken out?
in response to Echo Park Community Warns Metro: Hybrid Plan for Route 2 Terminus Untested, Illegal
ubrayj02
I think we should all take a quiet moment to reflect on this:
calwatch can, without reference to notes, cite the three fonts the MTA uses on their schedules.
Wow. I want calwatch on my team.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Carter
Done, here's mine. And, thanks for letting us all know how we can have input on this hugely important issue.
From the time I was two years old to when I left for college, I lived with my family on Mandeville Canyon Road. Despite the ubiquitous presence of bike riders on Mandeville, they are still at constant risk from reckless drivers who speed and swerve around them, ignorant of the rights of bike riders to share in the use of our roads just as anyone else.
It would be unconscionable and a grave miscarriage of justice if Mr. Thompson were to get off with anything short of several years behind bars. His was a violent and horrifying act of aggression against defenseless members of my community, as bad as though he went into their homes and assaulted them with any sort of weapon.
Please, do everything in your power to obtain the strictest sentence for Mr. Thompson. We as a community cannot allow this sort of heinous act to stand.
in response to Help D.A. Mary Stone Keep the Road Rage Doc Behind Bars
Spokker
I meant that *they* got Browne.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Spokker
"If you check out the comments on the LA Eastside blog you actually find that many of the commenters there didn't get the joke"
Actually, yeah, that's true. You even got Browne :)
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Fred Camino, The Source
If you check out the comments on the LA Eastside blog you actually find that many of the commenters there didn't get the joke... unless I'm just being super dense and the comments were part of it as well. There was talk of letter writing campaigns, questions of how much money was spent, calls of racism, etc. It didn't bother me personally, but combined with the phone calls and emails from offended customers, a believe a post was warranted. But hey, what do I know.
bikinginla - I believe while "hoax" and "satire" are indeed different, a hoax can be done in the name of satire which I believe was the point of the LA Eastside post.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
calwatch
The MTA spent so much on an image campaign, even decreeing that certain fonts shall be used everywhere (Scala, Scala Sans, with DIN for the schedules), that they must feel disconcerted that these bad imitations of signs were actually taken seriously by the public.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
bikinginla
There's quite a difference between a hoax and satire. Maybe we need to chip in and buy Metro a dictionary — or a sense of humor. Seems like skins are a little thin over there.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Damien Newton
Sometimes I worry that you all picture me as a humorless school teacher lecturing at all of you. I like to think that nothing could be farther from the truth.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Spokker
Damien, I meant The Source shouldn't get worked up over it. Sorry.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Will Campbell
I'm going to wish Fred's at-grade call for a "Warning: Satire Ahead" statement from LA Eastside was satirical.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Damien Newton
Was it really not clear that I laughed along with the Eastside blog? I actually noticed this story last weekend while looking up Gold Line Stories. I didn't think it was worth a story, but when The Source responded that Metro was actually getting complaints, well, then it seemed worth it.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Spokker
That Eastside Blog post was definitely satirical. No need to get worked up over it.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
jass
Some more interesting articles from the Daily Trojan:
In LAPD takes new approach to enforcing bike laws
"Carlisle said LAPD reported that it noticed many motor vehicles failing to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk, and it plans to return Thursday to address the issue.
“It appears they will be back tomorrow to monitor areas such as Hoover and 28th [Street] and Hoover and Adams [Boulevard] because of the number of vehicles ignoring pedestrians in crosswalks,” Carlisle said."
http://dailytrojan.com/2009/11/19/lapd-takes-new-approach-to-enforcing-bike-laws/
But whats up with this?
"While the task force is not considering a campus-wide bicycle ban — a solution raised by the Department of Public Safety last semester — Becker believes that some restricted access for bicycles lies in the future.
“The campus can only accommodate so many bicycles, so in the end one of the ideas that we’ve come up with is having landing spots where you park your bike somewhere and then walk to wherever you’re going,” Becker explained."
http://dailytrojan.com/2009/11/19/bikes-mounting-it%E2%80%99s-time-to-break-the-cycle/
I dont go to USC, and I dont understand their attitude. The administration fought the expo line, and now bikes are the villains? I also dont understand why the Daily Trojan is so content to push the "dangerous bikes" line. These articles have almost no reporting. Instead of questioning the tactics taken by USC, they just repeat them
in response to Today's Headlines
ds
At grade crossings suck because they greatly limit the speed that the trains can go, not because they're some massive hazard beyond that of normal street traffic.
The process of not getting hit by a train is exactly the same as not getting hit by one of the thousands of cars, trucks, and buses that pass by every day: Look both ways and make sure it's clear before you step in the middle of a street.
It would have been nice if Metro sprung for more grade separation, simply because it would be nice to have actual "rapid" transit.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
ubrayj02
You forgot the other reason for doing these fake signs: they're kinda funny regardless of what the MTA did or didn't do.
They are also a little bit tasteless. The context of who created them is the key to the humor. If these came from The Minutemen border patrol types ... eh ... not so funny.
I'd hate to see the "local lingo" signs for the Crenshaw Corridor. Can you say "controversy"?
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Dave S
hear hear Crazy Commuter, spoken like a true urbanista!
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Dave S
Don't mean to contradict, though I do not see the big deal with at grade crossings. Is this what the controversy is over? Ever been to Portland, or even Minneapolis? I would like to think that people growing up in busy urban areas are aware enough of their environment to know to get out of the way of the train. Some of the best public places in the country occur where a train runs right through at grade, like a river. Look at Skidmore historic areas in Portland.
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
CrazyCommuter
OK maybe I'm a horrible person and maybe I haven't been following specific safety complaints about the eastside extension enough but still, generally speaking, some of the people in south CA kind of horrify me. How hard is it to NOT run into, or get run over by, a large, loud, multiple ton monstrosity lumbering along clearly marked tracks accompanied by bells and flashing lights?
Seriously, people :(
in response to "Cartoon Thursday:" Eastside Blog Punks Metro on Gold Line Safety
Brandon Leddy
We would have none of this without concrete. http://www.srmconcrete.com . This company goes above and beyond.
in response to Curitiba’s BRT: Inspired Bus Rapid Transit Around the World
Brent
I mailed an old-school letter yesterday:
I am a pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist. Since 1996, I have walked to work, a twenty-minute journey from my apartment to my office in Century City. Last year, I returned to my teen-age passion for bicycling, when I purchased a new bicycle on July 4, 2008. Since then, I have regularly ridden more miles weekly than I drive.
I find it symbolic that Dr. Christopher Thompson’s attack on Ron Peterson and Christian Stoehr happened on the very day I restarted my cycling life. My walking experience in Los Angeles has always carried its dangers, but bicycling has proven to be on a different level altogether. In the short time since I returned to riding, I have had several close calls with cars, with many incidents bordering on the intentional, or at least grossly negligent.
I know neither the injured cyclists nor the doctor, but when Thompson was convicted, I felt a palpable sense of relief. This conviction delivers an important message to the drivers of Los Angeles, that sharing the road with non-motorists is the law, and that breaking the law has serious consequences.
Thompson now faces sentencing. From what I understand, one possible outcome is probation. If such light sentencing emboldened him to return to the streets with a renewed desire to “teach cyclists a lesson,” I would be horrified. For the sake of my safety, and for the safety of the many law-abiding road users in this great city, he needs to be kept off the roads for as long as possible.
in response to Help D.A. Mary Stone Keep the Road Rage Doc Behind Bars
John F. Conroy
Build a "flyover" like the Harbor Freeway downtown. Two lanes each way, and leave room for a Gold line connection. NO on or off ramps in South Pasadena. Over 30 years of NIMBY-ism is quite enough, thank you.
in response to Superfund, Fault Lines, Groundwater All in the Way...Let's Dig a Tunnel!
Spokker
There are better ways to opposing the 710 project than resorting to fear tactics. We don't like it when it's done to transit projects, so we shouldn't do it to freeway projects.
in response to Superfund, Fault Lines, Groundwater All in the Way...Let's Dig a Tunnel!
dudeonabike
Here's mine:
Dear Hon. Millington:
I am an attorney, a father of two young boys (both of whom regularly bike on the streets of Los Angeles), and a daily bike commuter from Los Feliz to my office in downtown Los Angeles.
I read with not only sadness—but thoughts concerning a fear for my own life as a vulnerable cyclist on city streets—the case of Dr. Thompson, his reprehensible actions, and the injuries that he so unnecessarily inflicted on the cyclists in Mandeville Canyon.
I, too, have been the victim of unnecessary harassment and intentionally malicious driver behavior—just for cycling on our city streets. Frankly I’m lucky to still be here to write this letter, and luckily my injuries were significantly less severe those inflicted upon the victims by Dr. Thompson.
But unfortunately, many drivers seem to be unaware of the consequences of taking out road rage on cyclists—just for cycling on our city streets. And unfortunately, it seems many of our own LAPD are either unaware or unwilling to treat such criminal behavior for what it is.
I can’t help but think over and over again on every ride what if I were the victim of a similar act of intentional violence? What would my two boys be feeling if I were not to show up for dinner one night? What type of worry would my wife have to endure upon receiving that call, after hours of hand wringing, from an emergency room informing that her husband’s skull had been propelled through the rear window of a driver that “wanted to teach him a lesson.” For cycling?
A strong sentence will reverberate loudly to our fellow motor vehicle driving community that intentionally harmful or vindictive behavior will not be tolerated--and will be severely punished.
A strong sentence will send a message to our LAPD, whose enforcement of crimes such as these is historically lax, that if a driver intentionally hits a cyclist, he/she will be prosecuted and go to jail.
I am compelled to write this letter because I feel that Your Honor has a chance to chip away at the severely outdated notions held by drivers, law enforcement, and possibly our elected officials that keep many off their bikes and in fear of their lives. I plead with my wife and have to regularly convince her (and scores of other parents with whom I regularly see) that it’s ok for me to bike with my sons on city streets. She’s afraid we’ll all die. That is so wrong. True, accidents happen, but intentional infliction of grave bodily harm of the kind doled out by Dr. Thompson simply never should. But when it does, the consequences must be dire.
This defendant must be taken off our streets, this defendant must have his driver’s license revoked, this defendant should be forced to fund an insurance trust that would pay for the medical bills and expenses of cyclists for those that have no insurance or ability to pay for their cycling injuries.
Thank you for your consideration.
in response to Help D.A. Mary Stone Keep the Road Rage Doc Behind Bars
Will Campbell
Done.
in response to Help D.A. Mary Stone Keep the Road Rage Doc Behind Bars
Sam
It's true. Scare tactics delayed the Wilshire Subway a couple of decades and here we go again, deja vu, with this blog post. Some things never change.
in response to Superfund, Fault Lines, Groundwater All in the Way...Let's Dig a Tunnel!
Another Angeleno
This "No We Can't" attitude emerges only when a proposal offers to move cars more efficiently. I have yet to see any rational opposition to the 710 tunnel. Note the same people fighting the 710 tunnel support tunneling twice as many miles under Wilshire for a subway -- I support that too, by the way... we need a comprehensive approach: mass transit AND more freeway capacity to meet future demand.
in response to Superfund, Fault Lines, Groundwater All in the Way...Let's Dig a Tunnel!
ramonchu
Residents are going to know about this and make a boisterous stand if I have to go door to door on every block in a two mile radius. This off ramp has been the bane of my existence since my first attempt to bike from Echo Park to Eagle Rock when I was 16. The SR2 terminus has created a dead zone all up and down both Glendale and Alvarado and it's time for the community to let the rest of LA know that if you want to come to our neighborhood, awesome, but you're not going to do it in a 3 thousand pound killing machine and you're not going to be allowed to destroy our streets so you don't have to take the 101 to the 110 to the 5 on your commute home to the valley.
in response to LADOT Values Capacity over Community on Route 2/Glendale Blvd. Drags Metro along for the Ride
John Rob
It is better to listen to text messages when driving and concentrating on the road. I use drivesafe.ly mobile application to make sure my concentration is on driving.
in response to To Limit Distracted Driving, Congress Leans Toward a Carrot-Stick Combo
Dave S
personally, I do not see the big deal with at grade crossings. It just takes an IQ and willingness to pay attention to ones surroundings. Look at Portland, even Minneapolis. Its not rocket science.
in response to The Gold Line Is Open, Post Your Stories Here