2012-10-30
Vae Viator32
VOTE NO ON MEASURE J!
¡VOTA NO A LA MEASURE J!
What it
says:
Measure J: "To advance Los Angeles County's
traffic relief, economic growth/ job creation, by accelerating construction of
light rail/ subway/ airport connections within five years not twenty; funding
countywide freeway traffic flow/ safety /bridge improvements, pothole repair;
keeping senior/ student/ disabled fares low; Shall Los Angeles County's
voter-approved one-half cent traffic relief sales tax continue, without tax
rate increase, for another 30 years or until voters decide to end it, with
audits/ keeping funds local?"
What it means:
The alternative to Measure J:
The first step is
fixing the LACMTA! By factoring out the
political component and professionalizing the organization. This involves placing PROFESSIONAL project
managers in charge of work so that taxpayers receive maximum value for their
money AND citizens are provided with safe, comfortable and reliable RAPID transit
systems. A professional
Transportation/Industrial Engineering Division is BADLY NEEDED, so that
incremental improvements, best practices and self sufficiency all become
mantras for the LACMTA. N.B. One easily
appreciated aspect of comfort is to have access to rest room facilities at ALL
RAIL STATIONS and BUS CENTERS. When the
above recommendations are implemented then, and only then should we again
consider giving the LACMTA what amounts to carte
blanche!
Why You Mole says VOTE NO ON NOVEMBER
BALLOT MEASURE J
Time and time
again the LACMTA, which is largely influenced by politics, rather than by
professionalism and technical skills, has proved itself unable to manage
projects in a professional manner. This
results in less than optimal solutions to Los Angeles’ public transportation
needs.
Budget Cost overruns, mediocre work and
schedule delays are all signatures of the LACMTA.
And the worst result of all – their
failure to provide rapid transit, i.e., most newly built or extended
lines end up sharing their “right-of-way” with LOTS of other traffic, vehicular
and pedestrian.
To cite just a
few examples of failures on the part of
the LACMTA:
The LACMTA appears to be more secretive than the CIA and is not transparent at all about the way in which is spends taxpayers monies;
The LACMTA appears to be more secretive than the CIA and is not transparent at all about the way in which is spends taxpayers monies;
The Expo line is
presently short of its’ goal and over
its’ budget;
The Expo Line was
built without access control,
so that if it is ever added it will prove much more costly than building it at
the time the line was constructed;
No attempt is made to statistically analyze traffic patterns in order to better route and schedule bus lines – the result long waits;
The LACMTA just
doesn’t get it! They are responsible for
a transportation system and
cancelling bus lines which tie rail lines to bus centers (e.g. the 439 Line
killed over a multi-year period) are the LINKS which makes a system out of
individual pieces;
Much taxpayer money is wasted on cosmetics. For example the recent “Rail Station Renaming
Project” yields lots of expense with really
no return on the expenditure!
Limited bus service (the LACMTA
calls it “Rapid” service) often does not stop when it intersects another bus
line’s route. This is
discriminatory since it reduces the value of my monthly pass without a
logical reason. Other than the Limited
service is made to appear faster because it skips many stops therefore denying
service to those in my class. Such buses
are usually much lighter loaded, reducing the requirement to stop even at stops
which they do service. Lawyers, start
your briefs;
Abdicating
its’ transportation responsibility
to LAWA and its’ Fly-Away buses, which charge about FIVE time the fare which
was available to riders on the now dead 439 Line which also served as a system
link. The LACMTA could have provided and
SHOULD provide almost identical service over nearly the same route while
serving the Culver Bus Center, the LAX City Bus Center and Aviation Station, at
a fare which is less than HALF of that charged by LAWA on a time-line which in
not significantly longer to LAX!
BBB Maxella Trash Fix??♪
The photograph above documents the
“fix” applied at the Maxella AV and Lincoln BL stop on their number 3
Line. It is the sort of “work” one would
expect from the LACMTA. The taped or
caused to be taped shut the aperture in the plastic pipes associated with power
poles. These pipes were used as
improvised trash cans. BBB N.B. The stop still needs a trash can!
Su Topo will see that the above photo will be the first picture in every post with the above until BBB corrects the problem.
%White Line Incursion Series%
The picture(s) below document that,
and this is important, even when there is no Metro bus at the stop, a never
ending stream of airport rent-a-car shuttle buses, taxis and civilian cars fail
to use the lane as required by law.
These scoff-law drivers also cross the white line and cut in front of
Metro buses which are discharging passengers at the stop, thus endangering
those passengers. Please note that the
drivers of these vehicles all hold a class of license which allows them to
transport passengers; although perhaps not safely!
Incursion-1♪
The photo above was taken at the north-east
intersection of Airport BL and 96th Street. It shows that two taxis
have crossed the white line ahead of a stopped 111/311 Line Metro bus.
The first taxi has been identified
as belonging to the United Taxi company.
The second is from the LA Checker Cab Company.
If it were not for the timidity of
the agencies charged with enforcing traffic laws and protecting citizens, these
activities would be brought to an abrupt stop.
Mr. Leahy shouldn’t you be picking
up your telephone right now to light a fire under these agencies? Random aggressive patrolling of
the area after a police review the 111/311 schedule should reduce the
infractions at this location to a minimum.
The same kind of aggressive
patrolling of the LAXCBC along with better signage and street markings would
end the problem of civilian card dropping off their passengers at the bus bays,
at that bus center as well.
Incursion-2♪
Here, v.s., is an example of a non-commercial vehicle
impinging upon the
space in front of a stopped Metro bus. Again, a less pusillanimous
approach
to policing would “put
the brakes” on this kind of
scoff-lawing behavior. The photographer is standing behind the bus "shelter", but there is indeed a bus stopped there. |
If your telephone call didn’t do
the trick Mr. Leahy, we know that Metro is a customer of Smart Drive® equipment
because we can see your logo here, you may have to get creative (hint: just read on).
Now how can we get you and Metro
drivers to use their Smart Drive® cameras to record the bad drivers who
endanger their passengers? We know this
can be done because Smart Drive® shows us the system in action aqui.
It seems as if it has lots of data
which could put an end to those scoff-laws incursions into the roadway ahead of
Metro buses very quickly. Just show the
law enforcement people 20 or 30 short videos of the events and they will get
the idea!
Safety Last?
On 2012-10-08 @ 11:22: I am riding
a West bound 117 Line bus on Century BL.
I take a seat on the left side of the bus just past the “step up” to the
elevated section in the back. My elbow
touches the window, one of the swing-out emergency ones and it swings freely
out! Your Mole is an engineer, so he
first attempts to close and lock the window.
It doesn’t lock in place! I walk
to the front of the bus and inform the driver (#16705) who listens to me.
Now Mr. Leahy, this is not
the first time I’ve had this experience aboard a Metro bus, it is at least the
10th time! I am not at all
personally concerned about this maintenance failure on the part of the
LACMTA. However, I am concerned for
mothers with small children who might fall out of the bus due to such a poor
design. These unreliable window
exit latches should be redesigned and it must be done NOW! Again, I
believe, that since you organization is incapable of dealing with the problem,
you require my input. So here it
is: (1) Short term fix – When the driver
receives such a report he should stop the bus at the next stop AFTER reseating
any children who are endangered by the condition. He should take out a yellow plastic adhesive tape that is embossed with “DANGER”
and “PELIGRO” in black and tape an “X” over the window which will serve
both to warn passengers and to somewhat keep the window in place. The driver should then be required to fill
out his maintenance card with the description and location of the problem
which, because of the large, tape “X” will be easily found by maintenance staff. Please, let’s implement this practice before
a child is injured or killed! Of course, in the longer term, the latches
should be replaced by a new design; perhaps the bus manufacturer should bear
the cost of the retrofit.
<< Une accumulation de
faits n'est pas plus une science qu'un tas de pierres n'est une maison.>>
Henri Poincaré (1854-04-29 ~ 1912-07-17)
[An accumulation of facts is no more a
science than a pile of stones is a house.]
The
Mole reads the papers and other things, obviating the necessity of your doing
so.
For anyone who
has some free time, excepting the management and employees of the LACMTA, to
explore interesting ideas, here is one for you.
A paper entitled ARE YOU
LIVING IN A COMPUTER SIMULATION? By Nick Bostrom which was
published in the Philosophical Quarterly (2003)
Vol. 53, No. 211, pp. 243‐255 is very
thought provoking.
“This paper argues that at
least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human
species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage; (2) any
posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of
simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof); (3) we are
almost certainly living in a computer simulation. It follows that the belief
that there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who
run ancestor‐simulations is false,
unless we are currently living in a simulation. A number of other consequences
of this result are also discussed.”
The paper
advances the thesis that we may be living a fine-grained simulated life within
a powerful computer. Strange, yes, but
the challenge is to find a method by which we can prove or disprove such a
thesis.
The LA Times informs
us (Weikel 1) Also, the
design, designers and builders of this particular section of track should be
investigated for possible financial responsibility due to malpractice. Perhaps the curve, if one exists, is too
sharp and the track can’t take the stresses since the agency is reported to
have “… tried welding extra metal to the track to solve the alignment issue,
but the work had to be repeated twice in the last few months because of
cracking and chipping.”
The Los Angeles
Times covers (Rojas) the ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal
Center). Although this Mole would prefer
the more grammatical, if less cute, ARITC (Anaheim Regional Intermodal
Transportation Center). The project is
planned to be completed in 2014 at a cost of $184-million. Since the LACMTA is not involved perhaps such
a schedule is possible; but so much glass in earthquake-country is cause for
concern. Here is the single sentence
that is very close to how su Topo views this particular project. “Shawn Nelson,
a county Supervisor and OCTA (Orange County Transportation Authority) member,
fears that ARTIC’s planners may be more concerned with building something
iconic than being judicious in spending taxpayer money and serving transit
riders.” The same statement could be
made about our own LACMTA! Please read
Mr. Rojas’ excellent article, most local libraries have back issues of the
Times in case you already tossed yours.
Another Time
piece (Bloomekatz) inspired this Mole to make a rare gybe into politics
with the “Vote No” headlines (vide supra).
Mr. Bloomekatz paints a bleak picture for those of us who believe in
frugality in all things. Here is another
way of looking at Measure J. Although
measure R has another twenty-six (26) years (until 2038) left to dip into our
pockets, the LACMTA which is generally NEVER
proactive about anything, suddenly feels the need to keep their hand in
our pockets for an additional THIRTY
(30) years beyond that, until 2069!
All with the promise of “jobs and traffic relief”, yeah, sure. In any event please read Mr. Bloomekatz nice
article in full.
Your Mole says,
that if they are going to give us jobs and etc. from those funds, let’s take a
look at it again in 2037 and see what measure R has done for us by then, what
is the rush]
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.
Today we will
take a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) ride to SFO, San Francisco International Airport. Yes,
right directly to the airport!! It is true, just four-hundred miles north
of Los Angeles they have done it! Ant at
the same time our ineffective LACMTA has dithered and tried to find another way
to do it. The most recent ploy is to get
as close as that can with yet another light rail system that is mass transit
but not rapid transit (BART
is both) and incorporating LAX into the nearest station name – even though it
may be a mile or more away, does not place you inside the LAX boundary.
Enjoy your ride from
Freemont , by clicking here, (the complete ride is not photographed) to SFO because you can’t have the
same kind of ride to LAX!
Here is a link to
a nice map of the Bart system:
If you read the
details you will find that the Powell and Market in San Francisco to SFO fare
of $5.35 is slightly more than half of the Fly-Away $10 fare to LAX, here in
Los Angeles.
Cosmology
Here is a nice picture
of merging galaxies from APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1210/NGC2623_HLApugh.jpg
Please click on
the picture in order to enlarge it.
The
Mole rides again, so you won’t stand in a sea of litter and wonder why the
LACMTA doesn’t have it cleaned.
(All times are expressed in the 24 hour system.)
2012-09-30 8:11 @ ITC: Inglewood Transit Center is synonymous with
filth. Every flat surface has
litter. There are plenty of litter containers
placed around the area, so it is neither the fault of the City of Inglewood nor
the LACMTA that it is filthy.
It appears not to have been cleaned
for years, perhaps it is cleaned by “Shelter Clean” (vide infra). The sidewalk are dotted with gum, just the
way they were at the LAXCBC before su Topo recommended equipment to really
clean the sidewalks; which equipment also seems to clean graffiti off the
benches as well.
I ride a 740 bus to
the Hawthorne Station. There I barely am
able to board a Green Line train due to the entry being blocked by the largest
load of bags stuffed with recycled material which I have ever seen on public
transportation. It is quiet except for the woman across the aisle from me who
is yelling into her cell phone: “… like they don’t have respect … that’s how
they treat me everywhere”, complaint piled upon complaint.
2012-10-06 15:00 Aboard a 117 Line
bus: Bad driver alert! Just slips past a red light and makes very
rough stops! The driver’s number? 80546.
2012-10-08 9:00: On board 117 Line
bus. The usually professionally “recorded stop announcements” have a grating
addition on this line. A somewhat
gravelly voiced male voice is patched in to say “Connection to the Blue Line”
at the 103rd Street Station.
It is emblematic of the “work” done by the LACMTA.
2012-10-16 10:00 On Aviation
Bl: I watch a Shelter Clean truck,
number 0435, pull up to a bus shelter and begin to clean it. He does a great job cleaning the glass enclosures
which house movie posters. But he
ignores the litter just a few paces from the shelter. It appears, Mr. Leahy, that once again you
are in need of some advice from this Mole.
Here it is: When the Shelter Clean employee feels that he has the shelter
area as clean as it is going to be, he should take a wide angle picture of the
area, centered on the shelter and with the date-time included in the
photograph. The photographs are to be
sent to the Taj Mahal (the building which houses your office) where one of the
accounts payable staff will review the work PRIOR to payment. No picture, no problem – the Shelter Clean billing
amount will be reduced by the pro rata portion for the given number of
undocumented cleanings. Ten shelters cleaned for $100, eight shelters
photographed equals eighty dollars remitted.
Please link to Shelter Clean’s
website:
You might want to watch the “slide
show” pictures change automatically and see how much un-cleaned litter you can
find.
While I have you ear, Mr. Leahy, I
along with many others are tired of standing
at a bus stop waiting for a local bus and watching extremely lightly loaded
Limited buses (you call them Rapid) pass us by.
I believe that the Limited buses should also stop at EVERY POINT where
they cross any other bus line. That
would not reduce their “rapidity” by much and would make for a much happier
ridership. You have created two (2)
distinct classes of ridership: those who were lucky enough to be discharged
from their prior bus near a Limited stop and those who weren’t. Now some organizations that claim to
represent the ridership would likely sue the LACMTA for that
discrimination. Think about it, my pass
is worth less than someone else’s just because the LACMTA decided to have
Limited service skip the stop where I had to debus my prior ride.
2012-10-17 LAXCBC Approx 8:10: An
out-of-service 117 Line bus, number 8474 driven by an unidentifiable driver
recklessly drives out the LAXCBC ENTRY (East).
He is soon followed by a civilian vehicle which, at least, uses the
south Entry as an entry but continues to go the WRONG WAY around the “island”
before dropping off his passenger. Have
I said before there is almost no security provided at the LAXCBC?
A
todos mis lectores ¡Feliz Dia de Gracias!
To
all my readers, Happy Thanksgiving!
Fare Box Score
Box and related Lists of Shame
I.D. Numbers of buses with Outs of Order Fare Boxes: Bus #/Line/Date 8316/117/2012-10-18, xxxx/xxx/xxxx-xx-xx;
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: xxxx; xxx/xx ;
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.
80729 F[-1] C[Y]; 23143 F[Y], C[-1]; 18770 F[Y], C[-3]; 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
ITC = Inglewood Transit Center
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
All photographs and original written materials are copyrighted © 2007~2009 by LAmetroMole. ♪Clicking a photo will often* present you with an enlargement (sometimes successive clicks will further enlarge the photo). *This feature is dependent upon the Internet browser which you use and possibly other factors.
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z 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
Works Cited
Bloomekatz, Ari. “Transit foes seem outmatched.” Oct. 20, 2012:AA3. Los Angeles Times.
Print.
Rojas, Rick. “Anaheim project picks up speed.” Oct. 7, 2012:A31. Los Angeles Times.
Print.
### .. . ###
..
The above is ###
30 ### in Braille
2012-10-01
Vae Viator31
VOTE NO ON MEASURE J!
¡VOTA NO A LA MEASURE J!
What it says:
Measure J: "To advance Los Angeles
County's traffic relief, economic growth/ job creation, by accelerating
construction of light rail/ subway/ airport connections within five years not
twenty; funding countywide freeway traffic flow/ safety /bridge improvements,
pothole repair; keeping senior/ student/ disabled fares low; Shall Los Angeles
County's voter-approved one-half cent traffic relief sales tax continue,
without tax rate increase, for another 30 years or until voters decide to end
it, with audits/ keeping funds local?"
What it
means:
The LACMTA wants to keep its’ hand in your pocket for another 30 YEARS. Another 30
YEARS of cost overruns, scheduling delays and spending that makes a drunken
sailor appear to be a miser – such as the minimally necessary and massively
expensive “downtown connector” which this Mole prefers to term the “Downtown
Band-Aid” and funding NextBus rather NextTrip, a money pit that
contributes ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to operational improvements, bi-annual bus line
cancellation and service reductions which decrease the value of one’s’ pass and on
and on ad infinitum.
Here is another way of looking at Measure J. Measure R has another twenty-six (26) years (until 2038) left to dip into our pockets, the LACMTA which is generally NEVER proactive about anything, suddenly feels the need to keep their hand in our pockets for an additional THIRTY (30) years beyond that, until 2069!
Here is another way of looking at Measure J. Measure R has another twenty-six (26) years (until 2038) left to dip into our pockets, the LACMTA which is generally NEVER proactive about anything, suddenly feels the need to keep their hand in our pockets for an additional THIRTY (30) years beyond that, until 2069!
Your Mole says,
that if they are going to give us jobs and etc. from those funds, let’s take a
look at it again in 2037 and see what measure R has done for us by then, what
is the rush]
The
alternative to Measure J:
The first step is fixing the LACMTA! By factoring out the political component and
professionalizing the organization. This
involves placing PROFESSIONAL project managers in charge of work so that
taxpayers receive maximum value for their money AND citizens are provided with
safe, comfortable and reliable RAPID transit systems. A professional Transportation/Industrial
Engineering Division is BADLY NEEDED, so that incremental improvements, best
practices and self sufficiency all become mantras for the LACMTA. N.B. One easily appreciated aspect of comfort
is to have access to rest room facilities at ALL RAIL STATIONS and BUS
CENTERS. When the above recommendations
are implemented then, and only then should we again consider giving the LACMTA
what amounts to carte blanche!
Why Your
Mole says VOTE NO ON NOVEMBER BALLOT MEASURE J
Time and time again the LACMTA, which is largely influenced
by politics, rather than by professionalism and technical skills, has proved
itself unable to manage projects in a professional manner. This results in less than optimal solutions
to Los Angeles’ public transportation needs.
Budget
Cost overruns, mediocre work and schedule delays are all signatures of the
LACMTA. And the worst result
of all – their failure to provide
rapid transit, i.e., most newly built or extended lines end up sharing
their “right-of-way” with LOTS of other traffic, vehicular and pedestrian.
To cite just a few examples
of failures on the part of the LACMTA:
The LACMTA appears to be more secretive than the CIA and is not transparent at all about the way in which is spends taxpayers monies;
The LACMTA appears to be more secretive than the CIA and is not transparent at all about the way in which is spends taxpayers monies;
The Expo line is presently short of its’ goal and over its’ budget;
A problem with a section of track shared by the Blue and Expo
Lines has mechanical problems which were, as best I can determine, hidden instead of remediated;
The Expo Line was built
without access control, so that if it is ever added it will prove much more
costly than building it at the time the line was constructed;
No attempt is made to statistically
analyze traffic patterns in order to better route and schedule bus lines –
the result is long waits for riders;
The LACMTA just doesn’t get it! They are responsible for a transportation system and
cancelling bus lines which tie rail lines to bus centers (e.g. the 439 Line
killed over a multi-year period) results in severing the LINKS which makes a system out of
individual pieces;
Much taxpayer money is wasted on cosmetics. For example the recent “Rail Station Renaming
Project” yields lots of expense with really
no return on the expenditure!
Abdicating the LACMTA's transportation responsibilities to LAWA
and its’ Fly-Away buses, which charge about FIVE time the fare which was
available to riders on the now dead 439 Line, which also served as a system
link. The LACMTA could have provided and
SHOULD provide almost identical service over nearly the same route while
serving the Culver Bus Center, the LAX City Bus Center and Aviation Station, at
a fare which is less than HALF of that charged by LAWA on a time-line which in
not significantly longer to LAX!
Limited bus service (the LACMTA
calls it “Rapid” service) often does not stop when it crosses another bus line's route. This is discriminatory since it
reduces the value of my monthly pass without a logical reason. Other than the Limited service is made to
appear faster because it skips many stops therefore denying service to those in
my class. Such buses are usually much
lighter loaded, reducing the requirement to stop even at stops which they do
service. Lawyers, start your briefs;
BBB Maxella Trash Fix??♪
The photograph above documents the
“fix” applied at the Maxella AV and Lincoln BL stop on their number 3
Line. It is the sort of “work” one would
expect from the LACMTA. The taped or
caused to be taped shut the aperture in the plastic pipes associated with power
poles. These pipes were used as
improvised trash cans. BBB N.B. The stop still needs a trash can!
Su Topo will lead every post with the above until BBB corrects the
problem.
White Line Incursion Series
The series of pictures below
document that, and this is important, even though there is no Metro bus at the
stop, a never ending stream of airport rent-a-car shuttle buses fail to use the
lane as required by law. Please note
that the drivers of these vehicles all hold a class of license which allows
them to transport passengers; although perhaps not safely!
Incursion-1♪
The photo above was taken at the
intersection of Airport BL and 96th Street. The Enterprise shuttle zoomed around the
stopped bus, illegally crossed the solid white line and shot ahead of the bus.
Incursion-1A♪
He drove fast, but I caught another
view of the Enterprise shuttle as ignores he driving laws and continues on its’
way to the airport.
Incursion-2A
Another day, another ride on the 111 and yet another incursion by a rent-a-car shuttle. The photographer lead the passangers in debussing and since he is a rent-a-car shuttle, which had just crossed the solid white line in front of the Metro bus while it was just beginning a northward turn onto 96th Street.
Mr. Leahy, I know you read this blog. Did you read the posting about how San
Francisco intends to use the cameras mounted on Muni buses (2012-05-31)? As an update, just for you, please read ABC’s
San Francisco affiliate, KGO-TV’s news team member* Ms Heather Ishimaru’s succinct
report on the matter. (http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=8666405). Over the three year pilot program, 2009~2012,
citation revenue is reported to be up by close to 70%[Mole’s calculation]. That increase means that more drivers have
become aware of how important it is to obey traffic laws.
*A team member who is obviously
intelligent, lovely and writes about transportation. All la Taupe can say is “magnifique!”
Reluctantly, back to business – So,
Mr. Leahy, here is your Mole’s recommendation for you. First assemble a team, whose combined IQ
should be close to 100, and have them visit Muni’s headquarters in San
Francisco. They should spend the day, carefully
shepherded by someone from Muni. They
should ride the busses that have the cameras mounted. Observe how the drivers take photos, and
leave with a detailed written description of the system including the comple processing requirements and exactly how the policing agencies interface with Muni.
Once back in Los Angeles the team
should implement San Francisco’s system exactly as described, with no ad hoc modifications. In other words, don't try this at home; if it works leave it alone! We both know what happens when the LACMTA is left to its own devices to "work its magic".
The first line to implement the
system? Of course, the 111 Line! After a month or so in operation, with
police, at last, taking action where action screams to be taken you should see
a positive result.
Viz., the scoff-law behaviour at 96th
Street and Airport BL will come to an end. your Mole will have to find a new
topic about which to write J. The by-products? Your Mole will have to find a new topic about which to write J and You will be able to claim that you
have taken positive action to make bus riders safer!
But you understand, I’m sure, that
all LACMTA buses already have front-facing cameras installed. It occurs to me, that you could have your
drivers start taking pictures of law-breakers tonight or tomorrow for
sure. This would eliminate the arduous
task of putting together the team, which I described above,while maximumizing IQ summation and minimumizing head count.
As a reminder, here is what an
LACMTA bus camera looks like.
Bus
Camera♪
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-10-09 ~ 1921-12-16)
If art has no
country, artists have one.
The
Mole reads the papers and other things, obviating the necessity of your doing
so.
The LA Times informs
us (Weikel 1) about yet more
Expo Line problems. Although their headline says “problem”, la Taupe sees
several problems. The first problem
seems to be a section of track at the merge point for the Blue and Expo Lines
which “… presents a risk of derailment if left uncorrected. Why such a problem was not identified and
corrected in the lengthy period during which the Expo Line was supposedly
tested is a mystery for this Mole. Even
more mysterious is the question as to why, as reported by the Times, a
consultant, Susan McAdams “dropped” as a consultant “… after she complained
about the tracks and other issues.“
MacAdams :… said that she told the [LACMTA’s]inspector general’s staff
about the problems at Washington and Flower almost a year ago and that nothing
was apparently done.” Let’s see, the LACMTA’s
inspector general is going to investigate its’ own staff? One would think that a “Special Investigative
Office is called for in this case, wouldn’t one??
The retrofitting is a result, not of the “reactive” LACMTA but “[t]he improvements
stemmed from a request by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in late May to
have the MTA assess the safety of Expo's crossings.”
Now, had they built this “bad idea” as rapid transit (no
contention with other vehicles for the right-of-way) instead of as cheaply as
possible it would have been safe from day one!
But no, they know
worse and continue to build infrastructure with neither a good plan nor even a
good idea of what constitutes a proper “fit for purpose” transportation system.
This well written
article indicates that the Expo Line is even further behind schedule and over
budget than was thought. Your Mole’s
limited research has pointed out that there is virtually NO ACCESS CONTROL
built into the system and like most other Metro botched jobs lacks even
elementary creature comforts like lavatories.
The most telling
quote from Mr. Weikel’s piece is from “… Najmedin Meshakti, an
engineering professor and safety expert at USC,
…” who
said: “This is good news to hear. Any step to improve the grade crossings is
music to my ears," said Meshkati, who added that he is still concerned about the Exposition and Rodeo intersection
[Emphasis added – Mole].”
At this point su Topo doesn't know the system details neither of Buster 3 nor Embark NYC. But perhaps the LACMTA had the capability of performing a "literature review" before committing $30 million PLUS [Mole's estimate] to the Next whatever a third party might have steped in and for a few dollar's one might have had a much better, more fully featured "app" than that provided by the LACMTA for, again, your Mole's estimate $30/user (lack of features means fewer users).
The fact that Los
Angeles exist without a transportation system, often there is
NO METRO bus link to a rail station and no attempt to schedule bus route
intersections so that passengers can easily, with limited waiting, make
transfers.
¿Musica?
How about some
musica? Let’s watch Yuridia
sing “Como Yo Te Amo”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7oJyGLy9p0&feature=related
As always, to
youtube.com, “Thank You!” And
to skyboy85, many thanks for the
upload!
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.
Here is a video
from our friends at youtube.com to help the LACMTA understand why running a
light rail line along Aviation Bl is NOT running a subway to LAX, no matter
what you name the station nearest LAX.
Russia - Moscow
Here
is a nice ride on a train from Paveletsky Station in Moscow to Domededovo
airport. You know, city center to the
airport the way professionals plan and implement a SYSTEM (lines seamlessly inter-connect, Rapid Transit, and etc.!) Sigh, if only our LACMTA could operate that
way and less like they do it in, what shall I
say? Toonerville??
Good job Moscow!
Thank you, epll0725 for your upload!
Cosmology
The
pencil nebula is fast! 500.000
kilometers per hour!!? Here is a picture.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/
ap120922.html
Galaxies
located 7,000,000,000 light years away from earth? Please read the details here.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103102244.htmHere is some recent work which is a product of the Hubble telescope. Please view the short, impressive video which is included. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/sep/26/hubble-astronomers-deepest-view-night-sky
The
Mole rides again, so you won’t have to help the LACMTA plan a more efficient
shunting scheme fro the Blue/Expo Lines.
(All times are expressed in the 24 hour system.)
2012-09-13: At 7th and
Metro Center, watching operations. There
is a lot of shunting going on here. Blue
Line and Expo Line trains all arrive on Track 2 and all leave from Track
1. This Mole believes it would be more
efficient to have all Expo Line trains arrive and leave on/from Track 1 and all
Blue Line trains arrive and leave on/from Track 2.
That way only trains going out of
service need be shunted. And passengers
could be made to understand that Expo Line trains could always boarded on track 1 and all Blue Line
Trains could always boarded on track
2. This eliminates the confusion which
is created when people can’t or don’t hear the announcements and can’t see the
signs on the train or vice-versa.
I wanted to include a diagram of the track layout at the station but, there was nothing available. Therefore, as an example I have included below the layout of the Ginza Subway station layout in Tokyo. Thes people really know what they are doing. Diagrams like this make it increidably easy to move around the giant metropolis which is Tokyo.
Ginza Subway Station♪
212-09-18. Early morning: The big orange disk of the sun is balanced on
the horizon as my 111 Line bus pulls up to the stop at 96th Street
and Airport Bl.
As soon as we stop an Enterprise
Rent-A-Car shuttle bus and a white van which shuttles people between
off-airport lots and the airport cut across the solid white line and shoot
ahead of the bus. The bus, almost
imperceptibly, starts to pull away from the bus stop when a white civilian car
speeds ahead of us.
Come on, Mr. Leahy, does someone
have to be killed before you use your position to light a fire under the
policing agencies responsible for stopping these scoff-laws?
While waiting at the LAXCBC, I see
the latest addition to the BBB fleet. It
is number 5519 and is a two-section articulated vehicle, nice!
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: xxxx; xxx/xx ;
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.
xxxxx 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
All photographs and original written materials are copyrighted © 2007~2009 by LAmetroMole. ♪Clicking a photo will often* present you with an enlargement (sometimes successive clicks will further enlarge the photo). *This feature is dependent upon the Internet browser which you use and possibly other factors.
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains or provides links to copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, sustainable development, environmental, community and worker health, public disclosure, corporate accountability, and etc. We have often included relatively brief quotes from articles and etc., sometimes in addition to a simple link, because we have found that links frequently go "bad" or change over time. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without fee or payment of any kind to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes and to those who access the site via any and all other channels. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Music or other recorded material on this site, or referred to by this site are copyrighted by their respective artists and are made available here for evaluation purposes only. Please support the artists you like by buying their commercial CDs, MP3s and downloads.
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
Works Cited
Weikel, Dan. “Metro’s inspector general to probe Expo
Line problem.” Jul. 28,
2012:AA3. Los Angeles Times. Print.
Weikel, Dan. “MTA making safety improvements at Expo
Line street crossings.” Sept.
22, 2012. Los Angeles Times. Web. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/22/local/la-me-expo-safety-20120922
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