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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 27, 2012 19:15:16 GMT -8
Anyone riding the first train tomorrow at 5:00am? That's the one I'm planning on catching. I'm a pretty hard core transit fan, but I'm not that hard core. No problem, it'll be there all day.
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 27, 2012 19:17:28 GMT -8
Well, we expect videos from the TTC early-morning party!
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 27, 2012 21:25:16 GMT -8
Alert!!! There are two three-car Siemens trains parked between Trousdale and Watt. So, these must be the first trains...
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 27, 2012 22:03:00 GMT -8
Alert!!! There are two three-car Siemens trains parked between Trousdale and Watt. So, these must be the first trains... So, based on what I saw around 10:15 pm tonight, there are two three-car Siemens sweep trains parked between Trousdale and Watt Way. I am guessing that two more are parked in the trench. Therefore, it looks like whoever Victor talked to on his cell phone was wrong about the 4:54 am train being the first train tomorrow. I would suggest going to Expo Park / USC shortly before 4:30 am tomorrow morning and try to get on one of those four sweep trains, which depart both ways on both tracks shortly after 4:30 am. If not, you can drive fast to 7th/Metro to catch the 4:54 am train. I, myself, would be at sleep though. It was a long but fun day.
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Post by tonyw79sfv on Apr 27, 2012 22:33:43 GMT -8
Anyone riding the first train tomorrow at 5:00am? That's the one I'm planning on catching. I'm planning on it. I think that metrocenter is as well. 0454, not 0500 though. Not trying to be nitpicky, but anyone coming on a train from NoHo will miss it. I alluded to the fact that anyone coming in on the first Red Line out of North Hollywood (and also first connecting Orange Line) will miss the first Expo Line departure by 1 minute. Anyone coming north on the first Blue Line can catch the first Expo Line out, but the transfer has to be done at Pico Station; the first Blue Line will also miss the first Expo Line out of 7th/Metro by 1 minute. The 4:41am Purple Line out of Wilshire/Western and two Red Line trains out of Union Station will be able to make the connection. I'd recommend on riding a night bus (like the 656, 2, 4, 20, 18, 33, 40/42) to try to make it in time to 7th/Metro or drive to Union Station. Well, we expect videos from the TTC early-morning party! My Sony 3D HD Handycam is charged and ready!
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Post by ieko on Apr 27, 2012 23:32:18 GMT -8
See you guys there
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 28, 2012 0:48:53 GMT -8
Since Expo Line and Blue Line share trains, they have a common map now:
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Post by metrocenter on Apr 28, 2012 4:00:32 GMT -8
Posting from the first public Expo Line train, departed @ 4:54 from 7th/Flower. Woohoo!
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Apr 28, 2012 4:11:31 GMT -8
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Post by rubbertoe on Apr 28, 2012 4:28:32 GMT -8
Enjoy the ride guys!
Sent from my DROID RAZR using ProBoards
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 28, 2012 5:54:14 GMT -8
Limited edition metro tap cards at expo tvm's this weekend! While supplies last. Most tvm's are locked but the ones at Vermont were working.
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 28, 2012 9:32:05 GMT -8
I am glad it worked out! Although, the 4:54 am train couldn't be the first sweep train because there were at least two (~ 4:35 am) sweep trains parked both at Tracks 3 and 4 by Expo Park / USC last night and they would have been in the way if they didn't sweep before that. But then perhaps no one got a chance to hop on those before you guys did. We got the limited-edition TAP card at the ceremony yesterday, along with an acrylic mold of a small Expo card and a large Expo poster. I was surprised to find out that the problems with the line were (or perhaps are) still continuing and CPUC almost had the opening canceled: Expo Line Opens Today; MTA Worked Out The Glitches Until The Last MinuteThis problem must be the same as what happens in this video shortly after passing Crenshaw Blvd at around 6:10 minutes. The train cannot pick up the cab signal; it beeps to warn the operator and comes to a halt. Then the operator needs to move the control lever back and forth to reset it until the cab signal is picked up and the train can move:
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 28, 2012 9:45:42 GMT -8
metrocenter, bluelineshawn, and others have been filmed on their ride of the first public Expo Line train. Liberte Chan looks pretty cute by the way. VIDEO: Free Metro Expo Rides This Weekend - Liberte Chan reportsAlso interviewed in the video is Mr. Clint Simmons with his large, colorful "We can't sleep" sign, who has been hanging out at Farmdale with it.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 28, 2012 10:15:49 GMT -8
I am glad it worked out! Although, the 4:54 am train couldn't be the first sweep train because there were at least two (~ 4:35 am) sweep trains parked both at Tracks 3 and 4 by Expo Park / USC last night and they would have been in the way if they didn't sweep before that. But then perhaps no one got a chance to hop on those before you guys did. The 0454 train isn't a sweep train, but it is the first train in passenger service. If you look at the operators schedule and compare it to the published timetable you'll see that the sweep trains are not in passenger service. The first sweep train that came into 7th/metro was ours and the second one was pulling in as we pulled out. There were no passengers on either train prior to arriving. Also we passed the first eastbound train at Farmdale which also matches the schedule.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 28, 2012 10:17:14 GMT -8
metrocenter, bluelineshawn, and others have been filmed on their ride of the first public Expo Line train. Liberte Chan looks pretty cute by the way. VIDEO: Free Metro Expo Rides This Weekend - Liberte Chan reportsAlso interviewed in the video is Mr. Clint Simmons with his large, colorful "We can't sleep" sign, who has been hanging out at Farmdale with it. lol. Thanks Gokhan. I didn't notice the sign, but it was evidently there for the first run along with two protesters because someone on the train mentioned it.
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 28, 2012 16:49:17 GMT -8
Expo Line trains were packed today in the afternoon, despite running very short headways! It must be perhaps 200,000 people who rode the line today.
It was a nice day. The line looks really great. Every station looks different. I noticed how good the Crenshaw Station looked today -- reminds me the Gold Line Mission Station, with better landscaping.
Photos later.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 28, 2012 16:52:56 GMT -8
Expo Line trains were packed today in the afternoon, despite running very short headways! It must be perhaps 200,000 people who rode the line today. It was a nice day. The line looks really great. Every station looks different. I noticed how good the Crenshaw Station looked today -- reminds me the Gold Line Mission Station, with better landscaping. Photos later. Thanks for the update. Glad that I went early...and earlier. Looking forward to the photos!
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Apr 28, 2012 18:39:24 GMT -8
Expo Line trains were packed today in the afternoon, despite running very short headways! It must be perhaps 200,000 people who rode the line today. It was a nice day. The line looks really great. Every station looks different. I noticed how good the Crenshaw Station looked today -- reminds me the Gold Line Mission Station, with better landscaping. Photos later. 200,000 is very generous Gokhan. We had 80,000 for Gold Line Eastside opening and that had hour long waits to bored at stations and people could not even bored at some stations. Today was much much easier. My prediction is 40 - 50,000 riders. But eh, unlike the Eastside which had a single Sunday opening, the Expo has a 2 day full weekend opening celebration. But still, very happy for today's opening! We should all be proud of our advocacy to Expo, some more than others. Thank you all!!!!
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Post by bzcat on Apr 28, 2012 18:49:39 GMT -8
200,000 is probably too high but 50,000 is probably too low. I was at La Cienega station this afternoon around 3 pm and they had to temporary close the stairs because the platform got too crowded and dangerous. I'd say 100,000 boarding is probably about right since the line is a little longer than East Side. Every single train leaving La Cienega today, except for the really early morning runs, were packed with no standing room left. I didn't stick around Metro Center for very long but I imagine every train leaving Downtown was also packed like the one I was on. The USC Expo Park station was also super crowded with lots of people waiting for trains in both directions. I waited on the platform for 45 minutes just taking photos and marvel at a dream come true ( ). And base on my observations, I would guess that about 150 people either board or got off the train every 6 minutes in both directions. If you extrapolate that, it means maybe around 30,000 people used the USC Expo Park station today.
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 28, 2012 23:23:38 GMT -8
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 29, 2012 1:17:22 GMT -8
Regarding today's boardings, I would say each train carried about 400 passengers. Assuming that most people boarded the train about 4 times on the average, that probably comes to about 400 passengers x (60 minutes/hour / 6 minutes) x 10 hours x 4 boardings/passenger = 160,000 Expo boardings on Saturday. A more conservative estimate using 300 passengers per train and 6 hours of operation would give a ridership of 70,000. I guess 100,000+ seems to be a fair number. Tomorrow we may see a similar number.
The reason Eastside Gold Line was more crowded was probably they didn't have as many trains. What Expo saw today was the ridership of Blue Line on a work day with more riders during off-peak hours and riders boarding an unboarding up to 4 or more times, instead of the usual 2 times. And we know the ridership of the Blue Line.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 29, 2012 7:13:22 GMT -8
From the opening line. This is a beautiful line, and will be even more so with Phase 2. Agreed! I really like it! Especially around the USC/museum area. Weird that La Cienega has no escalators, or did I just miss them? Thanks for the photos!
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 29, 2012 7:38:04 GMT -8
Regarding today's boardings, I would say each train carried about 400 passengers. Assuming that most people boarded the train about 4 times on the average, that probably comes to about 400 passengers x (60 minutes/hour / 6 minutes) x 10 hours x 4 boardings/passenger = 160,000 Expo boardings on Saturday. A more conservative estimate using 300 passengers per train and 6 hours of operation would give a ridership of 70,000. I guess 100,000+ seems to be a fair number. Tomorrow we may see a similar number. The reason Eastside Gold Line was more crowded was probably they didn't have as many trains. What Expo saw today was the ridership of Blue Line on a work day with more riders during off-peak hours and riders boarding an unboarding up to 4 or more times, instead of the usual 2 times. And we know the ridership of the Blue Line. I rode both in the early morning and mid-afternoon and whatever number of people rode, it seemed quite a bit less than the gold line east LA crowd. But then again Expo has more stations so the same amount of people spread among more stations would seem less. But the trains weren't full even when I left around 2 pm. I watched boarding around the USC station for awhile and sometimes 30 or 40 people would board and other times 5 or 6. At 7th/metro some trains would leave pretty full (never completely full as there were many people standing even with empty seats) and the next might have only 100 people on it. I have a photo that I may post later of an Expo train that we passed at 23rd with only a handful of people on it. At least in the first car. At the gold line east LA, there were crowds that metro wasn't prepared for. We had to stand across the street because the platforms would be full. And this was at several stations. There was a very long line to board at Union Station that extended down the passenger tunnel. I guess the same happened at La Cienega, but in general the gold line platforms were much busier along the entire route. It was hard to board the gold line intermediate stations without having to skip a train because they were so packed. My impressions based on the people that number of people that I observed boarding at each station was that the gold line was considerably more busy. If the number for Expo even approaches the gold line number, I'd be surprised.
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Post by roadtrainer on Apr 29, 2012 8:15:32 GMT -8
I will avoid the crowds and use my Metro tokens on Monday close to Mid-day.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 29, 2012 9:15:29 GMT -8
Not sure when I'll ride again, but I am sure that it won't be on the first revenue run on Monday morning. Maybe mid-week or if not, next weekend for sure.
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Post by LAofAnaheim on Apr 29, 2012 10:23:34 GMT -8
On the Expo Line right now. Ridership is very light. Some stations have maybe 5 people boarding at most. We've hit every red light on Flower street (Flower street is going to give a bad impression of this line). Headways are unrealistic to meet with trains every 6 minutes unfortunately and Blue Line operations. Its taken 31 min from La Cienega to 23rd. And now another 15 from 23rd to 7th street. Operations need improvement or we need Connector really badly!
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 29, 2012 10:25:28 GMT -8
Weird that La Cienega has no escalators, or did I just miss them? Thanks for the photos! I am glad you enjoyed them! Metro doesn't build escalators on outdoor stations. They are afraid that they will break too often because of weathering. All aerial Expo stations have two elevators and two stairs (and two emergency stairs I think). With the Expo Line, a lot of people who wanted to ride it couldn't because they couldn't find parking, especially so since they had temporary no-parking zones in the vicinities of stations.
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 29, 2012 10:30:51 GMT -8
On the Expo Line right now. Ridership is very light. Some stations have maybe 5 people boarding at most. We've hit every red light on Flower street (Flower street is going to give a bad impression of this line). Headways are unrealistic to meet with trains every 6 minutes unfortunately and Blue Line operations. Its taken 31 min from La Cienega to 23rd. And now another 15 from 23rd to 7th street. Operations need improvement or we need Connector really badly! They need signal priority for trains, period. LADOT, listen to this!
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 29, 2012 11:19:29 GMT -8
They need signal priority for trains, period. LADOT, listen to this! Don't you think that signal priority (ie lights changing at irregular intervals when trains approach) would be confusing for both drivers and pedestrians and potentially lead to more accidents?
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Post by Gokhan on Apr 29, 2012 11:30:00 GMT -8
They need signal priority for trains, period. LADOT, listen to this! Don't you think that signal priority (ie lights changing at irregular intervals when trains approach) would be confusing for both drivers and pedestrians and potentially lead to more accidents? Not if it's done properly. There is signal priority at Exposition/Rodeo and it works perfectly. The only drawback is some additional delay on vehicle traffic, which is why LADOT doesn't want it.
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