The LaMetroMole with LACMTA Comments

Su Topo will lead every post with the above until BBB corrects the problem.




Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French Philosopher




http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/thinking-tech/computer-types-out-messages-by-reading-your-mind/6411






Here is a link to a commuter train the Yamanote-sen
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rOV5B-ko80



Japan has been building high-speed trains since before the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games period. The building of the initial Osaka-Tokyo link required six (6) years (1959-1964)!  The idea that Americans, with their lagging manufacturing capabilities and no experience at all in high-speed rail, could implement such a system within California, on time and on budget, is almost beyond comprehension.   For example, when Taiwan wanted to build a rapid transit light rail system they contracted with




I wanted to cover a Times article about the “Orange Line” (it’s a bus folks ANDNOT Rapid Transit” Mole).  But again, the LACMTA is so concerned about doing things on the cheap and not being concerned about safety and speed that we end up with a loosely linked blend of modes rather than a well integrated transportation system. And NOTa rapid one at that.  Yet the LACMTA wants to continue to tap into our tax dollars, apparently ad infinitum, which they will pour into ill conceived, poorly designed, inferiorly managed and ineptly implemented projects- the “Downtown Connector”- leaps to mind.



¿Un Poco más?  How about a blended version of “Como la flor ” by Selina Quintanilla? She is someone whose loss continues to be felt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYcb6MIpUjo

youtube.com, Thank you! 

Ear to and Eye on the Rail

Cautionary Note: Those employed by the LACMTA should NOT view the following videos.  The speed of the trains in the videos, because they are truly rapid transit, their quietness, the clarity and sound level of the onboard announcements will likely make you dizzy, and/or nauseous and frighten you.


Continuing here, we see how they do it in France and México.  Sooner or later someone in the Taj Mahal will review the videos below and exclaim: “Doh, I think I’ve got it!”

France

RER B arriving to Paris Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2
RER = Réseau Express Régional [Regional Express Network]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQTYlp7Qp9s

Way to go Paris!

Merci bien à agladders pour l’upload!

Mexico

SkyTrain International Mexico City airport
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WckV6dQCg_U

¡Bravo a la cuidad de México!

Thank you to petushqc for his upload!

LACMTA, do you get the idea? Los Angeles would do well to emulate either of these world-class cities and their public transportation to area airports!  [To be continued].


http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/7/9/the-186-mph-superbus-just-keeps-chasing-pavements

Cosmology

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/jul/09/big-higgs-question/

Technical Topics






Below that is the solution to the word problem, as follows.  Suppose someone whose I.Q. is 110, rudely says to someone from a large organization, “Your I.Q. is the cube root of mine!”  The question then, is what is I.Q. of the person from the large organization?


We can prove that our cube root logic correct by cubing 4.7914, as in: 4.7914^3 = 109.9986 which rounds to 110, as in round(4.7914^3) = 110.  Please note that ^ denotes exponentiation, / is division, * is multiplication and roots can be determined by using the desired root, in this case, 3 for cube as the divisor of the log₁₀ of 110.  Su Topo has shown you how to use FreeMat as a calculator, and it is great when used that way, but one can create “script files” which contain complex logic and load those scripts then execute them with varying input.  All of which make FreeMat a powerful computation tool.

http://freemat.sourceforge.net/download.html and have fun. 



It is about a month since the “shakeup” changed the routes and schedules for the bus portion of the Metro “system”.  Given that the LACMTA had much more than the usual six months to plan, it is unbelievable that schedules are still not easily available on many buses.  As a result one is forced to ask drivers about when they will have schedules available.  Instead of understanding how important a schedule is to those who travel mostly by bus some drivers use the opportunity to either vent or demonstrate their lack of manners.  This was the case of driver who wore I.D. badge number 75460, and shouted a “No!” in answer to my query, through a closed bus door.

2012-07-17 A trip to Pasadena using the Green Line, Silver Line (It’s a bus, folks!) and the Gold line.  I return via the Gold Line and Expo Line and a bus.  Uneventful, except, as usual the PA announcements, unlike those in Japan (vide supra) are way TOO LOUD!

Now we find that the LACMTA is dissatisfied with their station naming and are renaming five (5) stations and promising that “Several other station names will be updated in the future.”(Un Nuevo)  Apparently the LACMTA felt that things were not confusing enough with their propensity to assign names to a single station poecilonymicly. 

The unnecessary expense of renaming stations is typical of an organization which wants us to renew Measure R in perpetuity so that they can continue in their spendthrift ways.  Would the LACMTA husband their funds whe could have restrooms installed in every train station and bus center which would be useful to all passengers and especially to mothers with small children. But no, the money gets dumped ito station name changes, NextBus
or NexTrip, the Downtown Connector, the planned work on the Taj Mahal - anything, in fact, which does not contribute to a safer, faster, more comfortable, more efficient ride for Los Angelinos. Please remember that the prescription for measure is Measure ℞., that is, to vote against Measure R. If you are undecided then please, ask this question of yourself: "Do you think that the transportation agencies in other cities in our nation had to ask their ridership - 'How shall we get you to our airport(s)?'"  The answer is in the videos which you have seen under the rubric "Ear to and Eye on the Rail" (above).  The LACMTA is asking US this question almost 20 years since the Green Line began.  LACMTA: The answer is to STOP asking foolish questions and to START digging!

                                             
2012-07-26 8:00: Your Mole rides the Green Line and notes several station name changes have been made.  A transfer to the Blue Line along with strange PA announcements; the system is announcing stops which are four (4) stations behind or actual position.  The operator is either oblivious to what is going out over the “air” or doesn’t know how to stop it, correct it or turn it off.   Just one more example of ineptitude heaped on the pile like old cell phone bills in the TV commercial.  Some fill-in-the-blank wakes up and finds he is not where he wants to be; in his addled mind this is an emergency so, he pulls the emergency stop switch above the door a feeble noise is emitted but the train keeps on rolling.  Now if this had been an actual emergency, then what??




This is definitely something that the LACMTA should be using on the gum blotched sidewalks of places like the LAXCBC, which is one of the filthiest bus centers this side of Calcutta.
The July “Metro Insider”(New Bus) proves beyond a doubt that the entire LACMTA staff and management associated with these self-promoting expensive brochures should be given the opportunity to exercise their skills elsewhere. In a portion of the brochure devoted to the new Division 13 facility on page, oops they don’t number pages, they refuse to tell us where this money pit will be located.


Fare Box Score Box and related Lists of Shame

I.D. Numbers of buses with Outs of Order Fare Boxes: xxxxx, xxxxx;

Note: No or few entries above do not necessarily mean all fare boxes are in operation. 

I.D.Numbers of Distracted Drivers: xxxxx (i);

None included here, but observations of a minor nature may be included in the main posting;

Codes: (i) Extended conversation(s) with passenger(s) or (ii) cell phone call(s).  Frequently, details can be found in the text above, (ii*) cell phone call(s) which are aggravated by some other action, (iii) Self-distracted.  Codes (ii*) and (iii)  will ALWAYS be explained in the posting.

I.D. Numbers of Buses Defaced by WhoIs stickers: xxxx;

~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 Tailsigns disagree: 5194; 192/42     ;

Format is Bus number followed by Headsign number/Tailsign number.

ID numbers of Buses without Braille signs: XXXX;

METRO drivers Basic Technical Skills Report

The format is Driver number F[{Y/-n/+n} C[{Y/N+/-}].  Meaning of F if Y the driver stopped with the Bus stop “flag pole” somewhere between the bus front door frames.  A negative number, e.g., -3 is the approximate distance in metres (think yards dear readers) between the nearest bus door vertical frame member and the flag pole signifying that the bus stopped short of the flag.   A positive number, e.g., +3 (metres) is the approximate distance between the nearest bus door vertical frame member and the flag pole signifying that the bus stopped past the flag.    The value for C[{Y/N}], “Y” tells us that the driver stopped within an easy step from the curb to the bus, “N” means it was NOT an easy step from the curb to the bus.   It is this Mole's belief that an average experienced good driver should be able to control his bus so as to position in near the curb and with the flag pole slightly to the front of the bus.  

39287 F[-6] C[Y]; xxxxx F[Y], C[Y]; xxxxx F[Y], C[Y]; xxxxx F[Y], C[Y];  N.B. distances are in metres, think yards.

nnnnn* = Contract Driver

I.D. numbers of drivers who are almost guaranteed to give you a Rough and Jerky (R & J) ride.  xxxxx;

I.D. numbers of drivers who will give you a potentially life-threatening ride.  XXXXX(-); XXXXX(-);

Codes: S = not wearing seat belts; J = bad judgment (unsafe driving practices).

La Taupe's Abréviations

ADADO = Automatic Destination Announcement (on) Door Opening. This feature is installed on many buses and operates on extremely few.  Another “money down the toilet” LACMTA investment.  La Taupe that this is intended for the visually impaired because people who can see can read the “head signs”.

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 known 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 $1.50)

GMBL = Gardena Municipal Bus lines

LAXCBC = the LAX City Bus Center.

OCTA = Orange County Transportation Authority.

Rapid Transit = does not compete for right of way, that is, it will not run at grade unless it has EXCLUSIVE DEDICATED USE of the right of way).

R & J = Rough and Jerky [ride].

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 someday read this, copy my code and improve their text to HTML engine.  Until then, lo siento.

Mole’s Copyright Statement

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Your Mole’s Conflict of Interest Statement

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 of the transactions and of the interest, whether direct or indirect, which I have (or have had during the past year) in the persons or organizations having transactions with any of the entities about which I have written.

There are no exceptions.

Date: 2009-06-24                  S/LametroMole                  




Nguyen,Tuan C. "Computer types out messages by reading your mind". Mar. 3, 2011.  Smart Planet.com Web

Vartabedian, Ralph. “Study casts doubt on bullet train claims.” Jul 13, 2012:AA4. Los Angeles Times. Print.




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