Late Night Train Service on Metro’s Agenda After All

Despite not going through Metro’s Committee Structure, a motion to create a month and a half pilot program of late night train service on Metro’s Red Line.  The proposal is almost identical to the Los Angeles City Council‘s proposal passed last week, but even if the Metro Board acts this week, there are still a couple of obstacles to see extended train service on the Red Line.

First, Blogdowntown reports that there are negotiations underway to delay the startof service until November 14, not November 1st.  This might not seem to be a big deal, but it does cut the pilot program’s length by 25% which could effect the final ridership numbers.

Second, the estimated cost of the pilot program is $85,000 and the Parks-Villaraigosa motion requires that funding gets put together by October 17.  Much of that funding is expected to come from the private sector and putting together the funding during a state budget crunch could force Metro to look exclusively to private funding sources.

Photo: Burns!/Flickr