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Post by masonite on Mar 18, 2023 20:19:33 GMT -8
So, Metro has stopped including a monthly "Major Project Status Report" with their Construction Committee meeting documents. It is no longer an agenda item. It begs the question, what do they discuss in that meeting now, if not the status of major projects? Anyway, this is why I have stopped providing % complete updates. I guess transparency is no longer a priority at Metro. I read that they are only going to do the construction updates every three months instead of every meeting. The Board doesn’t ask any questions anyway so they figure why bother with unfavorable monthly updates. Numble on twitter has great updates. I agree with Shawn that the Board is a disgrace. The LA Times story on the deplorable conditions on Metro this week really has people talking though. Lindsey Horvath, who is on the Metro Operations and Safety Committee says she is now going to ride regularly. What that means is another story. I don’t see her commuting from WeHo to Downtown on the subway other than for a photo op. We need a rep on the Metro Board who does more than go through the motions and actually asks detailed, pointed questions. Probably going to have to be someone from one of the smaller cities though. |
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Post by bluelineshawn on Mar 20, 2023 11:05:44 GMT -8
So, Metro has stopped including a monthly "Major Project Status Report" with their Construction Committee meeting documents. It is no longer an agenda item. It begs the question, what do they discuss in that meeting now, if not the status of major projects? Anyway, this is why I have stopped providing % complete updates. I guess transparency is no longer a priority at Metro. I read that they are only going to do the construction updates every three months instead of every meeting. The Board doesn’t ask any questions anyway so they figure why bother with unfavorable monthly updates. Numble on twitter has great updates. I agree with Shawn that the Board is a disgrace. The LA Times story on the deplorable conditions on Metro this week really has people talking though. Lindsey Horvath, who is on the Metro Operations and Safety Committee says she is now going to ride regularly. What that means is another story. I don’t see her commuting from WeHo to Downtown on the subway other than for a photo op. We need a rep on the Metro Board who does more than go through the motions and actually asks detailed, pointed questions. Probably going to have to be someone from one of the smaller cities though. My Twitter feed was full of transit advocates that were very critical of the LA Times report calling it alarmist, over the top, and unnecessarily critical of riders with addiction issues. My general sense is that while many transit advocates see the situation as needing improvement, they don't see it as the dire emergency that I see. And that blows my mind. I see the existing rail conditions as a transportation catastrophe that has caused ridership to implode with nearly all choice riders leaving. Nearly every former train rider that could figure out a way to buy a car, get rides from a friend or use ride share has done so leaving only those with no fiscally viable options left as riders. I no longer ride daily and my last few rides have been better, so I'm hopeful that's a sign that things are heading in the right direction. Still for the metro board to stifle metro thereby allowing things to get to this state is unconscionable. And then the board publicly blames metro! Check tickets and enforce fares and this all goes away. It's that simple but something that the metro board opposes philosophically since many riders are poor. |
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Post by metrocenter on Mar 21, 2023 8:13:26 GMT -8
I no longer ride daily and my last few rides have been better, so I'm hopeful that's a sign that things are heading in the right direction. Still for the metro board to stifle metro thereby allowing things to get to this state is unconscionable. And then the board publicly blames metro! Check tickets and enforce fares and this all goes away. It's that simple but something that the metro board opposes philosophically since many riders are poor. I believe strongly that the poor need a place to sleep. However, trains and buses are not the place for that. Fix the problem, don't push it onto Metro and its riders. Recently, there was a policy change to enforce the rules a little more -- specifically, to require riders to get off the trains at the end of the line. Since then, I've noticed things are better. (I'll have a better feel next month, when I increase my number of office days to 3 per week.) As for construction progress: my hope is it will only be a few short months (not years) until my new station opens. |
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Post by bzzzt on Mar 26, 2023 8:31:25 GMT -8
I ride the Gold line just about every weekday.
The stuff described in the LA Times story is quite familiar to me. The social media posts about Metro's homeless and junkies on youtube and reddit look familiar to me as well.
In my own experience, some days there are more homeless, some days there are less. Same with the junkies. The stench during the last rainstorm was really unbearable. One morning last week, everyone emptied out the back car, and packed into the front half of the front car to escape it. The situation with homeless hasn't really changed at all.
There was some social media posting about more ambassadors and occasional fare checking. Well that didn't pan out. I hardly see ambassadors any more, and I still haven't been fare checked in about four years now or so (I didn't ride for a year or so during Covid).
Everybody on the Board has access to the surveys where riders list their top concerns as safety and cleanliness. Everybody on the Board knows that people who don't ride Metro feel even more strongly about that than the current riders. But they don't do the necessary steps, which everyone knows, to clean it up and restore ridership.
Some folks complain about the police/sheriff not doing their job. Well, the Mayor appoints the LAPD police chief. I'm not hearing any displeasure from the Mayor about the job he's doing. He just got reappointed. I'm 100% sure the Metro Board knows that they're responsible for the situation that Metro is in.
In short, in real life, I'm seeing a bunch of lip service from the Board, so nothing is changing, sorry to say. It'll be clean for a week or two when the Regional Connector opens, just like during the Superbowl, then back to neglect.
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andop2
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by andop2 on Apr 2, 2023 9:04:07 GMT -8
Everything is mostly done….. Tonight, and also Feb. 28, Platform 1 was closed, and A and E lines both boarded on Platform 2. Both times a train from platform 1 moved north into the tunnel, so they are increasing testing. Hopefully an opening date is not far away! Maybe May? Saturday the display of next stations on the E-line heading downtown displayed “Atlantic” as the final stop. The coloring was all in gold (not aqua). As you approached 7th St/Metro Center, the following stops (“Bunker Hill/Art,” “Historic Broadway”) were displayed. Everyone got off at 7th Street and the train continued on its way to Atlantic. On the return trip, all trains (A and E) boarded on platform 2, and the trains all arrived from Bunker Hill tunnel. (There were many ambassadors helping riders get on the correct trains.) I would expect an announcement of the commencement of revenue service soon.  |
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Post by metrocenter on Apr 15, 2023 22:21:13 GMT -8
Per Metro, project is now 99.2% complete. Just about done. Revenue service is still projected for Spring 2023. Let’s hope so. Status Report April 2023 |
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Post by metrocenter on Apr 17, 2023 11:19:03 GMT -8
My guess/hope, based on nothing specific, is that the service will open June 1.
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Post by burritofingers on May 22, 2023 11:46:28 GMT -8
June 16th!
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Post by metrocenter on May 22, 2023 19:46:32 GMT -8
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Post by metrocenter on May 30, 2023 9:46:47 GMT -8
For what it's worth, here is the latest. It says that "As of April 28, 2023, the Project achieved 99.3% completion based on earned value measurements for design and construction." Of course, the announced opening date of 16 June is the key. As long as it's ready on that day, that's really all I care about. |
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Post by bzzzt on May 30, 2023 13:58:19 GMT -8
Man, I hope they keep the trains clean after the RC opens. The gold/blue line has been much better than before in the SGV. Still occasionally some junkies and homeless and garbage strewn around, but a lot less than before. I don't see any enforcement, so I'm assuming it's done around downtown LA, and I'm just seeing the effects here, outside the city.
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Post by metrocenter on May 31, 2023 7:05:36 GMT -8
Metro is doing its best to kill off ridership on the Long Beach branch (A/Blue) before the Regional Connector opens:
Trains were 90% empty today. (Except for homeless, of course.) This will continue until the end of the week.
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Post by macross287 on May 31, 2023 16:13:38 GMT -8
Did the "Better Blue" project not change anything on Washington Street to avoid having 30 minute headways when maintenance is required.
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Post by masonite on May 31, 2023 20:13:54 GMT -8
Did the "Better Blue" project not change anything on Washington Street to avoid having 30 minute headways when maintenance is required. It is not 30 minute headways. The Blue Line is completely closed at Washington through the end of the week. Better Blue was a total disaster. |
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Post by macross287 on Jun 2, 2023 11:39:26 GMT -8
But I was of the understanding that there is a shuttle train running between 7th/Metro and Washington station every 30 minutes. Wasnt better blue designed so they can could do maintenance and run trains around every 15 minutes?
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 7, 2023 11:20:52 GMT -8
1 hour 20 minutes on the A Line today. That’s 30+ minutes too long. Single-tracking starting at Vernon. No service advisory.
Like I said, they seem to be doing their best to reduce ridership ahead of the RC opening next Friday.
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 14, 2023 9:08:43 GMT -8
Two days left before the Big Opening. A Line service has stabilized, compared to last week (thankfully). Hopefully it stays that way.
I am seeing a flurry of work happening all along the route, including last-minute road restoration/cleanup tasks. I imagine somebody must have lit a fire under the workers (or the contractor) to finally get some things done that should've been done sooner.
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 15, 2023 12:19:12 GMT -8
One day left. Regional Connector opens at noon tomorrow, after the pols all get done slapping each other on their backs. Which station area is best positioned to increase business because of the new stations? - Little Tokyo is poised to take advantage first, because it's a well-established walkable retail neighborhood with plenty of available storefronts, as well as parking lots to the east allowing room to grow.
- Broadway comes in second place, because Metro riders are its key demographic, and the area (north side of Historic Core) is severely underdeveloped deadzone (compared to the rest of the Historic Core).
- Bunker Hill will benefit least, because there is very little build-out opportunity, and the mostly white-collar workers and high-end residents are less likely to consider transit as an option.
Those are my thoughts...am I way off? |
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Post by bzzzt on Jun 16, 2023 13:54:53 GMT -8
All three are winners in my book. Depending on how well people can handle taking the elevators (hopefully they are always clean), I think Bunker Hill might come out better than you think - some people would think twice about going there if they had to hike the hill ... now it's easier, and also has an actual stop with 'Bunker Hill' in the name... good advertising for it.
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Post by fissure on Jun 17, 2023 9:01:45 GMT -8
The long station names are kinda shit. If you have a slash in the name, at least one part should be a street name (just a street name).
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Post by macross287 on Jun 19, 2023 6:27:43 GMT -8
I know this board has slowed quite a bit over the last few years, but with the regional connector now open would it be appropriate to rename the forum folders to reflect the new line names.
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 20, 2023 7:49:57 GMT -8
I know this board has slowed quite a bit over the last few years, but with the regional connector now open would it be appropriate to rename the forum folders to reflect the new line names. Makes sense. I'm not sure who is admin for this forum. |
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 20, 2023 7:56:02 GMT -8
Today is my first workday using the new station. Experience was very smooth. Train arrived at 7th/Metro, and then continued on.
I got off at Bunker Hill station, which was clean. One escalator and one elevator, and I was out.
Hopefully the ride remains smooth, and the station stays clean - at least for a little while.
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Post by mattapoisett on Jun 21, 2023 9:27:15 GMT -8
So you were able to navigate the buttons on the Bunker Hill elevator?  Today is my first workday using the new station. Experience was very smooth. Train arrived at 7th/Metro, and then continued on. I got off at Bunker Hill station, which was clean. One escalator and one elevator, and I was out. Hopefully the ride remains smooth, and the station stays clean - at least for a little while. |
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 22, 2023 6:57:29 GMT -8
So you were able to navigate the buttons on the Bunker Hill elevator? Not at first. It took getting stuck in one to figure the buttons out. The public-usable buttons are: - BR - bridge
- S - street
- C - concourse
Buttons UA and A are not usable by the public. I don't know what the abbreviations are for. Some elevators have those buttons, and some don't. |
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Post by metrocenter on Aug 29, 2023 9:11:03 GMT -8
The elevators speak when they arrive at their destination. When arriving at BR ("bridge"), the elevator says "basement rear". LOL
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Post by mattapoisett on Nov 3, 2023 7:47:26 GMT -8
They are repairing the catenary in the regional connector. So they’re running trains on the A & E Line every 20 Minutes if your lucky. My wife had to wait for 40 minutes for an A train at Little Tokyo yesterday. Then Metro put out a thing sayin they were increasing service.
But the service makes no sense. They are adding by having trains turn back at LATTC/Grand & Union Station for the A Line and LATTC/Ortho & Pico/Alisó for the E. Three of those stations have no rail transfer connections. Metro says it’s too hard to bring the trains to 7th and Metro or Little Tokyo where you would have a much better chance to get to your destination. Am I missing something here?
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Post by mattapoisett on Nov 4, 2023 9:13:37 GMT -8
I’ve been starting to really notice when there are hiccups on Metro Rail. Most obvious is coming out of Little Tokyo Station and going to Union Station. When you’re on the overpass, parallel to the 101, a hold signal is issued, then the ATC stops the train. I figured out what is causing it. It’s because the gates haven’t come down at the Union Station access road. Once the gates are down, the train is released, then heads off to Union Station This does not happen southbound on the A line. Another place I think it happens is on eastbound on the E line from Expo/Crenshaw. The train frequently stutters as it’s heading East on what is supposed to be 55 mph track. The gate causing it is the one at 11th Ave/Degnan Blvd. Has anyone else noticed issues like this? Who at Metro can we pointed out to so it gets fixed?
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