Transit Advocacy
Streetsblog LA
Input Wanted?
Tomorrow marks the beginning of Metro's "service modification" hearings which will cut 200,000 hours of service from bus routes across the region. The agency has made some effort to get the word out posting flyers in buses and sending out a press release back in Mid-January. The release says, "Additional details about these proposals can be accessed at www.metro.net," but I'll be darned if I can find any additional details.
February 5, 2008
Transit Coalition Blasts Service Cuts
Bart Reed of the Transit Coalition takes off the kid gloves in this week's LA City Beat accusing the Mayor of being the instigator for over 200,000 hours of cuts to Metro's bus system and Board Member Yvonne Burke of being hysterical and wrong about the need for turnstiles.
January 31, 2008
Quotes That Matter from Folks That Matter
After reading the very comprehensive coverage of yesterday's meetings on some of the other blogs around town, I decided that rather than write a long coverage post on what's already been written, that I would instead just pull out some highlight quotes from many of the leaders that were there yesterday.
January 30, 2008
Feds Cut Light Rail Language from STC Report
Sometimes, you wonder why people even bother to volunteer for the government.
January 25, 2008
This Post Brought to You By the Number 33
One BRU Member, with the help of a translator, slams fare policy plan While the two issues covered below may dominate the coverage of today’s meeting, the most important story of the day was the somewhat schizophrenic behavior by the Board when it comes to their long-term budget issues and fare policies. First, the Board … Continued
January 24, 2008
Metro Considers Raising "Senior Discount" Age to 65
At yesterday’s meeting of Metro’s Finance and Budget Subcommittee staff raised the specter of changing the age needed to receive the “Senior Discount” from 62 to 65. All residents currently receiving the discount would be grandfathered in. In response to a question from the audience, Board Member John Fasana clarified that such a change would … Continued
January 17, 2008
The Bus Bench’s Dead Escalator Survey
Over the weekend an interesting blog found me called The Bus Bench. While checking out their site I found a depressing series on the state of escalators at Metro Stations. Because I haven't used Metro rail services outside of Vermont/Beverly, Union Station and Civic Center, I wasn't aware what an epidemic broken escalators are in LA today. Maybe Metro should think about sinking $30 million into a fund to make their stations more accessible instead of less so....
January 14, 2008
SoCATA Backs Prop 91
What little conventional wisdom exists about Proposition 91, says that Prop. 91 is a ballot measure without any supporters. In the past couple of months, the California Alliance for Jobs, The League of Women's Voters, LAist, and just random people around the Internet have all urged people to vote against Proposition 91. What's especially weird is that the Alliance for Jobs is the coalition of labor groups that got Prop. 91 on the ballot in the first place.
January 7, 2008
LADOT’s Press Release on Downtown Fare Changes Probably Too Late to Control Blame
As we approach the start of the new year, we also get closer to the end of the free transfer between LADOT and Metro. While this blog seems to be the only people outside of city government that care about this "stealth fare hike" it is somewhat amusing to compare LA DOT's press release with that for Metro announcing the change.
December 20, 2007
Going to a Really Long Metro Board Meeting So You Don’t Have To
It is refreshing to go to a transit agency board meeting where everything isn't decided in advance and actual discussion of issues goes on. Back in Jersey, most decisions are made before the meeting starts, and other than listening to the advocates complain, the meetings are all done pretty quick.
November 29, 2007