2018-03-31
Via Viator96 2018-03-31
We would like to express our sympathies to the family and friends of the hero of Trèbes, Lt-Col Arnaud Beltrame, whose selfless heroic action resulted in the saving of innocent lives.
We know that the French government will appropriately honour Lt-Col Beltrame.
You can learn more about the incident ici et here.
Merci beaucoup à www.france24.com pour l'utilisation de leur lien web ! I find www.france24.com to be an excellent source of news in French.
Thank you to the BBC for allowing us to link to their website! My first news of the Trèbes incident came from the BBC's World Service news which was broadcast via NPR stations early Saturday morning, 2018-03-24.
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Merci beaucoup à www.france24.com pour l'utilisation de leur lien web ! I find www.france24.com to be an excellent source of news in French.
Thank you to the BBC for allowing us to link to their website! My first news of the Trèbes incident came from the BBC's World Service news which was broadcast via NPR stations early Saturday morning, 2018-03-24.
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Via Viator96
From your Mole, to all who see this in hopes that you will enjoy your visit to this site.
Bienvenue !
ίBienvenido!
Welcome!
いらっしゃいませ!
When politicians involve themselves in technical matters, expect failures.
CEO's Question Time
Dear Mr. Washington:
I respectfully request answers to questions which puzzle me about the LACMTA operations. I would suggest that you present your answers to Los Angeles Times reporters who have my permission to edit, rephrase as long as the intent of the question is preserved and the publication rights to my questions without cost or obligation. With the understanding that the results of the Question and Answer interview be published in the Los Angeles Times. This allows the widest possible to your answers and I, as a Los Angeles Times subscriber, will also have easy access to your answers.
Your Mole has listed his 2018 New Year's Wishes below and hopes that the LACMTA WILL MAKE THEM COME TRUE.
THE QUESTION: How about it, Mr. Washington? Are you reading my comments based upon actual use of your buses and trains. It doesn't sound like lots of fun, does it?. There a lots of deficiencies which could be corrected to improve service!
P.S. It shouldn't rquire two years to begin improving service, just have your staff read all the back issues of this blog and they will have a work list to start on, like, right away! Oh, you are very welcome Mr. Washington!
AMERICA'S WORST!♪
No Stop Number Sign here either♪
Here are su Topo's 2018 New Year wishes:
That the LACMTA would be more open rather than secretive. For example, reporting to us how much they spent to put up and take down the STOP NUMBER signs. And exactly why the signs were removed. Thenagain some of the signs seem to be reappearing? Can they make up their minds? Yes, and then again, No.
That the LACMTA would be more considerate of the needs of their ridership.
That LACMTA would provide more and better security aboard trains and buses.
Conversely, my New YEAR WISH is that the RIDERSHIP would would have better manners. The answer to "Please remove your feet from the seats", should be, "yes, I'm Sorry". Not a string of curses and arguments — and this from a "lady"? Is it any wonder that more usual people try public transportation and soon give up? It is a function of SECURITY and good order. But since the LACMTA "management",except for the rare, politically motivated, photo op, how could they even know what their "service" is really like.
A Brief Rest, February 2018♪
Your Mole wishes that people, like the poor soul pictured above,
could find much better living conditions than those which she is experiencing.
People are quick to describe this as the greatest country in the world. Can that statement really be true when we cannot supply basic human needs —a warm bed, a simple hot meal and essential hygiene facilities— for the most needy among us?
Close Enough for LACMTA Work♪
That LACMTA would train their drivers to position their buses at the bus stop "flag" and close enough to the curb to be a safe, easy step away.
—
Good Enough for LACMTA Work♪
That the LACMTA would supervise their bus stop cleaning contractors so that they actually clean the bus stop, not just do the absolute minimum. Shown above is an often seen condition, the dustbin inside the metal frame is emptied, well eventually. In this case the plastic liner has been removed and positioned adjacent to, above in the photo, the metal frame is adjacent to, below in the photo. But, within the metal frame, at the bottom waste continues to collect without ever being emptied. It accumulates in situ, over weeks or months, perhaps even years.
The LACMTA seems stymied as to how to deal with this situation. So, su Topo will advise them: (1) Send a letter to the CEO of each organisation which has the responsibility of cleaning bus stops. Say, "Payments will not be made when stops show that cleaning has not been properly performed. The portion held back will represent the total owed divided by the number of stops in the contract —the amount to clean a single stop— multiplied by the stops which have been inspected and found to be inadequately cleaned.;2) inspect the stops, note and photograph the deficiencies. You should see a flurry of activity to remediate the problems. You will also experience a decrease in poorly cleaned stops. There is a term for this activity, it is called MANAGEMENT! There is also a term for the manner in which the LACMTA presently conducts business in this area. It is called "paying good money for fourth-rate work".
That the LACMTA would supervise their contractors so that they set the volume of their on board stop announcements, dispatch radios [why can't they use the same "telephone" system used by Metro?]at a comfortable listening level.
That the LACMTA would supervise their contractors so that the contractor's drivers would not "entertain"riders by turning off the ASA and then singing out stops. many, if not most riders want a safe, quiet trip so that they can listen to personal audio equipment, sleep, read or just sit quietly.
That the LACMTA would collect fares from all passengers [see security above] rather than having income be drained away —it is a crime, theft of services.
That the LACMTA would disallow boarding of passengers with unpleasant body odors, dragging trash bags stuffed with recyclables, drunk and/or threatening, unruly etc., etc. [see security above].
That the LACMTA would add 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. Presently,both CCMBL and BBB scroll their drivers numbers.
That the LACMTA would insist that their drivers —regular and contractors—secure wheelchair passengers. Rather, they ask the passenger if they wish to be secured; most seem to reply "NO". In the event of an accident, these heavy wheelchairs could bounce around the bus and injure other passengers. But like many items, safety to passengers is extremely low on the LACMTA's priority list —if they even have such a list.
LAWA Flyaway Bus with a METRO tribute!♪
The the LACMTA is spending the taxpayers money on Rent-a-Bike programs and other adventures only tangentially related to transportation, all the while their pockets are being picked by LAWA!
Riding LACMTA services is generally not that pleasant to begin with and is only made more unpleasant by experiencing the above "punishments".
2018-03-31 - Additional Suggestions
Re-route the legacy path that is an artifact of one way streets which no longer exist. It wastes fuel, imposes unnecessary wear and tear on buses and travels an unnecessarily elongated route. The present route, and this applies only to the Northbound 232: turns left (EAST) from Sepulveda at Mariposa; follows Mariposa to NASH where it turns right (SOUTH) and proceeds to the bus stop and drops Green line passengers and picks up Long Beach bound passengers backtracks to Grand AV where it turns right; proceeds to Sepulveda where it turns right over-running it's first traverse.
The Mole's suggested reroute (for years): from Sepulveda turn right at Grand AV; proceed EAST to Nash; turn left and drop Green Line MARIPOSA STATION PASSENGERS on the EAST SIDE OF NASH; and pickups LAX bound passengers there as well; Make a left turn onto Mariposa; proceeds to Sepulveda where it make a right turn onto existing route. The existing stop at Sepulveda, just north of Grand, can be served from a new stop at Grand, just east of Sepulveda.
A new stop on the North Side of Mariposa at Continental will be necessary.
The SOUTHBOUND 232 can continue on its' current route without change; EXCEPT that it would be ideal to loop through Plaza El Segundo by turning left off Sepulveda into South Hughes Way; then following the route of the WESTBOUND 125 through Plaza El Segundo; Exiting at Park PLce with a left turn onto Sepulveda.
The LACMTA hates to move bus stops even when it is necessary and they end up with a ridiculous route.
Mr. Washington: Please take action to place Porta-Potties at the LAXCBC. So as to suppress the PUBLIC URINATION which goes on there daily.
LAWA Flyaway Bus with a METRO tribute!♪
That the LACMTA fosters 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".
2018-03-31 - Additional Suggestions
Mr. Washington here
are some things which you can easily improve.
Institute
a 740 stop
at Imperial BL to connect with the
120 line.
Presently,
riders of the southbound 740 must walk a longish one block plus plus endure a
very dangerous crossing of the two
lane on ramp of the 105 freeway!
Allow
for request stops so as to better intersect with desired transfer buses. When a bus must
stop for a red light at a curb and a metro stop is just steps away from the
curb, allow passengers to exit. Example:
The situation described just above exists at the intersection of Century BL and
Hawthorne BL with the 40/740 northbound lines crossing South-North and the
South bound 40/740 lines crossing North-South.
If the Eastbound 117 stops for a red light at the SOUTH-West corner of
the intersection, riders, like me –frequently, could walk a few steps in safety
to catch the bus. Usually riders like me
are FORCED by some edict that is supposed to be for “safety” to ride the 117 to
the stop at the SOUTH-EAST corner of the intersection than cross BUSY, BUSY
Hawthorne BL, after a long wait for a walk light, then doge heavy traffic to
get back where they were (on the bus) minutes ago. Often the view they get of the 40/740 is the
of tail-lights of the departing bus; missed it!!
Moving
the bus stop at 96th Street and Airport BL just a few feet South so that no vehicle
could pass a stopped bus. This is so easy, even for the LACMTA, that it is a no
brainer. Eventually, someone who
debussed at the stop, in the midst of crossing 96th Street, will be
struck and seriously injured or killed by a vehicle which zoomed around the
stopped bus.
Re-route the legacy path that is an artifact of one way streets which no longer exist. It wastes fuel, imposes unnecessary wear and tear on buses and travels an unnecessarily elongated route. The present route, and this applies only to the Northbound 232: turns left (EAST) from Sepulveda at Mariposa; follows Mariposa to NASH where it turns right (SOUTH) and proceeds to the bus stop and drops Green line passengers and picks up Long Beach bound passengers backtracks to Grand AV where it turns right; proceeds to Sepulveda where it turns right over-running it's first traverse.
The Mole's suggested reroute (for years): from Sepulveda turn right at Grand AV; proceed EAST to Nash; turn left and drop Green Line MARIPOSA STATION PASSENGERS on the EAST SIDE OF NASH; and pickups LAX bound passengers there as well; Make a left turn onto Mariposa; proceeds to Sepulveda where it make a right turn onto existing route. The existing stop at Sepulveda, just north of Grand, can be served from a new stop at Grand, just east of Sepulveda.
A new stop on the North Side of Mariposa at Continental will be necessary.
The SOUTHBOUND 232 can continue on its' current route without change; EXCEPT that it would be ideal to loop through Plaza El Segundo by turning left off Sepulveda into South Hughes Way; then following the route of the WESTBOUND 125 through Plaza El Segundo; Exiting at Park PLce with a left turn onto Sepulveda.
The LACMTA hates to move bus stops even when it is necessary and they end up with a ridiculous route.
Mr. Washington: Please take action to place Porta-Potties at the LAXCBC. So as to suppress the PUBLIC URINATION which goes on there daily.
Trash cans? We don't need no trash cans!
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 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?
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.
Further, when the agency responsible for public transportation is so lacking in every skill necessary for success yet will apply their only tool to the job. when you only tool is a PR flack; then every issue seem soluble by issuing a press release.
Further, when the agency responsible for public transportation is so lacking in every skill necessary for success yet will apply their only tool to the job. when you only tool is a PR flack; then every issue seem soluble by issuing a press release.
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.
These incursions happen multiple times per day so it is only a matter of time before an accident occurs.
Airport auto rental shuttle drivers, FlyAway drivers and others, 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 nor 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.
Mr. Washington, 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 Line drivers, it is a task for which the LACMTA so far has proved to be inadequate.
Office of Exceptional Ineptitude♪
Pasadena, CA -Metro Bike Rack-1♪
The LACMTA thought that they'd spent fist-fulls of taxpayer dollars and earn barrels of profit on this bike rental scheme.
Pasadena, CA -Metro Bike Rack-2♪
There are not so many empty slots in these racks because there are other options for bike rentals. Perhaps the LACMTA should stick to what they know best, er stick to their version of mass transit! Even the crowded, unfriendly buses are better on rainy days.
Pasadena, CA -Metro Bike "Infrastructure"♪
This truck, and perhaps more like it, has a driver who drives around and reclaims bikes that end up, wherever.
This costs money too. Your Mole feels that barrels of profit will likely not materialise.
There is a downside too, as far as it appears, helmets are not rented with the bikes and when the lawsuits begin an outflow of funds could also follow. By not renting helmets there is an implied "safety" that doesn't exist on the streets of Los Angeles. The Metro advertisments show a woman riding down a wide, seemingly uninhabited country lane. See: Mole's post.
A Filthy Bus Stop.♪
When one encounters a situation like this, try to rectify it by calling the number below which usually appears on the bus bench. When the stop is cleaned, the detritus inside the metal framework and under the blue litter can is almost never removed. The word "third rate" comes to mind. Also the words unsupervised and/or poorly managed play a large role in the way the LACMTA interfaces, if they do actually interface, with their contractors. This is a simple thin to correct; just supervise the vendors tasked to do the cleanup!
An even Filthier Bus Stop.♪
This scene makes a statement about management; really about how management is breaching their fiduciary responsibility. Taxpayer funds are spent on cleaning bus stops; in actuality, taxpayer funds are paid to vendors who are contracted to clean the bus stops, whether the vendors do a good or extremely poor job, as in the situation pictured above.
Bus stop benches often have a contact number affixed to them. I can't say always because as you have seen, the LACMTA seems to lack effective processes —they could never conform to ISO 9000 requirements—.
As for calling maintenance, la Taupe called once, and surprise, no action was taken.
As for calling maintenance, la Taupe called once, and surprise, no action was taken.
A Stairway at a rail Station.♪
As almost everything associated with the LACMTA it is abominably maintained. In this case some riders cannot hold on their rubbish until they can properly dispose of it. Their thoughtlessness endangers their fellow riders, who could slip on the thoughtlessly disposed of plastic or other slippery materials and fall; all compounded by the fact that the LACMTA seems to be in no hurry to cleanup the mess.
Further evidence of the LACMTA's approach to maintenance.♪
We know that this is the Metro, but really, what are you trying to tell us?
An Accident Waiting to Happen!♪
Confused drivers, pedestrians, tired Train Operators, or any combination or permutation of these, which at grade level, can cause fatalities. Note the downward slope of the tracks which can result in an additional operator workload in controlling trains.
What bus am I riding?♪
The "shakeup" (bi-annual schedule changes) has been in effect for about three weeks and finding on-board schedules which match the route of the bus in which you are riding, is next to impossible. HINT: It is NOT the 128
Line!
Oops, trip on this OOII artifact and you'll be under the bus!♪
Extremely sloppy work! A bus stop flag pole was removed here leaving the pole's foundation very near the curb, for children, the aged or anyone at all to trip over and fall into the street. If one was hurrying, one might well end up under the wheels of the bus. All that needed to be done here was to remove the four nuts holding the base in place, remove the base and then with a metal cutting blade saw the protruding bolts level with the concrete. A professional could perform the job in minutes. But the LACMTA's failure to supervise its' workers or contractors results in the situation depicted above. Worse yet, is the LACMTA's failure to see what has to be done.
How will the LACMTA solve this problem? Well, the LACMTA will hold a series of meeting over months and then likely forget about the problem.
Your Mole proposes this solution: Whenever a training bus is covering a route, on the first and last trip of route training, the operator being trained and the trainer would both alight at each stop and check it for safety. Both parties would fill out a bus stop safety report. That way new operators would be indoctrinated into a culture of safety and know how to report bus stop safety issues; the experienced trainer would add to his/her knowledge and be able to discuss issues he/she had seen with their trainee.
Brilliant idea Mole! Hardly that, but it is logical thinking.
This is not related to the Office of Incredible Ineptitude, but rather another BBB work product which serves to show how a more honest transportation provider names their supplier's product, i.e., correctly, viz., "nextbus" and they kept the stop numbers and texting in place as a benefit for its ridership.
The nextbus.com site, a valuable tool!♪
The Sign Most Dreaded by LACMTA Riders!♪
One can't find a loo when they are most needed! Does anyone really believe that the LACMTA management really cares? After all, they just tell their chauffeur to pull into the nearest coffee shop so that they can have a "break".
They are going to spend $8,000,000 on a few new restrooms and the rehab of a few more at Union Station! When will those restrooms be ready? La Taupe's estimate: it will be a couple of years and the restrooms in Union Station will likely be out of service for a long while too.
They are going to spend $8,000,000 on a few new restrooms and the rehab of a few more at Union Station! When will those restrooms be ready? La Taupe's estimate: it will be a couple of years and the restrooms in Union Station will likely be out of service for a long while too.
How BBB Gets It Done!♪
This worker, using a high pressure delivery system leaves a clean, really clean bus stop. Not like the messes found at LACMTA Transportation Centers, such as ITC! And at the many filthy bus stop around the city. Well ITC was cleaned up, kind of, but the outlines of the gum blobs were retained. How about a do0over with a higher pressure hose?
BBB has Nextbus!♪
This is not related to the Office of Incredible Ineptitude, but rather another BBB work product which serves to show how a more honest transportation provider names their supplier's product, i.e., correctly, viz., "nextbus" and they kept the stop numbers and texting in place as a benefit for its ridership.
While the LACMTA, sneakily, er, covertly did away with the stop numbers without offering a word of explanation.
Nextbus on my iPhone, it's GREAT!♪
I simply opened the nextbus.com site using my browser, it took over asked permission to use my location, which permission I granted and voilà; I was presented with all the bus availability at stops within reasonable walking distance of my position. Shown above is on the first screen of several. importantly, there is no need for an "app", because since Tim Cook stopped updating my iPhone at iOS6 which then froze all my apps, which, although had updates available, they were denied to me. When this iPhone fails, I'm going with Samsung!
The nextbus.com site, a valuable tool!♪
But, where there is the will, there is a way. Su Topo visited the nextbus page at nextbus.com: set the nextbus service provider to Los Angeles Metro, and using the drop down menu; set the bus route number to 130; selected the stop that I have used and will be using at some other time in the future, to Hawthorne Blvd and Artesia and voila, the stop number "00147" was filled in for me.
Now I can note that stop number and its location in my agenda and soon I will have reconstructed the subset of stop numbers which I require.
It would had been much easier if the LACMTA,stupidity, er, I mean, with lack of intelligence, had not rushed to waste money and removed the stop number signs which had cost quite a bit to install in the first place.
Please contemplate Mole's Law Number 1: "When politicians involve themselves in technical matters, expect failures."
Torrance Transit Uses NextBUS Too!♪
This is the way the LACMTA should have done it. Fast, simple and understandable.
Now I can note that stop number and its location in my agenda and soon I will have reconstructed the subset of stop numbers which I require.
It would had been much easier if the LACMTA,
Please contemplate Mole's Law Number 1: "When politicians involve themselves in technical matters, expect failures."
They Should Have just placed the stop number as shown above♪
That way the numbering system would have had relevance far into the future. it could been adapted to emergency services, 911 reporting when an incident occurs away from numbered houses or people have trouble pronouncing local street or intersection names.
Stenciling the numbers on the bus flag is economical and efficient - if you know what your Mole means. But no,the LACMTA seems to act before it thinks.
Stenciling the numbers on the bus flag is economical and efficient - if you know what your Mole means. But no,the LACMTA seems to act before it thinks.
Torrance Transit Uses NextBUS Too!♪
That is how we can tell that the LACMTA have made an error; because everyone else is using Nextbus texting and the LACMTA have removed most of their bus stop numbering signs.
LDOT has nice Stop Numbers!♪
This is the way the LACMTA should have done it. Fast, simple and understandable.
Metro's Flag a revés♪
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.
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, "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.
“At a downtown meeting Thursday,
Metro's board of directors asked the agency to prepare a list of properties
that could accommodate showers, storage for belongings, parking lots where
people could sleep in their cars overnight, or other facilities”.
CHSRA seems not to understand the Fund, Plan then Build, project concepts. Which this Mole believes will lead to a complete failure and cancellation of this ill-conceived line.
Please contrast the Japanese experience with their “Bullet Train”:
The Los Angeles Times reports (Nelson) That the LACMTA will now try
their hand at solving L.A.’s homelessness problem. At least as far as it impinges upon
transportation. Here is a quote of ms
Nelson’s work:
The only thought that su Topo can
add, is as long as they’re spending money, why not start supplying the
ridership with public restrooms. This
could stop la Taupe’s frequent complaints about the lack of such facilities.
The Daily News informs us (Chou) that Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez (7th District, located in the San Fernando Valley has received letters and signatures opposing planned “Bullet Train” routes through the San Fernando Valley.
Please contrast the Japanese experience with their “Bullet Train”:
“Inauguration, 1964. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the railway project in 1959, near what would be Mishima Station on the Tokaido Line. In just five years, the first train line was completed. On October 1, 1964, the line opened to commuter traffic at 6 AM. The Hikari bullet train made its debut, with one train departing from Tokyo Station and the other from Shin-Osaka Station. These 0 Series Shinkansen models remained in use until 1999.”
THANK YOU for allowing the above brief quote to:
They built the Tokyo-Osaka phase in six years, 6 years! All through densely populated city and suburbs.
THANK YOU for allowing the above brief quote to:
They built the Tokyo-Osaka phase in six years, 6 years! All through densely populated city and suburbs.
The Los Angeles Times covers (Martin) the transportation situation at LAX. Here is a brief quote from the piece:
"But LAX — the nation's second busiest airport — ranked 21st out of 23 airports in the study, which found that it takes 33 minutes to get to the airport from downtown Los Angeles via transit and 50 minutes by private car."
Su Topo believes that when the last patchwork piece is finally, if ever, in place that little improvement will be gained. In addition, taking mass transit to LAX will be physically off-putting, thus ensuring that the LAWA "FlyAway bus" will be the logical choice.
The San Francisco Examiner reports (Rodriguez) that the San Francisco County transportation Authority authorised $1.2 mill which will allow the San Francisco Municipal transportation Agency [MUNI] to install additional traffic cameras.
Here are a few quotes from Mr. Rodriguez’ piece: “Expanding the traffic camera network will provide tools to improve decision making and better manage field operations,” SFMTA staff wrote.
"SFMTA has 84 traffic cameras in The City mounted on traffic signals, Muni overhead poles, or streetlight poles, according to that report. The 270 new cameras are scheduled to be installed by Dec. 2019."
This Mole feels that the Muni well knows what they is doing.
The Times covers (Serna) the start of segment II of the Purple line Extension. This segment will end at the VA’S west L.A. campus.
"But LAX — the nation's second busiest airport — ranked 21st out of 23 airports in the study, which found that it takes 33 minutes to get to the airport from downtown Los Angeles via transit and 50 minutes by private car."
Su Topo believes that when the last patchwork piece is finally, if ever, in place that little improvement will be gained. In addition, taking mass transit to LAX will be physically off-putting, thus ensuring that the LAWA "FlyAway bus" will be the logical choice.
The Los Angeles Times reports (Vartabedian) on the ongoing saga know as the "Bullet Train". Here are two brief quotes from Mr. Vartabedian's piece:
"The California bullet train will take longer to build and cost more than previously estimated under a soon-to-be-released business plan, but plans to begin the project by linking the Bay Area to the Central Valley remain intact, according to the rail authority's new chief executive, Brian Kelly."
'The new estimate will be given in a range of costs, reflecting "too many unknowns to be specific," he [Kelly] added.'
Encouraging news, isn't it? It isn't!
Now, had they contracted the Japanese for the build in the first place and had management and engineering staff shadow them, there might be hope. The way things stand now it is difficult to determine which group, the LACMTA or CHSRA is more inept. It would appear that CHRISA isthe winner, er, the loser.
After all, the rate of LACMTA "burn" in building its Toonerville Trollies cannot match CHSRA with tunnels through an earthquake zone and ending up initially only linking San Jose and Wasco. What a tourism draw that will be!
"The California bullet train will take longer to build and cost more than previously estimated under a soon-to-be-released business plan, but plans to begin the project by linking the Bay Area to the Central Valley remain intact, according to the rail authority's new chief executive, Brian Kelly."
'The new estimate will be given in a range of costs, reflecting "too many unknowns to be specific," he [Kelly] added.'
Encouraging news, isn't it? It isn't!
Now, had they contracted the Japanese for the build in the first place and had management and engineering staff shadow them, there might be hope. The way things stand now it is difficult to determine which group, the LACMTA or CHSRA is more inept. It would appear that CHRISA is
After all, the rate of LACMTA "burn" in building its Toonerville Trollies cannot match CHSRA with tunnels through an earthquake zone and ending up initially only linking San Jose and Wasco. What a tourism draw that will be!
The
Times informs us (Vartabedian2) that “bullet train” has yet more problems. Mr. Vartabedian writes: “Technical documents attached to the authority's 2018 business
plan show that it no longer plans to have dedicated tracks designed for speeds
of up to 220 mph over a 30-mile stretch south of San Francisco. Instead, the
system would operate between San Jose and Gilroy at 110 mph on ground-level
tracks on or adjacent to an existing right of way owned by Union Pacific. The
route would make 32 highway crossings, requiring sophisticated barrier gates
and sharing a corridor that carries freight and commuter rail.”
Drifts, like these, away from the
plan is one of the reason that your Mole likes to refer to the “bullet train” “as a dud”.
The San Francisco Examiner reports (Rodriguez) that the San Francisco County transportation Authority authorised $1.2 mill which will allow the San Francisco Municipal transportation Agency [MUNI] to install additional traffic cameras.
Here are a few quotes from Mr. Rodriguez’ piece: “Expanding the traffic camera network will provide tools to improve decision making and better manage field operations,” SFMTA staff wrote.
"SFMTA has 84 traffic cameras in The City mounted on traffic signals, Muni overhead poles, or streetlight poles, according to that report. The 270 new cameras are scheduled to be installed by Dec. 2019."
This Mole feels that the Muni well knows what they is doing.
The Times covers (Serna) the start of segment II of the Purple line Extension. This segment will end at the VA’S west L.A. campus.
Here is a quote from Mr. Serna’s work: “The extension's second phase has a
$2.53-billion budget, including $1.5 billion from a federal grant and loan, and
is expected to be completed by 2025. It will run west from Wilshire Boulevard
and La Cienega Avenue to Century City, passing underneath Beverly Hills High
School along the way.”
This
description portends problems for the LACMTA.
Place your bets! What will be the
budget overages, additional time requires and the extra financial penalty for
routing a subway under a school?
The
San Gabriel Valley Tribune covers (Scauzillo) the LACMTA’s homeless outreach program.
Here are two brief quotes from Mr. Scauzillo’s work:
“After learning of
homeless individuals riding in loops on all-night buses for shelter, shouting
aloud while riding a subway and sleeping at the feet of travelers inside Union
Station, the board of the county’s largest transit agency voted Thursday to urgently
expand its temporary homeless outreach program.”
In
discussing funding, Mr. Scauzillo
writes: “Money has gone to homeless agencies of the county and nonprofits, but
Metro initially was not included, [Jennifer Loew, director of Metro special
projects] said. After lobbying, the county agreed that 40 new teams that go out
and meet homeless people one-on-one will also visit some Metro facilities.
However, [Metro hopes to get Measure H
funding to build up its own teams, who will coordinate with the county, the Los
Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,
which patrol Metro rail and bus lines.” Emphasis, Mole]
The
LACMTA wants to tap into the Measure H funding stream?, I’m shocked.
This
is a great article, so, please, read it in its’ entirety by using the link in “Works
Cited”, below.
Please follow the "Works Cited" links (below) and read the cited reporters full articles for all the details.
Perhaps this is the point at which su Topo should mention other U.S. cities who built and maintain serviceable rapid transit without doing it in fits and starts and maintain their systems without lengthy closures.Who will win the mismanagement award of 2018?
The LACMTA's Own Crumbling Infrastructure♪
Elevator at the Harbour Freeway Busway Station
Note the filthy condition of this elevator. The LACMTA never seems to fix or clean anything.
The Los Angeles Toonerville Trolley experience♪
«Votre œil me fait un été dans mon âme.»
Pierre de Ronsard (1524-09-11~1585-12-27)
[Your eye creates summer in my soul.]
Merci beaucoup à http://evene.lefigaro.fr pour la citation et à google.fr pour le matériel biographique.
Ars longa vita breva
Toussaint Dubreuil (1561~1602-11-22) comme un exemple de son travail, Voici son cupid with two doveCupid with two doves.
Review additional works (N.B. Some of the works may be suitable only for adults) by Toussaint Dubreuil by clicking on this link.Toussaint Dubreuil (1561~1602-11-22) comme un exemple de son travail, Voici son cupid with two doveCupid with two doves.
¿Musica?
Let's listen to Deuxième Sérénade ou Simphonie Françoise by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-12-23~1755-10-28) Downloaded by Artpieful
As an encore, here is Joseph Bodin de Boismortier's Suite for Viola da Gamba Op.31, Conductor: Herve Niquet.
Merci bien à www.google.fr pour le matériel biographique, .
Let's listen to Deuxième Sérénade ou Simphonie Françoise by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-12-23~1755-10-28) Downloaded by Artpieful
As an encore, here is Joseph Bodin de Boismortier's Suite for Viola da Gamba Op.31, Conductor: Herve Niquet.
Thank you youtube.com for allowing us to hear these beautiful performances. We also thank Artpieful and harpsichordeval respectively, for uploading these works.
Merci bien à www.google.fr pour le matériel biographique, .
Here is something from a musical genre which I hope you'll like.
Serenata de Trios - KXLU . Musique en Eapañol Sunday evenings Pacific Time.
TRÍOS ROMÁNTICOS DE MÉXICO ( SERENATA ).
Thank you youtube.com and to Bolivar Torrez for the upload!
¡Muchas gracias a Serenata de Trios y KXLU for their terrific music and inspiration!
Serenata de Trios on KXLU, (88.9 FM Los Angeles) features authentic acoustic musica, which your Mole really likes! :-)
Metro Area – Lower your expectations!♪
Inured? You'd better be inured if your only transportation is Metro! Look at the rear of this bus and see that the prescient graffiti artists have warned you about the future of Los Angeles transportation.♪
The Mole rides again so that you don't have to watch people exhibiting their disgusting habits..
(dates are ISO8601 format, times are expressed in the 24 hour system.)
i
Improvised Loo at the LAXCBC.♪
If the LACMTA doesn't provide the facility, the ridership will work out their own, less than desirable solution. How can anyone look at this picture and not think that Los Angeles is a third world city?
BETTER TOGETHER, OR NOT?♪
The graffitists have done a professional job of "tagging" this poster. We'll have to follow up on this because it appears to be a work in progress.
This bus poster was expired but a graffitist didn't mind♪
Bus Flags without Stop Number♪
This is just another example of quite a number of bus flags which don't have stop numbers indicated. The intention was to be able to text the Next Bus, oops, I mean the Next Trip system. This Mole will never understand the reason was it was renamed from the original developers and owners designation, Next Bus, to Next Trip.
2018-03-15, around 10:00 On board a Rapid Bus Line: I am able to now better understand why LACMTA ridership is down. I allow a couple to board ahead of me. They ask for and receive a free ride, then stop in the middle of the aisle and discuss where they will sit. I excuse myself and take a seat. They finally take a seat in the empty row beside which they were standing, while blocking the aisle, and discussing seating options.
He wears a brown coat over a grey hoodie, she a yellow hoodie. She emits a series of cackle-like laughs. Then she stares at an empty pill bottle; and begins an aggressive picking of her nose; if there were an Olympic Gold Medal for women's nose-picking she would be the hands-down winner!
Completing that activity she wipes her hands on the man's hood. I turn away. Riding an LACMTA bus is not for the faint hearted!
Stop Number as a Texting Artifact!♪
These signs are rarely seen these days. But they can be found by the careful observer.
As promised here are la Taupe's estimate of the costs involved in affixing these texting Artifact signs and removing them. But no costs have been developed for replacing some of the signs??
The above is portion of my spread sheet which shows your Mole's total estimated costs in US$ for the installation an partial removal (pictured above is a reinstalled signl).
2018-03-15, around 10:00 On board a Rapid Bus Line: I am able to now better understand why LACMTA ridership is down. I allow a couple to board ahead of me. They ask for and receive a free ride, then stop in the middle of the aisle and discuss where they will sit. I excuse myself and take a seat. They finally take a seat in the empty row beside which they were standing, while blocking the aisle, and discussing seating options.
He wears a brown coat over a grey hoodie, she a yellow hoodie. She emits a series of cackle-like laughs. Then she stares at an empty pill bottle; and begins an aggressive picking of her nose; if there were an Olympic Gold Medal for women's nose-picking she would be the hands-down winner!
Completing that activity she wipes her hands on the man's hood. I turn away. Riding an LACMTA bus is not for the faint hearted!
2018-03-18 morning @LAXCBC♪
Underscoring the fact that there is no security anywhere in the LACMTA system, here we see someone sleeping into the morning. Over several days at the LAXCBC, I've seen several men micturating near or behind the on-site skip located in the north-east corner of LAXCBC. Of course there is never any security at the center to put a stop to this kind of behaviour.
Stop Number as a Texting Artifact!♪
Texting for the bus arrival times has been a highly hyped feature and now stop numbers seem to be disappearing from the flags?
Is this yet another case of the LACMTA becoming enamoured with something that is too costly, or requires too much maintenance to continue? Think TransiTV!
Your mole has theories: Either (1) they put signs up in the wrong order; (2) the texting load was to great for the LACMTA's IT infrastructure; (3) they found a way to charge for the service using an "app";
Your mole has theories: Either (1) they put signs up in the wrong order; (2) the texting load was to great for the LACMTA's IT infrastructure; (3) they found a way to charge for the service using an "app";
These sign keep reappearing, as if by mgic?♪
All that needs be done is to add stop numbers!♪
It appears that la Taupe has to do everything. Well here it is, a typical bus schedule, this one for the 102 line, which shows stop numbers. The LACMTA will have no excuse for not having done this before the next "shakeup" (i.e., semiannual schedule change.
2018-03-23 on board a southbound 740 bus: the woman behind me has been carrying on a "louder than necessary" cell phone conversation and I avoid it a best I can. Then she starts explain Los Angeles Mass transit: "The Rapid bus stops at major streets. The regular bus stops at every M. F-ing stop. If the rapid doesn't stop where you want it to, then you have to walk. If you don't wanna walk, then you have to ride the bus that stops at every M. F-ing stop. (she said the complete words).
Why is ridership down? Really, who would ride in such company if they didn't have to or they felt compelled to write a blog? :-)
The worst ever trip that I have ridden is the 115 to/from Playa del Rey at going to or returning from school times. One can hear the N-word more times in half an hour than most people hear it in a life time. One can also hear quite a few other unpleasant words, as well. The drivers have to put up with a lot, too!
2018-03-23 on board a southbound 740 bus: the woman behind me has been carrying on a "louder than necessary" cell phone conversation and I avoid it a best I can. Then she starts explain Los Angeles Mass transit: "The Rapid bus stops at major streets. The regular bus stops at every M. F-ing stop. If the rapid doesn't stop where you want it to, then you have to walk. If you don't wanna walk, then you have to ride the bus that stops at every M. F-ing stop. (she said the complete words).
Why is ridership down? Really, who would ride in such company if they didn't have to or they felt compelled to write a blog? :-)
The worst ever trip that I have ridden is the 115 to/from Playa del Rey at going to or returning from school times. One can hear the N-word more times in half an hour than most people hear it in a life time. One can also hear quite a few other unpleasant words, as well. The drivers have to put up with a lot, too!
2018-03-24 aboard a southbound 740 bus: A woman boards and proceeds down the aisle opening windows as she goes. A man takes exception to her actions and says: "It's cold and I don't feel well" as he closes the window. She returns and opens the window again, he closes it. She asks: "I open it, you close it. Are we going to continue like that?" He replies, "yes". She responds: Nobody cares that you're sick , you old F...! Your mole thinks, if this woman didn't have bad manners, she would have none at all!
Meanwhile, the LACMTA wonders why ridership is down.
Stop Number Signs Install & remove Costs♪
The above is portion of my spread sheet which shows your Mole's total estimated costs in US$ for the installation an partial removal (pictured above is a reinstalled signl).
There are 15,967 bus stops, along an estimated 2,661 miles of bus routes, transportation and labor costs. I estimated that a 5 person crew could install 300 stop number signs per day, remove 600 signs per day and that there would be four of these crews in operation.
The LACMTA may say either (1) "we could never had done it so cheaply!" or (2) "He is way too high!" Or (3) An even larger figure if the work contracted. We will never know. But when your read (vide supra) about the $8,000,000 they plan to spend on two new and fixing up two or three existing toilets, they will probably say (3).
Crenshaw Line - Rapid Transit♪
This portion of the Crenshaw Line is rapid transit, i.e., grade separated (Manchester at La Brea).
Crenshaw Line - Mass Transit (In Process)♪
This portion of the Crenshaw Line is at grade (Arbor Vitae north of
Aviation) and therfore mass transit. It is a street car that will bring traffic on this busy street to a halt and possibly halt itself and definitely proceed at a reduced sped, after the barriers are lowered and then creep across the street.
At one time the LACMTA knew how to build rapid transit, example: the Green Line. They stopped building rapid transit when they felt that saving money was more important. A likely decision when you consider that LACMTA management almost never ride their system. It management rode the lines, all stations and bus centers would have restrooms!
At one time the LACMTA knew how to build rapid transit, example: the Green Line. They stopped building rapid transit when they felt that saving money was more important. A likely decision when you consider that LACMTA management almost never ride their system. It management rode the lines, all stations and bus centers would have restrooms!
Push for NEXTBUS, er, NEXT-RIP♪
La Taupe took a ride to the valley and discovered this!♪
CLICK HERE to hear the announcement.
If would be a good idea if the LACMTA would make up its mind —if it has one— about how it would deliver bus arrival announcements. By text message, no that seems to be mostly abandoned? By buttons, like the one shown above; no that seem an expensive way to do it and has the additional disadvantage of being exposed to vandalism. 9
I now use text and that seem to be the way the BBB and TT have adopted. From my computer I use NextBUS.com It produces an nice clean format as shown below.
Next Bus is GREAT!♪
At the bottom of the screen:
"Valid as of Monday, February 19, 2018 3:03 PM"
is displayed. One can perform the simple addition to determine that the next bus will show up at around 15:08 and the one after that at about 15:37.
For those who like maps, nextbus offers a map option as pictured below.
Next Bus Maps are GREAT, too!♪
Please visit the site and acquaint yourself with the agencies it serves in the United States. It travels well! :-)
2018-02-19 afternoon: Your Mole can relate his recent experiences aboard Metro buses. On the first bus of the day, the male passenger across the aisle clipped his fingernails letting the clippings fall where they might.
2018-02-19 afternoon: Your Mole can relate his recent experiences aboard Metro buses. On the first bus of the day, the male passenger across the aisle clipped his fingernails letting the clippings fall where they might.
On the same day on the very next bus, a different male passenger used “floss picks” dropping them to the bus floor after use. Nice? Huh?? Is it any wonder why usual people don’t want to share their ride with fellows like these.
It's alive!♪
2018-02-22 before 10:00: I looked up from the Freeway Level of the freeway busway and saw, wonder of wonders, that the screen that was always dark had come to life and was reporting Silver Line and other bus arrivals. Somethings work and others do not. Among the things which didn't work were the on-board bus GPS units, the entire system seemed to be down for the past two (2) Saturdays 2018-02-17 and 2018-02-24. This meant that the ASA didn't functions and operators [drivers] had to call out stops, just like in the old days. The head signs had to be manually setup, this was usually sensed automatically, the direction of the bus determined the head sign, outbound, inbound etc.
Crenshaw Line (and other lines) as Mess Transit!
Combine rapid and mass Transit in one line and you have created Mess Transit.
Bringing better service to others, by bypassing you♪
So, equal taxation but unequal provision of service that is the LACMTA way. But it is time to bring an end to that approach. This Mole has commented on the Rapid service in the past. Pointing out that Rapid lines don't always stop when the cross other LACMTA lines, nor do they stop at county facilities, e.g., the excellent Los Angeles County Libraries. Why not? Well one could ask the Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Association.
So what if the line took six minutes longer but, some students could get to a library sooner. And while they're at it, stops should be added for Los Angeles City Libraries too!
This Is Not Rapid Transit♪
The photo above concretises the idea that the EXPO line will not deliver deterministic travel because, look at the signals and the traffic folks, it isn’t RAPID TRANSIT.
At one time the LACMTA knew how to build RAPID Mass Transit, viz. the Green Line. Take the Green Line ratio of aerial portions of the line to total length of the line, let's call this the Mole's Index of Rapidity [MIR in acronimic form].
For the Green Line the ratio is 100/100! Not so with other recently built lines; the Expo and Crenshaw Lines which both have lower indices of Rapidity. Any value less than 1 shows that determinate travel times are impossible. The overall MIR for the LACMTA's built portion in miles is 20/105 which is equal to 0.1904 ... much less than 1! The result is a fifth class transportation system; one befitting a third-world country.
Your Mole feels that by showing you month-by-month examples of the LACMTA's failures, you will come to see that throwing more money at this dysfunctional organisation is not the path to solution. It is a direct path to more money wasting by the LACMTA.
Eye (and Ear) 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 the 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 transportation challenge.
Cautionary Note: Those employed by the LACMTA, LAWA or CHSRA 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.
FINAL WARNING: N.B. LACMTA, LAWA OR CHSRA staff and management, avoid cognitive dissonance, DO NOT CLICK on THE LINK BELOW!
While the LACMTA attempts to hype its Toonerville Trolley system and CHSRA ponders the necessity of safety features, forward thinking planners in 2007 have already bullet trains at speeds in excess of those planned for California.
This section has been devoted to pointing that the LACMTA is far behind the rest of the world in rapid transit. La Taupe has pointed out that fact on innumerable occasions. Their approach, rather than providing Los Angeles with a transportation legacy of which to be proud, prides themselves on building cheap, loo-less infrastructure.
CHSRA struggles with "Bullet Train" technology of the past, while the rest of the world is building high-speed comfortable Mag-Lev trains.
Here is a list of world-wide Mag-Lev projects or plans. There is quite a bit of data available, so I'll leave it in place through the end of 2017, with the caveat that LACMTA related staff should avoid this information. People that design and build rail where the distance covered is greater than the point to point distance due to the roller coaster like hills underpinning the rails and due to at grade contention for the route resulting in non-deterministic travel times, will neither be comfortable with the concept nor the application of Mag-Lev transportation.
Your Mole says "Thank you!" to the University of Washington at Seattle for their Website to which I've linked.
Cosmology
Let us pause and remember Steven Hawking (1942-01-08~2018-03-14).
For those who haven't read "A BrieFhistory of Time, here it is, in English in PDF Format.
An article by Jake Parks in a Discover Magazine blog, discusses the rotation of disk galaxies, like our Milky Way.
"In a study published March 9 in The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers announced the discovery that all disk galaxies rotate about once every billion years, no matter their size or mass"
Let us pause and remember Steven Hawking (1942-01-08~2018-03-14).
For those who haven't read "A BrieFhistory of Time, here it is, in English in PDF Format.
An article by Jake Parks in a Discover Magazine blog, discusses the rotation of disk galaxies, like our Milky Way.
"In a study published March 9 in The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers announced the discovery that all disk galaxies rotate about once every billion years, no matter their size or mass"
Fare Box OOS and related Lists of Shame
I.D. Numbers of buses with Out of Service Fare Boxes:
2018-02-24; Bus #8621.
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 = (+URsticker 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 (2016-05-31) 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:
LINE/OP ID XXXXX(L/T) date; XXXX-XX-XX(code);
LINE/OP ID XXXXX(L/T) date; XXXX-XX-XX(code);
Codes: S = not wearing seat belts; J = bad judgment (unsafe driving practices).
111/84559(L/T) 2017-09-08(J)
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.
LDOT = Los Angeles Department of Transportation
LDOT = Los Angeles Department of Transportation
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 occurs 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 original photographs and original written materials are copyrighted © 2007~2016 by LAmetroMole. As of 2016-06-01 copyrighted photographs will include copyright text. ♪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. Single use publication rights are granted provided the following statement is prominently displayed below the photograph: "copyrighted © 2007~2016 by LAmetroMole (http://lametromole.blogspot.com)"
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 organisation 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 organisations having transactions with any of the entities about which I have written.
There are no exceptions.
Date: 2009-06-24 s/LametroMole
Works Cited
Serna, Joseph. “Metro Purple Line's phase 2 extension breaks ground in Century City”. Los Angeles Times. Feb. 23. 2018. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-groundbreaking-purple-line-phase-20180223-story.html
Chou, Elizabeth. “Bullet train opponents call on LA leader to take stronger stance against project routes”. (Los Angeles) Daily News. Mar. 9, 2018. Web. https://www.dailynews.com/2018/03/09/bullet-train-opponents-call-on-la-leader-to-take-strong-stance-against-project-routes/
(Nelson, Laura J.) “Metro to study which properties could house facilities for the homeless”. Los Angeles Times. Mar. 22, 2018. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-metro-homeless-20180322-story.html
Martin, Hugo. “LAX ranks near the bottom among U.S. airports when it comes to getting to the terminal”. Los Angeles Times. Mar. 3, 2018. Web. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-lax-transit-20180301-story.html
Rodrigues, Joe Fitzgerald. “Transit agency to install 270 new traffic cameras throughout San Francisco”. San Francisco Examiner. Mar. 13, 2018. Web. http://www.sfexaminer.com/transit-agency-install-270-new-traffic-cameras-throughout-san-francisco/
Scauzillo, Steve. “LA County
Metro board votes for major expansion of homeless outreach program”. San Gabriel Valley
Tribune. Mar. 22,2018. Web. https://www.dailynews.com/2018/03/22/la-county-metro-board-votes-for-major-expansion-of-homeless-outreach-program/
Serna, Joseph. “Metro Purple Line's phase 2 extension breaks ground in Century City”. Los Angeles Times. Feb. 23. 2018. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-groundbreaking-purple-line-phase-20180223-story.htmlVartabedian, Ralph. “New bullet train business plan will show higher costs, CEO Brian Kelly says”. Los Angeles Times. Feb. 28, 2018. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-train-business-plan-20180228-story.html#nt=oft01a-1li2
Vartabedian2, Ralph. “Another 30 miles of California's bullet train route must run at lower speeds documents show”. Los Angeles Times. Mar. 15, 2018. Web. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-train-slow-track-20180315-story.html
An artifact of the streets of Los
Angeles, created by a brother Mole!
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The above is ### 30 ### in Braille
Footnotes
Footnotes
# posted by LAMETROmole @ 11:00 
