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Post by nickmatonak on May 10, 2008 7:56:09 GMT -8
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Post by darrell on May 23, 2008 20:14:27 GMT -8
 I posted some photos and links to coverage of the workshop at LA Visions. |
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Post by darrell on May 26, 2008 17:07:41 GMT -8
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Post by James Fujita on May 26, 2008 22:10:43 GMT -8
heh. as much as I love San Pedro's trolley, it is far too underpowered (three cars, only two of which run at a time; infrequent; slow as all get-out) to serve as a good model for the downtown L.A. streetcar project. besides, other than a couple of street crossings, this trolley is remarkable for having no street running, which is clearly not an option downtown despite using modern streetcars instead of classic heritage trolleys, Portland's downtown streetcar is a much better example of what L.A. should aim to accomplish. or even San Francisco's embarcadero trolley. |
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Post by darrell on May 26, 2008 23:19:00 GMT -8
Agreed, Portland and San Francisco streetcars carry a lot more people now. But the speaker on the San Pedro Red Cars showed a map of planned expansions and a reproduction low-floor double-truck Birney car in Pacific Electric colors (same as Little Rock's cars). Here is the map. Kinda blurry, but shows the first expansion to the new cruise terminal and Cabrillo Beach in red to the left, and later into downtown San Pedro and to the north in yellow.  |
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Post by erict on May 27, 2008 6:24:57 GMT -8
Downtown LA and San Pedro should not be the only places for modern streetcars, I think a Hollywood loop (Hollywood Blvd, Highland Ave., Sunset Blvd, Vermont Ave.), a North Hollywood - Studio City line, and a Glendale - Burbank line would be nice to add to that.
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Post by James Fujita on May 27, 2008 8:32:52 GMT -8
Agreed, Portland and San Francisco streetcars carry a lot more people now. But the speaker on the San Pedro Red Cars showed a map of planned expansions and a reproduction low-floor double-truck Birney car in Pacific Electric colors (same as Little Rock's cars). Here is the map. Kinda blurry, but shows the first expansion to the new cruise terminal and Cabrillo Beach in red to the left, and later into downtown San Pedro and to the north in yellow. I knew about the Red Car expansion plans, but I also know how slow redevelopment in San Pedro has been. it's taken forever just to get improvements made near the cruise ship terminal. frankly, the problem in San Pedro is sort of like the problem at LAX — everything is all tied up in one big Master Plan proposal, and NIMBY opposition to some parts of the plan may doom the rest of the program, including the much-needed rail expansion. personally, I think the Red Car desperately needs to expand, but if they do, they're going to need more vehicles, and no one seems to have addressed the issue of a carbarn or a maintenance yard. |
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Post by bobdavis on May 29, 2008 17:51:38 GMT -8
A word on the low speed of the San Pedro Red Car line: It's mandated by the Public Utilities Commission. The cars can go faster, and probably have in test runs, but as I recall they're restricted to less than 20 mph. I'm told that just to get an OK from the PUC to run at all, the folks running the project had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get the blessing of the bureaucrats. A proper carbarn and more streetcars have been under discussion for some time, but when the City of LA is involved, things can range from "goodness knows when" to "I should live so long!" (Consider the proposed "E" streetcar line in San Francisco--that's been discussed for at least four years and probably more; it's still in the talking stage, and the likelihood of it actually happening seems dependent on who's sitting in which office at City Hall.)
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Post by bluelineshawn on May 29, 2008 18:05:36 GMT -8
I only rode that streetcar once, but when I did I talked to the engineer and I recall him saying that the cars couldn't go fast because of the generally poor track condition. That was a couple of years ago so maybe they've made improvements.
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