L.A. Metro Area Transit: What's Next?

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ When gasoline prices hit $6 a gallon, that will be the most effective way of "easing traffic" between LA and "the OC." Jerry Amante, the director over at the OCTA, is a complete idiot that is a testament to how provincial the political leaders are in Orange County when it comes to looking a bit further ahead. Just a year ago, Amante was saying (paraphrased a bit): "Down in Orange County, we're proud to build more lanes and not trains. Sorry LA, we look to 'real' solutions instead of pie-in-the-sky ideas about getting people out of their cars. We're proud of our automobile-centric society!"

Well, Mr. Amante, I wrote you an email (I know you read it because I received a read-receipt back) that said oil would get really expensive because of peak oil. Now your residents are going to suffer when they look around and see there is NO WAY you can get around "the OC" except by way of car.

[LongBeachUrbanist]

How to ease L.A.-O.C. traffic? Two words: "405 Metrolink".

To me, this is a no-brainer. Yes, I know it would cost a fortune, and remove some traffic lanes. But where else do you have a diagonal path through Orange County's most dense areas, and some of the worst traffic in Southern California? It could be tied into the Blue Line and Green Line. It could serve UCI, UCLA, and the SF Valley as well.

[Quixote]

Hail-a-Taxi Gets a Go, Downtown to Be Test Subject

By Stephen Friday
May 15, 2008

Car-free Downtowners and confused tourists can breathe a sigh of relief today, and maybe a whistle tomorrow.

The highly-lauded Hail-a-Taxi initiative took a huge leap forward this morning at City Hall after the Taxicab Commission unanimously approved the measure, giving cab drivers the right to pick up passengers anywhere on the streets of our city.

The process now moves on to hearings by the Transportation Committee and City Council, leading to a July 1 launch date of the six-month pilot program in Downtown. According to Councilwoman Jan Perry’s press deputy Eva Kandarpa, the item should be agendized quickly for the remaining approvals.

If successful in Downtown, Hail-a-Taxi will be expanded through out Los Angeles.

Though pedestrians can technically hail a cab without the measure, drivers are subject to fines if they pick up fares anywhere other than loading zones, and designated taxi areas - making it nearly impossible to enjoy the conveniences of instant auto transportation.

The local law which prohibits the passenger pickup, established as a means traffic congestion prevention, has been viewed as a hindrance in the evolution of a 24-hour urban core. Seeing that local support for the initiative remains strong among business owners, residents and government officials, full approval is expected soon.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user So Cal Metro.

[luckyeight]

THE LOS ANGELES STREETCAR WORKSHOP
Thursday May 22, 2008
Orpheum Theatre 842 S. Broadway, Downtown L.A.
7:30am - 5:30pm

Panel workshops will be held throughout the day on May 22 at the
OrpheumTheatre, on topics such as Streetcar 101, economic development
related to streetcars in western cities, models for public / private
partnerships and federal funding, design and implementation among other
topics.

Registration is only $25 for Los Angeles residents, business &
property owners, and includes all conference sessions, breakfast and
lunch. Please attend and participate!

PLEASE REGISTER ASAP (we must get a headcount - breakfast & lunch is
provided, so please do register if you plan to attend) To register go
to www.theseasideinstitute.org <http://www.theseasideinstitute.org/>
or call
(850) 231-2421.

WHY:
The tremendous success of the Portland streetcar has revolutionized
the way cities think about transit and economic development,
stimulating $3.5 billion in investment in a hugely popular new
downtown neighborhood called the Pearl. Streetcars are uniquely suited
to serve all the high-density development underway in downtowns across
the U.S.

PURPOSE:
The workshop is intended to help Los Angelenos find out how streetcar
systems are revitalizing cities, and what a streetcar could do for
downtowns in Southern California - by providing sustainable
transportation, walkable neighborhoods and greener lifestyles, and by
providing traffic circulation which would complement and provide
linkages between other important transportation efforts, such as light
rail, bus, etc.

WORKSHOP SPONSORS:
Hosted by Reconnecting America and the Seaside Institute. Sponsors
include the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles City Councilmembers
JoséHuizar and Jan Perry, Historic Downtown BID, South Park BID,
Bringing Back Broadway Initiative, CRA/LA, Los Angeles Dept. Of
Transportation, Downtown L.A. Neighborhood Council, Central City
Association, American Public Transportation Association, Los Angeles
Theatre, Orpheum Theatre, LA Fashion Business Improvement District,
Standard Hotel, Williams and Dame Development, the IBI Group and
others.

See you Thursday May 22!

7:30am Registration ⋅ Coffee and Continental Breakfast

8:00am WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS
* José Huizar, Los Angeles Councilmember, 14th District
* Jan Perry, Los Angeles Councilmember, 9th District
* Glenn Wasserman, Chief Operating Officer, Community Redevelopment
Agency /
Los Angeles
8:30am WHY MODERN STREETCARS AND WHY NOW?
* Gloria Ohland, Reconnecting America; author of award-winning "Street
Smart: Streetcars and Cities in the
21st Century"

8:45am – 10:45am PANEL DISCUSSION #1
STREETCARS 101
A 2-hour discussion about how streetcar systems shape development,
stimulate economic development, increase transit ridership and
connectivity, and leverage private investment in high-quality public
space. Stories and lessons learned from Seattle & Portland about the
affect of streetcar systems on urban development and sustainable
living. Overview of political and funding strategies and the outlook
for federal funding for streetcars through the FTA's
Small Starts program. Questions will be taken from the audience as
time allows at the end of the panel discussion.
MODERATORS:
José Huizar, Los Angeles City Councilmember, 14th District
Jessica Wethington McLean, Planning & Economic Development Director,
Office
of Councilmember José Huizar

PANELISTS:
Vicky Diede: Streetcar Project Manager, Portland Streetcar, City of
Portland Michael Powell: Business Owner, Powell's Books, Portland
Ken Johnsen: Principal, Shiels Obletz Johnsen; Project Director, South
Lake Union Streetcar Jared Smith: Senior Vice President, Parsons
Brinckerhoff, Seattle Charlie Hales: Sr. Vice President &Transit
Planning Principal, HDR Portland; Former Portland Transportation
Commissioner Jeff Boothe: Partner, Holland & Knight; Chair, New Starts
Working Group; Executive Director, Community Streetcar Coalition GB
Arrington: Principal Practice Leader, Parsons Brinckerhoff PB
Placemaking


10:45am – 11:30am PANEL DISCUSSION #2
FROM THE RED CAR TROLLEY OF YESTERYEAR TO THE MODERN STREETCAR OF
TOMORROW
The City of Los Angeles is about to embark on the second phase of a
feasibility study for a downtown L.A. streetcar, which has the support
of downtown's major public and private stakeholders. L.A. once had the
largest electric trolley system in the U.S., with 6,000 trains running
on 144 routes in four counties. A new streetcar system would be
modern, efficient, and environmentally friendly – a departure from
the
tourist trolley, or vintage streetcar of decades past. Hear about the
genesis of the current interest in a modern streetcar transportation
system for downtown, what's been done thus far, what the next steps
will be and how you can be involved. Questions will be taken from the
audience as time allows at the end of the panel discussion.

MODERATOR:
Curt Gibbs, Community Redevelopment Agency, Los Angeles
PANELISTS:
Steve Schiboula, Director, IBI Group
Homer Williams, Chairman, Williams & Dame Development
Steve Brye, Project Manager, METRO, Los Angeles


11:30am – 12:15pm PANEL DISCUSSION #3
"OK, BUT WHAT ABOUT…?" Questions of the morning panelists posed by
city & downtown leaders City and downtown leaders ask the advice of
the national experts about issues relevant to Los Angeles: Topics may
include: How will a streetcar system link to other transit options
downtown? Why a modern streetcar, instead of a vintage trolley? Why
rails, not rubber wheels? Who will ride a streetcar? How would a
downtown L.A. streetcar system really get funded? What does that mean
for property owners? How can we leverage private investment in
affordable housing and high-quality parks and public space? What
options exist for federal funding? And more!
MODERATOR: Tim Baldwin, Transportation Planner / Senior Associate, URS
Corporation

QUESTIONS FROM:
Carol Schatz, President & CEO, Central City Association / Downtown
Center Business Improvement District Emily Gabel-Luddy, Principal City
Planner, Urban Design Studio, Cityof Los Angeles Department of
Planning Russell Brown, Executive Director, Historic Downtown L.A.
Improvement District; President, Downtown L.A.
Neighborhood Council Diego Cardoso, Executive Officer, Transportation
Development and Implementation, METRO, Los Angeles
Jay Kim, Senior Transportation Engineer, City of Los Angeles
Department of Transportation

12:15pm – 1:15pm CASUAL / BOX LUNCH PROVIDED FOR ALL ATTENDEES IN THE
LOBBY


1:15pm – 2:15pm PANEL DISCUSSION #4
STREETCARS 202: DESIGN, FUNDING AND IMPLEMENTATION
How are streetcars different from light rail? What does a starter
system look like and how much does it cost?
Choosing the right system, boundaries and alignment. Storage &
maintenance requirements. Limiting costs and
designing to budget and addressing other infrastructure needs.
Questions will be taken from the audience as time allows at the end of
the panel discussion.

PANELISTS:
Tom Hickey, National Transit Planning Manager, Gannett Fleming,
Philadelphia Mark Dorn, Senior Project Manager, URS Corporation,
Portland John Schumann, Senior Transportation Consultant, LTK
Engineering Services David Taylor, Director of Sustainable
Transportation Solutions, HDR James Graebner, Chair, American Public
Transit Association (APTA) Streetcar
and Heritage Trolley and Streetcar
Subcommittee, Denver
2:15pm – 3:15pm PANEL DISCUSSION #5
LOCAL CASE STUDIES
Brief case studies will be presented on projects in Pasadena, Santa
Ana, San Pedro and Irvine, with a discussion about some outstanding
issues with each project.Questions will be taken from the audience as
time allows at the end of thepanel discussion.

MODERATOR: Rich Weaver, Director of Planning & Programs American Public
Transit Association (APTA)
PANELISTS:
Fred Dock, Director of Transportation, City of Pasadena
Toni Bates, Senior Planning Manager, Parsons Brinckerhoff
Bob Henry, Port of Los Angeles Harbor Commission / San Pedro Streetcar
Jolene Hayes, Supervising Transportation Analyst, City of Irvine,

3:15pm CLOSING REMARKS

[LongBeachUrbanist]

^ If only I could. Can't take a whole day off from work.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ I think one of the most important areas to install a streetcar system is in Pasadena. From Old Town to Paseo Colorado to the Playhouse to South Lake Avenue to Caltech, a streetcar would tie together all the wonderful districts of Pasadena into one coherent urban area that would be as wonderful as Portland.

This streetcar would essentially go down Green Street and if you're familiar with Pasadena, you'll realize just how much it would make sense to put a streetcar line down this street (parallel to busy Colorado).

[Wright Concept]

LA Downtown News
Transit Project Inches Forward
Downtown Regional Connector Down to Two Options
by Anna Scott


The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has narrowed down plans for its proposed Downtown Regional Connector to two options - a mostly street-level light rail line, or a subway.

Both alternatives would fill the approximately two-mile public transportation gap between the Financial District and Little Tokyo on the east side of Downtown, and link four light-rail lines that will eventually traverse the community to create more direct routes throughout L.A.

The street-level option is estimated at approximately $650 million, while the subway could cost $800 million or more.

While the project could take a decade to come to fruition, plans are slowly moving forward. Metro in recent weeks presented details on the options to community groups, including the Little Tokyo Community Council last Tuesday.

Officials said they chose the two preferred routes based on public input and an analysis of ridership potential within Downtown Los Angeles.
"The idea was to locate the stations where we can maximize service to potential riders, where people are concentrated and where we have proposals" for new development, said Diego Cardoso, an executive officer with Metro (and a City Planning commissioner).

The Missing Link

The Downtown Regional Connector would link the Gold Line, which connects Pasadena to Union Station; the upcoming Gold Line Eastside Extension, which will continue the route through East L.A., with completion expected next year; the Blue Line, which runs between Long Beach and a station at Seventh and Flower streets; and the future Expo Line, which will also feature a stop at Seventh and Flower before stretching west to Culver City.

Metro officials began studying various alignments, station locations and transit options for the Downtown Connector last year. After a series of meetings, they narrowed it down to the light-rail and subway lines.
Both options would start at the existing terminus of the Blue Line, the Seventh Street/Metro Center station, then continue north along Flower Street, cutting east at Second Street to meet the Gold Line in Little Tokyo.

The street-level option would emerge at Flower and Fourth streets, dip back underground after crossing Third Street and, after heading east, re-emerge at Second Street and Grand Avenue and continue into what is now the Second Street tunnel. The tracks would veer north on Main Street to Temple Street, then continue east to Little Tokyo. A southbound route along Los Angeles Street would also link Temple and Second streets.
Metro planning manager Peter Voorhees said the Connector would require turning the Second Street tunnel into a one-lane, one-way crossing.

The subway option would travel underground up Flower Street and below Second, continuing into Little Tokyo.

Both options would include a street-level, diagonal crossing at First and Alameda streets. Renderings of potential designs for that crossing include an underpass for traffic on Alameda Street. Metro planners say they have also considered elevated sidewalks there for pedestrians.

Up or Down

The Alameda and First crossing would traverse a key intersection, surrounded by the Japanese American National Museum, the Savoy apartment complex and the site of a proposed mixed-use development.
If Metro chooses the underground option, the agency would have to purchase a block at First and Alameda that currently houses an Office Depot to accommodate a subway portal. The agency might open up the rest of the parcel to mixed-use development, said Voorhees.

Robert Volk, who owns the north end of that block, which houses eateries the Weiland Brewery and Senor Fish, said he prefers the at-grade option in order to keep his own property intact and for its lower cost.
Downtown resident Jerard Wright, a construction manager and architect-designer who does not own a car, favors the underground option. "It simplifies things for the Metro system and our regular light-rail network," he said, and would more easily connect to Metro's proposed Subway to the Sea if that project comes to fruition.
Downtown resident Eric Richardson, who has written extensively about the Downtown Connector on his blogdowntown.com, prefers the subway based on how it would affect the neighborhood on a street level. "The impact on overall circulation that you would have by running a train on the surface through the Historic Core and the Civic Center would be a long-term detriment for Downtown," he said.

Metro officials plan to finalize their report on preferred routing options for the Downtown Connector this summer, and will seek approval from the Metro board to move forward with the project in September.
If Metro approves continuing the study, officials can begin analyzing environmental impacts, which could take two to three years. They would also start looking for funding at that point.
Completion is likely seven to 10 years away.

Contact Anna Scott at anna@downtownnews.com.
page 10, 5/26/2008

[Quixote]

Metro Gold Line Almost Completed

May 23, 2008

Today, Metro announced that the Gold Line East Extension is 80% completed. But don't think that means you'll be riding into Little Tokyo and out to East LA by the end of this summer. Metro has always conceded that project will by done by the end of 2009, yet construction is now almost six months ahead of time. That means it could open in the summer of '09 if all goes well with the remaining 20%. Keep your fingers crossed.

Also, Metro is happy to report something unprecedented in construction safety: after more than 3 million work-hours, there have been no accidents causing construction to stop for a single day or more.

The Gold Line is a six-mile extension from Union Station to East LA with eight stations, two of which are underground. Currently, the Gold Line goes from downtown to Pasadena. Metro shared some sneak peak photos of what things are looking like:


Tunnel between Mariachi Plaza station and Soto Station, under First Street.


Mariachi Plaza Station (platform in construction)


Same location from the tracks floor


Same location: taken from the mezzanine level toward the platform


Atlantic station @ Atlantic and Pomona boulevards, East Los Angeles


Maravilla station, at Third Street and Ford St.


Left: Catenary system at Third Street, between 710 Freeway and Mednick, East Los Angeles | Right: Maravilla station, at Third Street and Ford St.

[sopas ej]

I'm really excited about this extension, then I can take the train straight to Little Tokyo!

I'm also really looking forward to the 1st Street Bridge widening and restoration:


From lacity.org

[LosAngelesBeauty]

^ That should be one of the safer bridges to be on in a moderate sized earthquake. I'm assuming the bridge will be retrofitted accordingly since half of it will be (if not already) sliced off and rebuilt to match the historic side.

Without trying to sound selfish, I am glad this Gold Line is being extended because then there will be NO WAIT at the Union Station Gold Line stop. One of my main gripes about the Gold Line right now is how long riders have to wait at Union Station before it departs. It's kind of standard procedure for metros across the US I believe to have to wait for a little bit at each terminus. However, once the Gold Line is extended, Union Station will be just another stop along the way, and there will be no wait! You either catch the train or you don't, and I prefer that to sitting impatiently inside the train waiting for it to leave if you caught it early on.

And yes, it'll be quite nice to take the train directly to Little Tokyo from Pasadena or even from Monterey Park!

[LosAngelesBeauty]

I don't think this was posted. I'm curious as to when this "bus-only lane" would be implemented on Wilshire. That would actually be really nice to have a lane dedicated to buses to separate public transit from private vehicles on the busiest street in Southern California.



12 Miles Of Wilshire Bouleverd Will Have Bus-Only Lane

POSTED: 11:11 am PST March 7, 2008
UPDATED: 11:46 am PST March 7, 2008

LOS ANGELES -- Twelve miles of one lane of Wilshire Boulevard between Los Angeles and Santa Monica will be made into a bus-only lane with funding from the state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Friday.

In all, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will receive $171 million from the state for a range of transit improvement projects around Los Angeles, Schwarzenegger said.

The money will also be used to expand the Mid City/Exposition light-rail line, purchase 95 natural gas buses and rehabilitate older buses, according to the governor's office.

The Orange County Transportation Authority was awarded $25.2 million to build natural gas fueling infrastructure in Garden Grove, Anaheim and Irvine and to purchase paratransit vehicles for persons with disabilities.

The money will come from funds generated by Proposition 1B, a $20 billion infrastructure bond approved by voters in 2006.

About $394 million in Proposition 1B money was awarded today to 106 projects statewide, according to Schwarzenegger's office.

"Up and down the state, our transit money will expand rail lines, buy vehicles for persons with disabilities and help systems upgrade to cleaner, more efficient buses," Schwarzenegger said.

It is the first of two rounds of funding from the bond's $3.6 billion Public Transportation Modernization, Improvement and Service Enhancement account, according to Schwarzenegger.

[JDRCRASH]

God, those are nice pics underground Westsidelife!!

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I'm really excited about this extension, then I can take the train straight to Little Tokyo!

I'm also really looking forward to the 1st Street Bridge widening and restoration:


From lacity.org

See, look at the impact on traffic the Gold Line has! Glad to hear some of that $171M is going toward Expo Line phase 2. That's a big big project for the Westside.

[DowntownCharlieBrown]

originally posted by: LosAngelesBeauty;
Without trying to sound selfish, I am glad this Gold Line is being extended because then there will be NO WAIT at the Union Station Gold Line stop. One of my main gripes about the Gold Line right now is how long riders have to wait at Union Station before it departs. It's kind of standard procedure for metros across the US I believe to have to wait for a little bit at each terminus. However, once the Gold Line is extended, Union Station will be just another stop along the way, and there will be no wait!

Now I get it. It just clicked. The two times I caught the Blue Line at 7th/Fig, I sat in the train thinking "Get moving, already". But since that was the terminus, it has to wait. And it will be that way until the downtown connector is complete. So really, the more lines that are built, the more convenient the system becomes in so many ways.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

Without trying to sound selfish, I am glad this Gold Line is being extended because then there will be NO WAIT at the Union Station Gold Line stop. One of my main gripes about the Gold Line right now is how long riders have to wait at Union Station before it departs. It's kind of standard procedure for metros across the US I believe to have to wait for a little bit at each terminus. However, once the Gold Line is extended, Union Station will be just another stop along the way, and there will be no wait! You either catch the train or you don't, and I prefer that to sitting impatiently inside the train waiting for it to leave if you caught it early on.

And yes, it'll be quite nice to take the train directly to Little Tokyo from Pasadena or even from Monterey Park!

I totally feel the same way, once the Eastside extension is open then there won't be anymore waiting at Union Station.

The SFO BART station is also a terminus station and thus when I took it last weekend into SF it felt like it sat there forever. Probably 10 minutes or so.

[StethJeff]

disclaimer: i work at the lac+usc medical center

nevertheless, it kills me that the eastside extension manages to bypass one of the city (and county's) most important resources. the gold line loops around with 3 or 4 stations about a mile or so away from the hospital. very few spots in LA attract such a high volume of people from every part of the region on a daily basis - this includes employees, students, patients, etc.

wouldn't it make sense to plant a station right next to one of the busiest medical centers in the country? i'm sorry, but that shitty busway to union station doesn't cut it.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

disclaimer: i work at the lac+usc medical center

nevertheless, it kills me that the eastside extension manages to bypass one of the city (and county's) most important resources. the gold line loops around with 3 or 4 stations about a mile or so away from the hospital. very few spots in LA attract such a high volume of people from every part of the region on a daily basis - this includes employees, students, patients, etc.

wouldn't it make sense to plant a station right next to one of the busiest medical centers in the country? i'm sorry, but that shitty busway to union station doesn't cut it.

A friend of mine used to work at White Memorial Hospital in Boyle Heights, and he would take the bus from Union Station, I believe it went down Cesar Chavez. He said the walk from the bus stop wasn't so bad and the buses ran often, but I guess County/USC is further up from White Memorial.

The Gold Line kinda doesn't make sense anyway; example, in Pasadena, it would have made more sense to put a station at Hill to better serve PCC and CalTech students instead of putting the station at Allen. HELL, instead of following the freeway it should have gone down Colorado or an adjacent east-west street, but we all know that it was about saving money and following an already-owned MTA right-of-way.

[dragonsky]

Is first street bridge closed?

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by dragonsky

Is first street bridge closed?

The bridge was closed for a bit a few months ago when they were laying down the tracks, but now it's open, with 2-way traffic using the south side of the bridge, one lane in either direction. The widening project should start soon, and it'll even involve demolishing part of an old brick building.

It's not the brick building you see in this pic that they're demolishing, but another one on the north side of the bridge.


From the MTA website

[LongBeachUrbanist]

They were supposed to start widening that bridge a long time ago. I wonder what's the hold up?