2015-11-30

 

Vae Viator69 2015-11-30


Vae Viator69






Nous sommes solidaires avec sympathie et pleurons avec les citoyens de Paris et de France.



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.  This presents the BB as less friendly to its ridership than in years past.
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
 
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 documented by your Mole, 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 video(s) linked below document the important fact that a never- endinArsg 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(s) we see further instances of scofflaw drivers, cutting in front of Metro 111/311 bus(es).
Please see this VIDEO of a Hertz shuttle bus which cross the solid white line and cuts off a Line 111/311 bus.  
%%Hertz shuttle drivers are all Class-B operators and should know better; but they don't care and neither does the LACMTA and any of the policing agencies which have jurisdiction in the area.
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 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, (2)  the L.A.P.D., (3)  the L. A. County Sheriff’s Department and (4) 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, stop there 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.


Metro's Flag♪
At sea, a vessel in distress will fly its' flag upside down.  It is only right that, given the dysfunctional LACMTA, we should fly Metro's flag in that manner.
In this section it is su Topo's intention to call your attention to situations which he has observed that highlight the "LACMTA Way" of doing things.
Easy access to transfer points will make one’s travel time deterministic or non-deterministic. That is, one could count on being at work at say, 07:45 because your first bus arrives (95% of the time) at the transfer point before your second bus arrives/leaves. Not so, if the buses arrive or leave with no or insufficient time in which to effect a transfer.
Correspondingly not so, with the “help” of the LACMTA. Cases in point are, at least two Inglewood stops. The first WAS located at La Brea/Queen Sts; It was moved further north to Regent St., for no reason that I can determine. The 115 and 212 Lines pass La Brea by a block or two meaning that one could run first west to La Brea and then either north to Regent or south to the ITC, which destinations are separated by about an equal amount of distance in order to intercept a 40 Line or other buses. There exit other options which are not significantly different. The west bound 115 Line stop has, as far as I know, is located about two blocks east of La Brea; again it is anything but an easy transfer. It could be located right at the north-west corner of La Brea and Manchester, just as the east bound 115 Line could be re-positioned to the south-east corner of La Brea and Manchester. But of course, why would the agency that wants to become the best in the UNIVERSE want to take any steps that would make it easier for its ridership; Why indeed?
This is something like the situation at the LAXCBC, covered last month and a number of other times, where the Metro to Metro transfers seem to be positioned at the maximum distance from each other.

A congruent example was covered last month (2015-10-31) in my discussion of the transfer from La Brea to a 720 Line bus on Wilshire BL. With 18,500 stops, not all of which are possible transfer points, the examples are finite but numerous.

I have frequently covered (8 times over the years, but who’s counting?) the situation vis-à-vis the lack of a south bound 232 Line bus stop at El Segundo Plaza. The south bound 232 could easily be routed into the Plaza at S. Hughes Way and exit at Park Pl which exit is already used by the 125 Line and the BCT 109 Line. The overall route time would not be significantly different IF the silly north bound 232 “loop”, Mariposa east to Nash, then south on Nash, west on Grand and north on Sepulveda passing Mariposa AGAIN!  This 232, 130 and 125 Lines are all contracted by MV Transportation whose CEO is Mr. Kevin A. Klika; however, the ultimate responsible agency is the LACMTA.

So, given the finite but numerous faults of the agency —lots of which I have documented— the probability of them becoming the best transportation agency in the UNIVERSE are finite, but infinitesimal!
 



An homage for her "contribution" to L.A. transportation.



Your Mole would like the former head of LAWA remembered for her "contribution" to Los Angeles  area public transportation.   She was quicker than her contemporary, the former bus driver and former head of the LACMATA, to implement the lucrative FlyAway service and discouraged all attempts, however feeble, to bring other modes of transportation to LAX.
Too, we should memorialize her attitude vis-à-vis public transportation directly to LAX in following the transportation direct-to-airport access pattern used by many, if not most, world-class airports, to wit, "Any time you go under the airport, it is fraught with problems, ..." [hardly a get it done attitude!].
**

 The Mole reads the papers and other things, obviating the necessity of your doing so.

The Los Angeles times covers (Nelson) the over budget, behind schedule status of the “Regional Mistake”, errr, Regional Connector (RC to this Mole). Ms Nelson does an excellent job.  The question that should be asked by the hard-nosed owner of a sharp pencil is: “Will building this after-the-fact band aid, EVER produce an increase in ridership that results in a positive return on the investment?  This Mole thinks that the answer is NO.  

L.A. is not Manhattan in more than one way.  The LACMTA at one time did know how to build rapid transit, e.g., the Green Line.  But lacking an institutional memory and attempting to cover their lack of true transportation SYSTEM credentials, they paper over their lack with a credo of “If we build it and unceasingly tell you how great it is”, everything will be just fine."
Instead of proper research, this highly political organization attempts to saddle Los Angles with a second-best Toonerville Trolley system, i.e., a rethinking of the old, and terrific for its era, Red Line.

Transportation patterns in Los Angeles are fluid.  Building a fixed rail system into that fluidity is, well, folly.  Systems theory wisely asks us to first, define the problem and then rigorously test candidate solutions.  

Perhaps they could take the Broadway street car and build that on the surface more cheaply (always a priority at the LACMTA) and scrap the RC.  Or let Dash do the work that it presently does quite well and use the $1.4 billion to build the the “Subway to the VA Hospital” project.  

The Times reports (Weikel) that the “L.A. Expo Line hasn't reduced congestion as promised, a study finds”.  What a stunning shock, a LACMTA assertion turns out to be false.  If you need any further indication that  your feeling that giving these guys more of your tax money is the answer, please, lie down until the feeling goes away.  This shortfall in ridership and the constructions problems ultimately affect EVERY LACMTA project (vide supra) and they are affecting the RC now.
 

A KPCC broadcast (McNary) alerted me to the fact that LAWA has outwitted the inept LACMTA yet again.  LAWA runs their own FlyAway buses to/from LAX and various points in Southern California at a fare that is four (4) times the cost of a single bus ride.  The LACMTA cancelled the only line that could be in competition with LAWA’s buses –the 439 Line; which line also connected FIVE (5) LACMTA  bus transportation centers, mentioned above: Union Station; West Los Angeles; Culver City Transportation Center; the LAX City Bus Center; and Aviation Station.  As the situation now stands, no regular Metro buses connect any two Centers.  That is one cannot travel from Union Station to any of the other centers, nor, to my knowledge, is it possible to travel on a regular Metro bus between any center pair.  This is what passes for service at the LACMTA, yet they strive to be the best transportation agency in the universe! Please, stifle your laughter.
LAWA 3, LACMTA 0 – Outwitted again!
While we are on the topic of LAX transportation, here is what that route will look like to some users.  Let's say that we get off a bus, say the 79 from Arcadia where we spent our vacation at the races at Santa Anita track.  The bus took about an hour and stopped across the street from Union Station; now we must haul our luggage across the street, up several flights of stairs then down an escalator, across a large hall, down another escalator to another down escalator to a Red Line or Purple Line train.  
We ride the train to the 7th/Metro Center Station where if we are extremely lucky or have a good understanding of the Los Angeles subway system, we find the most direct path to the Expo line.  We will (and this is definitely a future tense trip) take the Expo line to where it intersects with the Crenshaw  Line (definitely something in the future).  Are we having fun yet?  I think not!  At this juncture we must lug our luggage onto the Crenshaw line.  



  Expo/Crenshaw Station

 


Judging by the map, the lugging should be easy, but in real life and especially where LACMTA station designs are concerned -I wouldn't count on it.  We will ride the Crenshaw Line to where ever LAWA decides to build their people mover.
Are we their yet?  Sorry no. We and our luggage have to get on the people mover and that will be a walk of some distance -long or short- depending on how the two stations are situated vis-à-vis each other.  The cost? Well assuming that one doesn't have a day pass and assuming current rates, would be four fares at $1.75 or a total of $7, Oh, and plus what ever the NON-LACMTA operator of the people mover decide to charge you.  There will not be a station at every terminal, as I understand their plans, so, more luggage hassling is in store for us.

The option would be to take the LAWA owned and operated FlyAway bus from Union Station directly to your terminal.-The cost? $8~$10 at today's rates, but undoubtedly will increase when the five seats to LAX scenario which I've outlined above materialises.  Which route would you take?  I thought so, see you on the bus! 

 

Back when the LACMTA ran something that resembled a transportation system a single bus line, the 439 Line (vide supra), connected Union Station, the West Los Angeles Transportation Center,the Culver City Transportation Center, the LAX City Bus Center and the Green Line's Aviation Station. It was a nice well kept secret. One could access LAX from lots of places. One could ride a local-to-you bus to a transportation center and ride the 439 Line to the LAXCBC and then the free Airport Shuttle directly to your departure terminal. Oh, and at one time the 439 ran to Redondo Beach.A budget traveler who could negotiate the basic aspects of the LACMTA's service could get to LAX for a few dollars.




Why did they suspend the 439 service? Good question! La Taupe thinks it was politics. LAWA wanted their own bus along with what must be the highest strata of bus travelers, and they got both. The LACMTA must have been in a weak negotiating position and/or the CEO at the time could not deal with the head of LAWA who was at ease in transactions involving our Federal Government.



Now LAWA wants to build the final mile in what is almost sure to be a “Five seats to LAX” effort. You've read  this Mole's “thought ride” on what the future ridership will face. Again, it looks like the triumph of politics over logic and

LAWA has won round three.  Again, the LACMTA must have been in a weak negotiating position and/or or the current CEO could not handle the current head of LAWA, who was also probably comfortable with transactions involving our Federal Government.


Los Angeles is domed to have the WORST city to airport public transportation in the world, well, perhaps it is worse in Kabul. It has been "designed" and then due to the LACMTA's dereliction, the most financially desirable portions were subsumed by LAWA without the hint of a struggle by an agency that recently boasted that the want to be the best provider of transportation in the universe :-) or words to that effect. Does the LACMTA suffer from abulia?

More likely it lacks the technical and intellectual wherewithal to counter strong political forces that makes decisions without regard to whether the the result will be”fit for purpose”.

Su Topo has been a consistent advocate for the de-politicisation and professionalisation of the LACMTA.  He is also against funding the LACMTA, especially by extending existing taxes or implementing new ones; unless and until the LACMTA stops shirking its responsibilities and provides transportation and facilities which meet the needs of its ridership!  

The LACMTA is long on self promotion but is a CLOSED organization, short on details to support its claims!

A Times travel reporter (Gardiner) covers surface transportation between LAX and the city including the FlyAway option and transportation to/from other airports.  N.B. FlyAway is one of the included options.

Please read the work of all these hard-working reporters cited herein.  Where possible, links are provided in "Works Cited",below.

 « Pourquoi donc avons-nous des pieds et non des racines, si nous sommes fixés comme de misérables plantes à un point que nous ne pouvons quitter ? »

Victor Hugo (1802-02-26~1885-05-23
[Why do we have feet, not roots, if we have set ourselves like miserable plants to the point that we can not leave?]

Merci Bien à 
http://evene.lefigaro.fr/ pour la citation.

Ars longa vita breva


Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-11-01~1884-12-10) 

M. Bastien-Lepage was an excellent artist.  A retrospective of his work can be seen, WARNING - some of it not for children, here.

Thank you, www.youtube.com for all your help!

 
 ¿Musica?
Composer Hector Berlioz (1803-12-11~1869-03-08) was a doctor who left the profession to become a composer.

Here is Hector Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet

And again, I'd like to thank www.youtube.com for the musical contribution.



Metro Area – Lower your expectations!♪
The Mole rides again, so you don’t have to wear ear protectors in order to prevent hearing loss causef by riding M V Transportation buses.
All dates are ISO8601 format, times are expressed in the 24 hour system.)
2015-11-05 The Inglewood Police know how to do it.  The often check with arriving drivers to ensure that their trips were problem free.  Not so at the LAXCBC!
2015-11-09:  Can any Metro drivers park parallel to an and easy step away from the curb.  Mr. Washington, isn't it time they returned to basics?  Remedial training

2015-11-27 09:00 @ 09:00: I assist Andrés from Bogota and assist him in the often confusing task of locating a bus to his destination.  He tells me that the 
Colombians now support Real Madrid because they have a Colombian on the team. Your Mole ensures that he finds the correct bus.   

2015-11-27 @ 15:30:  La Taupe is aboard a 125 Line bus the ambient noise is something like a boiler factory as it is on the on other MV Transportation contracted buses, . In order to truly appreciate the cacophonous  mélange of the dispatch radio, the Aitomatic Stop Announcments and all the other ambient sounds and noise, please  turn your volume full on and link to the audio recording here.

2015-11-28  around 10:00;  Su Topo assists a lady from New York City find her way through the mess that the LACMTA calls a transportation system. ¡Ella habla Español y es muy hermosa tambien!  Dos barcos ... .  So, if señorita C. is reading this, ¡hola! :-)





Our drivers neither know nor care and neither does the LACMTA

2015-11-29: Pictured above is the type of vehicle which often ignores the (poor)signage which disallows it.  Just further evidence that the LACMTA pay little or no attention to basic aspect od management!

Your Mole was tied by lots of out-of-town projects this month so his Los Angeles bus riding was limited.

 
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 (OR Five) 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, LAX, that is.!
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.

Vienna has about one-tenth of Los Angeles' population.  But they know how to do rapid transportation with flair and sophistication! This is something that is not achievable by the LACMTA, just look at their Toonerville Trollies and compare them with Vienna's CAT!

Let's take a fast trip just 16 minutes— from Vienna International Airport to Vienna.  This wordless video tells the entire story beautifully!  Here it is.

As always, thank you to our host, www.youtube.com and to the downloader, City Airport Train.
Cosmology

An active over-the-air antenna mine cost about $30, one-time— it can
supplement your cable/satellite service.  In my case it allowed me to cut the cable.  Now I can view the great Frontline and Nova programs which KCET didn't provide on the cable, since they severed their relationship with PBS.  My cable service wasn't interested in swapping PBSsocal for KCET, so now they have one less customer.  You can find and download their schedule, and much more, here.  The reason that this under the rubric "Cosmology" is that PBSsocal broadcasts some GREAT programs such as, a nicely developed program on Einstein's theories.  
And lots on the contributions of early scientists such as, Lavoisier who worked on matter and Faraday who worked on electromagnetism.  I never cared much for the "new" KCET and miss neither it nor my unresponsive cable provider :-)
Have you ever wondered how the universe will end; will it be the "cold and dark" theory, the "big crunch" the "big rip" or something else? Find an answer here.
Fare Box Score Box and related Lists of Shame

I.D. Numbers of buses with Out of Order Fare Boxes: Direction Line, Bus# (yyyy-mm-dd and time.);
South Bound 40 Line Bus, #9469 (2015-11-09 @ 13:45); 

West Bound 111 Line Bus, #8646 (2015-11-19 @ 14:15); 

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 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.
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.  At the present time (2015-10-31)there are too many drivers to name, whose skill at parallel parking is deficient .
XXXXX F[+0] 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 40 foot 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].
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. [Addenda 2014-07-31]: Things have been much better lately.  There is a more responsive feedback system now. [Addenda 2015-08-22]: Recently, even the "Feedback" mechanism  has failed to submit problems.
I like blogger.com very much, and IF things ever normalise, I will consider deleting this "Disclaimer and apologia" section.
Your Mole’s Copyright Statement
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Your Mole’s Conflict of Interest Statement
This is to certify that I, the blogger who is known as the LAmetroMole, with respect to this blog, except as described below, am not now nor at any time during the past year have been, nor 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


McNary, Sharon. “LAX People Mover to be privately built, financed and operated” KPCC.org. Nov. 19, 2015. Web. http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/11/19/55766/lax-people-mover-to-be-privately-built-financed-an/
Nelson, Laura J. “Costs and delays mount for downtown L.A. subway link”. Los Angeles Times. Nov. 12, 2015. Web. Los Angeles Times. Nov. 17, 2015. Web.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-regional-connector-20151112-story.html 

Gardner, Terry. “Inexpensive (and green) transport options to LAX and other airports”. Los Angeles Times. 2015-11-09. Web. http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-money-20151108-story.html

Weikel, Dan and Walton, Alice. “L.A. Expo Line hasn't reduced congestion as promised, a study finds”. Los Angeles Times. Nov. 17, 2015. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/countygovernment/la-me-1117-expo-line-study-20151117-story.html


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