Passenger Trains > LA bus system hits a speed bump

The WSJ reports on efforts to pull the bus system in Los Angeles out of a 24% slump in ridership.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-bus-ridership-plummets-in-los-angeles-efforts-to-boost-it-hit-speed-bumps-11566725400?mod=hp_lead_pos11

Posted from Android

looks like a pay wall.

usmc1401 Wrote:
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> looks like a pay wall.

That is worse than a speed bump.

So where did the WSJ get their data? Because the LA Times would have been going crazy if there was a 24% drop.
And the Times has been reletively quiet on transit issues lately.

PHall Wrote:
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> So where did the WSJ get their data? Because the
> LA Times would have been going crazy if there was
> a 24% drop.
> And the Times has been reletively quiet on transit
> issues lately.

Actually they've also been writing about it -la-me-ln-bus-ridership-falling-los-angeles-la-metro-20190627-story.html

 

Cutting bus service 20 percent since 2010 and service getting slower because of increasing traffic congestion does have consequences.

But LA Metro shows what's possible with dedicated transit lanes with enforcement.  There's the potential to move a lot more people quickly and by bus.  Is there the political will to make moving people the priority over moving autos?  

https://twitter.com/metrolosangeles/status/1153807208229957632

Laura Nelson at the LAT has written extensively on this topic.

Buses having their own lanes as well as their own dedicated roads are answers. Smaller metropolitan areas like Pittsburgh have excellent busways. I was out there visiting family two months ago and rode the BRT to East Liberty as well as a little beyond there. Bridgeing this topic to railroads, the couple of times I rode to E. Liberty, I photographed Amtrak Train # 42. I rode the busway to Carnegie and managed to get a shortline freight train there.

I have ridden buses in and around LA plenty of times and I must say that when they are stuck in too much traffic, they aren't going anywhere for a while. I think the Metro Rapid routes which I have ridden plenty of times isn't so rapid since they share the lanes with all types of traffic.

Closer to home in the NYC area, it is surprising that there is no busway in both directions during all times of the day into and out of Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel. So many buses pass through the Lincoln Tunnel heading from multiple states to the Port Authority.

The nimbys are fighting some planned bus only lanes in the LA Area.

mundo Wrote:
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> The nimbys are fighting some planned bus only
> lanes in the LA Area.

It's a real struggle - traffic is so horrific here - you take a lane away you're making the situation that much worse. Friday night I went to a memorial for a friend's wife that was 73 miles away. It took me 3 hours and 15 minutes. Two days before, my wife and I went to a concert that was 17 miles away (but in Hollywood, much tougher). It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes.

I'm all for transit, but what happens when you take a lane off the 10 Freeway for buses only (west side specifically, I know there is BRT east of downtown).

Its not the NIMBYs that are killing the ridership.

Metro is doing it to it's self.

Since the Red Line Extension to North Hollywood opened.

LA Metro has cut nearly all the Express Lines. And given routes to other areas.
They aren't providing the service they use to have.

They cut service to the East County Area. That Foothill Transit is now covering and struggling to keep up with.
Many of the Bus Lines in the Eastern San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. Were once RTD Lines. Although
the RTD was slowly cutting service. When the Merger happen. Metro just started to give the Lines away.

When ever Metro Opens a Rail Line. They cut service on the Local Bus Lines. that parallel that Rail Line.
And force feed it. And not everyone wants to ride the Rail Service. And in many places. Metro forces people to transfer.

People like to have options. Metro is not giving people much. Its either ride the rail line. Or take a hike.
I been riding Metro and the SCRTD before the merger. That Merger was the worse thing to happen in LA County. 
My Area of LA. Tarzana. Has decent Bus Service. But if you get away from Ventura Blvd and the Orange Line. Depending on the street.
You do not have many options. on bus service. Many north-south Bus Lines end service after 7pm. Reseda Blvd is the only bus line
after &pm in the West Valley. You don't have any good north-south Bus Lines expect on Reseda. Sepulveda, Van Nuys, Laurel Cyn, Lankershim
and Vineland. Most routes in the SF Valley. Does not operate as frequent as Lines in other areas. if you are on Woodman Ave, Tampa, De Soto.
If you miss a bus. It's a one hour wait for the next bus. Many parts of Metro's System. Buses have 30 to 60 minute headways.

And I do not know many people who would wait that long for a bus. I am sure a few others here. Who remember what it was like to run the Bus
in Los Angeles. Will know how good we once had it.

The NIMBYs then selves. may not be helping anything. But they aren't the direct reason why Ridership has tanked in Los Angeles.

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

I feel you have to be desparate to ride LA Metro these days. It use to be a nice system, but it has turned into the bottom of the barrel of transportation options.   I last rode the Metro system last fall and it was a strange experience that I don't want to experience for a long time. I got on the Green Line that was running late because of a crime scene at one of the stations along the line.  I transferred to the Blue Line which was running late because of equipment problems.  The lateness resulted in crowded trains.  On both lines various sketchy people came through hawking everything from burritos to phone chargers.  The Red Line that when opened was super clean and free of graffiti was no more.  Instead I was greeted by a transient being arrested on the platform at 7th Street. I was happy to finally board the Antelope Valley Felony Flyer which was pretty nice compared to the rest of crap on Metro.  

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Jerry, I did not mean to say the NIMBYs were the problem with transit.

I said the NIMBY's are fighting bus only lanes in their area.  That is NEW bus lines to speed up service.

webmaster Wrote:
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> I feel you have to be desparate to ride LA Metro
> these days. It use to be a nice system, but it has
> turned into the bottom of the barrel of
> transportation options.   I last rode the Metro
> system last fall and it was a strange experience
> that I don't want to experience for a long time. I
> got on the Green Line that was running late
> because of a crime scene at one of the stations
> along the line.  I transferred to the Blue Line
> which was running late because of equipment
> problems.  The lateness resulted in crowded
> trains.  On both lines various sketchy people
> came through hawking everything from burritos to
> phone chargers.  The Red Line that when opened
> was super clean and free of graffiti was no
> more.  Instead I was greeted by a transient being
> arrested on the platform at 7th Street. I was
> happy to finally board the Antelope Valley Felony
> Flyer which was pretty nice compared to the rest
> of crap on Metro.  

This is a national issue, not a Los Angeles one. I've experienced the same recently in Boston, New York City, and Cleveland. I experienced it in past years in Denver, Baltimore, Newark, DC and other locations. Those that have no place else to go where they can interact with the general public flock to mass transit (especially rail, which doesn't have guards/conductors on each car) as it's easy acces and the audience is captive. This is the same isse with libraries. (Hoping this doesn't get political - not trying to be - just noting that this is the issue that wae are dealing with today.)

When I go into Los Angeles, I will often ride Metrolink, everything else seems to have succumb to the urban ills.  I agree on the red line, it was cool to jump on at union station and be in the heart of Hollywood without the hassle of traffic and parking, now....sketchy.  

Maybe LA County can raise its taxes once again to clean it up and add more busses? 

JohnM Wrote:
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> When I go into Los Angeles, I will often ride
> Metrolink, everything else seems to have succumb
> to the urban ills.  I agree on the red line, it
> was cool to jump on at union station and be in the
> heart of Hollywood without the hassle of traffic
> and parking, now....sketchy.  
>
> Maybe LA County can raise its taxes once again to
> clean it up and add more busses? 

Actually what they need is more security in the Red Line stations. When there is a cop on the platform the "players" usually go elsewhere.

PHall Wrote:
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> JohnM Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > When I go into Los Angeles, I will often ride
> > Metrolink, everything else seems to have
> succumb
> > to the urban ills.  I agree on the red line,
> it
> > was cool to jump on at union station and be in
> the
> > heart of Hollywood without the hassle of
> traffic
> > and parking, now....sketchy.  
> >
> > Maybe LA County can raise its taxes once again
> to
> > clean it up and add more busses? 
>
> Actually what they need is more security in the
> Red Line stations. When there is a cop on the
> platform the "players" usually go elsewhere.

agreed.  But the police need the support of the community.

when a guy is out of jail before the officer has finished the paperwork, the system is seriously broken.  People attacking NYC cops on the street is an excellent example.

I work at California State University Northridge, which borders the street they want to force the bus way on. Today was the first day of school, and with 12,000 new students this semester, there is no way busses will bring that many students to campus.

We are building a large parking structure, and until the price of gasoline jumps to $5-6 a gallon, people will drive.

The other thing that has the Nimby’s upset is there is legislation along with the bus way designs to change the housing zone codes along the route. A developer could come in, purchase homes along the route, bulldoze, then build high rise apts.

Also, in removing one lane in each direction, where there is a station, one of the remaining lanes gets taken away on each side, thus forcing the traffic to one lane. Stupid.

Monorails would be better. Or better yet, extend the Red Line underground from N Hollywood to Chatsworth Metrolink station.

Posted from iPhone

CPRR Wrote:
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> I work at California State University Northridge,
> which borders the street they want to force the
> bus way on. Today was the first day of school, and
> with 12,000 new students this semester, there is
> no way busses will bring that many students to
> campus.
>
> We are building a large parking structure, and
> until the price of gasoline jumps to $5-6 a
> gallon, people will drive.
>
> The other thing that has the Nimby’s upset is
> there is legislation along with the bus way
> designs to change the housing zone codes along the
> route. A developer could come in, purchase homes
> along the route, bulldoze, then build high rise
> apts.
>
> Also, in removing one lane in each direction,
> where there is a station, one of the remaining
> lanes gets taken away on each side, thus forcing
> the traffic to one lane. Stupid.
>
> Monorails would be better. Or better yet, extend
> the Red Line underground from N Hollywood to
> Chatsworth Metrolink station.
>
> Posted from iPhone

CPRR - I think if they had originally started looking at Metro Rail and built it to serve the Cal State and community college campuses - that one difference in and of itself would have made those trains vastly more utilized. But nearly no rail tranist gets built on new ROW these days. Most of it is built on abandoned freight ROW or in the middle of freeways, where there's not much demand (yet - the growth of transit development will eventually change that).

The possibility of high rises sounds like "transit village" or "transit oriented development". Allowing increased density near mass transit rail and bus stations.

It can drive existing residents, at least those who don't sell for a huge premium, nuts. And exacerbate parking in residential areas.