blue line poll

[Mac]

What do you think the best way to increase ridership?

[Elson]

4-car operation is impossible, since the length of a 4-car train is larger than certain city blocks. That also would require extending the length of platforms yet again. The platform at 7th St/Metro Center is only spec'ed for 3-car trains.

The only, and most affordable, way is more frequent trains using additional rolling stock.

[bluelineshawn]

Make the line longer and build the downtown connector. That would increase ridership on all three of the lines. Or make it free! Ridership will skyrocket!

Out of those choices my preference would be to run more frequent service. Of course the line should have been grade separated from the beginning, but who knew that for sure 20 years ago? And maybe increasing ridership isn't the best idea. Building a parallel line down Vermont would take some of the load off the blue line so that it could maybe stay the way that it is.

[JerardWright]

That would be an obvious limit to the Blue Line, but going with 4 car LRV's should be something that can be looked at for other LRT lines, such as Expo. With the Downtown Connector that may open an opportunity to lengthen the platform to 4 car lengths, since they'll need to cut out and modify that station slightly for the Downtown Connector.

But with the frequency of trains comes a limit of how often they run, I think the limit is every 2 or 3 minutes with 3 car LRV trains with at grade/railroad gates. Every 2 minutes on Signal priority/pre-emption on at-grade running segments.

For the Blue Line the biggest area that will need grade separation is the Washington Blvd segment by building a new subway/elevated from Staples Center- 12th Street Portal to the Washington Station via Fashion District and the emerging residential neighborhood in South Park. That way they can run 4 car trains every 2-3 minutes.

Also there should be a look into revising the layout of the trains and possibly remove some operator cabs to allow for more passenger room. Creating a "married pair" LRV's where one single ended articulated LRV is attached back-to-back with another one thus removing two operator cabs, and for the busier LRT lines like Blue and in future Expo, 2 car trains are the smallest operating unit they'll run.

[bluelineshawn]

elson said:

4-car operation is impossible, since the length of a 4-car train is larger than certain city blocks. That also would require extending the length of platforms yet again. The platform at 7th St/Metro Center is only spec'ed for 3-car trains.

The only, and most affordable, way is more frequent trains using additional rolling stock.

They run 4-car trains in Sacramento and I'm pretty sure that they don't fit on all of the blocks either, so it can be done. Lots of trains also stop at platforms where not all of the cars fit (NYC subway, LIRR, etc.). You could work around it if there was a real need, but running a couple more trains an hour would be preferable.

Not mentioned on his list is some sort of express service. I didn't realize until I rode the train for a month how different rush hour ridership is from weekend and off-peak. At evening rush hour most of the riders board at one station - 7th/metro center. Usually all or most of the seats are filled there and the people that get on later mostly have to stand because hardly anyone gets off until Rosa Parks. If they ever did grade separate the line down Washington some sort of of express service (using the freight ROW) would be immensely popular.

Oh and they need a parking structure or a bigger lot at Wardlow. I overheard many conversations where people said that they used the Del Amo and Artesia stations only because there was no parking at Wardlow. C'mon the station is right next to the 405. What was the MTA thinking with that little lot?

[nickv]

What do you think the best way to increase ridership? I echo what was posted above, but also find another way to attract more people to the Blue Line rails is to add/expand rail lines which connect the Blue Line, especially the Downtown, Expo, Green and Purple Line corridors, and better Metrolink service at LAUS. I think that would make the Blue Line more attractive to commuters and other travelers.

[whitmanlam]

Expanding rail lines to areas that really need Metro service, like the San Fernando Valley and the Westside. Major destinations are not being served by Metro Rail. Like LAX, Venice Beach, Promenade, Westwood, UCLA, and Century City.
More transit residential and commercial development along existing transit corridors. If more people live by the tracks, they would more likely use them.

[James Fujita]

heh. I voted for "a, b and c" because I think that IF you did those things they probably would increase ridership and the poll didn't give every possible option. I answered the poll as it was written ;D

but after reading some of the other comments, I'd have to agree that increasing the ridership on the Blue Line itself might be tricky, especially the four car train option. it might actually be preferable to ease the pressure on the Blue Line by building more lines, especially a Vermont Avenue line or perhaps a line to the east of the Blue Line.

[Mac]

Ya, i agree with James. The blue line is the only North-South line in the area. The area does deserve another line.

[metrocenter]

The only way to have 4-car trains would be to grade-separate the line along the entire length, including in Long Beach. Politically, that's a dead-end.

I think grade-separating the northern part of the line - from Downtown to, say, Firestone - is a little more feasible. In that scenario, I would think they would add at least one express track.

But I agree that probably the best solution is to have another parallel line. Vermont and Crenshaw make the most sense, I think.

[JerardWright]

Not neccessarily grade separate the whole thing, but the Washington Blvd running where 4 car trains can't run at-grade and the 7th Street Metro Center station. Everywhere else along the right-of-way except the Long Beach Loop running can simply extend their platforms 100' or in the case of Vernon, Florence and 103rd Street stations, an extra platform needs to be added because the current platforms are way too narrow for the boardings.

[nicksantangelo]

I chose 'C' only because the Regional Connector was not an option. The Connector would make Staples and LA Live alot more appealing to the novice transit-rider, not to mention the seasoned commuters.