More Progress on Passenger Rail between Los Angeles and Palm Springs

The Desert Sun has reported that the Riverside County Transportation Commission had selected a passenger rail route between Los Angeles to Fullerton to study even further.

That route would run from Los Angeles to Fullerton, swing north to Colton, and then continue southeast through the San Gorgonio Pass to Indio.

According to the article, "If the train only stopped three times between Los Angeles and Indio, officials believe the trip would last around 3 hours and 10 minutes — only about 40 minutes slower than traveling by car."

Well, I don't know about you, but I'd happily bring a laptop and a Kindle and enjoy my journey even if it takes 40 minutes longer than being behind the wheel.

The article also states that "in earlier studies, Coachella Valley officials have suggested three stations, in Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and Indio."

So cannot wait.

A Los Angeles eye view of Toronto Transit

Recently I had the privilege of being in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.    Toronto is an amazing city with great people, great food, and a great transit system.  In fact, like Los Angeles, Toronto's is in the process of a huge expansion of its mass transit system -- truly a world class city unfolding.

Though attending a business conference, I had a little free time and I used it to sample Toronto's transit system and to see how Toronto's current system could inspire user-friendly changes to our own expanding system.

I took pictures.  (My apologies for any blurry pics, I make NO claims on being a good photographer.)

Here is a subway entrance and something you rarely see in Los Angeles -- an actual transit shelter for streetcars and buses.

This streetcar and bus stop has a shelter with a CURRENT systemwide map on it.  Why can't we have transit stops with covered shelters and/or current transit system maps posted on them to make it easy and convenient on riders.

Here was my day pass in Toronto.  It works like a scratch lotto ticket.

Here is a daily free newspaper "Metro" that people pick up to read in transit stations.  There was also a Metro free daily that I read on the London "tube" when I lived there.

Here is a fully underground grocery store.  Makes for very convenient shopping on the way home.

Never underestimate the value of CURRENT system maps as well as station area maps to help riders.

This subway car has a sign that points to which side of the subway car will have the doors open.

Here is an electronic map in the subway car that points out where you are in the system and what the next stop is -- very convenient!

Notice the television screen in the subway with accurate up-to-date information

Another tubular type of platform -- very London-esqe.

And because there are people who use paper day passes even with turnstiles, there will need to be human monitors at subway entrances to allow those people through.  (Note to Metro that is considering locking subway entrances -- you will still need to have human monitors at the stations for regional paper pass holders like me.)

Nice how subway entrances are located within office complexes.  When the Century City station on the Purple Line is built as well as a future 5th/Flower subway station infilled on the Regional Connector, think of the possibilities.

Whoops.  This subway station had multiple entrances only this one did not have a human monitor.   Those entrances need to be labeled.

Note this nice weather protected entrance to the subway station.  It gives you a chance to open your umbrella before going outside or closing it before you head down the escalator.

One of the things I miss the most from New York and London subway systems are the buskers.  Why not have quality musicians playing in the system for tips?

Look that something you hardly ever see anymore -- pay phones, plus a lotto stand in the subway.

Look, a convenience store within the subway station -- for buying a newspaper or picking up breath mints prior to that important business meeting.

Here is the inside of a spacious subway car.  The Red/Purple Line cars in Los Angeles are poorly designed  The middle seats should be back-to-back to give a more open feeling.

Look at the clear bag trash receptacles that include recycling and a machine to get your transfer (which Metro doesn't do anymore.)

The downtown subway stations connect to full service malls underneath office buildings.

Here is a subway entrance with two service windows and several turnstiles.

Here are the Toronto equivalent of Zipcars.

What?  You thought gasoline was $1.30 a gallon in Canada?  Nope.  That's per liter.  The "drill, baby, drill" fools think that we can drill our way back to $2 a gallon gasoline.  It is a global oil market and China and India are not going to stay in the third world so that suburban/exurban residents can drive gas guzzling SUVs in America cheaply.

Here is a Toronto streetcar that comfortable rides in traffic at grade.  (Think of how much quicker they would be if these were transit only lanes.)  Modern streetcars are coming to Los Angeles in just a few years.  Woo hoo!

Personally, I think the overhead wires and tracks of the streetcars aren't blight.  They are part of the ambiance of the city.

As part of its transit system, Toronto allows you to rent a bicycle.  All part of the convenience of a transit friendly city.

The one thing I didn't have time to do is ride the ferry to the Toronto City Airport.  Toronto is planning rail links to Pearson International Airport.

Metro can adopt some of these amenities.  Your local city or neighborhood council can adopt some of the others.  Public-Private Partnerships are possible.

Now, sometimes as I discuss the growing transit network in Los Angeles I will hear someone say, "but what about my automobile?  I love my car and don't want to to give it up."  To which I say, "Uh, no one is asking you to.  Keep your car.  There are millions of others who want to have an alternative."  And Toronto, like New York and London and Tokyo and other cities with world class transit systems, there are also millions of automobiles as well.

So here's to Toronto.  I look forward to witnessing the unfolding expansion of transit both there and back here in Southern California.

Is a Sepulveda Pass light-rail line salvageable?

Two days ago I posted my fears and discouragement that the Sepulveda Pass transit corridor project was sadly looking at first glance like it would be an inadequate bus project, rather than the light-rail line between Sylmar and LAX many of believe it should be.

The question remains, is a light-rail project through the Sepulveda Pass still possible?

Jerard Wright, current Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Transportation Committee Co-Chair and former Vice President of the Transit Coalition believes it is.  Here are his thoughts about this (shared with his permission):

I think its salvageable -given that its early in the process- but the key thing is being realistic on funding.  

Don't assume Federal New Starts on this with 30-10 or America Fast Forward programs because those are committed to Purple Line to Westwood and Regional Connector projects at this time. If it shows that it has Federal New Starts potential, then that may delay the project delivery date as it will need to go through another cycle of New Starts.

My thoughts are focus the bulk of the rail energy on the Sepulveda Pass corridor from Orange Line to Expo Line with or without the tunnel parallel to the pass, stretch that $1B+ to link up with as many activity centers as possible so that you can get some stronger ridership data.
Use the Public-Private Partnership ideas on some of the station area planning/developments such as Sepulveda Orange Line station, Ventura Blvd (Sepulveda or Van Nuys), Sepulveda/Pico Expo Line station maybe even UCLA/Westwood Village station to bridge gaps in funding. So that more money goes towards the route infrastructure and less of it goes to the stations themselves.  

The key is, given that this could be LRT, Could this corridor take an initial San Diego trolley approach here a simple no-frills design and infrastructure? I don't know how much construction ROW or easements will be left after the 405 HOV widening project but I would suggest building shallow tunnels and trenches under these easements- if they can- where the elevation shifts and differs.  

I wished Metro spent a little more $$$ on the 405 HOV project to go towards a future ROW for such a transit project as this would have saved money in the long run.  

The Van Nuys Corridor in the long term visioning should be rail, however any sort of infrastructure beyond a TSM would make it difficult to get a future rail corridor. Should the approach be pushing for TSM on this leg? TSM could possibly do the same things as the lanes (such as better signal pre-emption & synchronization on both the Local and Rapid corridor buses and consolidation & relocation of bus stops to expedite boardings which improve operating speeds)  at a lower cost then BRT and saves more of the money needed to push a rail transit corridor north following the intended vision.

What do you think?

One Seat Ride to the Beach or to LAX?

For Westside Subway Extension supporters, this is our dream:

I count myself as the BIGGEST support of a Santa Monica Blvd. subway project, colloquially nicknamed the "Pink Line".

However, only the first three minimum operating segments (extending the Purple Line west from Wilshire/Western to Wilshire/Fairfax, to Century City, to Westwood) of the Westside Subway Extension project are likely to go forward for Federal funding at this time, in no small part because of the money that was already thankfully approved by Measure R for that portion of this project and not the other portions, and because the cost-benefit ratio for the first three minimum operating segments meets current federal guidelines for matching funds.

Alternatives 4 and 5 have the West Hollywood subway spur included. (This chart is also not good news for the City of Santa Monica which wants the full extension of the Purple Line to the beach which is in Alternatives 3 and 5).

Therefore, because of the above chart, this is what will likely be constructed within 10 years if Mayor Villaraigosa's 30-year plan goes through.

Supporters of MOS-5, the segment of the Purple Line west of the V.A. grounds, have little choice but to pursue Federal funding later and keep lobbying for Metro to build the full extension to the beach.

Those of us who support MOS-4, the West Hollywood spur, have a couple of options, if Metro abandons us (even though West Hollywood voted 83% in favor of Measure R, more than any other city).

Option 1) Continue to lobby for the Purple Line spur between Beverly Hills and Hollywood along Santa Monica Blvd. seen above, understanding that we are not part of Measure R funding, and are unlikely to be constructed within the next several years if not a few decades.

Option 2) Lobby for the Santa Monica Blvd. alignment to become part of the northern extension of the Crenshaw Line, which Measure R will see constructed as light-rail between the Expo Line and LAX. The tradeoff would be a one-seat ride to/from LAX instead of a one-seat ride to/from the beach. While the northern extension of the Crenshaw Line to the Hollywood/Highland Red Line station is not funded by Measure R north of the Exposition Line transfer, and as this is a light-rail project rather than the heavy-rail subway extension of the Purple Line, and as it will not all be underground, and therefore likely to be less expensive, it may be more easily funded and built sooner.

Here's a map showing the Santa Monica Blvd. alignment as an alternative to link the Crenshaw Line at Expo/Crenshaw to the Hollywood/Highland station as light rail:

Here is how it would look from a larger perspective:

For many people, the tradeoff of having a one-seat ride from West Hollywood to LAX may be acceptable for not being part of the Westside Subway extension. However, there is no guarantee that the this would be the approved alignment of the northern extension of the Crenshaw light-rail line, which may end up simply going north on La Brea or Fairfax towards Hollywood/Highland instead of via San Vicente then Santa Monica Blvd.

3) Another option comes from the realization that for 30 years Metro is going to be financially focused on Measure R or paying off a federal loan that fast tracks Measure R construction projects. Unfortunately, this means that there might not be ANY funding for am underground Santa Monica Blvd. rail project for at least thirty years.

What if we brought streetcars back to this corridor? Not the historical red cars of yore, but the new modern streetcars such as the ones we see in Portland or in the Cryodon borough of London -- and then run them in transit only lanes?

Here are pics of what a modern streetcar looks like:

Just in case you think the era of the streetcar is over, you should go to LA Streetcar's website.

http://www.lastreetcar.org/

Streetcars are coming back to downtown Los Angeles in a few years and when that happens, demand for the them will grow everywhere.

Here's is my original proposal that runs a modern streetcar from downtown to Sunset Junction on Sunset Blvd., then down Santa Monica Blvd. via the unused right-of-way in the back end of Beverly Hills. A variation of this could have on the western end the route head south on La Cienega and then southwest on Venice to the beach.

To be effective, streetcars on Sunset and Santa Monica Blvd. would probably require eliminating parking and/or a lane of traffic in each direction. I'm totally fine with that, but some motorists and small business owners may object. It may also require adjusting the annual gay pride parade and Sunset Junction street festival by moving them or an agreement to run alternative buses on those days. In fact, as part of a modern streetcar project, we should create transit-only lanes for them to run on, limited to streetcars and buses. In Seattle, buses and rail share the downtown transit tunnel effectively.

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Of course, we all want to see subway service on Santa Monica Blvd. and see it soon. However, it is not looking good for seeing it within the next 30 years if Metro decides not to pursue federal funding at this time, which according to their own studies is starting to look unlikely. While the City of Santa Monica will get the full advantage and use of the Exposition Light-Rail Line in the meantime until MOS-5 is hopefully eventually built, the City of West Hollywood and the Beverly Center areas may be left with nothing for decades.

Metro has already spent a lot of time and money studying the Santa Monica Blvd. alignment and knows it needs "something". Plus I believe having the largest vote in favor of Measure R has brought West Hollywood some good will from Metro. It must be refreshing for Metro to deal with a community that says, "build here, build here, build here", rather than the NIMBYs who selfishly have been trying to obstructing the Purple Line and Expo Line projects in Hancock Park, Beverly Hills and Cheviot Hills.

So now that you know where we appear to be with a Santa Monica Blvd. rail alignment, which course of action(s) do you think Santa Monica Blvd. rail advocates should we take if Metro doesn't go forward with MOS-4 of the Westside Subway Extension Project for Federal funding as we all hope?

1) Keep lobbying for a heavy-rail subway extension from the Purple Line anyway and hope that somehow the money will come from some unknown source somehow, sometime, somewhere?

2) Begin strongly lobbying for the northern extension of the light-rail Crenshaw Line towards Hollywood to run along San Vicente, then Santa Monica Blvd, still not knowing where the funding will come from and knowing it is not certain that this would be the alignment of this extension, but knowing it will require less funding as a light-rail project than as a heavy-rail subway?

3) Lobby for modern streetcars to run down Santa Monica Blvd. in transit-only lanes, trading ultimate hope of eventual grade separated rail in decades for at-grade rail within years?

Keep in mind, I really want a subway running on Santa Monica Blvd., so I support the Westside subway extension. I just want to give you a realistic picture of where we stand at the moment at least on paper.

Your thoughts?