Silver Line website

[roadtrainer]

Well there was a web site and the guy let it go, (according to Bart) it was a good sight and had alot of imfo: but he for some crazy reason let it go and now when you visit Metro Silver Line you get a K-Mart type outfit wanting to have a Blue Light Special sale on Jewerly. signed The Road Trainer

[Transit Coalition]

Yes, Roberto put together a complete website.

But Transit Advocacy is a lot more than spending a couple of hundred hours putting together a website.

There are other issues that must be addressed such as Long Term Commitment, Consistency, Direction, Purpose and Sustenance. With many of those elements missing the Metro Silver Line website went away.

Bob Leabow and myself thought it was worth keeping alive, as it is/was one of the best websites of its type, but Roberto refused all offers to keep it alive and I have all the emails to prove it.

One of the things I can see that we need in the Transit Advocacy Community is some actual schooling, as even our pal Eric Mann, the owner of the Bus Riders Union runs a trade school to foster and forward his ideology.

There are websites out there such as Light Rail Now and Center for Transportation Excellence that help with a lot of background information and facts/figures, but imagine a course that could be taught a couple of weekends per month on Transportation Advocacy.

I imagine some of you board posters getting together as a joint project and designing such a program (you can use it in school as a report or thesis) and then we could really move our agenda.

There should be a lot more of us civilian types who know how to work L.A. City Hall, the County Board of Supervisors, the Metro Board, Sacramento and Washington. It isn't that hard, as the elected officials and their staff always welcome us, but there is a small issue of funding that keeps some of us away.

[kenalpern]

Much of the problem is lack of money, greater priorities, and the wrong political leadership to ensure that the Silver Line could make it. It's on the LRTP (non-Constrained), the Metro Staff know about it, and it's not going to ever go away...so to a large degree Roberto did his job.

When one considers that operational expenses, the need for the Expo Line, the Wilshire Subway, the Foothill Gold Line, the Green Line to LAX, the Crenshaw Line and the Downtown Connector will ALL take precedence over the Silver Line, it does make sense to keep this on the back burner but it doesn't make sense to do anything other than to keep it there.

Don't worry, though...I've often suggested that after Gold comes Silver, and I think that the right political leadership will keep this alive when the time is right.

[Elson]

I always viewed the Silver Line as a transit form of "Fan Fiction."

I think we'll see some form of the "Silver Line" though Metro has already designated the color silver to a busway. I know its backers have modeled their movement on the successful Exposition/Aqua line effort, but (and this is not to underestimate the efforts of the Expo Rail movement at all) the Exposition line was a no-brainer, using a former Pacific Electric right-of-way (hopefully) in its entirety, whereas the Silver Line plan had to fashion new rights-of-way from streets or freight railroads., a more difficult (yet not impossible) proposition.

[Elson]

roadtrainer said:

Well there was a web site and the guy let it go, (according to Bart) it was a good sight and had alot of imfo: but he for some crazy reason let it go and now when you visit Metro Silver Line you get a K-Mart type outfit wanting to have a Blue Light Special sale on Jewerly. signed The Road Trainer

I can totally identify. I created the very first web site on the Internet ("Union Station") devoted to Los Angeles rail transit, which dates back to 1994. It's still linked on many websites and shows prominently on Google, but as an entirely *volunteer* effort, it became so not worth my time anymore updating and maintaining it. Besides, the Wikipedia entries on our rail lines pretty much cover what I've covered, and then some.

[jomiy]

The line was an interesting idea, however I think the success of the El Monte busway will likely place this rail project on the backburner for awhile. Although a Dodger stadium station would be nice...

[kenalpern]

The numerous list of projects that will precede this--both Gold Lines (Eastside and Foothill), the Expo Line, the Downtown Connector, the Green and Wilshire Lines, the Harbor Subdivision and the 405 Busway will all make this Silver Line be placed on backburner.

Still, the Silver Line is engrained in the minds of Metro planners for years to come, and one never knows how high up on the list of priorities it will be in 10 years.

[roadtrainer]

Although a Dodger stadium station would be nice...[/quote]

;D Dodger Stadium would be the bomb, and there would be a happy way to fix the problem and could it pay for itself,
Yearly parking-a spur going to the ballpark. people come to Dodger stadium and park in secured parking and get a free ride to Union Station or china town. The spur (after the fight with the local NIMBY is won is court-Headline- The Supreme Court Orders"
"Light rail project win big"The High Court today citing a 7-3 ruling that Nimbyism is out and transit projects for the good of all people is in") is paid for with public Funds and is repaid by parking fee's in a 20 year loan deal (much like Staples Center.)
from there the spur can go to Glendale. Sincerely The Road Trainer

[Mac]

elson said:

roadtrainer said:

I can totally identify. I created the very first web site on the Internet ("Union Station") devoted to Los Angeles rail transit, which dates back to 1994. It's still linked on many websites and shows prominently on Google, but as an entirely *volunteer* effort, it became so not worth my time anymore updating and maintaining it. Besides, the Wikipedia entries on our rail lines pretty much cover what I've covered, and then some.

Lol, i was surprised on how much information wikipedia had. I wonder who posted those up.

[Dan Wentzel]

I think one mistake the Silver Line advocates made was having the line stop at Vermont on the Western end.

If they saw the Western end as being at Century City, they could have possibly gotten more of West Hollywood and Hollywood advocating for it along Santa Monica Blvd.