2010-02-27
Please Don't Litter!
It
is so sad to see the lack of civic responsibility demonstrated time
after time day after day. The LACMTA too, suffers from that lack.
Proof of that lack is demonstrated by the extremely small fraction
of buses which have trash bags deployed in a usable manner on-board.
Above
is a photo of the typical situation at the LAXCBC, garbage all over
the place. If there were a serious attempts made to limit smoking
and ticket those who litter, the LAXCBC would be a much better place.
And they could fund some of the art with fines rather than fare
collections.
The
Mole reads the papers (and other things) so you don't have to
A
Daily News piece(1) takes on the LACMTA's disorganized and short
sighted approach to litigation. I am not aware of the details but
you Mole strongly believes that the usual poor contracting
procedures, that we have come to expect from the LACMTA, leaves
enough doubt as to who is responsible for what, and the issue
inevitably ends up in court.
The
story quotes the `extraordinary' $30M in [legal] fees over Red Line
case. But the piece fails to tell us what, exactly, is at issue.
You can find just slightly more here
http://www.metro.net/about_us/finance/images/2008_Con_Disclose_State.pdf
. And here,
http://www.metro.net/board/Agendas/2009/12_december/20091210ARBM.pdf
we can find four (4) suits listed.
Su
Topo hasn’t given up on investigating the LACMTA’s money
draining approach to things, but, it will likely take several months.
For example, in addressing the over-budget, behind-schedule
situation via-à-vis Boston’s “Big Dig”
project, POGO (Project On Government Oversight) said this:
“…
There is
precedent for handling this disaster. The DOT has frozen Federal
funding of a subway system in Los Angeles. In an October 5, 1994
press release, the DOT announced the work performed on the subway did
not meet the standards that the Department of Transportation has
established:
"Disturbed by continuing technical and management problems . . . U.S. Federal Transit Administrator Gordon J. Linton today suspended future Federal funding for the entire program and halted all tunneling . . . until numerous difficulties are resolved." [See Appendix M, p. 1]
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena added, "These steps are meant to deliver a firm message that the Clinton Administration believes in the Red Line project, supports its continuation, but insists that it be built in a safe and fiscally responsible manner." [See Appendix M, p. 2])
In a letter sent to the Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles project Gordon Linton stated, "The grantor-grantee relationship, however, is between the FTA [Federal Transit Administration] and the LACMTA [Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority], and it is LACMTA's responsibility to demonstrate that it is exercising proper stewardship of the Federal resources it has contracted to receive." [See Appendix M, Attachment, p. 2])”. Just taking this description on the LACMTA’s work, this Mole suggests that things don’t look too bright for an organization which is so totally lacking in professionalism that it defies description.
"Disturbed by continuing technical and management problems . . . U.S. Federal Transit Administrator Gordon J. Linton today suspended future Federal funding for the entire program and halted all tunneling . . . until numerous difficulties are resolved." [See Appendix M, p. 1]
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena added, "These steps are meant to deliver a firm message that the Clinton Administration believes in the Red Line project, supports its continuation, but insists that it be built in a safe and fiscally responsible manner." [See Appendix M, p. 2])
In a letter sent to the Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles project Gordon Linton stated, "The grantor-grantee relationship, however, is between the FTA [Federal Transit Administration] and the LACMTA [Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority], and it is LACMTA's responsibility to demonstrate that it is exercising proper stewardship of the Federal resources it has contracted to receive." [See Appendix M, Attachment, p. 2])”. Just taking this description on the LACMTA’s work, this Mole suggests that things don’t look too bright for an organization which is so totally lacking in professionalism that it defies description.
Now,
an important axiom is life is to “do it right the first time”.
The three (3) important project components in accomplishing this
were addressed last month: Good general management, Good project
management and the highest average IQ which can be assembled and
assigned to the project.
It
is proved daily and reported on monthly, that the LACMTA is in
violation of the axiom and lacks appropriate resources in some or all
of the important project components.
To
this Mole it appears that the LACMTA would rather muddle through and
then try to fix it in the courts.
This
is the same company that in depressed economic conditions will be
spending MORE than $500,000 on art work for five “Orange Line”
stations. You can read or listen to the report at KPCC’s web
site: http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/02/01/metro-art/
.
Now
art is important in life, but when people are attempting to scrape
by, they could well get along with a couple of LACMTA posters in the
bus “stations”, which are basically just wide parts in
the bus lanes. Instead these “art lovers” at the LACMTA
are spending 400,000 full fare equivalents for art for which they
have already selected the medium, porcelain enamel. Perhaps they
could just cast everyone involved in bronze and stand a couple of the
dummies, er, castings up at each station.
But,
really, what can one expect from a transportation organization which
is, for all intents and purposes, managed by politicians. I am
sorry, but la Taupe tends NOT to value politicians very highly.
Mostly they are lawyers and it seems to this Mole that the lawyers
who achieve the most success in life are those in private practice.
Attention
Ms Wendy Greuel — City Controller, this could be a job for your
staff. I would suggest an emphasis on the bidding process an
interesting sidelight of which might be to see if there are
connections between political contributions and bid winners. But,
this will
not
be an easy task. The easier task might be to find out which failures
in project management exist and specifically which failures in
project management generate unproductive law suits like the one for
$30 million mentioned above.
Ms
Greuel, you might also want to find out how Snoble was able to
spend $1,000,000 of taxpayer money to propagandize those same
taxpayers regarding Metro’s “plans”. I have the
strong feeling that Snoble violated some law or regulation when he
decided to spend monies intended for transportation in an attempt to
convince voters how “good it would be”. It wasn’t
that good, was it?, because Snoble left not too long after his
advertizing campaign, successful though it was.
Please
don’t delay on this issue, statute of limitations, you know.
The
Dailybreeze sure knows how to promote a good idea(2). The article
describes how Homegirl Café, which is part of Father Greg
Boyle's Homeboy Industries will be submitting a bid to provide food
service at LAX. Full disclosure: Su Topo has eaten at
the Homegirl Café, likes the food, and was, as an ordinary customer, treated well by a staff that was polite and ladylike. Su Topo
supports all of Father Boyle's work in any way he can –sorry,
way too little he thinks. I wish every success to the endeavor and
wish that the Daily Breeze article gave the story a more positive
vibe. This writer thinks that the reporter should visit the Home
girl Cafe and then write an article that better reflects the
restaurant.
I
stop at a Starbucks to catch up o my e-mail before a trip. A high
volume interview is on going when I enter. I walk by the table and
glance down. The document on the table, in front of the
coffee-drinking interviewer, is identified as a Harvard Pre-interview
document. The coffee cup-less interviewee is a young lady who is
apparently in her last year of high school. My first thought is,
Harvard? --don't they have an office for this kind of thing?? The
interviewer seems kind of insensitive. I have been interview in a
public place but, it was always a restaurant which offered more than
just an arms length separation from others.
Why
oh why oh Wyoming?
I
am at LAX, I have my camera and my flight is delayed. So I decide to
check out the FlyAway buses and see if they are still using Wyoming
license plates –Please see the photos above and below and click
on the photos to [depending upon your Internet browser] see an
enlargement. I find that about one third of the FlyAway buses which
stop at the Bradley Terminal buses are still registered in WY.
Could
this be a case of case of cheating the State of California and
passing the savings on to you?
I
don’t think so as the fare, since I first reported on the route
(2006-03-25) has more than doubled, from $3 one way to $7 one way.
And years have passed since I first showed you a photo of a Wyoming
license plate on a FlyAway bus (2007-08-28).
In
spite of the fact that these FlyAway buses are used mostly, as far as
this Mole can tell, in the Los Angeles area, they are registered in
Wyoming. It that legal, or just a way to use our local highways
without paying for them?
Couple
this tactic with the fact that our LACMTA makes no attempt to promote
the 439 Line, at $1.80 as an inexpensive and not really so much
longer in duration, alternative to the $7 FlyAway option
transportation
reporter, Ms Heather Haddon, tells us that a man
owes the New York
City $2 million in fines for his illegal
posting of “cheap
movers” posters around Manhattan Borough.
Which man may be
close to being brought to justice.
I
can’t help but contrast our own local situation where an
illegal poster of extremely hard-to-remove bumper stickers
–advertising a web site- has operated for years and is allowed
complete freedom. This, in spite of the fact that several groups
within the the LACMTA which one would suppose to have interest in the
matter, have been provided with details of the poster’s
whereabouts, contact information and etc., yet they remain rooted in
inactivity.
“Of all
our institutions public education is the most important. Everything
depends on it, the present and the future. It is essential that the
morals and political ideas of the generation which is now growing up
should no longer be dependent upon the news of the day or the
circumstances of the moment. Above all we must secure unity: we must
be able to cast a whole generation in the same mold.”
Napoléon
Bonaparte (1769-1821), in an 1807 meeting of the Council of State.
Quoted in “The Life and Memoirs of Count Molé, written
by Mathieu Louis Molé
(1781-1855),
edited by the Marquis de Noailles. 2v London, 1923, 61.
Ear to the Rail
Some
weeks ago, KPFK (90.7Fm or www.kpfk.org
)
began a new broadcast at 17:00~18:09 on Mondays through Fridays. It
is called the “Daily Briefing” and is hosted by Ian
Masters who you may recognise from his “Background Briefing”
Sundays at 11:00~14:00 on KPFK.
This
is NOT a “talk show” in the sense that people call in to
be heard –even if they probably shouldn't be given a forum as
they often are on other broadcasts, but rather, an intelligent, often
lengthy conversation between a reporter, Masters, and his
knowledgeable guests. One such guest was James Rickards, who is a
financial markets expert. Simply search for “James Rickards”
+piñata
using you favourite search mechanism, I used Www.bing.com
and you will see an article which is short and fairly easy to
understand,about the EU's problems with Greece's finances.
Be
careful, Daily Briefing is addictive, as is Background Briefing, so
you may find yourself downloading the broadcast from
http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/
when you are not
near a radio at 17:00.
Cosmology
The
December 2009 issue of Scientific American features an article on
multiverses, i.e., multiple universes. Here is the link:
The
link below will take you to the Multiverse notes and allow you to
download a podcast on multiverses. Press (Page Down) once after
linking, then look for the “Download MP3” or “Play
Podcast” links on the lower left side of the second page.
The
Mole Rides Again, so that you don't have to wonder what your bus
driver's last words will be when she returns her attention to driving
and looks down to see a truck five feet away
A
42 Line bus, number 6456, idles at the LAXCBC, doing its' share to
contribute to global warming.
An
extremely filthy man sits on a bench at the LAXCBC, rock back and
forth and makes moaning noises.
The
person above is spending part of Super Sunday afternoon catching up
on his rest. This is not unusual and, of course, there is absolutely
NO security provided at this busy center.
Typical
of the ambiance at the LAXCBC, is this habitué of
the bus center. With almost no security provided here, things
only get worse after dark. The smell of smoke is pervasive, vendors
frequent the center along with friendly people –who will come
right up to you, greet you and ask for “spare change”.
Above
we can see that someone
has left a McDonald’s coffee cup on
top of the newspaper dispenser in the foreground.
Look
below, and see that Starbucks is there too.
Starbucks, contribution to litter, is the cup on the ground between
the curb and in back of the third newspaper dispenser.
This
trash is located only steps from a trash container, all on the
northwest corner of the Lincoln and Venice intersection.
Both
McDonald’s,
Starbucks and a host of other companies are
factors in littering. Of course, they couldn’t do it without
their customers! Who pays for the cleanup, if any? Why the taxpayers
do!
2010-02-02
@ 13:00: I ride a 704 bus #9383 down Santa Monica BL to Santa Monica.
A tall black man has draped himself over what your Mole considers to
be a luggage rack, located on the right front side of the bus. He
carries on a non-stop conversation with the driver, #29424, who seems
so confidant that she doesn't use her seat belt. In spite of
manoeuvring this big machine along a very busy street, easily holds
up her end of the conversation. He: “... use cheaper materials
but charge you more ...”. She: “I saw “The
Unborn”on TV ...”. I have heard more than enough and
move to the back of the bus –further away from the point of
impact, I think, but apparently she hasn't as the conversation
continues until the final stop. My new seat is near a native of
India whose body odor causes me to move again.
I
wait in Santa Monica, along with ten others for a 333 bus. A man
adjusts his wife's coat collar. An ordinary act, yet it seems a
somewhat rare momentary expression of tenderness.
A
woman draws deeply on her cigarette until her cheeks are bisected by a
line, then puffs up her cheeks while retaining the smoke in her mouth
and lungs. After exhaling, she continues a self discussion which
seems to be turning into an argument.
A
seagull roosts on a corner at the top of a building. I think of
Chekhov's work –”The Seagull”.
2010-02-04
@15:50: I am aboard a 429 Line bus driven by driver # 14223 –better
known as Mr. Tape-it-up. Today about 40% of the right side front
windshield has black plastic bag material taped over it. About 60%
of the driver's side window is also covered. For this he used more
black plastic bag material and his uniform jacket, which is hung over
the visor.
I
think of this driver as a sort of “Dracula” who cannot
stand the light and I am always concerned that he may actually not be
fit to drive in the daylight. However, today it seems, he is not
swiveling around in his seat to face passengers with whom he is
carrying out a conversation while the bus is traveling at speed on
the Freeway. But he does seem to glance up to see their reflections
in the mirror, distracted for short periods, which is not comforting
to this Mole.
2010-02-06:
I ride bus #6423 and note that the front, right, inside convex
mirror, the one that allows the driver see what is directly in front
of the right front wheel is covered with a white plastic bag –to
this Mole it an obvious safety violation but the drivers apparently
don't see fit to write it up nor do any mechanics see this glaring
problem.
Here
at the south most entry to the Green Line Mariposa Station one can
easily see that the equipment will be exposed to a diurnal cycle of
heating and cooling. In Japan, I have seen many similar gates which
have always been somewhat protected and never exposed to the elements
as these are at Mariposa Station and at other locations around the
county.
At
the northern entry to the Green Line Mariposa Station, it is not easy
to distinguish between the plastic covering, which has bubbled up,
and the water which has accumulated on top of the covering. To me
this is much less than ideal siting for such equipment. It is yet
another reason why doing it right the first time always pays off.
Here they are trying to retrofit gear into a situation which has lots
of limitations.
The
photo above and the one below this section, are of another bus stop
haunter. I spotted this from an eastbound 117 bus and got off. This
guy is something else. A semi-aggressive panhandler, he shouts at
the patrons of the fast-food place in the background, threads his way
between the cars which are lined up for service and delivers his
pitch. He even caused a young girl to run to her mother when he
approached her babbling something unintelligible. Apparently this
has been going on for months.
Where
are the Inglewood
police?
Don't the
Metro drivers
report such encampments at bus stops along their routes?? Why didn't
the restaurant
managers
take some action? Why should bus riders, restaurant patrons and
others have to compete with this man for space which is rightfully
theirs?
He
has latterly taken over the bus stop. He has his shopping cart
attached to the bus stop “flag” pole. He also has a
bicycle (shown in the photo below) and assorted other possessions
taking up more space. I was told that on rainy days he moves into
the covered shelter. These are things that the LACMTA doesn't tell
you in their expensive, glossy hype pieces prepared by their
Marketing staff. The general ambiance in the near vicinity is well,
funky.
Want
to do more walking? Ride the Metro!
2010-02-15:
I what seems like an all to rare day off and Molette and I plan to
meet at Del Amo, to have lunch and do some shopping. I arrive early
and have my morning coffee and decide to record what I observed about
the LACMTA this morning.
Under
the guise of “service improvements” they have eliminated
some stops on the 344 Line which “serves” Hawthorne BL.
They made these changes some weeks ago and would probably tell you
that they solicited public comment on the change and there wasn't
any. Of course it is difficult for bus riders to offer comment when
at 18:00 (the usual time that the “Comment Meetings”
end), the potential critics are more than an hour away from the venue
waiting for the second bus of the three which will be required for
the trip.
Anyway,
the “service improvements” here involve eliminating some
stops and using red “Rapidish” buses on the route. No as
soon as I see that my bus will be a “Rapid”, I know that
I'm in for some walking, usually no more than a mile.
In
this case, it seems that due to their “main thoroughfare”
fixation (MTF?), theywhenn eliminated all stops that would be convenient to
those who travel along Hawthorne BL.
Is
everyone at the LACMTA stupid? Or don't they ride the buses?, Or
can't they read a map and understand distances? Or is it just a
matter of not caring about the public which they misserve? Or all of
the above?
I
can just visualize the “planners” in action: “Well
it's further than the width of my index finger but less than my
thumb. That should be a short walk”. Convenience – duh,
what does that mean?
These
guys have big street fever but not the slightest idea about what
“source of traffic” means.
Here
again, we have the LACMTA forcing people who are unable to make long
walks and cross busy streets onto Torrance Transit and required to
pay an additional fare.
Here
again, with the decrease in the value our bus passes we can feel
first hand the result of the “less for more” philosophy
of the LACMTA.
Now
the LACMTA is not the only transportation agency that has short
comings, the GMBL also could use some improvement. Now, when you
want to use one of their lines, say line 5 which serves El Segundo BL
between the Green Line and Blue Line intersection and Sepulveda BL in
El Segundo. Actually, it spurs off to the south from the Imperial
Blue Line Station, using 120th
ST and then Compton BL, in order to intersect El Segundo BL and
lays-over on Grand AV just a little south of Sepulveda, where the bus
starts its next loop. You can see, kind of, the route here
http://filebin.ca/oyeubu.
The picture is not pretty, partly because I scanned the best copy
which I could easily obtain which had apparently been in use on the
bus for a while. My complaints with the document, I am not that
satisfied with my scanning either, are several: (a) someone decided
to use reverse printing for the Green Line station names, making them
difficult to read on the scanned copy and near impossible using the
paper copy; (b) the boxes containing the Legend and Map Notes, should
have been (and should be) reoriented so that the map could be read
more easily, that is stretched more on the north-south axis; (c) the
“Legend” should be relocated to the west of Sepulveda
after rotation it 90 degrees to the left; (d) the “Map Notes”,
after a like rotation 90 degrees to the left, should be printed left
to right below Alondra BL; and (e) reducing the size of the map title
and printing it as one line frees “real estate” and makes
possible an east west stretching of the map. Reformatting as I
suggest allows for a larger map, you know the part we use. I suspect
as with the LACMTA these maps are created by people who don’t
ride the system. That said, the LACMTA seems to be making a real
effort to improve the usability of the maps which are integrated into
their schedules. This Mole would be unfair if he didn’t make
reference to that fact. Oh, and GMBL, “You’re Welcome!”.
Although
the photo above actually shows very little trash, it does depict an
attitude held by some, a sort of “the world is my garbage can”
way of looking at things. Or possibly they think “if the
LACMTA won’t provide trash containers aboard buses then I will
just try to conceal my trash”.
I
saw a fresh “whois” bumper sticker on a bus and
immediately, OK, quickly, had two thoughts: (1) The LACMTA can spend
$30 million on legal cases but can’t spend $150 for a C & D
order for the person who has made a career out of defacing buses and
(2) Cell phones authorised (See the 2009-12-31 posting) for Metro
employee usage should have a “Metro” decal affixed to
them –they can buy the decals from Mr. “Whois”,
because they are next to impossible to remove.
2010-02-25
@ 11:20: I am on Line 111 bus, #6323, driven by driver #14863 who is
a, how shall I say this?, rotund woman. Rotund to the point where
she wears her “lap belt” across the top of her legs. I
estimate the belt to be positioned about midway between her hips and
knees.
It
doesn’t look safe. I think about the physics involved in a
crash and decide that her legs likely would be broken. This would
make them more “flexible” and significantly reduce their
restraining effect, so that as he upper body went through the
windshield; her legs would follow right along.
The
solution? Equip buses with a shoulder harness, as aircraft pilots
use, to ensure that drivers retain their seats in the event of a
crash. The probability that Metro would be that concerned about its
passengers is, unfortunately, extremely low.
Dedicated
to the Dulcinea of my dreams
‘"Then
if it be essential that every knight-errant should be in love,"
said the traveller, "it may be fairly supposed that your worship
is so, as you are of the order; and if you do not pride yourself on
being as reticent as Don Galaor, I entreat you as earnestly as I can,
in the name of all this company and in my own, to inform us of the
name, country, rank, and beauty of your lady, for she will esteem
herself fortunate if all the world knows that she is loved and served
by such a knight as your
worship seems to be."
At this Don Quixote heaved a deep sigh and said, "I cannot say positively whether my sweet enemy is pleased or not that the world should know I serve her; I can only say in answer to what has been so courteously asked of me, that her name is Dulcinea, her country El Toboso, a village of La Mancha, her rank must be at least that of a princess, since she is my queen and lady, and her beauty superhuman, since all the impossible and fanciful attributes of beauty which the poets apply to their ladies are
verified in her; for her hairs are gold, her forehead Elysian fields, her eyebrows rainbows, her eyes suns, her cheeks roses, her lips coral, her teeth pearls, her neck alabaster, her bosom marble, her hands ivory, her fairness snow, and what modesty conceals from sight such, I think and imagine, as rational reflection can only extol, not compare."
"We should like to know her lineage, race, and ancestry," said Vivaldo.
To which Don Quixote replied, "She is not of the ancient Roman Curtii, Caii, or Scipios, nor of the modern Colonnas or Orsini, nor of the Moncadas or Requesenes of Catalonia, nor yet of the Rebellas or Villanovas of Valencia; Palafoxes, Nuzas, Rocabertis, Corellas, Lunas, Alagones, Urreas, Foces, or Gurreas of Aragon; Cerdas, Manriques, Mendozas, or Guzmans of Castile; Alencastros, Pallas, or Meneses of Portugal; but she is of those of El Toboso of La Mancha, a lineage that though modern, may furnish a source of gentle blood for the most illustrious families of the ages that are to come, and this let none
dispute with me save on the condition that Zerbino placed at the foot of the trophy of Orlando's arms, saying,
'These let none move Who dareth not his might with Roland prove.'"
"Although mine is of the Cachopins of Laredo," said the traveller, "I will not venture to compare it with that of El Toboso of La Mancha, though, to tell the truth, no such surname has until now ever reached my ears."
"What!" said Don Quixote, "has that never reached them?" ’
worship seems to be."
At this Don Quixote heaved a deep sigh and said, "I cannot say positively whether my sweet enemy is pleased or not that the world should know I serve her; I can only say in answer to what has been so courteously asked of me, that her name is Dulcinea, her country El Toboso, a village of La Mancha, her rank must be at least that of a princess, since she is my queen and lady, and her beauty superhuman, since all the impossible and fanciful attributes of beauty which the poets apply to their ladies are
verified in her; for her hairs are gold, her forehead Elysian fields, her eyebrows rainbows, her eyes suns, her cheeks roses, her lips coral, her teeth pearls, her neck alabaster, her bosom marble, her hands ivory, her fairness snow, and what modesty conceals from sight such, I think and imagine, as rational reflection can only extol, not compare."
"We should like to know her lineage, race, and ancestry," said Vivaldo.
To which Don Quixote replied, "She is not of the ancient Roman Curtii, Caii, or Scipios, nor of the modern Colonnas or Orsini, nor of the Moncadas or Requesenes of Catalonia, nor yet of the Rebellas or Villanovas of Valencia; Palafoxes, Nuzas, Rocabertis, Corellas, Lunas, Alagones, Urreas, Foces, or Gurreas of Aragon; Cerdas, Manriques, Mendozas, or Guzmans of Castile; Alencastros, Pallas, or Meneses of Portugal; but she is of those of El Toboso of La Mancha, a lineage that though modern, may furnish a source of gentle blood for the most illustrious families of the ages that are to come, and this let none
dispute with me save on the condition that Zerbino placed at the foot of the trophy of Orlando's arms, saying,
'These let none move Who dareth not his might with Roland prove.'"
"Although mine is of the Cachopins of Laredo," said the traveller, "I will not venture to compare it with that of El Toboso of La Mancha, though, to tell the truth, no such surname has until now ever reached my ears."
"What!" said Don Quixote, "has that never reached them?" ’
Miguel
De Cervantes (1547-1616), Don
Quixote
(1605),
http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/cervantes/don-quixote/1/ ,
Chapter
XIII
Fare
Box Score Box and related Lists of Shame
I.D.
Numbers of buses with Out of Order Fare Boxes:
6496;
Note:
No or few entries above do not necessarily mean all fare boxes are in
operation.
I.D.Numbers
of Distracted Drivers:
(i)(ii)(iii);
None
noted this period.
Codes:
(i) Extended conversation(s) with passenger(s) or (ii) cell phone
call(s). Frequently,
details can be found in the text above, (iii) Self-distracted. This
code will ALWAYS be explained in the posting.
I.D.
Numbers of Buses Defaced by WhoIs stickers:
6378;
9383+UR; 6371; 6384;
~UR
or +UR
= (+UR)
whois
sticker and the ugly residue left after passengers partly remove the
sticker. (~UR)
= Only the ugly residue left after passengers almost completely
remove the sticker. +L
= an
old (legacy) sticker black letters on a plain white background –these
are the original form of defacement.
*
Another reason for displaying the operator's ID on the internal
display and the headsign.
ID
numbers of Buses whose Head and Tail signs disagree:
6580
117/111;
6362
42/0; 6411 111/0;
Format
is Bus number followed by Headsign number/Tailsign number.
La
Taupe's Abréviations
ASAS
= Automatic Stop Announcement System the GPS (Global Positioning
System) driven mechanism for generating audio for the upcoming stops.
N.B. Because of the low power (read weak) processors used in the
on-board stops may be too close to identify stops separately. This
is know as a granularity problem. Then too, if the driver operates
the bus at speed above the speed limit you will find the system “back
announcing” stops which you have already passed. I find that
this will NOT keep some drivers from complaining “that you
didn’t signal (ring) in time. They don’t understand
their relationship to the system and how, by driving faster than the
GPS computer, they can bias it .
BBB
= Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus
CC
or CCMBL
= Culver City (Municipal) Bus (Lines)
CCTC
= Culver City Transportation
Center this is the place formerly known as FHMTC
= the
Fox Hills Mall Transportation Center (Sepulveda & Slauson)
FFE
= Full
Fare Equivalent
(presently $1.25)
LAXCBC
= the LAX City Bus Center.
TT
= Torrance Transit.
T1
= the normal type of driver/staff.
T2
= is the non-stop talker type of driver/staff, on the phone or to
passengers,
T3
= the uncommunicative type of driver/staff, sometimes surly.
WLATC
= the West Los Angeles Transportation Center (Fairfax & Apple)
Su
Topo’s Disclaimer and apologia
Your
Mole always attempts to write an easy-on-the-eyes page using text
input. Blogger.com however, has other ideas and will often not stay
with a single font type or point size, produces extraneous spacing
and etc. I wish I had time to debug the HTML which they produce, it
is NOT the straight text which I pasted into the form, but I don’t.
Therefore, I apologize on behalf of Blogger.com for the changes
which they make, of which I do not approve. Sometimes, what I see,
thankfully you don’t, is 24 point type –it is giant and
other times they swallow my text, although it still seems to be
there. In fairness to them, things seem better, although this is
partly because I do understand which of their “features”
do the most damage to me and consequently do not use them.
Communicating these problems to them, for me, is something like
having teeth extracted without the benefit of anesthetic, actually it
is less fun than that. By their design, there is no simple e-mailing
them with "Please look at my say, posting of 2009-06-28, it is
weird!” I am hoping that one of their developers will some day
read this, copy my code and improve their text to HTML engine. Until
then, lo
siento.
Mole’s
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This
is to certify that I, the blogger who is known as the LAmetroMole,
with respect to this blog, except as described below, am not now nor
at any time during the past year have been, nor it my current
intention to ever be:
1)
A participant, directly or indirectly, in any arrangement, agreement,
investment, or other activity with any vendor, supplier, or other
party doing business with any of the entities about which I have
written, which has resulted or could result in personal benefit to
me.
2)
A recipient, directly or indirectly, of any salary payments or loans
or gifts of any kind or any free service or discounts or other fees
from or on behalf of any person or organization engaged in any
transaction with any of the entities about which I have written.
Any
exceptions to 1 or 2 above are stated below with a full description
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There
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Date:
2009-06-24
S/ LametroMole
Bibliography/References
(1)
Anderson,Troy Staff Writer “MTA
legal dealings called 'shocking'” Daily News.
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_14320232?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
Last Viewed: 02/02/2010 06:53:42 PM PST
(2)
Marroquin, Art. “Ex-gang members part of LAX eatery bid”.
Dailybreeze. 31 Jan. 2010:A3.
(3)
Haddon, Heather. “Mysterious mover investigated for illegal
posters” am-NY.com. 11 Feb. 2010:p04
###30###
# posted by LAMETROmole @ 11:58 
