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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 11, 2012 6:08:53 GMT -8
As somebody who travels during rush hour between DTLA and Santa Monica via either the BBB 10 or Expo Line to Culver City (then connect to 534), I can say that the Expo Line saves you approx 15 minutes to get between Culver City and DTLA. That's impressive considering the Expo Line is a 2 mile diversion south to USC and the 10 freeway is a straight shot between DTLA and Culver City. People tend to forget that Expo is not a direct line between DT and Culver City, but a diversion 2 miles south to USC, LA's largest employer.
Not bad Expo. Flower street still needs improvements, but otherwise, LA is happy to have you!
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Oct 21, 2012 17:28:27 GMT -8
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Post by carter on Oct 21, 2012 18:59:03 GMT -8
As somebody who travels during rush hour between DTLA and Santa Monica via either the BBB 10 or Expo Line to Culver City (then connect to 534), I can say that the Expo Line saves you approx 15 minutes to get between Culver City and DTLA. That's impressive considering the Expo Line is a 2 mile diversion south to USC and the 10 freeway is a straight shot between DTLA and Culver City. People tend to forget that Expo is not a direct line between DT and Culver City, but a diversion 2 miles south to USC, LA's largest employer. Not bad Expo. Flower street still needs improvements, but otherwise, LA is happy to have you! I've heard USC is LA's biggest private employer. I'd imagine the City is the biggest employer when you include the public side too (think of all those LAUSD teachers).
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 21, 2012 19:12:48 GMT -8
The Culver City parking lot is a shame. Leave your car there for a day and it's fully covered with a thick layer of dust. I really feel bad for those who park there when I see their cars covered in dirt. It will probably be very muddy when it rains.
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Post by wad on Oct 22, 2012 3:42:20 GMT -8
The Culver City parking lot is a shame. Leave your car there for a day and it's fully covered with a thick layer of dust. I really feel bad for those who park there when I see their cars covered in dirt. It will probably be very muddy when it rains. If Metro or Culver City had just used the lot as a replacement for the West L.A. Transit Center, this wouldn't even be an issue. Plus, Expo Line ridership would be higher.
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Post by rajacobs on Oct 22, 2012 8:00:02 GMT -8
Take your choice: no rain in the Culver station parking lot => lots of dust on the cars; rain in the Culver station parking lot => mud? ...guess we'll see pretty soon! Ahhh, the downsides of an incomplete rail line...
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 22, 2012 8:06:53 GMT -8
Take your choice: no rain in the Culver station parking lot => lots of dust on the cars; rain in the Culver station parking lot => mud? ...guess we'll see pretty soon! Ahhh, the downsides of an incomplete rail line... Incomplete rail line or incomplete parking lot? Agreed the parking lot sucks, but the rail line is complete. For those of us who walk, bike or take bus to the Culver City station (and judging from the underutilized parking lot, there's actually more of us not needing to drive to take a train), Phase 1 is done.
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Post by matthewb on Oct 22, 2012 8:24:00 GMT -8
Take your choice: no rain in the Culver station parking lot => lots of dust on the cars; rain in the Culver station parking lot => mud? ...guess we'll see pretty soon! Ahhh, the downsides of an incomplete rail line... Incomplete rail line or incomplete parking lot? Agreed the parking lot sucks, but the rail line is complete. For those of us who walk, bike or take bus to the Culver City station (and judging from the underutilized parking lot, there's actually more of us not needing to drive to take a train), Phase 1 is done. This will be a mixed use development soon. That will be much nicer than a parking lot, and a good source of ridership, too.
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andop2
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by andop2 on Oct 22, 2012 10:13:43 GMT -8
As somebody who travels during rush hour between DTLA and Santa Monica via either the BBB 10 or Expo Line to Culver City (then connect to 534), I can say that the Expo Line saves you approx 15 minutes to get between Culver City and DTLA. That's impressive considering the Expo Line is a 2 mile diversion south to USC and the 10 freeway is a straight shot between DTLA and Culver City. People tend to forget that Expo is not a direct line between DT and Culver City, but a diversion 2 miles south to USC, LA's largest employer. I've heard USC is LA's biggest private employer. I'd imagine the City is the biggest employer when you include the public side too (think of all those LAUSD teachers). Just FYI (I can't vouch for these figures but check out Los Angeles Almanac: www.laalmanac.com/employment/em21e.htm ) A lot are public (e.g., UCLA, MTA, Federal including USPS, etc.), but some like Kroger (Ralphs, etc.) are private... Figures are from 2009. Kroger Co. 140,000 County of Los Angeles 109,500 Los Angeles Unified School District 104,900 City of Los Angeles 56,200 Federal Government* 48,100 Kaiser Permanente 34,100 State of California (non-education) 30,500 University of California, Los Angeles 28,400 Northrop Grumman Corp. 19,100 Boeing Co. 14,400 Long Beach Unified School District 13,100 Target Corp. 13,000 University of Southern California 13,000 Bank of America 12,200** Walt Disney Co. 11,200** Home Depot 10,000 Metropolitan Transit Authority (L.A. Co.) 9,700 Providence Health & Services 9,700 Vons 9,600 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center 9,300 Wells Fargo 9,100 ABM Industries Inc. 9,000 AT&T Inc. 8,900 California Institute of Technology 8,500 Fedex Corp. 8,500 Albertsons Southern California Region 7,400** Catholic Healthcare West 7,200 Edison International 6,700** Amgen Inc. 6,500 City of Long Beach 6,300 Washington Mutual Inc. (now Chase) 6,000** Costco Wholesale 5,500 UPS 5,100 * Includes U.S. Postal Service ** Figure not from 2009. Most current figure found. May be dated from several years ago.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Oct 22, 2012 20:11:48 GMT -8
An online review service called Yelp! has been around for a number of years and just got picked up by Apple as the primary information source for map points. Interestingly, the Expo line has reviews - not just of the line, but of each station. Typically with pictures. An interesting read with some different takes: Other station reviews should be apparent once you visit...
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Post by bzcat on Oct 23, 2012 9:09:07 GMT -8
According to the link above, Kroger employs 140,000 in the County of Los Angeles. Not the City. And I suspect the number is totally wrong because the math doesn't add up. 140,000 employees means Kroger will have to have about 700 stores in LA County (at a very optimistic 200 employees per store).
USC is the largest private employer in the City by a big margin.
Edit: Kroger's annual report from 2011 says they have 339,000 employees nationwide so they can't possibly have half of their employees here in LA.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 23, 2012 10:22:37 GMT -8
I don't know why but the signal sync for the Expo Line seems to have got worse. Watt Way, Menlo Ave, and Vermont Ave are especially awful. The train stops at all three crossings and it takes five minutes to travel the 0.4-mile distance between Expo Park / USC and Vermont.
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Post by jamesinclair on Oct 23, 2012 21:31:11 GMT -8
Kroger will have to have about 700 stores in LA County (at a very optimistic 200 employees per store). Supermarkets can have 500+ employees because they refuse to hire full time. Everyone gets 20 hours so they dont pay benefits or anything.
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 27, 2012 11:40:18 GMT -8
Why is there very limited bus service connections at Culver City station with Culver City buses? It's like non-existent. Whereas, you see plenty of Metro and Big Blue Bus connections.
Shouldn't Culver City abandon the West LA transit center and make Culver City station their new transit center? It will be the only rail statio in Culver City for at least 20 years.
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Post by mattapoisett on Oct 27, 2012 12:31:00 GMT -8
Why is there very limited bus service connections at Culver City station with Culver City buses? It's like non-existent. Whereas, you see plenty of Metro and Big Blue Bus connections. Shouldn't Culver City abandon the West LA transit center and make Culver City station their new transit center? It will be the only rail statio in Culver City for at least 20 years. There are places you can get to from the WLA Transit center that you can't from either Culver or La Cienega stations. Moving all of those buses would be a nightmare. The CC #1 Washington bus runs fairly frequently every day but it is the #7 and #4 which have not had public support or ridership numbers to justify increasing it's current anemic weekday schedule. Though I will say the #7 and #4 are better for the moment then they were before Expo.
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Post by TransportationZ on Oct 27, 2012 13:07:49 GMT -8
The Washington/Fairfax transit hub should be abandoned altogether. I don't what's up with seriously flawed planning here in Los Angeles. The Expo Culver City station is a missed opportunity.
It would be perfect as a transit hub as it would be a gateway into west LA while providing a rail transfer to those going into downtown or the attractions along the way. Instead of having a true multi-modal transit hub, we now have a semi-transit hub in Culver City and a filthy POS transit hub under a freeway within a mile of each other.
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Post by transitfan on Oct 29, 2012 7:04:48 GMT -8
The Washington/Fairfax transit hub should be abandoned altogether. I don't what's up with seriously flawed planning here in Los Angeles. The Expo Culver City station is a missed opportunity. It would be perfect as a transit hub as it would be a gateway into west LA while providing a rail transfer to those going into downtown or the attractions along the way. Instead of having a true multi-modal transit hub, we now have a semi-transit hub in Culver City and a filthy POS transit hub under a freeway within a mile of each other. You think after the Northridge earthquake, MTA would have learned their lesson about bus hubs under freeways. Fortunately, the old layover areas on Fairfax and Adams (and Hines?) were still available. The 217 used the old 89 area, the 68 used the 12 area, and the 37 used the 44 area. Not sure where the 38 parked, as it's predecessor (the 9) didn't serve the Washington /Fairfax area back in the day. Also, not sure where the Culver City 1 parked, I guess wherever it parked before, only in 1994, the 1 was using 40 foot buses (GMC RTS-04/Gillig Phantom/Flxible Metro) rather than the 35-foot Fishbowls that it used in the 70s.
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Post by bzcat on Oct 29, 2012 11:10:05 GMT -8
The combined headway of #1 and #7 does provide a pretty good frequency between Expo station and Downtown Culver City. I don't know what time LAofAnaheim was referring to but keep in mind that Culver City Bus does not use the same bus stop as Big Blue and Metro. If you are waiting for Big Blue (as he does), you are not going to see all the green buses pull up at the station.
Culver City station is served by Culver City Bus #1, #4, and #7.
#1 is all day 10~12 minute service on Washington Blvd.
#4 is peak hour only 30 minute service to/from Fox Hills Transit Center and West LA College.
#7 is all day 30 minute service on Culver Blvd.
Also #4 is duplicated somewhat by Metro 217, which runs more frequently.
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Post by mattapoisett on Oct 29, 2012 12:53:33 GMT -8
The Washington/Fairfax transit hub should be abandoned altogether. I don't what's up with seriously flawed planning here in Los Angeles. The Expo Culver City station is a missed opportunity. It would be perfect as a transit hub as it would be a gateway into west LA while providing a rail transfer to those going into downtown or the attractions along the way. Instead of having a true multi-modal transit hub, we now have a semi-transit hub in Culver City and a filthy POS transit hub under a freeway within a mile of each other. I would love to hear your thoughts on how to make this work. The issues I see are the north/south buses 105, 217, 705, 780 would have to detour significantly to get to Culver City Station. This would put a lot of bus traffic on Washington BL in Culver City With the 35, 335 37, 38, CE437 and CC1 making the trek plus if you routed the N/S buses they may have to Detour along the stretch of Washington as well. The 534 could Terminate at Culver City Station The CC4 could be exempt from going to Culver City Station since it passes most of the lines involved. Where would the Buses layover once the TOD is built at Culver City station?
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Post by mattapoisett on Oct 29, 2012 13:10:50 GMT -8
The combined headway of #1 and #7 does provide a pretty good frequency between Expo station and Downtown Culver City. I don't know what time LAofAnaheim was referring to but keep in mind that Culver City Bus does not use the same bus stop as Big Blue and Metro. If you are waiting for Big Blue (as he does), you are not going to see all the green buses pull up at the station. Culver City station is served by Culver City Bus #1, #4, and #7. #1 is all day 10~12 minute service on Washington Blvd. #4 is peak hour only 30 minute service to/from Fox Hills Transit Center and West LA College. #7 is all day 30 minute service on Culver Blvd. Also #4 is duplicated somewhat by Metro 217, which runs more frequently. Just some notes on the CC #4, I take it most days. The CC#4 goes by La Cienega/Jefferson not Culver City Station The CC#4 is only allowed on WLA Campus once an hour in each direction from 7 am to 6 pm. This is because the neighbors got Culver City and the college to severely limit the bus service because of the noise. No one showed up to support the service so that is why the service to the college is what it is. The #4 is not :30 minute head-ways 80% of the time. The buses leave Fox Hills at :41 and :56 past the hour. This is due to the timing for WLA College noted above. Also note the 217 doesn't Duplicate the service until La Cienega north of Rodeo since the 217 takes a circuitous route through Fox hills and Ledera Heights.
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Post by Philip on Oct 29, 2012 13:11:07 GMT -8
I don't know if a total abandonment of Washington/Fairfax is necessary (welcome as it might be). I think some of the routes should just be re-reouted/extended. And not every bus needs to terminate at Culver City Station.
For example, let's talk about the N/S buses mentioned.
The 217 already goes to La Cienega/Jefferson, so that's fine. Ditto for the 105/705. Just extend the 780 there as well and that problem is solved. Unfortunately, bus over-crowding is the likely culprit keeping this from happening.
It's really surprising that some type of transit hub was not constructed for either this station or Culver City. Was it ever considered?
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Post by TransportationZ on Oct 30, 2012 12:58:17 GMT -8
The Washington/Fairfax transit hub should be abandoned altogether. I don't what's up with seriously flawed planning here in Los Angeles. The Expo Culver City station is a missed opportunity. It would be perfect as a transit hub as it would be a gateway into west LA while providing a rail transfer to those going into downtown or the attractions along the way. Instead of having a true multi-modal transit hub, we now have a semi-transit hub in Culver City and a filthy POS transit hub under a freeway within a mile of each other. I would love to hear your thoughts on how to make this work. The issues I see are the north/south buses 105, 217, 705, 780 would have to detour significantly to get to Culver City Station. This would put a lot of bus traffic on Washington BL in Culver City With the 35, 335 37, 38, CE437 and CC1 making the trek plus if you routed the N/S buses they may have to Detour along the stretch of Washington as well. The 534 could Terminate at Culver City Station The CC4 could be exempt from going to Culver City Station since it passes most of the lines involved. Where would the Buses layover once the TOD is built at Culver City station? As already stated, many N-S bus routes already hit the Metro Expo Line at La Cienega/Jefferson. As for Culver City, build a parking garage and turn the row of parking spots directly adjacent to the station into bus bays. Buses layover on Robertson where buses that terminate there use now. As with anything, there will be some impacts. However, I don't see why making patrons wait at a filthy POS transit hub under a freeway is worth not having a few buses make a detour. I also don't see what is wrong with detours. Detours are in many bus routes all over the country. For example, some long beach transit buses detour a mile just to hit CSULB. Some even through neighborhoods.
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Post by carter on Oct 30, 2012 18:39:16 GMT -8
I would love to hear your thoughts on how to make this work. The issues I see are the north/south buses 105, 217, 705, 780 would have to detour significantly to get to Culver City Station. This would put a lot of bus traffic on Washington BL in Culver City With the 35, 335 37, 38, CE437 and CC1 making the trek plus if you routed the N/S buses they may have to Detour along the stretch of Washington as well. The 534 could Terminate at Culver City Station The CC4 could be exempt from going to Culver City Station since it passes most of the lines involved. Where would the Buses layover once the TOD is built at Culver City station? As already stated, many N-S bus routes already hit the Metro Expo Line at La Cienega/Jefferson. As for Culver City, build a parking garage and turn the row of parking spots directly adjacent to the station into bus bays. Buses layover on Robertson where buses that terminate there use now. As with anything, there will be some impacts. However, I don't see why making patrons wait at a filthy POS transit hub under a freeway is worth not having a few buses make a detour. I also don't see what is wrong with detours. Detours are in many bus routes all over the country. For example, some long beach transit buses detour a mile just to hit CSULB. Some even through neighborhoods. The primary cost of operating a bus is paying the driver, so detours cost agencies significant money and waste passenger time. The only time they're justified is when they're a huge source of riders like CSULB.
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Post by TransportationZ on Oct 31, 2012 20:47:47 GMT -8
As already stated, many N-S bus routes already hit the Metro Expo Line at La Cienega/Jefferson. As for Culver City, build a parking garage and turn the row of parking spots directly adjacent to the station into bus bays. Buses layover on Robertson where buses that terminate there use now. As with anything, there will be some impacts. However, I don't see why making patrons wait at a filthy POS transit hub under a freeway is worth not having a few buses make a detour. I also don't see what is wrong with detours. Detours are in many bus routes all over the country. For example, some long beach transit buses detour a mile just to hit CSULB. Some even through neighborhoods. The primary cost of operating a bus is paying the driver, so detours cost agencies significant money and waste passenger time. The only time they're justified is when they're a huge source of riders like CSULB. Want to know what really wastes passenger time? Making patrons transfer to a different bus just to get to Rail or other buses that terminate at Culver City and vice versa. Are you really making the argument of paying a driver to drive an extra mile? Are you serious? Don't forget that these are buses that are terminating at Washington/Fairfax. Through routes wouldn't be making the detour.
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Post by carter on Oct 31, 2012 22:03:18 GMT -8
The primary cost of operating a bus is paying the driver, so detours cost agencies significant money and waste passenger time. The only time they're justified is when they're a huge source of riders like CSULB. Want to know what really wastes passenger time? Making patrons transfer to a different bus just to get to Rail or other buses that terminate at Culver City and vice versa. Are you really making the argument of paying a driver to drive an extra mile? Are you serious? Don't forget that these are buses that are terminating at Washington/Fairfax. Through routes wouldn't be making the detour. I'm not arguing for or against it: I'm just telling you the inherent problem with detours. One mile might not seem like much, but take this scenario: -Assume it takes a bus 4 minutes to travel that one mile at 15 mph. -Take the 780 Rapid, which makes around 40 runs in each direction every day. -So that's 80 total trips times 4 minutes = 360 minutes, which = 6 hours extra service time per day. -At $20/hour for a driver, that's $120/day times 260 days per year (780 doesn't run on weekends). -That equals $31,300 extra per year to run buses that extra mile. At the end of the day, it might be totally worth it. I personally think better bus-rail connection should be a priority and the case you've mentioned seems like a good candidate for a shakeup. That said, it's always good to remember what the real world financial implications are. Just about every transit agency in the country is losing money on just about every mile of service it provides, so when you make a line longer, that money has got to come from somewhere -- because it's likely not getting covered by the fare box.
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Post by rajacobs on Nov 25, 2012 20:14:27 GMT -8
4 Observations: 1. ...At Western and Wilshire, a little old white haired lady, well-quaffed and dressed, sacheted through the gate, ...no TAP; rang up the elevator, gets on and goes down to her train.
2. A middle-aged woman on at Farmdale, off at La Brea, did she TAP or didn't she? Only she knows for sure!
3. The westbound Expo line breezed along Flower tonight from Pico south. Only two stops.
4. A ceiling panel rattled like crazy the whole ride to Culver City.
...Seems that Flower is gaining some synchronization or pre-emption and perhaps locked turnstiles are in order.
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Post by TransportationZ on Nov 25, 2012 21:31:09 GMT -8
The signals are doing pretty well now, except the usual suspects(Adams, Washington Junction, Express Lane on-ramp, etc)
When I rode on Friday though, interestingly we got stuck leaving Jefferson/USC, and also had to sit at the Expo Park/USC Pedestrian crossing signal for no apparent reason.
Although much improved since opening, there is still quite a bit of luck when it comes to the signals, especially on flower.
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Post by bobdavis on Nov 25, 2012 22:30:55 GMT -8
Did anyone check out Saturday's game traffic at the Coliseum? Was anyone selling crying towels after the game? (UCLA didn't do so well either)
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Post by bluelineshawn on Nov 27, 2012 19:19:41 GMT -8
The junction has had a major malfunction. Not clear if that is what lead to two trains being disabled. Delays of up to 75 minutes now on Blue and Expo linesUPDATE, 6:40 P.M.: Metro Blue Line and Metro Expo Line are experiencing major service delays in the downtown area of up to 75 minutes during rush hour. Equipment issues involving a routing switch continues at Washington and Flower junction and at the 23rd St. crossover on Expo Line.Two train breakdowns in the Washington area have compounded earlier delays caused by limited use of power that controls switches at Washington and Flower junction. Buses are being used in addition to trains to transport passengers; personnel are assisting. Delays to passengers in the downtown area may extend to 75 minutes. Some trains are being turned back at Washington Station and at 23rd Street Station in order to keep southbound service at a steady pace. Trains are arriving and departing at all stations. Service continues throughout the Blue Line and Expo Line with a 12-to-15-minute delay outside of the downtown area. UPDATE, 6:18 P.M. Due to a problem with the switches at the junction of the Blue Line and Expo Line at Washington and Flower in downtown L.A. — in addition to two broken down trains — there are serious delays on both lines. Avoid them if you can — it doesn’t look like the issue is going to be cleared up very soon. A bus bridge is being established. Service advisories can always be found on the Metro.net homepage and Metro’s regular Twitter feed, as well as Metro’s service alert feed.
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Post by Gokhan on Nov 27, 2012 20:14:34 GMT -8
My westbound train at Vermont was thankfully only five-minutes-late but I am guessing the previous train was absent because the platform was more than twice crowded than the usual. When we got to Culver City, the operator told the people on the platform to take the 33/733 bus if they are headed to 7th/Metro, as the train would be turning back at 23rd, which I thought was strange because people could hop onto a bus on Figueroa to get to Downtown.
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