L.A. Metro Area Transit: What's Next? - Page 11

LosAngelesBeauty · #**201** Posted **Sep 21, 2006, 7:40 PM**

^ What exactly is the Next Bus system?

WesTheAngelino · #**202** Posted **Sep 21, 2006, 8:15 PM**

^ It's a real time monitoring system for buses. Imagine sitting in your apartment, getting ready to go to work and being able to check online exactly when the next bus is coming to your nearest stop. In effect it cuts out all waiting around at bus stops and removes that fear of "oh god, is this thing ever going to come?"

If I'm not mistaken the MTA has put up electronic signs along some rapid bus routes (Wilshire and the Orange line I think) that basically do the same thing.

J Church · #**203** Posted **Sep 21, 2006, 10:53 PM**

I'm fortunate to live along one of the lines in SF's pilot program. I use it for the stop nearest my house; go to the bookmarked web page and boom--takes me 10 seconds to find out I've got another 10 minutes before I have to leave.

Of course it *really* rocks when you can get the information over your mobile device.

fflint · #**204** Posted **Sep 21, 2006, 11:09 PM**

^The 22 Fillmore. I use the "next bus" update as well--it's great.

Damien · #**205** Posted **Sep 22, 2006, 1:38 AM**

Making the system accessible in a typical $50 pre-paid phone with internet capability will go a LONG way toward improving the rider's experience. I bet they're already doing it in most the affluent Asian cities in South Korea and Japan.

LosAngelesBeauty · #**206** Posted **Sep 22, 2006, 1:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WesTheAngelino

^ It's a real time monitoring system for buses. Imagine sitting in your apartment, getting ready to go to work and being able to check online exactly when the next bus is coming to your nearest stop. In effect it cuts out all waiting around at bus stops and removes that fear of "oh god, is this thing ever going to come?"

If I'm not mistaken the MTA has put up electronic signs along some rapid bus routes (Wilshire and the Orange line I think) that basically do the same thing.

I take the bus ALL THE TIME and to be quite honest, sometimes I really hate it for that very reason. Waiting FOREVER and not knowing when the next bus will come. You constantly look toward the direction the bus will be coming. Looking again and again for that electronic header on top of the bus.

I would probably have NO problem taking the bus in LA if there was this "Next Bus System!" Are there any plans to have this system here in LA???

Damien · #**207** Posted **Sep 22, 2006, 3:11 AM**

There has to be some type of dual sensor system in place. How else would the announcement system know when to announce the next stop?

I'd also like to see the screens used to show real-time transit maps, so when people get off the bus at a transit intersection they know how long they'll have to wait.

ferneynism2 · #**208** Posted **Sep 22, 2006, 4:08 AM**

It would drive me nuts to have to sit and wait for the next bus with no clue as when it would arrive. I would most likely go psycho today if I had to wait for than 3 minutes for the next bus. Sorry, just bad flash backs of my past RTD days on the 420 line.....

WesTheAngelino · #**209** Posted **Sep 22, 2006, 4:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

I take the bus ALL THE TIME and to be quite honest, sometimes I really hate it for that very reason. Waiting FOREVER and not knowing when the next bus will come. You constantly look toward the direction the bus will be coming. Looking again and again for that electronic header on top of the bus.

I would probably have NO problem taking the bus in LA if there was this "Next Bus System!" Are there any plans to have this system here in LA???

I feel your pain. As I may have mentioned before, I rode the bus for four yrs while I was at SC. Now I have a car and havent riden the bus or even the rail for quite sometime. Hopefully that will change since I recently moved 3 blocks from the blue line downtown.

The worst is at night when you're on one side of the street and the last bus starts passing you by on the opposite side

LosAngelesBeauty · #**210** Posted **Sep 22, 2006, 10:09 PM**

^ Reeeeally? 3 blocks from 7th/Metro?

ChrisLA · #**211** Posted **Sep 23, 2006, 2:25 AM**

MORE GOOD NEWS!
I'm hoping they will have 24hr service like the freeway express bus. I would use it to visit my sister in Rancho Cucamonga. They would have to pick me up in Montclair but thats not all that far from their home. I would use the Metrolink but it stops running too early to get home since I don't always want to spend the night at their house.

Silver Streak to Start Inland Service in March

Foothill Transit will begin its version of Metro Rapid-style bus service to the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys in March, the transit provider announced earlier this month. Touted in a Foothill Transit release as "mimicking the efficiency and speed of light rail" between Montclair and Downtown, Silver Streak service will employ 60-foot articulated buses whose route includes only about 5% surface streets. Stops along the 10 Freeway - well connected to local bus routes - will include the TransCenters in Montclair and Pomona, The Plaza at West Covina, El Monte Station, Cal State L.A., County + USC Medical Center, Union Station and Grand Avenue and Olympic Boulevard in Downtown. The buses will be equipped with a GPS vehicle locating system and security cameras. Foothill Transit officials also plan to outfit Silver Streak bus stops with arrival displays. The one-way base fare will be $2, with a 31-day pass going for $80. More information is available at foothilltransit.org.

WesTheAngelino · #**212** Posted **Sep 24, 2006, 3:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesBeauty

^ Reeeeally? 3 blocks from 7th/Metro?

Hahahaha.....try 3 blocks from Washington/Grand. ~_^ Now THAT'S Gentrification!

LosAngelesBeauty · #**213** Posted **Sep 24, 2006, 7:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WesTheAngelino

Hahahaha.....try 3 blocks from Washington/Grand. ~_^ Now THAT'S Gentrification!

oh u poor thing...

Art · #**214** Posted **Sep 25, 2006, 6:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WesTheAngelino

Hahahaha.....try 3 blocks from Washington/Grand. ~_^ Now THAT'S Gentrification!

Dont let the experience of being an "urban pioneer" jade you into a republican. Remember, most of the dysfunction you experience is a REACTION to environmental factors. Anyways, kudos.

LosAngelesBeauty · #**215** Posted **Sep 25, 2006, 6:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art

Dont let the experience of being an "urban pioneer" jade you into a republican.

Too late...

homeless

Art · #**216** Posted **Sep 25, 2006, 6:40 AM**

^
I am a very humane compassionate and PC(when it is necessarry) person who works in the ugliest parts of LA and understands the social aspects of much of our city's problems. That being said I know the bulk of Downtown/skid row's homeless are either mentally deranged or straight up scumbags. the same can be said for much of LA county.

Now, "hood bullshit" is more of what I meant. It may be utterly annoying and appalling, I prefer to look at/treat the instigators of this nonsense like a middle school kid or mentally disabled person. My point was please dont let the 5% asshole segment let you overgeneralize(or negatively connote, hate) the entire community. I am uber compassionate and understanding about the community I was born and raised in but the dysfunction gets to me so bad I must distance myself from it for short periods of time. If I get fed up with the shit anyone can, did I mention I have not tripped once while supervising 14 loud street kids from Compton the past 2 months? That takes nerves of steel.

LosAngelesBeauty · #**217** Posted **Sep 25, 2006, 6:48 AM**

^ I get what you're saying and I commend you for being so dedicated to an issue that is something you know about first hand.

But I have a dream that LA will one day be walkable. The definition of LA is gonna "shrink" to include pretty much Downtown LA area and Wilshire Blvd (because of that subway). And FINALLY, the struggle to give people a chance to live without a car in LA is completely possible (because the definition of LA will change...people living in West Covina, Torrance, etc. will not be considered "L-A--L-A" anymore). So Downtown LA is CRITICAL in that formula. LA CANNOT become a real city in our lifetimes without a thriving Downtown LA.

But we have all watched Downtown LA development become impeded by this homeless issue. And I know that most of them on Skid Row, for some reason or another, are mentally fucked up. Why? I don't know. I would like to be enlightened about that. But in the meantime, they have become an obstacle in the way of my unrealistic dreams. Therefore, as time goes on, and there is LITTLE to NO IMPROVEMENT, and all I get every day and night are dirty/stinky/disgusting homeless people accosting and begging me for money everywhere I walk. It's not funny anymore. They're not going to leave without a reason to. And there is nothing I want more than to get them out of here.

I would support any initiative to clean Skid Row up. Sooner the better.

WesTheAngelino · #**218** Posted **Sep 25, 2006, 4:49 PM**

Wow, interesting convo I started, Art n LAB.

Just to clarify: I live in the Decapo Building, an art deco beauty right on the corner of Washington and Main.

In response to "oh you poor thing", I would say yes only because of the lack of amenities right next to me. I would kill for a 7-11, but all I have is a shady overpriced market and a hole in the wall burrito joint on the first floor of the building. Luckily, I'm a five minute or less drive from a lot of retail on Washington and near SC, but most of that is fast-food garbage. What really bothers me is that the closest decent groceries are at SC, the nearest Home Depot is at Wilshire/Union, and the nearest Target is way the hell on La Cienega and Rodeo Rd. In fact much of the surrounding blocks are total deadzones of big parking lots and wholesale distribution/some storefront wholesale.

As for the homeless: There really aren't a lot in my immediate blocks. most of the skid row action is north and east of me. There pretty much is NO ONE walking around at night near my building.

As for "hood shit" I really haven't experienced any yet. I was crossing the wash/main intersection one night, carrying my bag and two guys coming the opposite direction jokingly go "hey, check yo self, gimme dat bag". But obviously they were not dangerous and just trying to get some jollies by scaring the white boy. Nothing new to me, I was always much more afraid back in my hometown of Jackson, Mississippi or even close to USC. The only thing that really worries me is something happening to my car which I park on the street (a lot of people who live where i live do that too though).

Don't worry, I'm not going to become a Republican, although I am voting for Schwarzenegger this year (thanks a lot, Angelides)

Art · #**219** Posted **Sep 25, 2006, 4:59 PM**

NOOO, Wes, just dont vote for either candidate. I cannot support a governor who balances the budget on students'/infrastructure's back rahter than the rich folks making over $100k.

Funny, I know and love the building you are living in, and actually was going to help my real estate buddies buy it(which they didnt). Just for your info the hoods south of the new highschool are really bad and ugly, PFlats and Ghetto Boys go at it alot around there. But that is an excellent location and commend you for having the balls to move there.

WesTheAngelino · #**220** Posted **Sep 25, 2006, 5:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art

NOOO, Wes, just dont vote for either candidate. I cannot support a governor who balances the budget on students'/infrastructure's back rahter than the rich folks making over $100k.

Funny, I know and love the building you are living in, and actually was going to help my real estate buddies buy it(which they didnt). Just for your info the hoods south of the new highschool are really bad and ugly, PFlats and Ghetto Boys go at it alot around there. But that is an excellent location and commend you for having the balls to move there.

Ha, I can't beleive that didn't dawn on me....voting for neither. I'm just so angry at most of the Democratic Party right now, but that still doesn't justify voting for a hack like Arnold I suppose. I'll just vote for all the other candidates and the bond measures, one of which I'm working on (prop 84 the water bond)