They are also concerned about the amount of pedestrians crossing at Trousdale. They have lots of concern, but my impression is that they plan on doing the best that they can and learn from that. It will probably be a learning experience for both Metro and fans.
That's the first thing I thought of when I saw the completed USC/Expo Park station. The entire University makes it a ritual when heading to the Coliseum before a home game. The USC Trojan Marching Band leads a procession towards the stadium and kicks the base of the flagpoles on the south end of Trousdale for tradition and luck. The bollards that have been installed on either side of the tracks would certainly slow the flow of the crowds (Maybe people will kick on the bollards as well?)
I'm quite sure the crossing will be regulated by crossing guards.
Crossing the track will become a new (actually, revival of an old) tradition before the football game
I know the Red Line has already been taken, but the Expo line color is too close to the UCLA color! People might kick the pylon sign during the next crosstown rivalry game!
I'm sure Metro is aware of that, however there are no sidings in the area for which to park any trains.
Which was a pretty terrible planning mistake.
It was a mistake not to include the nonrevenue connector -- the Metro-owned Exposition right-of-way between USC and the Blue Line. There was some community opposition to that and the Councilmember Perry sided with the opposition. It would have increased the cost of the project quite a bit (extra trench branch and several miles of additional track) but it would help a lot with the operations, including train storage.
Re: Expo Line operations « Reply #180 on Aug 7, 2012, 3:30pm »
Would it be feasible to close Exposition to vehicular traffic between Figueroa and Vermont on game days (or is that done already)? I think a lot of USC football fans will take the train rather than deal with traffic and parking, and crowds should be big this year, so I can easily see the queues spilling into the road after the games. As I posted last fall, I took the San Diego trolley to a Chargers game, and I had to wait for about an hour after the game to get a train, and the line snaked through the parking lot.
Joined: Mar 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,990 Location: Palms, LA, CA
Re: Expo Line operations « Reply #181 on Aug 7, 2012, 5:12pm »
Closing the street to cars might give the people the idea that it's closed to the trains as well.
It will be interesting to see how Metro will handle he crowd control, which was always a major issue in the EIR as well as testing and start-up. I am guessing we will see a lot of sheriff deputies holding the people at the rail crossings.
By the way, the crossings are getting new yellow/black pavement stickers, which are nice safety features.
Regarding the headways, 6 minutes should handle about 10,000 people in one hour.
Would it be feasible to close Exposition to vehicular traffic between Figueroa and Vermont on game days (or is that done already)? I think a lot of USC football fans will take the train rather than deal with traffic and parking, and crowds should be big this year, so I can easily see the queues spilling into the road after the games. As I posted last fall, I took the San Diego trolley to a Chargers game, and I had to wait for about an hour after the game to get a train, and the line snaked through the parking lot.
It's already done, although not all day. They close it a few hours before game time. Maybe 2-3 hours before. Maybe a little earlier.
I'm sure that lots of fans will take the train. Somewhat surprisingly, many fans have already been taking the bus, which will continue to be another option for getting people to and from the game. I've noticed a fair number of people from out of town taking DASH and Metro buses on game day.
As for queues, I think that they might do what they did on opening day and have attendants restricting access once the platform is full and have the queue on the opposite side of the street. Even though the street is closed to most traffic they still keep the lanes clear for police and other vehicles. Not to mention for trains.
I would also guess that 3-car trains running every 6 minutes (3 minutes each direction combined) should be able to move about 15,000 people in an hour. Does that sound about right?
Crossing the track will become a new (actually, revival of an old) tradition before the football game
I know the Red Line has already been taken, but the Expo line color is too close to the UCLA color! People might kick the pylon sign during the next crosstown rivalry game!
Well, once the Regional Connector is up and running, the Expo Line will become the Gold Line (East L. A.-Santa Monica), which will be highly appropriate
(actually also for the other guys, since they use gold also, except the train doesn't pass right by the campus, they'll have to make do w/ the Purple Line (eventually))
Closing the street to cars might give the people the idea that it's closed to the trains as well.
It will be interesting to see how Metro will handle he crowd control, which was always a major issue in the EIR as well as testing and start-up. I am guessing we will see a lot of sheriff deputies holding the people at the rail crossings.
By the way, the crossings are getting new yellow/black pavement stickers, which are nice safety features.
Regarding the headways, 6 minutes should handle about 10,000 people in one hour.
Would it be feasible to close Exposition to vehicular traffic between Figueroa and Vermont on game days (or is that done already)? I think a lot of USC football fans will take the train rather than deal with traffic and parking, and crowds should be big this year, so I can easily see the queues spilling into the road after the games. As I posted last fall, I took the San Diego trolley to a Chargers game, and I had to wait for about an hour after the game to get a train, and the line snaked through the parking lot.
Currently during USC Football games Exposition is closed to through traffic between Figueroa and Vermont. So I doubt this would change and in fact this is anticipated for the very queuing that you talked about at the Expo/Vermont EB platform and USC/Expo Park Station platforms.
Wow, standing room only at rush hour on the Expo Line now!
That's how it was when I rode Expo last week and the week before and why I'm thinking that ridership is up significantly. Expo runs about the same service as the gold line. 15 train cars per hour as opposed to 16 on the gold line. It doesn't have the same total riders because the gold line is so much longer, but it probably already has more riders per mile.
Re: Expo Line operations « Reply #187 on Aug 8, 2012, 7:44pm »
I would guess that Metro or Expo Construction debated the idea of storage tracks near the Coliseum (I think the LA Railway streetcar system of long ago had a siding on what is now MLK Blvd.) and figured for five or six game it wasn't worth the extra expense. Pacific Electric used to spot Santa Anita Race Track specials on normally idle track in Monrovia on big race Saturdays. Railway construction was a lot cheaper in the old days.
Joined: Mar 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,990 Location: Palms, LA, CA
Re: Expo Line operations « Reply #188 on Aug 15, 2012, 9:38am »
They are wrong-tracking between Venice/Robertson and Hauser this morning due to some problem at the Hayden switch. They are using the Hauser switch instead of the Hayden switch to do the end-of-line switching.
Two Expo light rail trains broke down Thursday afternoon, blocking the tracks in both directions and triggering delays of up to three hours for passengers, county transit officials said.
The trains came to a halt between the 23rd Street Station and the Park USC Station because of damage to their pantographs -- devices that maintain contact with the overhead power lines that supply electricity for the Expo Line.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has established a bus bridge to take passengers between the 23rd Street Station and the Vermont stations. Delays of 30 minutes or more are expected for passengers traveling from or to the 7th Street Metro Center and Culver City.
The Expo Line, which opened on April 28, runs between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City. It now has about 16,000 boardings a day, MTA statistics show.
Two Expo light rail trains broke down Thursday afternoon, blocking the tracks in both directions and triggering delays of up to three hours for passengers, county transit officials said.
The trains came to a halt between the 23rd Street Station and the Park USC Station because of damage to their pantographs -- devices that maintain contact with the overhead power lines that supply electricity for the Expo Line.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has established a bus bridge to take passengers between the 23rd Street Station and the Vermont stations. Delays of 30 minutes or more are expected for passengers traveling from or to the 7th Street Metro Center and Culver City.
The Expo Line, which opened on April 28, runs between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City. It now has about 16,000 boardings a day, MTA statistics show.
Two Expo light rail trains broke down Thursday afternoon, blocking the tracks in both directions and triggering delays of up to three hours for passengers, county transit officials said.
The trains came to a halt between the 23rd Street Station and the Park USC Station because of damage to their pantographs -- devices that maintain contact with the overhead power lines that supply electricity for the Expo Line.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has established a bus bridge to take passengers between the 23rd Street Station and the Vermont stations. Delays of 30 minutes or more are expected for passengers traveling from or to the 7th Street Metro Center and Culver City.
The Expo Line, which opened on April 28, runs between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City. It now has about 16,000 boardings a day, MTA statistics show.
According to the article, this happened in mid July.
Yes, this was a month ago -- two trains were disabled in the trench simultaneously. I first-hand experienced it and reported it here. It's the worst Expo breakdown to date.
Joined: Mar 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,990 Location: Palms, LA, CA
Re: Expo Line operations « Reply #193 on Aug 16, 2012, 11:30am »
It looks like they have sped up the Farmdale section a bit. Trains seem to be longer slowing down long time before they reach the platforms.
Also, these days trains seem to be often making their schedules. They are about two minutes behind schedule to Vermont and they make up about two minutes west of Vermont.
With signal priority, the running time could easily be cut to 25 minutes from 29 minutes.
Farmdale Station ridership is still extremely low.
Joined: Mar 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,990 Location: Palms, LA, CA
Re: Expo Line operations « Reply #194 on Aug 17, 2012, 11:08am »
They replaced the green tarps over the fences at Venice/Robertson with the new "Metro Expo Line Now Open," "EXPlOre," and "Culver City Station ---->" signs. People who drive and walk on Venice are now directed to the station.
Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus line is adding nonstop service between the new Culver City Expo Line station and both UCLA and downtown Santa Monica, the agency announced this week.
A new route, called the Rapid 20, will link the Culver City train station to two stops in downtown Santa Monica. The fare on this line will be $1 each way, 50 cents less than the normal Big Blue Bus fare.
MTA bus line 534 also serves the freeway route between Culver City and Santa Monica, and continues on to Malibu. Express bus service between the Culver City train station and the UCLA bus terminal in Westwood will be added via a new route called Rapid 12, the Big Blue Bus agency said.
Re: Expo Line operations « Reply #197 on Aug 20, 2012, 9:21am »
$1 is the normal fare on Big Blue Bus...
Rapid 12 will be real popular service as it will now provide all day Rapid bus connection between UCLA and Expo line.
Rapid 20 is an interesting experiment. I think skipping the Santa Monica Blvd and Bundy local running segment vs. Rapid 10 will make the trip faster to Downtown. However, skipping Midtown Santa Monica (Water Garden/Cloverfield/Saint John Hospital area) will probably depress the demand a bit. My observation on Rapid 10 is that about 60~70% of riders get on/off in Uptown and Midtown area and only about 30~40% ride it all the way Downtown.
Big Blue Bus may have to tinker with the service a bit to get the right balance between speed and load. Maybe instead of getting on/off the I-10 freeway at 4th St in Downtown, they can take Colorado Blvd and get on/off at Cloverfield.
Overall, Big Blue Bus has been very progressive in aligning their service with Metro rail and they must be seeing some interesting data on their #5 and #12 service to Expo to propose Rapid 20, which was entirely unexpected.
Joined: Mar 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,990 Location: Palms, LA, CA
Re: Expo Line operations « Reply #199 on Aug 21, 2012, 9:25am »
The new Expo Line Culver City Station signs have been somewhat messed up. Someone burned the tarp under them, possibly a homeless guy who lit a fire. There is also tagging on the signs.
It took months to put the signs but not taking long to destroy them.
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People might kick the pylon sign during the next crosstown rivalry game!
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