2016-03-31
Vae Viator 73, 2016-03-31
Vae Viator73
America's Worst♪
Please remember to vote AGAINST any LACMTA/Metro ballot measures this fall!
The LACMTA/Metro doesn't deserve any additional funding from us until they begin to deliver the service which we deserve; including but not limited to:
Building restroom facilities where they are needed. They know the locations!
If the drivers have a restroom the ridership needs them as well;
Providing security at the LAXCBC and along bus routes especially at 96th ST and Airport BL; The LACMTA devotes lots of money to "security",which is likely NOT cost effective, but almost nothing is spend on REAL system security. Providing an "app" or a telephone number is NOT providing security!
Training bus drivers that can DRIVE, which will be partly evidenced by positioning their buses at a bus stop equidistant and an EASY step to/from the curb. Many drivers lack a sense of professionalism and not all drivers are unable to pull up to a bus stop properly; near the flag and close to the curb for the full length of the bus. It is probably just a case of the 98% giving the rest a bad name. Also, eliminating those drivers who break then accelerate and repeat, viz. rough and jerky driving —nothing focuses attention like a few firing for lack of aptitude.
Providing a pleasant on-board ambiance; no LOUD audio emanating from Metro vehicle's on-board audio systems or the riders riders personal audio devices. NOT employing drivers who think they are there to provide entertainment —Silence is Golden!
Disallow boarding of passengers with unpleasant body odors, dragging trash bags stuffed with recyclables, drunk and/or unruly etc., etc.
Importantly, adding the bus drivers number to the scrolling sign inside the bus, so that riders can report those drivers who are rude, crude and have poor driving skills. Obviously, the LACMTA is unable to make those determinations.
The LACMTA badly needs to foster a culture of openness and transparency! Providing quarterly and annual reports for each significant project, reporting which reflects project status in terms of ahead of or behind plan and a budget metric showing dollars over/under budget would allow the public to evaluate their competency.
The LACMTA badly needs to foster a culture of openness and transparency! Providing quarterly and annual reports for each significant project, reporting which reflects project status in terms of ahead of or behind plan and a budget metric showing dollars over/under budget would allow the public to evaluate their competency.
Riding LACMTA services is generally not that pleasant to begin with and is only made more unpleasant by experiencing the above "punishments".
FlyAway aided by the LACMTA Pick the pockets of the Taxpayer♪
This is a topic which su Topo has often touched upon but to which he will devote more space. Especially since the LACMTA and seems disinclined to defend its territory .i.e., charter MD Transportation. The aid provided by the LACMTA takes the form of its lack of a will to resist and an eagerness to eliminate any of its bus lines which might compete for even an infinitesimal fraction of the business.
Not only do the big buses not giveth the small ones take away too! FlyAway, in reality, LAWA —a city agency continues to provide transportation to LAX from a number of origins. The LACMTA has no single-seat bus service to LAX, when it cancelled the 439 Line it severed Metro connections between Union Station, the West Side Transportation Center, Culver City Transportation Center and Aviation Station. This left the the field open to LAWA who could charge something greater than four (4) times Metro's full fare.
At the time FlyAway came into being Metro pass holders were allowed to ride to LAX on their passes. The LACMTA was greasing the skids that early on! I made the ride and it was comfortable and faster than the 439 Line. Had they continued to allow us to ride on our passes, very likely I would have considered it a benefit that Metro was providing me and not be writing this today.
However as time passed the pass privileges on Dash, DOT Commuter Lines were also eliminated and joined FlyAway privileges and, how shall I say, went extinct? Along with many single-seat buses which forced us to take multiple Metro Buses/Trains to get where we needed to go. And don't forget, we once had Metro transfers available to us.
All those things are gone! While the base fares have gone up making the ridership shoulder the burden of paying MORE for LESS!
What does the LACMTA have to say? Except for their usual policy of telling us how great transportation is in Los Angeles —nothing, a complete stonewall.
Oh, by the way, Los Angeles area papers, this could well be a Pulitzer Prize winning story for an enterprising reporter or team of reporters. Remember the King-Drew story that won for the Los Angeles Times team? This is much, much bigger: waste; abuse ; breach of fiduciary; abdication of responsibility; lots of wasted money on things that didn't pan out (think TransiTV) and possibly fraud.
Over the years the Office of the CEO has been occupied by Snoble who spent fist-fulls of dollars on stickers for each bus stop; which stickers were almost obsolete on the day they were affixed or certainly within six months of that date. Then there was Leahy whose principle mantra was something along the lines of I was a bus driver. Now we have Mr. Washington whose prior city boasts a mass transit NOT RAPID transit link to its airport —he will be right at home in Los Angeles.
The LACMTA should have head-hunted in New Your City or Chicago for the kind of leadership the country's second city's county;s transportation agency should have.
The very though of that kind of non-docile CEO likely makes the politicians dream of retirement.
La Taupe dreams of the deconstruction of the the LACMTA and reconstituting it with NON-political supervision. It would have a CEO for the LACMTA and a vice president for for the vehicular infrastructure [freeways etc.] and another vice-president for Rapid Transit. Bifurcation would allow each group to better serve its constituency. Although these constituencies overlap to some extent but, —for the most part, they divide along income/class lines. The premise of transit would be: we already have Mass Transit Buses, subways and the Green Line which are Rapid Transit but ALL future monies would be spent on replacing the candidate bus lines with Rapid Transit Lines and rapidising to the largest extent possible those existing Toonerville Trolleys —NOT building more of them! With all the supporting departments, including Industrial Engineers to correct many of the currently existing deficiencies. Not the least is building Rapid Transit where it is needed.
When politicians involve themselves in technical matters, expect failures.
March 5th the Gold Line Extension Opens
Arrival at Siera Madre Villa Station♪
No matter how badly the LACMTA plans, the execution is always worse. Your Mole arrived before noon but the trains were not yet running. As far as I can remember there were no published start times for the operation to begin.
We were told that until the train started to run we could ride a shuttle bus to the Arcadia station and begin our trip from there. Not being one to waste time I descended to the bus level and started to wait. There were several Metro employees there confusion and conflicting stories: the buses were only for employees, blah, blah, blah. In the end there were no buses, so we were told to go back to the third level and board the trains from there.
The Third Level of Hell♪
We were greeted by this LONG serpentine line. So, I had given up my place on the platform for the promise of a better (my interpretation) experience and found myself doing the Airborne shuffle through the line.
The Third Level of Hell (Cont.)♪
The shuffle continued (above) until I entered another long line (not pictured) on the overpass from the parking structure to the platform. About an hour was wasted. Had I stayed on the platform I would have been on the first train out instead of the fifth.
Gold Line Line Station Map♪
Arcadia♪
This is a view south of the station. There were "festivities" on the north side of the station but I opted out in favour of getting home before dark.
Monrovia♪
Sort of ditto for Monrovia.
Azusa♪
I missed some station pictures either because the train was crowded, stopped because of an electrical problem and we were all jammed together without much freedom of movement or it was starting to feel like repeating the same actions and expecting different results :-). If you would like to see at which stations I missed taking photos, please check the Gold Line Station Map (above).
***** End of the Gold Line extension trip *****
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???♪
SuTopo will include this comment in every post with the above until BBB corrects the problem. For quite awhile BBB has been charging for inter-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?
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- 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.
2016-03-31
Airport auto rental shuttle drivers, if shown in the above videos, are all Class-B operators and should know better; but often they don't care and neither does the LACMTA and any of the policing agencies which have jurisdiction in the area.
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 the current 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.
LACMTA'S Work Ethic♪
2016-03-24 around noon: Pictured above is the work product typical of the LACMTA's signage group. This sign appeared on the south-east corner of the Century BL and Hawthorne BL intersection. This was and is a stop on the east-bound 117 Line. There were/are no changes to the 117 Line at this stop.
The sign also references the 40 Line which stops on La Brea AV and Century BL. There were/are no changes to the 40 Line at this stop; this stop for the 40 Line has been in effect just the way it is, for a long time.
The signage omits the effective date range (from and to).
The signage lacks specificity with respect to the 40 Line stop, saying that the 40 Line stops in front of the CVS which is true as long as you don't consider that the CVS also “fronts” on Century BL —which point is the stop for the west-bound 117 Line.
Someone actually affixed this sign to the “bus stop flag” standard, but they certainly did not read it or care much about the quality of their work!
Exactly what they were trying to communicate is anybody's guess. Your Mole thinks that there was a need for a stop-change sign somewhere, but not here.
A stop-change sign is always fun to see because I know that, almost without fail, something will be wrong.
The LACMTA is the organisation that wants more money from us. Do they deserve it? Absolutely not!
Oh, and three streets do not intersect here. La Brea AV, a north-south street, changes its name to Hawthorne BL in the middle of Century BL.
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.
Regarding theLACMTA's request: "We'd like your Input on Metro's budget" brochure(no identifying number) —you asked at last! Why, you can consider this entire blog as la Taupe's comments on the way that the LACMTA wastes, er, spends money.
The “Metro Insider” for February 2016 (16-11431P) in hyping, er describing the “Regional Connector” on page, oops, there are no page numbers —says, “Once completed . This Metro Rail extension [pause for loud laugh] will provide for one-seat travel across Los Angeles County.” This after the fact, result of incredibly poor planning, Band-Aid [with apologies] really links the several lines which should have been designed to cross and provide natural transfer points which are part of any rational urban transportation system —please check any map of any system other than Los Angeles. Additionally, the description needs a footnote, which su Topo generously supplies here: except for the “connection” to LAX which, depending on the route, will require MULTIPLE seats. Any travel involving the “Orange Line” (it's a bus, folks) also belies their “one-seat travel” assertion.
Grand Central Station in New York City is a regional connector [RC] what we have in Los Angeles is well, please, you fill in the blank, _________________.
I prefer to call the RC, "Remedial Construction".
The Times covered the Gold Line Extension opening (Nelson) in much greater detail than did your Mole. Here is a quote from the piece which supports su Topo's point about the LACMTA's mismanagement of the event: "So many people rode to the end of the line, at the APU/Citrus College station, that the line to board trains back to Los Angeles doubled back through the parking structure several times. The 45-minute wait prompted some to venture into a nearby neighborhood, settling on benches and neat sandstone walls to call a ride or an Uber."
Ms Nelson (Nelson2)of the Los Angeles Times, reports on the LACMTA's "plans". Here is an excellent quote from the article: "But critics say the proposal could be a colossal headache for Metro, which sometimes struggles to manage the budget it has now. Despite major investments over the last decade, ridership has dropped on buses and trains. The widening of the 405 Freeway was completed years behind schedule. And the budget for a new rail connection through downtown Los Angeles [The "Regional Connector" ?] has increased by $130 million, or 9%, before tunneling has even begun."
Really, if managing the budget were their only problem they could hire more accountants. The dysfunctional agency has many problems, as this Mole is dedicated to point out. For example, conceptionalising, planning, design, maintaining the plant and equipment, and placing the routes where they are needed are just a few of their ongoing, unresolved problems.
The Los Angeles Times reports (Nelson3) the public reaction to the LACMTA's attempt to put its hands deeper into their pockets. "Money leverages money," [Mayor] Garcetti said. "We need to get something passed. We should figure out a way that we can have a pot of money that we're actually fighting over." It seems a great idea —get the money then figure out what to do with it!
Mr. Ralph Vartabedian of The Los Angeles Times is a one-man-team who is on top of the "Bullet Train" story. I have identified eight-plus (8+) pieces which he has written in March! I will touch on two and cite them and also list the links for the other six so that you, dear readers, can peruse them on you own.
A Times piece (Vartabedian) which has a headline which included the words, "... delays opening of the first leg by three years." demonstrates that the correct sequence of operations for any construction project is plan then build. Not, as seems to be the case vis-á-vis the CHSRA's "Bullet Train" "plan then modify" CHSRA's project, unfortunately, appears to be more and more of a "dud" as time passes.
The Times reports (Vartabedian2) on more problems for CHSRA. "A Times Analysis in October concluded that the plan to bore 36 miles of deep tunnels through the mountains, lay 300 miles of track, build a half-dozen stations and install high-voltage systems along the route almost certainly could not be completed by 2022 and within the projected budget. The California High-Speed Rail Authority disputed the story." Mr. Vartabedian writes: "But the plan cuts the price tag of the entire system by $4 billion, to $64 billion."
Here are the links to six (6) other articles by Mr. Vartabedian:
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-fight-suspended-20160326-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bullet-train-funding-for-southern-california-leg-20160326-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bullet-train-doubts-20160328-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-change-orders-20160328-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bullet-hearing-20160328-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-hearing-20160329-story.html
Of course, if you are a Los Angeles Times subscriber —as this Mole is— you can read articles like these while you enjoy your morning coffee! Additionally, the Los Angeles Times is available at your local Los Angeles Public, the Los Angeles County Libraries and other city libraries. Many libraries have back issues available.
A San Francisco Examiner Op-Ed piece (Josefowitz) describes the city's problems with the Bart's deteriorating infrastructure. Their system has been running since the late 1960s. Mr. Joseforwitz concludes with: "The time has come to rebuild BART from the ground up." I believe that he overstates the case, in that San Francisco has not experienced: pieces of concrete dropping off something (the Gold Line); a bus way (the Orange Line) requiring a rebuilt roadbed because of some LACMTA fault or other [
When the Los Angeles' Toonerville system reaches the same age as Bart it will be in much worse shape.
Please read the excellent work of all reporters mentioned this month or any month —links , when available, appear in "Works Cited" (below).
« Il faut être jolie quand on n'est pas riche. »
Jean-Louis Forain (1852-10-23~1931-07-11)
[It must be nice when one is not rich.]
Ars longa vita breva
Jean-Louis Forain (1852-10-23~1931-07-11) depicted several legal tableaux. His Scéne de tribunal can be viewed here and his Counsel and Accused here.
Merci bien à http://www.universalis.fr and Thank you to http://www.tate.org.uk for allowing us to see this outstanding work!
¿Musica?
Composer Alexandre Clément Léon Joseph Luigini (1850-03-09~1906-07-29) offers us his Ballet égyptien.
I'd like to thank www.youtube.com for always offering something appropriate and also thanks go to the uploader Mr. Lopez 2681.
Metro Area – Lower your expectations!♪
The Mole rides again, so you don’t have to wonder what that ugly pattern, which shows up on some Green Line displays, is supposed to do.
Green Line Signage (Still inoperative!)♪
Blue Line Signage (Mystery Solved)♪
2016-03-05 @ 12:30: Regarding the Blue Line platform signage which was included last month. Well, the 7MC means 7th and Metro Center. But really, with all the "real estate" available on this sign wouldn’t “Los Angeles” be more logical? Er, Err, not if you are the LACMTA! Or even "7th & Metro Ctr"
could be squeezed in.
could be squeezed in.
2016-03-10 06:30, waiting for a bus: A young man smokes something in a water pipe, he finishes and dumps the water in the middle of the sidewalk. then after quickly smoking a cigarette he tosses the butt on the sidewalk too.
2016-03-10 06:30 14:00, in Beverly Hills: Your Mole meets two ladies from Tokyo and travel part of the way with them on the 704 Line; serving as their guide showing them how to transfer to Hollywood. His 日本語 [Japanese Language] is still serviceable :-).
2016-03-10 06:30 14:00, in Beverly Hills: Your Mole meets two ladies from Tokyo and travel part of the way with them on the 704 Line; serving as their guide showing them how to transfer to Hollywood. His 日本語 [Japanese Language] is still serviceable :-).
Cannibalised Bicycle♪
2016-03-20 7:30 @ LAXCBC: Last month I said: "The decent thing to to would be to remove the bicycle skeleton AND the bike racks —the racks also present an impediment to those who are visually challenged." Well they removed the bicycle skeleton but left the racks to lure other unsuspecting riders into thinking that it was safe to leave their bicycle chained there and giving those who are visually challenged something to trip over.
2016-03-21 @ ITC: A police officer checks the arriving buses and chats with the driver, ensuring that that there are no problems. The Inglewood Police Department is always working for those who pass through this city. Nice work Inglewood PD!
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
Metro is the worst way from the City Center to theAirport, 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 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.
N.B. LACMTA staff and management, avoid cognitive dissonance DO NOT CLICK on THIS LINK!
Let's ride Chicago's Orange line from the "Loop" to Midway airport. This is a great video! Note the clear announcements, the MANY transfer points we encounter on this short (14 minutes) RAPID TRANSIT line. I've been a passenger a number of times - what a difference between the Toonerville Trolleys here in Los Angeles!
www.youtube.com, thank you so much, you are simply great! Welwin 22, thank you for your upload!
Cosmology
Fare Box Score Box OOS and related Lists of Shame
I.D. Numbers of buses with Out of Order Fare Boxes: Direction Line, etc
XX (2016-XX-XX@ XX:XX); X
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: 87648;
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)
GTrans (Gardena transit?) formerly 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. [2015-12-31] The feedback section disallows screen shots which show problems with the "final posting", such as, orange sections which cover blocks of text and change the font size. All it would take is allowing and attachment. But, ... [Addenda 2016-03-31] Since Blogger.com forced me to learn HTML 5, I can fix "many" of the problems which apparently were caused by using Word notation in "imported" files. The mystery failure to save problem still occurrs but have diminished. [insert crossed fingers icon here :-) ].
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
All photographs and original written materials are copyrighted © 2007~2016 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 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
CEA. "A source accelerating Galactic cosmic rays to unprecedented energy discovered at the center of the Milky Way." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 March 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160317095013.htm>.
Joseforwitz, Nick. “The time has come to rebuild Bart”. The San Francisco Examiner. Mar. 29, 2016. Web. http://www.sfexaminer.com/time-come-rebuild-bart/
Nelson, Laura J. “Thousands celebrate launch of the Gold Line extension through San Gabriel Valley”. Los Angeles Times. Mar. 5, 2016. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0306-gold-line-20160306-story.html
Nelson2 , Laura J. “Metro to unveil mass transit blueprint that includes tunnel through the Sepulveda Pass”. Los Angeles Times. Mar. 11, 2016. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-transit-projects-20160311-story.htmlNelson3, Laura J. “Advocates and county residents ask for changes to Metro's $120-billion transit plan”. Los Angeles Times. Mar. 24, 2016. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-transit-projects-20160324-story.html
Vartabedian, Ralph. “New bullet train plan delays opening of the first leg by three years”. Los Angeles Times. Mar. 4, 2016. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-plan-20160304-story.html
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# posted by LAMETROmole @ 11:52 
