Dana Gabbard

As Damien has noted previously new bus benches are popping up around Los Angeles as new bench provider Martin Outdoor gets up to speed following the city council awarding the contract in August 2011.

If you have ridden a Metro bus or rail car you may have recently found in the holders for brochures and timetables (known in the industry as take-ones) a brochure for Metro's Code of Conduct. The who/what, you may wonder?

You may have noticed all the hullabaloo Metro made in January 2011 about retiring the last diesel buses in its fleet. Metro even gave the final bus a new paint job before it was ceremoniously towed away at the press event. Actually this was a bit mis-leading because some of the contractors that run selected Metro routes were at that time still using diesel buses in some cases, purchased for them by Metro. I believe even those buses have now been retired.

Although most of the service changes slated for implementation in December were suspended, two  were implemented without much fanfare this month.

The folks in the entertainment industry aren't the only ones with an awards season. Here is a rundown on some transit-related awards that have recently been bestowed on local agencies, stakeholders, etc.

The Dictionary of Terms compiled by Metro's Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library defines BOARD BOX as "an interoffice memo to board members that does not require board action. The board box provides an avenue for staff to track status of projects or programs, and includes information of upcoming workshops and other special events." While not posted on the Metro website access has been provided in some cases to Board Box items via the Metro Board Archives.

Dan Levy, Metro's Director of Civil Rights Programs Compliance, is presenting this month to the Service Councils for their input Civil Rights Policy Updates mentioned in the Civil Rights Corrective Action Plan:

Next Thursday the California High Speed Rail Authority is holding its monthly meeting in the Board Room at the Metro Headquarters Building adjacent to Union Station beginning at 10 a.m. The agenda is now posted online.

A week before Christmas a decal titled "Metro Notice of Civil Rights" began appearing on Metro bus and rail vehicles. This is a response to the recent FTA Title VI Compliance Review stipulation "Metro must provide an updated Notification to the public of their rights within 30 days" (see page18).