Passenger Trains > LA Union Station seating open only to pax 2 hrs before

...within two hours of their departure time. So if you got booted off the Sunset Limited at 4 am and want to catch the first Surfliner or Coast Starlight, too bad. You'll have to stand for a few hours.

http://thesource.metro.net/2013/12/10/advisory-seating-area-at-union-station-now-open-only-to-amtrak-and-metrolink-passengers/

Los Angeles Union Station patrons may have noticed a change that went into effect Monday: the seating area at the front of the facility is now available only for passengers with tickets to board Amtrak or Metrolink trains within two hours of their departure times.


Union Station is owned by Metro and agency officials say the change was prompted by an increased number of homeless individuals who have been using Union Station as shelter — an average of 135 per night in recent weeks (numbers were higher over the summer). That, in turn, has at times created extremely unpleasant sanitary issues in the seating area that in some cases posed a health threat to passengers using the station.

Metro had been receiving complaints about the number of homeless in the station for quite some time and over the past summer began trying to find some remedies to the issue, said Ken Pratt, the director of Los Angeles Union Station Property Management for Metro. That has included bringing in workers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority who have been meeting with homeless individuals to try to connect them to shelters, potential housing opportunities as well as psychological and medical care.

The new rules for the seating area are part of a pilot program. Security guards will be checking tickets in the seating area. The seats are not open to Metro riders because Metro bus and rail service at the station is frequent compared to long-distance and commuter rail offered by Amtrak and Metrolink.

The pilot program comes as Metro is beginning more work to restore Union Station, which opened in 1939. In coming weeks, some of the seats in the waiting area will be removed so that wood and metal materials can be reconditioned.

“All this really comes down to this question: who does Union Station really serve?,” Pratt said. “Our customers were being accosted and couldn’t even use the restroom at times because people have been camping in there. We really are trying to do this on two fronts — not just enforcement, but with outreach to homeless in the area surrounding Union Station to bring people to services they need and services to individuals. We are trying very hard to figure things out and working to solve this problem in the right way.”


Incindentally the restroom issue is irrelevant to this since it is still a public restroom. And Union Station is supposed to be closed at night ANYWAY, from 1 am to 5 am to allow for cleaning. What this does is just lead to increased harrassment, since the entire classic seating area, not just the area near the redcap section where it has always been limited to Amtrak customers, is now in the barrier zone.

Contact information for Board of Directors: http://www.metro.net/about/board/executives/

Contact information for MTA staff, including the heads of the group that decided on this: http://www.metro.net/about/contact/management-staff-directory/

What do you want to bet that when the seats are removed for "reconditioning" they will never be returned?

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

Another endless Trainorders debate will now ensue!

This looks like a horrible management procedure in the making that's going to piss off a lot of Amtrak passengers! Hopefully Metro personnel will be understanding to early arriving passengers who have long connection times! Metro should just install turnstiles at all perimeter entry points that can accessed by Metro, Metrolink, & Amtrak passengers!

Typical mindless Metro, swatting at windmills with it's patrons' good will.

This thread has a totally misleading headline.

Go to the linked article... the signs clearly say:
"For passenger travel within a three hour period and/or connecting to a later train."

That means you can sit there for three hours before your train is scheduled to depart (that's more than enough time).
But MOST IMPORTANTLY if you arrive on an early Sunset and have tickets for a delayed you'd be allowed to stay there the whole time.

That being said... The article only mentions 2 hours and doesn't mention connecting passengers. I've asked the author in the comments to clear up these discrepancies... we'll see where that goes.

Posted from iPhone

Ricky Courtney
Seattle, WA



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/13 17:49 by rickycourtney.

rickycourtney Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This thread has a totally misleading headline.
>
> Go to the linked article... the signs clearly
> say:
> "For passenger travel within a three hour period
> and/or connecting to a later train."
>
> That means you can sit there for three hours
> before your train is scheduled to depart (that's
> more than enough time).
> But MOST IMPORTANTLY if you arrive on an early
> Sunset and have tickets for a delayed you'd be
> allowed to stay there the whole time.
>
> Posted from iPhone

People read just enough to think what the story might be about, then go off on a tangent bashing anyone or anything.

It's a good idea. Who wants to sit with stinking unwashed homeless people. There are tax payer supported shelters for them to go to. Send them there.

sp5312 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> People read just enough to think what the story
> might be about, then go off on a tangent bashing
> anyone or anything.

Not so. There is nothing in the story beyond saying you can only wait two hours. If you look at the sign (which you have to blow up) you can see it contradicts the story, but that is a little much.

Nevertheless the thread title is totally misleading, but that is really not the poster's fault.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/13 18:45 by Ptolemy.

Funny, at 30th Street Station in Philly, Amtrak Police just kick the homeless out when they try to sleep in the waiting areas. T guess they don't do things like that in California.

Anybody ever hear of vagrants or homeless people hanging out at airports? One might be able to stay for days if clean, inconspicuous, with suitable luggage and able to move around frequently. Begging might be very difficult. Looking for food scraps would surely attract attention.

RFandPFan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Funny, at 30th Street Station in Philly, Amtrak
> Police just kick the homeless out when they try to
> sleep in the waiting areas. T guess they don't do
> things like that in California.


Sterotype much?

Isn't this basically the same policy they have had at Grand Central for over ten years.

As an aside, last time I was waiting to put my kid on a train at LAUPT late in the evening the place was overrun. I don't like mistreating homeless, but the station had just been turned into a homeless shelter.

Just keeping the place clean for paying customers.
It is not supposed to be free housing.


PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RFandPFan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Funny, at 30th Street Station in Philly, Amtrak
> > Police just kick the homeless out when they try
> to
> > sleep in the waiting areas. T guess they don't
> do
> > things like that in California.
>
>
> Sterotype much?

LA should do the same as Philly and NYC with their Amtrak train stations - get the non-rail passengers "out" of the station. Granted it, there are still a fair amount of homeless people at NYP, but I don't think the LA Union Station needs these rules to handle the issue at hand.

The homeless don't belong in LAUS, a beautiful transportation facility. It's not a flophouse.
But, due our current broad, hyper-liberal laws...all sorts of irritating rules, time limits and furniture shuffling must be enforced to not offend the smelly, nor attract the ACLU.

What happened to providing a clean, inviting venue for rail passengers to await connecting trains, while making it clear street people must stay out?

Before the Giuliani administration cleaned up New York, particularly Grand Central Terminal,
that mega-busy architectural gem saw homeless sprawled everywhere, even down along the dangerous, third-rail-rich subterranean tracks and tunnels. Must've been fun for the op employees.
My last visit saw GCT free of derelicts, panhandlers, drunks, was well patrolled by NYPD working out of their command center facing the main hall.

I suggest LA Metro contact GCT manager Metro-North to learn successful homeless management.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/13 20:53 by Abqfoamer.

The other thing is that this problem wasn't there when Catellus was running the ship. They had generally let people hang around during the day but kept a tighter leash after dark, as is appropriate. There are already signs indicating that "remaining without lawful transportation purpose" is not allowed - http://la.streetsblog.org/2013/08/21/as-union-station-makes-changes-will-they-consider-the-people-who-use-it/ . Rather than posting aggressive signage, and alienating law abiding individuals, simply questioning people who hang around between the start of a security guard's shift and their lunch break should be sufficient. Clear out the room as appropriate after the Sunset Limited or Metrolink train. As usual with our government, rather than enforcing rules and regulations which are already on the books, and citing/referring people to the same, new rules are created which just lead to unnecessary harassment.

RFandPFan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Funny, at 30th Street Station in Philly, Amtrak
> Police just kick the homeless out when they try to
> sleep in the waiting areas.....
.
Yes, that, or they fill the alleged trespasser full of .40cal hot lead.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/13 21:39 by Lurch_in_ABQ.

Many restaurants and other stores have a sign that says "Restrooms for Customers only". Terminal waiting area is for ticketed passengers only. Just enforce those two rules only and you have solved the problem. Oh, damn, I am sorry, that policy might offend someone and precipitate a lawsuit. Too damn bad, I say. If I have ticket on a later train, I better not be ejected or I will contact the ACLU also.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/13 21:36 by Gene_CA.

This is exactly what happens when you have too many lawyers looking for work. They forget the big picture, and lobby on behalf of anyone.

A train station is for train passengers, or those using the facilities for which they were built. Period. End of discussion.