2014-03-01
Vae
Viator48
When politicians
involve themselves in technical matters, expect failures.
The
photograph below documents the situation at the Maxella AV and
Lincoln BL stop on the BBB number 3 Line. It is the sort of “work”
one would expect from the LACMTA. They 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 include this comment in every post with the above until BBB
corrects the problem. For quite awhile BBB has been charging for
intra-line transfers, reversing the long standing policy of free
transfers to other BBB lines. Too, BBB has spent lots
of money to build a big headquarters on Colorado BL just east of 4th
Street. Mr. King,
just a few dollars for a trash can, you might need a few more to
cover other bus stops too, will erase this section. After all, it is
Marina Del Rey! :-)
BBB
Maxella Trash Fix???♪
White
Line Incursion Series
Su
Topo uses video to highlight the problem of scofflaw drivers
endangering Metro bus passengers yet, no authority seems to want to
take ownership of the problem. The issue is not unique to the
particular site which this Mole documents, but is illustrative of a
general problem. Your Mole encourages you to report similar problems
to the appropriate agencies in your area(s) and hope that you will
have better luck than he. In the youtube.com videos linked below one
can see exactly what happens when the policing agencies fail to
enforce traffic laws.
The
videos linked below document the important fact that a never ending
stream of vehicles fail to use the lane as required by law.
Neither
are the policing agencies active when it comes to protecting us by
bringing these obvious and frequent traffic law violations to an
immediate halt. The LACMTA is derelict as well, in that they fail to
use the near hourly proof of the violations captured by the on board
cameras, mentioned here and discussed at length in the posting of
2012-05-31.
In the following video
we see yet another instance of a scofflaw drivers,
one
drives a van, the other is employed
by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, cutting in front of a Metro 111/311
bus.
Please see the www.youtube.com
videos here.
In
spite of the potential for these violations to occur several
times per HOUR, I
have never seen a police presence at this location. One would think
that with a bus schedule taped to the dashboard one of the several
policing agencies would have made some arrests by now. Unless they
have "more important" work to do, than protecting bus
passengers.
La
Taupe feels that it is appropriate to dedicate these video(s) to ALL
the agencies that should be protecting us. So, they are dedicated to
(1): Airport (LAWA) Police, the L.A.P.D., the L. A. County Sheriff’s
Department and Mr. A. Leahy who is CEO of the LACMTA.
La
Taupe has recommended a simple solution to the problem. That is, have
the 111 Line buses pull up to pedestrian crosswalk then stop and
discharge passengers. Doing so eliminates the space in front of the
bus which the always-in-a-hurry scofflaws use to cut in front of the
bus. *But with the LACMTA nothing is simple. Although the solution
could be implemented with nothing more than a memo to the 111/311
Line drivers, it is a task for which the LACMTA is inadequate.
Another
LACMTA Program Ends in Failure♪
The
operative words in the above picture, “ReadyCARD
ha terminado” and
“noviembre 15, 2013”
tell the story of yet another LACMTA bad idea has ended. The placard
is uni-lingual, strange, ¿es
no?
This
was yet another program sponsored by the dysfunctional agency , like
TransiTV that they thought would bring in lots of money, but failed.
Su Topo said something like, “If you like their transportation,
you’ll love the way they handle your money”, at the program’s
inception.
An
article (Surowiecki) in a 2013 The
New Yorker applies
to ideas like this. It aptly describes an economic dilemma, the
sunk-cost effect, which in lay-man’s terms is often communicated
as, “throwing good money after bad”.
Three
brief quotes tell the story: ‘“Abandoning a project that you’ve
invested a lot in feels like you’ve wasted everything, and waste is
something we’re told to avoid.”’, says Hal Arkes, an Ohio State
University psychologist. The piece continues, “In business and
government, the effect pushes people to throw good money after bad.”
How ones reputation is affected is also a consideration: “Giving up
on a project, though, means that somebody has to admit that he
shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
We
can see it and live with the consequences of bad LACMTA decisions
every day. For example, the ill designed “subway system” which
later, had poorly thought out light rail lines laid out in a pattern
with basically only Union Station and 7th
& Metro Center as transfer stations, are now being band-aided
together (kind of) with the “Downtown Connector”. The LACMTA
seems congenitally unable to “plan first” rather than “build
first”, then in an unending pattern of déjà
vu they are destined to
repeat their errors.
La
taupe saw another example of poor planning/execution as he guided
Japanese friends from the “Purple Line” to the North Hollywood
bound Red Line at Vermont Station. First, please examine the diagram
of a typical Tokyo subway station (below).
Otematchi
Subway schematic♪
The
schematic is informationally dense. But, everything is useful. Take
for example, the locations of the restrooms—of which there are six—
clearly shown on the diagram and also by signage in the actual
stations. Contrast that with the, umm, ZERO restrooms in the 7th
and Metro Center Station in downtown Los Angeles, shame on you
LACMTA!
The
exits, which are prefixed with the letters A through E, assist one in
planning the most efficient route to your destination. Let’s say
that you were staying at the Palace Hotel (パレスホテル)
on
the diagram and wanted to go to SuidoBashi, you would use Exit C13b
to enter the subway; and then you would locate the escalator at D4
and ride down to the platform level. Board your train and ride for
two stops (水道橋
on
the map below).
Toei
Mita Sen♪
To
simplify your trip, I’ve marked your starting point, 大手町,
with an “S”
and the destination, 水道橋,
with an “F”
for finish. No, you don’t have to be an Einstein to live in Japan,
but it doesn’t hurt .
But here in Los Angeles Einstein or not, we don’t get much help
from the LACMTA. Signage throughout the Metro “system”
exists at only the
grossest levels. I have never seen a diagram produced by Metro which
is even slightly comparable with the Otematchi Subway schematic
linked here.
My
Japanese friends were somewhat shocked by the crude system here and
likely will tell their friends in Tokyo that the transportation
system in Los Angeles is primitive.
In
the event you feel that you have mastered the Tokyo subway system,
here is a link to the more complete system. Have fun locate Otemachi
and Suidobashi on the larger map.
To accurately depict the Tokyo transportation system, we will have to overlay the subway map with the surface rail map. We will not consider buses for the purpose of this discussion.
The
Mole reads the papers and other things, obviating the necessity of
your doing so.
China
plans to construct three parallel underwater tunnels along a
seventy-six (76) mile long route, while the LACMTA is unable to
provide the last mile of track to LAX! I find that fact hilarious.
Please
see also this.
The
Los Angeles Times reports (Nelson) that, as expected by the sunk-cost
effect, the LACMTA has convinced the Federal Government that
other taxpayers should pay for a massively costly and totally
unnecessary “band-aid that will “attempt” to fix the botched
design of the Los Angeles subway “system”. Transfer points,
interconnects, are features planned for and designed into subways.
But not for people who slept through Subway Design 050.
Metro
has lots of buses which criss cross the subways. These buses
provide for physical interconnect which is needed. Study the Toei Mita Sen diagram above and note all the intersections. Someday, in
the future, when the LACMTA is run by professionals, they may build a
new subway that can be designed to slice diagonally across all
existing subways; rather than a subway to nowhere which is what they
have in the D/C.
A
Times article (Nelson2) covers those who are protesting future fare increase. Rightly so. they claim that their sales taxes are being poured into the profligate LACMTA and those should be sufficient.
The
Los Angeles Times covers (Nelson3) a reorganization at the LACMTA, is that something like moving the deck chairs around on the Taitanic?
Rather than read about “house cleaning” at the LACMTA, I would
rather hear that they are bringing the organization into the 21st
Century. Indicative of that move would be the formation of a
Transportation Rationalization and Planning Division. Such a group
would apply state-of -the-art techniques to planning. Further they
would rationalize the current patchwork into a RAPID transit SYSTEM.
An
Industrial/Systems engineering group, when properly constituted,
would apply a professional imprimatur to their work and provide STANDARD Operating
Procedures along with institutionalized performance metrics for existing and
planned operations.
A
Public Ombudsman would provide the ridership with a real voice as
opposed to the “yelling down a rat hole” option presently
offered. Sometime that is exactly what your Mole feels like he is doing; without the satisfaction of hearing the scurrying rodents.
La Taupe would have lots of questions for such an ombudsman. Such as: What is LAWA doing in the bus business. Why can't Metro stations offer rest rooms.
And on and on - perhaps she or he should just read these posts.
La Taupe would have lots of questions for such an ombudsman. Such as: What is LAWA doing in the bus business. Why can't Metro stations offer rest rooms.
And on and on - perhaps she or he should just read these posts.
Dividing
the dysfunctional LACMTA into a Freeway and Public Transportation
would better each part to better serve their constituents.
Lastly,
factoring out, insomuch as humanly possible politics from the
planning and operations of the LACMTA and leaving transportation
policy to the sharp pencils of professionals, in this Mole's opinion,
offers the best possibility for the future of public transportation
in Los Angels.
All
of the above would be preferable to the finger-pointing, blame-game
which seems to have begun at the LACMTA.
Then the Times adds (Nelson4) to earlier coverage about fare evasion on the Orange Line (it's a bus folks). It seems that having Sheriff's Deputies on the job reduces the fare cheats. But the question is at what cost. With such a poorly designed line: No fare collection system on board the buses and "some platforms too small for access control gates" no wonder people don't pay the required fare. I would like to see a hard nosed cost-benefit analysis. If the cost of policing fares exceeds the amount of the additional fares collected, well, there is simply no benefit. I wonder of the reorganization will result in more transparency vis-à-vis the LACMTA? ...
«
On ne gouverne jamais une nation
contre ses habitudes. »
Louis
XVI
(1754-08-23~1793-01-23)
[You
never
govern
a
nation
against
its
habits.]
Merci
beaucoup à
www.evene.fr/ .
¿Musica?
Let’s
listen to music whose
vintage
is contemporaneous
with Louis XVI’s lifetime. Here is “Gavotte” by
François-Joseph
Gossec.
Como
siempre, Thank you! to
our good friends at www.grooveshark.com
for always providing the appropriate music for us.
The Mole rides again, so you don't have to look at the world through dirty light rail car windows.
(All
times are expressed in the 24 hour system.)
Go Metro app♪
2014-02-05
09:3: The new “Go Metro app” upgrade feels like a downgrade to me.
It seems like it takes forever to determine your location. When it
finally displays “User Location”, tapping that causes the app to
crash! In the past tapping "User Location" would fairly quickly show the actual bus stop.
Last month I supplied the "dump" info but since no updates have occurred I expect that they have yet to find the problem; assuming that they are even working on it.
Also when two stops are in close proximity it will only find one of them.
Last month I supplied the "dump" info but since no updates have occurred I expect that they have yet to find the problem; assuming that they are even working on it.
Also when two stops are in close proximity it will only find one of them.
Maintenanance Might
Not Be Us♪
2014-02-14
14:02: Su Topo has just finished a nice St. Valentines Day lunch.
The venue was the Ocho Mexican Grill. Great food with friendly and
professional service too. I walk to the Metro Center Station in
order to ride a Blue Line Train. Looking up, I see that the idea
“Something's always out of whack with the LACMTA”, holds true.
This time it is the display panel, there are four others above the
platform that seem to be OK. But su Topo feels that, no it can't
be, they are using seperate PCs to drive each display!
2014-02-25
06:55: I board a BBB Big Blue Bus, one of their fairly new
articulated ones. The friendly driver greets me upon boarding. He
wears a patch with an I.D. Number, 13434, this is the first of its
kind I've seen aboard BBB. His bus is number 5302. It seems that
they may be reverting back to the BBB which we all knew and loved.
Except for the litter situation at Maxella AV (vide supra).
Maintenanance
Aín't Us♪
2014-02-25
07:15: I ride a Green Line train; the exterior of which is filthy.
2014-02-25
07:30 I board a Blue Line train whose headsign displays the dreaded
“Willow” terminus. Here is a recording [edited for time] that
will
allow you to accompany me and hear what I heard.
The
train turns around at Willow instead of taking us to Long Beach
proper. In my case, I am headed for the First Street Station an d
ultimately, the Convention Center. I believe what the LACMTA is
saying here is “We
deprive you of transportation and pass the savings on to somebody
else”.
Stop.JPG)
Neither
is thinking about improved service♪
One
need only to look around the Metro “system” in order to find
things which need to be improved. Signage may be near the top of the
list. Please, condsider the photo above which was taken at the
Harbour Freeway northbound bus stop. There is lots of whitespace
below “Northbound to El Monte”, in which could be included “Via
Los Angeles”.
Then
there is la Taupe's all time favourite: the “Norwalk” signs on
the east bound Green Line platforms! What tourist arriving here has
even heard of Norwalk? They could modify the signage in several ways
in or der to clarify things, for example, Board
here for the Blue Line connection to Los Angeles with continuation to
Norwalk.”
A combination of smaller letters for the “Board here for the Blue
Line connection to” and “ with continuation to” while using
larger letters for “Los
Angeles”
and
“Norwalk”.
Unfortunately,
since no one from the LACMTA ever rides the “system”, they will
have to find someone that has to explain to them why my
recommendation is better than what is extant today.
I
would say that few in LACMTA management could hold down a job with a
real
transportation organization. With a vocabulary that they apply to
the LAX last mile --such as “dangerous and frought [or was it
freighted], with problems” don't expect innovation from these
people.
Institutional
Forgetfullness♪
The
photo above prooves that at one time in the past, someone in the
employ of the LACMTA knew what kind of signage was neeed to keep
drivers from blundering into places where they don't belong.
The
type of sign shown above should also be used at BOTH the entry and
exit of the LAX City Bus Center. The money required would be well
spent in preventing inevitable accidents.
XWant
to sit down and wait for your bus? You won’t have much luck at
this stop because someone is using the bench to store his personal
possessions. The Front view is shown above and the side view below.
Ear
(and Eye) to the Rail
Transit
as unseen and unimagined by the LACMTA
The
purpose of this section is to make people aware that the LACMTA is
not home to many problem solvers. I hope to accomplish
this end by presenting the solutions adopted by other cities, some in
foreign countries, in solving the city to airport rapid mass
transportation
challenge.
Cautionary
Note: Those employed by the LACMTA should NOT view the following
video(s). The speed of
the train(s), the fact that they neither share the right of way nor
stop at stop lights, because they are truly rapid transit, will
likely make you dizzy, nauseous, confuse and frighten you.
The
video linked here will teach us how one travels from the Copenhagen airport in Denmark to Malmö in Sweden!. Thank you
youtube.com and this Mole also thanks to the group: Jason, John, Richard, Öyku and Michelle who produced the video!
Oh,
and since it is an elevated approach Ms Lindsey,
it was not fraught with problems.
You’re welcome! Please pass that on to the LACMTA.
Cosmology
What does something that weighs 4.3 million times our sun and is 25 million Km across do? Pretty much what ever it wants to! Read about it and its home area here.
Fare
Box Score Box and related Lists of Shame
I.D.
Numbers of buses with Out of Order Fare Boxes:
xxxx;
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 the 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:
Not noted xxx/xxx;
Format
is Bus number followed by Headsign number/Tailsign number.
ID numbers of Buses without Braille signs: xxxx;
METRO drivers Lack of 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[+4] C[Y];
I.D.
numbers of drivers who are unable or unwilling to position their
buses parallel to
the curb, a short step from the curb an equidistance from the
vehicles exits.
xxxxx F[+10] C[Y]; F[+7], C[Y]; xxxxx
F[Y],
C[Y]; xxxxxF[Y],
C[Y]; N.B. distances are in metres, think yards.
13
metres is this is MORE than a bus length. 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(J)/; 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
CHSRA = California High-Speed Rail Authority, which is the equivalent, in more ways than one, of the LACMTA.
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
LAWA = Los Angeles World Airports.
LAXCBC = the LAX City Bus Center.
OCTA = Orange County Transportation Authority.
OOS = Out Of Service.
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 have been submitting
feedback and experiences slow but positive progress. Until all
issues are resolved, lo
siento.
Your Mole’s Copyright Statement
All
photographs and original written materials are copyrighted ©
2007~2013 by LAmetroMole. ♪Clicking
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successive clicks will further enlarge the photo). *This feature is
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factors.
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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 is 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
Nelson,
Laura J. “Metro
to accept $670-million grant for downtown rail connector”. Los
Angeles Times.
Feb. 19, 2014. Web.
Nelson2,
Laura J. “Bus
riders protest proposed transit system fare hikes
”.
Los
Angeles Times.
Feb. 19, 2014. Web.
http://articles.latimes.com/2014/feb/19/local/la-me-bus-riders-fares-20140220
Nelson3,
Laura J. “Four
key executives leaving in shakeup of Metro leadership”. Los
Angeles Times.
Feb. 22, 2014. Web.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-metro-housecleaning-20140222,0,7587287.story#axzz2uZC8ggxT
Nelson4,
Laura J. “Fare evasion on the Orange Line has fallen, transit
officials say”. Los
Angeles Times.
Feb. 25, 2014. Web.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-metro-orange-line-fare-evasion-20140225,0,4826633.story#axzz2uZC8ggxT
Surowiecki,
James. “THE FINANCIAL PAGE THAT SUNK-COST FEELING”. The
New Yorker. Jan.
21, 2013:24. Print.
### .. . ###
..
The
above is ### 30 ### in Braille
# posted by LAMETROmole @ 14:24 
