2015-04-30
Vae Viator^62
Vae Viator62
America’s Worst♪
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 continue to be used as improvised trash cans. BBB N.B. The stop
still needs a trash can!
BBB Maxella Trash
Fix???♪
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! :-)
Why a trash
container is needed♪
The photo above shows exactly what people will do when a trash
container is not provided. They will jury rig something. What they
did in this case is rip off the tape which covered the plastic pipes at the
base of the utility pole and stuffed their trash into the pipe, nice, huh?
Edward
F. King, Director of Transit Services
City of Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus
City of Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus
(Photo: www.bigbluebus.com)
The man pictured above
could ensure that trash containers are installed along BBB routes with a simple
three-line memorandum.
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 www.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.
Please see the video of a vehicle which crosses the
solid white line and cuts off a Line 111/311 bus which is in motion.
Thanks to www.youtube.com for
their excellent video support!
Please carefully note that, in some videos, pedestrians are pinned
to the curb by the vehicles that cut in front of the bus —as a result these
pedestrians are illegally denied the right-of-way. Which right-of-way would be unchallengeablely theirs
IF, and only IF, Mr. Washington would review su Topo’s simple
solution (vide infra) and implement it .
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, than protecting bus passengers, to
do.
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. Washington who is CEO of the LACMTA.
Su Topo 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 so far has proved to be inadequate.
OVERMATCHED (for a while
anyway)
Transportation directly to LAX?:
“dangerous and fraught with problems” and/or “costly” and “risky”
“dangerous and fraught with problems” and/or “costly” and “risky”
The Mole reads the
papers and other things, obviating the necessity of your doing so.
The Los Angeles Times (Nelson) reports on a new private bus service in San Francisco. It seems to be for those who can't stand San Francisco's Muni --which this Mole rates as just great! You can purchase $7 orange juice and apparently more expensive coffee on board. It is nice to learn about this sort of service, but in Los Angeles, the public "Metro" is so far below acceptable that Mole wishes that the Times would start holding the LACMTA's feet to the fire.
A New York Review of Books article(Sacks) explains that
Claude Bernard, the great French physiologist, said everything on this matter
when, in the 1850s, he wrote, “La fixité du milieu intérieur est la condition
de la vie libre.” Maintaining such constancy is called homeostasis. The
basics of homeostasis are relatively simple but miraculously efficient at the
cellular level, where ion pumps in cell membranes allow the chemical interior
of cells to remain constant, whatever the vicissitudes of the external
environment. More complex monitoring systems are demanded when it comes to
ensuring homeostasis in multicellular organisms—animals, and human beings, in
particular.
The Times (Nelson2) provides some background and elaborates on the LACMTA's deliberations on the future of the Orange Line; replacing the busway with an elevated train is a possibility.
Su Topo can pretty much predict the LACMTA's decision based upon their typical inclination. Safety, comfort and convenience will be ranked antepenultimate,
penultimate and ultimate with cost leading the list. If New York City had been burdened with the LACMTA, people there would still be riding in horse-cars! Fortunately for NYC they had transportation designers who were planners first and accountants second. As usual the LACMTA will, as usual, use this as an excuse to pass another Ballot Measure which will attempt to seperate taxpayers from their money. Your Mole is 100% against giving the LACMTA another penny; better to leave things as they are until the LACMTA can be professionalised, so that we obtain value for every taxpayer dollar spent.
2015-04-19: as I watched channel 7 (KABC) this morning I saw a
spokesperson for the LACMTA describe the agency’s plans to improve the Orange
Line. One option,
dismissed out-of-hand as being too costly, was to convert it to a rail
line. We are back to business as usual
at the LACMTA, that is —build it as cheaply as possible and then try to figure
it out. The true course of action for a
progressive transportation agency would be to build ALL RAIL AS RAPID
TRANSIT. But no, the LACMTA is happy to
implement 1950 era solution to 2015 problems.
It’s a wonder that they don’t go into the bicycle rental business and we
can all cycle about the city —perhaps I should legally protect that idea?
« L'Angleterre est un empire, l'Allemagne un
pays, une race, la France est une personne. »
Jules Michelet (1798-08-21~1874-02-09)
[England is an empire, Germany a country, a race, France is a
person.]
Ars longa vita breva
Paul de Laboulaye (1849-01-24~1926-01-04)
Here is his “Sainte Jeanne d'arc”.
See much more of Laboulaye’s work here.
¿Musica?
Here is composer Erik Satie’s Je te veux , played by Daniel Versano.
And, if you like, and have the time for this longish piece, here
is Satie’s Parade.
Ah, grooveshark.com, ¡Te amo! You always have the appropriate music for
us! Thank you!!
The Mole rides again, so
you don’t have to thread your way through a Metro bus' maze-like aisles.
Aisle Blockers♪
What does one call people who spread out on the bus and make aisles practically unnavigable? The word "thoughtless" does come to mind.
Head Sign Pixelated♪
2015-04-08: This Mole
always attempts to put his time to the best use. So he took a look at the way in which modern
head signs are produced. As I waited
at the LAXCBC I started thinking about the “dot-matrix” head signs which we see
on buses every day. The head sign’s
dot-matrix is composed of four elements, each comprising 16 vertical dots and
32 horizontal dots, a total of 2048 dots; each dot, in actuality, being a pixel
(picture element). The worst of all
displays is the dreaded “Discharge Only”.
2015-04-10 14:30 @ LAXCBC: La Taupe assists a NYC
couple in navigating Los Angeles convoluted transportation system.
They laugh as I explain that they’ll need to have exact
change to pay their fares AND that the most direct way to Aviation Station will require
them to pay a Muni bus fare (BBB or CCMBL) then purchase a Day Pass at the
Aviation Station. You can see why the LACMTA is America’s Worst!
Your Mole has been told by a reliable source that California's Madera to Fresno “Bullet Train” will be [if it is ever completed] a Maglev type.
Also the technology will be supplied by the Chinese, so we can say goodbye to the idea that
California can help us recapture America’s technological edg.
2015-04-16 @ 12:30: I board a Line 161 bus at Thousand
Oaks Transit Center. Which Center is everything most Metro Transit Centers are
not. It seems that the LACMTA is little
involved in its operation. This transportation center has WI-FI, restrooms and
information desk staffed by friendly, knowledgeable people along with an
electronic schedule board to keep one informed of arrivals and departures.
Your Mole arrives at the Orange line westernmost
terminus. Hoping to board an Orange Line (it's a bus folks!) bus
headed for Van Nuys. He exited the 161 Line
bus and crossed the street where several
Orange Line buses were parked.
A bus, not the first in line, pulled away from
the curb and left. As is to be expected with the LACMTA, there was NO signage
to guide us! Something like “Board Orange Line buses one-half block east"
would have been helpful.
2015-04-16 @ 15:08: Su Topo waited near the Van Nuys
Orange Line station and boarded a 788 Line. The 788 Line is a fairly recently announced
service; it addresses one of la Taupe’s complaints about transportation to the
San Fernando Valley. The route takes us
via the 405 Freeway to Westwood where it connects with a CCMBL number 6
to LAX.
2015-04-17 I rode with a co-worker to a
meeting in Northridge and will return alone.
After the meeting I head for a nearby café and use my iPhone to plan a route.
I entered my current location, as
you can see below.
Trip Spoiler – Request♪
2015-04-17 Trip Spoiler oh, sorry, I should have used its
official name, i.e., Trip Planner.
Trip
Spoiler – Response♪
The “Trip Spoiler” performs poorly and shows me the response above, viz., it couldn't resolve the Reseda address which I supplied. I didn’t want to waste any time on this, as I
have on other occasions, so I walked to a nearby Reseda Blvd bus stop and boarded
the first bus which arrived, a 240 Line bus. Serendipitously, it took me directly to Sepulveda Blvd in
Sherman Oaks
The penultimate leg of this
trip is a 734 Line bus routed south on Sepulveda for a climb over
the mountain. This portion of the trip
turned out to be a very relaxing ride through a natural setting. It has been a while since you Mole has
visited the Valley; all-in-all it was an interesting trip.
Like
the bus stop on north-west corner of Airport and 96th Street, the
LAXCBC proper suffers from an extreme lack of policing. Both these areas WILL
be accidents scenes in the future. In the video linked below, we can see that car,
which entered in order to drop off a passenger, exit the wrong way from LAXCBC.
On the same day I saw the vehicle below
enter and leave with no apparent purpose —just lost I guess.
Yet
another car blunders into the LAXCBC♪
I saw a third car, this one
a LAWA yellow vehicle with two women in it; it was marked “Custodial
Services”. I really wanted to film that
one —but an exiting bus blocked my shot.
These were three incursions which I saw in less than half an hour; this goes on all
day. In this Blog I’ve done everything
but paint the “No Entry” signs for them.
America’s Worst? Please, you be
the judge. Well everything but provide security for the LAXCBC —which is not part of my skill set.
Inefficient Signage♪
Not that the LAXCBC is well organized in
other ways either. Every day there seems
to be a new impediment to visually challenged passengers. Bike racks in the middle of the concrete
slab, which I call an island, left over signage from the days of the 715 Line,
and now a BCT flag illogically placed and pictured above. It should be attached to the existing Bay 6
flag support rather than presenting another barrier to some of the LACMTA’s
ridership. N.B. that the BCT schedule is attached to the support pillar in a manner that is guaranteed to strike the unwary directly in the face and its edge is sharp enough to deliver a bad cut.
But, Mole, how could it be improved? I thought you'd never ask! Please take a look at the photo below. You will note that I have thoughtfully placed the schedule signage where it will do no harm, between the Metro "flag" supports and affixed BCT's "flag" to one of the existing Metro supports. Mr. Washington, what do you think? It is much better, isn't it?
The LACMTA's approach to things can often be considered minor examples of a Rube Goldberg device. That is, the effort expended is disproportional to the result. Rube Goldberg devices are known to many engineers; you can see examples here.
The LACMTA's approach to things can often be considered minor examples of a Rube Goldberg device. That is, the effort expended is disproportional to the result. Rube Goldberg devices are known to many engineers; you can see examples here.
Safer and Better Signage♪
Another Example of Dual Purpose Signage♪
The above picture illustrates a more efficient approach to signage; it gets the job done, how shall I say, without creating a hinderance.
Another Example of Dual Purpose Signage♪
Although I've described this particular hindrance before, this seems to be the perfect place to reintroduce it. The Bay 4 sign is necessary, but the gratuitous smaller piller and advertising sign is unnecessary. It is left over from the days of the 715 Rapid Line which was in and of itself unnecessary.
An Undesirable Artifact♪
While taking the photo of the signage just above this one, I noticed a stream of
"water" emanating from behind the pillar shown just above. It is an unfortunate side-effect of not having public restrooms where they are needed.
It is also related to the comple lack of security at the LAXCBC!
It is also related to the comple lack of security at the LAXCBC!
Ear (and Eye) to the Rail
Transit as unseen and unimagined by the LACMTA
The LACMTA (Subordinate
to LAWA)
Presents
Every Which Way But
Right!
OR
Four Seats to LAX!
OR
The LACMTA Tries
Again; Asymptotically to LAX!
OR
The World’s Most
Inconvenient Way in Which to Travel From City Center to an Airport!
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 or LAWA 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.
With slightly more than a population of four million, Barcelona is
about one- fourth the size of Los Angeles, yet they seem able to provide one
seat to their airport.
First we’ll walk through part of El Prat to the airport rail
station.
Let’s ride the train from Barcelona, Spain to its airport —¡Viva Espania!
Thanks to the up loaders of these videos: alex123453828 for the walk through the airport and Adam Thorn Smith
for the musical portion of the ride from Barcelona to El Phat.
Again, thank you to our host, www.youtube.com
Cosmology
The imprimatur of Forbes magazine (Rogers), which is a
straightforward business magazine, is what caught my attention. They report that the signals are all
divisible by the sub multiple 187.5; and have been received in the
not-so-distant past.
If you are as intrigued as I was, then
please, take a look at this Daily Mail piece(O'Callaghan)
which includes a depiction of the signals.
The source of which is estimated to be
extragalactic.
Links to both articles are provided in “Works Cited”
(vide Infra).
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 Exceptionally Rude Drivers: xxxxx [comments];
83064*[232 Line: driver ignored a simple direct question, asked several times];
83064*[232 Line: driver ignored a simple direct question, asked several times];
None included here, but observations of a minor nature may be included in the main posting;
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 xxxx/xxxx;
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[] C[];
I.D. numbers of drivers who are unable or unwilling to position
their buses parallel to the curb, a short step from the curb
and/or equidistant from the vehicles exits.
75533* 232 Line F[7] C[Y]; F[], C[Y]; xxxxx F[Y],
C[Y]; xxxxxF[Y], C[Y]; N.B. distances are in metres, think yards. 13 metres 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)date; XXXX-XX-XX(-);
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.
BART = Bay Area Rapid Transit –
Please note the use of the word “Rapid” because it is a word we almost never
hear in Los Angeles.
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 $1.75)
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].
T= 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. [Addendum 2014-07-31]: Things
have been much better lately. There is a more responsive feedback system
now. If things keep this way, I may have to delete this "Disclaimer
and apologia" section in the near future. Almost
immediately after writing the preceding, the system "returned an
error" on a save.
Your Mole’s Copyright Statement
All photographs and original written materials are copyrighted ©
2007~2015 by LAmetroMole. ♪Clicking a photo will often*
present you with an enlargement (sometimes successive clicks will further
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you use and possibly other 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
Nelson2, Laura J. “Report: Converting Metro's Orange Line to rail could cost $1.7 billion”. Los Angeles Times. Apr. 10, 2015: Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-orange-line-rail-20150410-story.html
O.Callaghan, Jonathan and Prigg, Mark. “Are these mystery radio bursts messages from ALIENS? Study finds freak frequencies from outside the Milky Way ALL form unexplained multiples of 187.5”. Apr. 1, 2015. Dailymail.com. Web. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3020612/Are-mystery-radio-bursts-messages-ALIENS-Study-finds-freak-frequencies-outside-Milky-Way-form-unexplained-multiples-187-5.html
Rogers, Paul. “Message
From The Aliens: '187.5'“. Forbes.com. Apr. 2, 2015. Web. http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulrodgers/2015/04/02/message-from-the-aliens-187-5/
Sacks,
Oliver. “A General Feeling of Disorder” The New York Review of Books. Apr. 23,
2015. Web. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/apr/23/general-feeling-disorder/
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The above is ### 30 ### in Braille
Labels: 2015-04-30
# posted by LAMETROmole @ 10:02 
