How to join SO.CA.TA: Yearly dues are $30.00 cates. In all other cases, permission must be ($12.00 low income). Dues are prorated on a secured from the copyright holder. THE TRANSIT ADVOCATE quarterly basis. Disclaimer: The Southern California Transit Submission of materials: ALL materials for the Advocates is not affiliated with any governmental Newsletter of the Southern California Transit Advocates TRANSIT ADVOCATE newsletter go to Andrew agency or transportation provider. Names and September 2012 Vol. 20, No. 09 Novak at P.O. Box 2383, Downey California 90242 logos of agencies appear for information and or to [email protected]. Please enclose a self reference purposes only. addressed stamped envelope for returns. SO.CA.TA officers, 2012 Newsletter deadlines are the Fridays a week President: Nate Zablen before SO.CA.TA meetings, at 6:00 PM Pacific Vice President: Kent Landfield time, unless otherwise announced. Recording Secretary: Edmund Buckley Executive Secretary: Dana Gabbard Opinions: Unless clearly marked as "Editorial" or Treasurer: Dave Snowden "Position Paper", all written material within, Directors at Large: Ken Ruben including all inserted flyers and postcards, are the J.K. Drummond expressed opinions of the authors and not (Vacant) necessarily that of the Southern California Transit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Advocates. Newsletter Editor: Andrew Novak Newsletter Prod. Mgr: Dana Gabbard Copyright: © 2012 Southern California Transit Webmaster: Charles Hobbs
Advocates. Permission is freely granted to repro- th th duce/reprint ORIGINAL articles from the Transit NEXT SO.CA.TA MEETINGS : Sep 8 and Oct 13 at Angelus Plaza, 4th Floor, 255 S. Hill, Los Angeles Advocate, provided credit is given to both the au- thor and the Southern California Transit Advo- September 2012 — Issue 238
Southern California Transit Advocates 3010 Wilshire #362 Los Angeles, CA 90010 45¢ First 213-388-2364 Class http://www.socata.net Postage [email protected]
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Inside This Issue: Omnitrans New Flyer 1251 in the agencies’ new • Bulletin Board (pg. 2) paint scheme at the rebranding event on August • Members in Action (pg.2) 15, 2012. Omnitrans mascot Buster also sports • Transit Updates (pg. 3) his new image. • Transit Topics (pg. 5) —Photo by Janice Kuhn/Omnitrans • Public/Legislative Affairs (pg. 6) • MTS Service Changes (pg. 7) • Photos of the month (pg. 11) ISSN 1525-2892 Bulletin Board / Members in Action Photos of the Month
Bulletin Board: Jane Reifer was quoted stating "It boils Our thanks to John Standiford of the River- down to the fact that bus riders need bus side County Transportation Commission for service" in the Orange County Register Au- Former SCRTD th an excellent presentation on the Metrolink gust 10 article "Long Beach seeks to Flxible 7103 in th extension to Perris at our August 11 meet- charge Seal Beach for buses." The article Fremont on Au- th ing. At our September 8 meeting David further notes Transit Advocates of Orange gust 26, 2012. Rutherford of Omnitrans will make a presen- County (which Jane chairs) has been meet- This bus is now tation on the sbX Bus Rapid Transit project ing with Long Beach and Seal Beach bus rid- owned by the under construction in San Bernardino. We ers regarding the current situation. Pacific Bus Mu- will also discuss candidates for the day After seum. Thanksgiving annual transit tour. -Richard Silagi Save the date: our annual holiday banquet Photo will be Saturday December 8th at 5:00 PM at Taix (1911 West Sunset Boulevard).
Via Fred Frailey's Trains Magazine blog we have learned Bill Baird, a BNSF Railway train dispatcher assigned to its San Bernardino office, sends a daily e-mail he calls “The Tortoise Tattler” with rail related history les- Speakers wanted! sons and news links. To be added to the mailing list send a request to FOR TRANSIT INDUSTRY READERS [email protected] OF THIS NEWSLETTER -- We are now
At www.lossan.org/timetable you can see arranging our guest speakers for our Long Beach Transit the just posted LOSSAN Corridor Joint Time- monthly meetings for 2013. We invite
Page 2 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 11 Transit Updates Continued Transit Updates
RTA Continued and then continue on regular route. During Beach Cities Transit -New Rapid Line 20 began operation from The three trips between Banning and River- this time the bus will not be servicing the Effective August 25th, BCT made several downtown Santa Monica to the Metro Expo side currently operated by RTA will now be Barstow City Hall and a temporary stop has changes to their service. Line Station in Culver City. This new non- operated by Sun Line. Those trips are the been placed on Buena Vista Street in front -Line 104 from Redondo Beach Pier to Del stop service operates via Interstate 10 and 5:54 AM westbound trip from Ramsey and of the Barstow Library. Amo Fashion Center was canceled. makes the following stops, Broadway at 6th, Sunset, and the 5:19 PM and 6:35 PM east- -Line 102 now serves the South Bay Galleria 4th Street at Santa Monica Place, and on VVTA will also be holding a public hearing on bound trips departing the Riverside Down- in both directions during non-peak times. Robertson between Washington and Venice. September 17, 2012 at 9:30 AM. This public town Terminal. Also extra weekday buses will be added dur- Fare on this route is only $1. hearing will be an open forum for VVTA cus- ing the school year. On August 27th RTA made the following ad- tomers. The hearing will be at the agency -Line 109 now serves the Douglas Green justment to Route 10. Westbound bus will headquarters at: 17150 Smoketree Street in Line Station in both directions. The East- not travel on Horace Street in Riverside. In- Hesperia. Written comments can also be bound service to Manhattan Village Mall has stead, Route 10 will continue on Arlington sent to: been re-routed from Rosecrans Avenue/ Avenue, turn right on Victoria Avenue and Nancy Strickert Village Drive to Village Drive, Park View continue to regular routing. The current San Bernardino Associated Governments Avenue, and Market Place. westbound stops on Horace Avenue will be TDA Public Hearing Both Lines 102 and 109 also were revised to closed. Eastbound Route 10 will not be af- 1170 West 3rd Street, 2nd Floor improve service. fected and will continue to use Horace San Bernardino, CA 92410-1715 Street. Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica) Sun Line Effective August 26th Big Blue Bus made ser- Effective September 10th, Sun Line will begin vice changes: operation of Commuter Link 220 a new -Route 2 now ends at Pico Boulevard and no route offering peak hour service from Palm longer serves Venice. Flyaway Desert to Riverside. The trips will run to Riv- -Route 5 has been re-routed in downtown Recently the Los Angeles World Airports erside in the morning and to Palm Desert in Santa Monica due to Expo Rail Construction. (LAWA) announced that the Irvine Flyaway would be canceled on or before September the afternoon. Stops in Palm Desert include Route 5 will no longer stop on 4th Street at th Westfield Shopping Center on Town Center Broadway, Wilshire or Santa Monica Boule- 14 . The announcement came after the US Way and Hahn and in Rancho Mirage at vard or on Colorado at 4th Street. Bankruptcy court declared that contractor Home Depot on Monterey near Dinah Shore. Craig Barnes Photo Effective August 27th Big Blue Bus made ser- Coach America could reject its contract with Additional stops on the line include Cabazon, vice changes: LAWA. LAWA is currently seeking private Banning, Beaumont, Moreno Valley, UCR -Rapid 10 the peak hour trips that began at companies interested in operating the Irvine Last Minute Omnitrans and Downtown Riverside with connections to Main and Marine Streets have been can- service. The other Flyaway services have not Effective August 27th OmniGo Route 365 will Metrolink. For exact schedules and fare in- celled. been affected by Coach America bankruptcy provide service to Townsend Jr. High School formation visit: www.sunline.org -Route 11 will have a new schedule. and new contracts for the Union Station and in Chino Hills. A new schedule for this route -Rapid 12 replaced the old Super 12. Sev- Westwood Services have recently been VVTA is now in effect. Route 9 will be on detour in eral stops have been removed for a faster awarded to Bauer’s Intelligent Transporta- From August 27th to October 5th the BV Link Redlands due to construction. Buses will ride and the Culver City Stop has been relo- tion and Corinthian International Parking will be on the following detour due to road travel on Citrus between Wabash and Craf- cated to northbound Robertson between Services respectively. construction. From southeast on 2nd Avenue ton for approximately 6 months. YY Venice and Washington for a better connec- the route will make a left on East Buena tion to the Expo Line. (Continued on Page 4) Vista Street and a right on Barstow Road
Page 10 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 3 Transit Updates Continued Transit Updates Continued
Gold Coast Transit tween Rodeo Road and Coliseum Street and RTA Route 23: The weekday northbound 5:40 PM Effective August 19th the Gold Coast Transit Rodeo up to La Brea has been discontinued. Effective September 9th, the Riverside Tran- trip will be adjusted to improve connections (Oxnard) made several changes to their ser- sit Agency will be making the following with Route 217. vice. Below is a summary of those changes. Map of DASH Wilmington Expansion changes. Route 27: The first weekend southbound trip -Route 10 now travels to Saticoy instead of will be adjusted to improve connections with Route 1: Buses will now operate approxi- Route 11. Route 1. The weekday southbound 2:55 PM mately every 18 minutes instead of every 20 -Route 11 now travels to Market Street and school tripper service will be discontinued minutes on weekdays. On Weekends east- Dolon Street due to low ridership. Schedule will be ad- bound trips ending at Riverside Downtown -Route 16 now ends in downtown Ojai and justed to improve on-time performance, and Terminal will be extended to end at UCR no longer serves Meiner Oaks. Service in frequency will be increased to operate every Bannockburn. All schedules have been ad- Meier Oaks will now be provided by the Ojai 55 minutes. justed for better connections with Trolley. Route 41: The weekday schedule will be ad- Metrolink trains. -Route 40 has been canceled. justed for better connections with other Route 7: The last weekend northbound trip -Schedule and/or timepoint changes were routes and local schools. will depart the Inland Valley Hospital at 5:33 made to the following routes: 1A/1B, 4B, 5, Route 51: The last trip will be extended to PM to improve connections with Route 23. 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20. the University Village Apartments on Iowa Route 11: Weekday clockwise 4:30 PM and Avenue. Map of DASH Crenshaw Extension 7:30 PM trips will be adjusted to improve Route 53: Service will be discontinued due connections with other RTA routes at the to low ridership. Moreno Valley Mall. Routes 40, 61, and 79: Will have their Route 12: A new weekday eastbound trip at weekday schedules adjusted to improve on- Main & Garner will depart at 2:30 PM, while time performance. the 4:30 PM trip at that time point will be Route 202: The first afternoon northbound discontinued. The last eastbound weekend trip will be adjusted to depart at 5:36 PM for trip will be extended to end at Stephens & better connections from Metrolink trains at Center. the Oceanside Transit Center. Route 16: Will now end at Riverside Down- Route 206: The southbound 5:02 PM trip will town Terminal. Weekday schedule will be be adjusted for faster service and will no adjusted to improve on-time performance, longer operate from Lake Elsinore Outlet and service frequency will be enhanced so LADOT - DASH For more information and details on these Center Park-N-Ride to Murrieta and Temec- th buses will operate approximately every 20 Effective August 14 DASH Wilmington was changes contact LADOT at ladottransit.com ula. A 4:31 PM southbound trip will be minutes. Weekend service frequency will extended to serve the Wilmington Middle or call (213, 310, 323, 818) 808-2273. added for connection with a new Metrolink also be improved so buses will operate School at 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM on Monday train. every 35 minutes. through Friday. Route 210: Sun Line Transit Agency will be- Route 19: The weekday schedule will be ad- th gin a new express service between Palm De- Effective September 17 LADOT will be justed to improve on-time performance, and sert and Riverside using a portion of the ex- making the following changes to the DASH service frequency will be enhanced to oper- isting Route 210. Crenshaw. Buses will now operate every 20 ate approximately every 45 minutes. minutes and will be extended to the Metro Route 22: The weekday northbound 6:45
Expo Line Station at La Brea Avenue. Sev- AM trip from the Perris Station Transit Cen- (Continued on Page 10) eral new stops have been added in both di- ter will be extended to the Riverside Down- rections. Service on Martin Luther King be- (Continued on Page 8) town Terminal.
Page 4 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 9 Transit Updates Continued Transit Topics By Andrew Novak
Metro (Los Angeles) Norwalk Transit This month in Transit Topics we have a few and the extension could be completed by Metro expanded their late night service on Effective September 9th, Norwalk Transit things you might have missed from the 2023. both Metro Rail and select Metro Bus Lines. will be making changes to Route 3. Service world of transit. BNSF Historical Society: I have recently On July 27th, Metro Rail Service now oper- between Alondra and 183rd Street (Cerritos Bye-Bye People Movers: On August 13, come across the BNSF Historical Society. ates until 2:00 AM on Fridays and Satur- Towne Center) will be eliminated. Also ser- 2012 the newly formed WEGO Transporta- BNSF was created in 1995 when the Burling- days. Below are details on the last depar- vice between Bloomfield and the Metrolink tion system began operation at Niagara ton Northern merged with the Santa Fe. Re- tures for each line. Station and Telegraph and Bluejay Lane will Falls, Ontario Canada. WEGO operates buses cently the Society has published their first -Red Line: Last train departs Union Station also be eliminated. Also the segment be- for tourists around the Niagara Falls in Can- newsletter in PDF format. The group is very at 2:12 AM and North Hollywood at 1:56 AM tween Florence Avenue and Telegraph will ada. WEGO is operating low-floor Nova active on Facebook. For more information -Purple Line: Last train departs Union Sta- be realigned on Florence Avenue to Orr & Buses in both 40 and 60 foot versions. The you can email the society at bnsfhistori- tion at 2:02 AM and Wilshire/Western at Day Road and Telegraph Road. Midday ser- new WEGO system replaced the 25 People [email protected] or write to them at: BNSF 2:03 AM vice to the Whittier Depot from Pioneer Mover buses and trailers that were specially Historical Society – Post Office Box 833 – -Gold Line: Last train departs Atlantic at Boulevard will also been restored. Saturday built for the Niagara Parks Commission by Rialto, CA - 92377 1:43 AM and Sierra Madre Villa at 1:39 AM service on Route 3 will also be canceled. YY Orion. The People Mover buses were Orion -Expo Line: Last train departs 7th/Metro at Route 8 will also be canceled. IV models and were nicknamed the “bubble 2:12 AM and Culver City 1:49 AM buses.” The unique buses were built be- -Blue Line: Last train departs Long Beach to tween 1985 and 1989 and provided service Los Angeles at 12:58 AM and last train de- for 25 years. The photo below shows one of parting 7th/Metro at 2:07 AM. Service be- the Orion IVs and is from Wikipedia. tween the Long Beach Transit Mall and Wardlow Station will continue past 12:58 AM with the last train leaving Long Beach at 3:07 AM. -Green Line: Last train departs Redondo Beach at 1:58 AM and Norwalk at 2:09 AM. Omnitrans -Orange Line: Last bus departs North Holly- On August 15th Omnitrans introduced their wood at 2:53 AM and Chatsworth at 1:50 new paint scheme and logo at an early AM. morning event at the Carousel Mall in San th Are you buried in paper? On August 17 Metro expanded the Silver Bernardino. On display was the one of the Line service on Fridays and Saturdays as agency’s new Xcelsior buses from New Flyer, Are you interested in getting your well. The last bus leaves Artesia Transit their new travel training bus, historic bus SO.CA.TA newsletter in PDF? Center at 1:56 AM and El Monte Station at “Old Blue” in the new scheme, and a new Phoenix Light Rail: Recently the Maricopa We are now offering the SO.CA.TA 2:00 AM. image for agency mascot “Buster.” Omni- Association of Governments approved Valley newsletter in PDF format to our mem- trans has also launched a new and improved Metro’s plan for light rail service in the west website at Omnitrans.org. valley of Phoenix. The new light rail exten- bers. The PDF newsletters will be sion will start in downtown Phoenix and available a week before the meeting travel 11 miles west through the State Capi- and will be in full color. If you would tol area and end near 79th Avenue and In- like to get the PDF newsletter instead terstate 10. This new service would operate of the printed version email us at: along the freeway. The project will now en- [email protected] (Continued on Page 9) ter the environmental assessment phase
Page 8 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 5 Public and Legislative Affairs By Dana Gabbard MTS (San Diego) Service Changes
I've learned Matt Raymond, until recently events: http://www.brownbearsw.com/ On September 2nd, The Metropolitan Transit Route 41: On Sundays Route 41A service to chief communications officer at Metro, has freecal/socata System (MTS) in San Diego made the fol- Linda Vista will be replaced by Route 120. set up a consulting firm called Celtis Ven- lowing changes to their system. Route 41 will operate on Highway 163 and To conclude I note much to my relief L.A. tures to share his marketing expertise. The Genesee Avenue every 30 minutes. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has an- Trolley Changes: website for this is http://celtisventures.com/ Route 44: Frequency increase on weekday nounced he will not run for Mayor of Los An- Blue Line: Trains now travel between San afternoons and on Sundays. The latest Personal Rapid Transit zealot geles next year. Whatever his virtues Zev Ysidro and America Plaza. Weekday morning Route 120: Service ends at Broadway in sharing his vision is someone named Nick has always been a tad too calculating, not frequency has been increased. downtown. Sunday service increased north Garzilli running around West Hollywood pro- all that great at consensus building and far Orange Line: Trains now travel between El of Fashion Valley to every 30 minutes. moting something called jpods too risk averse to be effective as Mayor. Ex- Cajon Transit Center and the Santa Fe De- Route 150: Peak hour service added. http://www.jpods.com/ per coverage in the Mayor Richard Riordan is quoted in the Daily pot. Frequency has been increased on Sat- Route 703: Service now every 60 minutes WEHO News ("Mag-lev cars for WeHo?"). No News as being unhappy with the existing urday mornings and on Sundays. Route 705: Saturday now every 30 minutes comment. field of candidates. Frankly they didn't wow Green Line: Trains will now travel south Route 709: All trips will be numbered 709 me either. But by gosh I would oppose any from Old Town and end at the 12th and Im- I am glad to hear that the OC Fair Ex- (no A, B, and C) passengers will need to candidate touted by the clueless/elitist perial Transit Center. Frequency has been press set a new ridership record this year. check headsign for destination. Riordan. And it is pretty late in the game to increased on Saturday mornings and on There were 9,325 boardings the closing Route 712: Saturday frequency increased expect any more candidates to decide to en- Sundays. weekend of the fair bringing the total rider- and Sunday service restored between Palo- ter the race (I think Rick Caruso will also ship on the Express this year to 46,365, a Bus Changes: mar and Sharp Hospital. eventually decide not to run). So however more than 80 percent increase compared to Routes 1, 10, and 13: Trips added on Sun- Route 815: Sunday service increased to 30 mediocre a field one of them is likely to be its 2011 ridership of 25,699. Hooray! day minutes and service extended to 8:00 PM the next Mayor. Maybe they'll grow into the Route 6: Saturday frequency increased to Route 833: On weekdays all trips will serve Obscure entity of the month: city of Los An- job... YY 15 minutes. Santee and service is now every 45 minutes. geles Street and Transportation Projects Route 7: Weekday afternoon tripper service Routes 848, 864, and 874/875: Sunday ser- Oversight Committee. This added for the new school year. vice is now extended to 8:00 PM. was formed in the past year Routes 8 and 9: Service will be reduced to Route 854: Full Route 854X will be restored to tackle project delivery non-summer frequencies. for the fall semester. issues. The members are Route 11: Sunday service will be recon- Route 855: Sunday service increased to the Chief Legislative Ana- nected via 1st Avenue with hourly service. every 45 minutes after 10:00 AM. lyst (representing the City Route 15: On weekdays new trips have been Route 905: Peak hour trips added. New Council), the Mayor and the added in the mornings and afternoon fre- stops added at Caliente Avenue to serve San City Administrative Officer quency has been increased to 12 minutes. Ysidro High School. Route 905A will now op- (Chair). Committee meet- Route 20: On weekdays service has been erate on La Media Road. ings occur once a month. added to Del Lago every 30 minutes. Route 929: Service increased to every 12 Representatives from the Route 27: Special Summer Sunday service Chairs of the City Council minutes on weekday afternoons. YY will operate on September 2-3 and after that Transportation and Public 90-Minute Saturday service will resume. Works Committees have Route 30: Weekend and Holiday service ad- been regular attendees. I'll justments be posting these publicly Route 35: Weekday afternoon frequency will noticed meetings on our be increased. Sunday frequency also in- calendar of transit related creased.
Page 6 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 7 Public and Legislative Affairs By Dana Gabbard MTS (San Diego) Service Changes
I've learned Matt Raymond, until recently events: http://www.brownbearsw.com/ On September 2nd, The Metropolitan Transit Route 41: On Sundays Route 41A service to chief communications officer at Metro, has freecal/socata System (MTS) in San Diego made the fol- Linda Vista will be replaced by Route 120. set up a consulting firm called Celtis Ven- lowing changes to their system. Route 41 will operate on Highway 163 and To conclude I note much to my relief L.A. tures to share his marketing expertise. The Genesee Avenue every 30 minutes. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has an- Trolley Changes: website for this is http://celtisventures.com/ Route 44: Frequency increase on weekday nounced he will not run for Mayor of Los An- Blue Line: Trains now travel between San afternoons and on Sundays. The latest Personal Rapid Transit zealot geles next year. Whatever his virtues Zev Ysidro and America Plaza. Weekday morning Route 120: Service ends at Broadway in sharing his vision is someone named Nick has always been a tad too calculating, not frequency has been increased. downtown. Sunday service increased north Garzilli running around West Hollywood pro- all that great at consensus building and far Orange Line: Trains now travel between El of Fashion Valley to every 30 minutes. moting something called jpods too risk averse to be effective as Mayor. Ex- Cajon Transit Center and the Santa Fe De- Route 150: Peak hour service added. http://www.jpods.com/ per coverage in the Mayor Richard Riordan is quoted in the Daily pot. Frequency has been increased on Sat- Route 703: Service now every 60 minutes WEHO News ("Mag-lev cars for WeHo?"). No News as being unhappy with the existing urday mornings and on Sundays. Route 705: Saturday now every 30 minutes comment. field of candidates. Frankly they didn't wow Green Line: Trains will now travel south Route 709: All trips will be numbered 709 me either. But by gosh I would oppose any from Old Town and end at the 12th and Im- I am glad to hear that the OC Fair Ex- (no A, B, and C) passengers will need to candidate touted by the clueless/elitist perial Transit Center. Frequency has been press set a new ridership record this year. check headsign for destination. Riordan. And it is pretty late in the game to increased on Saturday mornings and on There were 9,325 boardings the closing Route 712: Saturday frequency increased expect any more candidates to decide to en- Sundays. weekend of the fair bringing the total rider- and Sunday service restored between Palo- ter the race (I think Rick Caruso will also ship on the Express this year to 46,365, a Bus Changes: mar and Sharp Hospital. eventually decide not to run). So however more than 80 percent increase compared to Routes 1, 10, and 13: Trips added on Sun- Route 815: Sunday service increased to 30 mediocre a field one of them is likely to be its 2011 ridership of 25,699. Hooray! day minutes and service extended to 8:00 PM the next Mayor. Maybe they'll grow into the Route 6: Saturday frequency increased to Route 833: On weekdays all trips will serve Obscure entity of the month: city of Los An- job... YY 15 minutes. Santee and service is now every 45 minutes. geles Street and Transportation Projects Route 7: Weekday afternoon tripper service Routes 848, 864, and 874/875: Sunday ser- Oversight Committee. This added for the new school year. vice is now extended to 8:00 PM. was formed in the past year Routes 8 and 9: Service will be reduced to Route 854: Full Route 854X will be restored to tackle project delivery non-summer frequencies. for the fall semester. issues. The members are Route 11: Sunday service will be recon- Route 855: Sunday service increased to the Chief Legislative Ana- nected via 1st Avenue with hourly service. every 45 minutes after 10:00 AM. lyst (representing the City Route 15: On weekdays new trips have been Route 905: Peak hour trips added. New Council), the Mayor and the added in the mornings and afternoon fre- stops added at Caliente Avenue to serve San City Administrative Officer quency has been increased to 12 minutes. Ysidro High School. Route 905A will now op- (Chair). Committee meet- Route 20: On weekdays service has been erate on La Media Road. ings occur once a month. added to Del Lago every 30 minutes. Route 929: Service increased to every 12 Representatives from the Route 27: Special Summer Sunday service Chairs of the City Council minutes on weekday afternoons. YY will operate on September 2-3 and after that Transportation and Public 90-Minute Saturday service will resume. Works Committees have Route 30: Weekend and Holiday service ad- been regular attendees. I'll justments be posting these publicly Route 35: Weekday afternoon frequency will noticed meetings on our be increased. Sunday frequency also in- calendar of transit related creased.
Page 6 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 7 Transit Updates Continued Transit Topics By Andrew Novak
Metro (Los Angeles) Norwalk Transit This month in Transit Topics we have a few and the extension could be completed by Metro expanded their late night service on Effective September 9th, Norwalk Transit things you might have missed from the 2023. both Metro Rail and select Metro Bus Lines. will be making changes to Route 3. Service world of transit. BNSF Historical Society: I have recently On July 27th, Metro Rail Service now oper- between Alondra and 183rd Street (Cerritos Bye-Bye People Movers: On August 13, come across the BNSF Historical Society. ates until 2:00 AM on Fridays and Satur- Towne Center) will be eliminated. Also ser- 2012 the newly formed WEGO Transporta- BNSF was created in 1995 when the Burling- days. Below are details on the last depar- vice between Bloomfield and the Metrolink tion system began operation at Niagara ton Northern merged with the Santa Fe. Re- tures for each line. Station and Telegraph and Bluejay Lane will Falls, Ontario Canada. WEGO operates buses cently the Society has published their first -Red Line: Last train departs Union Station also be eliminated. Also the segment be- for tourists around the Niagara Falls in Can- newsletter in PDF format. The group is very at 2:12 AM and North Hollywood at 1:56 AM tween Florence Avenue and Telegraph will ada. WEGO is operating low-floor Nova active on Facebook. For more information -Purple Line: Last train departs Union Sta- be realigned on Florence Avenue to Orr & Buses in both 40 and 60 foot versions. The you can email the society at bnsfhistori- tion at 2:02 AM and Wilshire/Western at Day Road and Telegraph Road. Midday ser- new WEGO system replaced the 25 People [email protected] or write to them at: BNSF 2:03 AM vice to the Whittier Depot from Pioneer Mover buses and trailers that were specially Historical Society – Post Office Box 833 – -Gold Line: Last train departs Atlantic at Boulevard will also been restored. Saturday built for the Niagara Parks Commission by Rialto, CA - 92377 1:43 AM and Sierra Madre Villa at 1:39 AM service on Route 3 will also be canceled. YY Orion. The People Mover buses were Orion -Expo Line: Last train departs 7th/Metro at Route 8 will also be canceled. IV models and were nicknamed the “bubble 2:12 AM and Culver City 1:49 AM buses.” The unique buses were built be- -Blue Line: Last train departs Long Beach to tween 1985 and 1989 and provided service Los Angeles at 12:58 AM and last train de- for 25 years. The photo below shows one of parting 7th/Metro at 2:07 AM. Service be- the Orion IVs and is from Wikipedia. tween the Long Beach Transit Mall and Wardlow Station will continue past 12:58 AM with the last train leaving Long Beach at 3:07 AM. -Green Line: Last train departs Redondo Beach at 1:58 AM and Norwalk at 2:09 AM. Omnitrans -Orange Line: Last bus departs North Holly- On August 15th Omnitrans introduced their wood at 2:53 AM and Chatsworth at 1:50 new paint scheme and logo at an early AM. morning event at the Carousel Mall in San th Are you buried in paper? On August 17 Metro expanded the Silver Bernardino. On display was the one of the Line service on Fridays and Saturdays as agency’s new Xcelsior buses from New Flyer, Are you interested in getting your well. The last bus leaves Artesia Transit their new travel training bus, historic bus SO.CA.TA newsletter in PDF? Center at 1:56 AM and El Monte Station at “Old Blue” in the new scheme, and a new Phoenix Light Rail: Recently the Maricopa We are now offering the SO.CA.TA 2:00 AM. image for agency mascot “Buster.” Omni- Association of Governments approved Valley newsletter in PDF format to our mem- trans has also launched a new and improved Metro’s plan for light rail service in the west website at Omnitrans.org. valley of Phoenix. The new light rail exten- bers. The PDF newsletters will be sion will start in downtown Phoenix and available a week before the meeting travel 11 miles west through the State Capi- and will be in full color. If you would tol area and end near 79th Avenue and In- like to get the PDF newsletter instead terstate 10. This new service would operate of the printed version email us at: along the freeway. The project will now en- [email protected] (Continued on Page 9) ter the environmental assessment phase
Page 8 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 5 Transit Updates Continued Transit Updates Continued
Gold Coast Transit tween Rodeo Road and Coliseum Street and RTA Route 23: The weekday northbound 5:40 PM Effective August 19th the Gold Coast Transit Rodeo up to La Brea has been discontinued. Effective September 9th, the Riverside Tran- trip will be adjusted to improve connections (Oxnard) made several changes to their ser- sit Agency will be making the following with Route 217. vice. Below is a summary of those changes. Map of DASH Wilmington Expansion changes. Route 27: The first weekend southbound trip -Route 10 now travels to Saticoy instead of will be adjusted to improve connections with Route 1: Buses will now operate approxi- Route 11. Route 1. The weekday southbound 2:55 PM mately every 18 minutes instead of every 20 -Route 11 now travels to Market Street and school tripper service will be discontinued minutes on weekdays. On Weekends east- Dolon Street due to low ridership. Schedule will be ad- bound trips ending at Riverside Downtown -Route 16 now ends in downtown Ojai and justed to improve on-time performance, and Terminal will be extended to end at UCR no longer serves Meiner Oaks. Service in frequency will be increased to operate every Bannockburn. All schedules have been ad- Meier Oaks will now be provided by the Ojai 55 minutes. justed for better connections with Trolley. Route 41: The weekday schedule will be ad- Metrolink trains. -Route 40 has been canceled. justed for better connections with other Route 7: The last weekend northbound trip -Schedule and/or timepoint changes were routes and local schools. will depart the Inland Valley Hospital at 5:33 made to the following routes: 1A/1B, 4B, 5, Route 51: The last trip will be extended to PM to improve connections with Route 23. 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20. the University Village Apartments on Iowa Route 11: Weekday clockwise 4:30 PM and Avenue. Map of DASH Crenshaw Extension 7:30 PM trips will be adjusted to improve Route 53: Service will be discontinued due connections with other RTA routes at the to low ridership. Moreno Valley Mall. Routes 40, 61, and 79: Will have their Route 12: A new weekday eastbound trip at weekday schedules adjusted to improve on- Main & Garner will depart at 2:30 PM, while time performance. the 4:30 PM trip at that time point will be Route 202: The first afternoon northbound discontinued. The last eastbound weekend trip will be adjusted to depart at 5:36 PM for trip will be extended to end at Stephens & better connections from Metrolink trains at Center. the Oceanside Transit Center. Route 16: Will now end at Riverside Down- Route 206: The southbound 5:02 PM trip will town Terminal. Weekday schedule will be be adjusted for faster service and will no adjusted to improve on-time performance, longer operate from Lake Elsinore Outlet and service frequency will be enhanced so LADOT - DASH For more information and details on these Center Park-N-Ride to Murrieta and Temec- th buses will operate approximately every 20 Effective August 14 DASH Wilmington was changes contact LADOT at ladottransit.com ula. A 4:31 PM southbound trip will be minutes. Weekend service frequency will extended to serve the Wilmington Middle or call (213, 310, 323, 818) 808-2273. added for connection with a new Metrolink also be improved so buses will operate School at 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM on Monday train. every 35 minutes. through Friday. Route 210: Sun Line Transit Agency will be- Route 19: The weekday schedule will be ad- th gin a new express service between Palm De- Effective September 17 LADOT will be justed to improve on-time performance, and sert and Riverside using a portion of the ex- making the following changes to the DASH service frequency will be enhanced to oper- isting Route 210. Crenshaw. Buses will now operate every 20 ate approximately every 45 minutes. minutes and will be extended to the Metro Route 22: The weekday northbound 6:45
Expo Line Station at La Brea Avenue. Sev- AM trip from the Perris Station Transit Cen- (Continued on Page 10) eral new stops have been added in both di- ter will be extended to the Riverside Down- rections. Service on Martin Luther King be- (Continued on Page 8) town Terminal.
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RTA Continued and then continue on regular route. During Beach Cities Transit -New Rapid Line 20 began operation from The three trips between Banning and River- this time the bus will not be servicing the Effective August 25th, BCT made several downtown Santa Monica to the Metro Expo side currently operated by RTA will now be Barstow City Hall and a temporary stop has changes to their service. Line Station in Culver City. This new non- operated by Sun Line. Those trips are the been placed on Buena Vista Street in front -Line 104 from Redondo Beach Pier to Del stop service operates via Interstate 10 and 5:54 AM westbound trip from Ramsey and of the Barstow Library. Amo Fashion Center was canceled. makes the following stops, Broadway at 6th, Sunset, and the 5:19 PM and 6:35 PM east- -Line 102 now serves the South Bay Galleria 4th Street at Santa Monica Place, and on VVTA will also be holding a public hearing on bound trips departing the Riverside Down- in both directions during non-peak times. Robertson between Washington and Venice. September 17, 2012 at 9:30 AM. This public town Terminal. Also extra weekday buses will be added dur- Fare on this route is only $1. hearing will be an open forum for VVTA cus- ing the school year. On August 27th RTA made the following ad- tomers. The hearing will be at the agency -Line 109 now serves the Douglas Green justment to Route 10. Westbound bus will headquarters at: 17150 Smoketree Street in Line Station in both directions. The East- not travel on Horace Street in Riverside. In- Hesperia. Written comments can also be bound service to Manhattan Village Mall has stead, Route 10 will continue on Arlington sent to: been re-routed from Rosecrans Avenue/ Avenue, turn right on Victoria Avenue and Nancy Strickert Village Drive to Village Drive, Park View continue to regular routing. The current San Bernardino Associated Governments Avenue, and Market Place. westbound stops on Horace Avenue will be TDA Public Hearing Both Lines 102 and 109 also were revised to closed. Eastbound Route 10 will not be af- 1170 West 3rd Street, 2nd Floor improve service. fected and will continue to use Horace San Bernardino, CA 92410-1715 Street. Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica) Sun Line Effective August 26th Big Blue Bus made ser- Effective September 10th, Sun Line will begin vice changes: operation of Commuter Link 220 a new -Route 2 now ends at Pico Boulevard and no route offering peak hour service from Palm longer serves Venice. Flyaway Desert to Riverside. The trips will run to Riv- -Route 5 has been re-routed in downtown Recently the Los Angeles World Airports erside in the morning and to Palm Desert in Santa Monica due to Expo Rail Construction. (LAWA) announced that the Irvine Flyaway would be canceled on or before September the afternoon. Stops in Palm Desert include Route 5 will no longer stop on 4th Street at th Westfield Shopping Center on Town Center Broadway, Wilshire or Santa Monica Boule- 14 . The announcement came after the US Way and Hahn and in Rancho Mirage at vard or on Colorado at 4th Street. Bankruptcy court declared that contractor Home Depot on Monterey near Dinah Shore. Craig Barnes Photo Effective August 27th Big Blue Bus made ser- Coach America could reject its contract with Additional stops on the line include Cabazon, vice changes: LAWA. LAWA is currently seeking private Banning, Beaumont, Moreno Valley, UCR -Rapid 10 the peak hour trips that began at companies interested in operating the Irvine Last Minute Omnitrans and Downtown Riverside with connections to Main and Marine Streets have been can- service. The other Flyaway services have not Effective August 27th OmniGo Route 365 will Metrolink. For exact schedules and fare in- celled. been affected by Coach America bankruptcy provide service to Townsend Jr. High School formation visit: www.sunline.org -Route 11 will have a new schedule. and new contracts for the Union Station and in Chino Hills. A new schedule for this route -Rapid 12 replaced the old Super 12. Sev- Westwood Services have recently been VVTA is now in effect. Route 9 will be on detour in eral stops have been removed for a faster awarded to Bauer’s Intelligent Transporta- From August 27th to October 5th the BV Link Redlands due to construction. Buses will ride and the Culver City Stop has been relo- tion and Corinthian International Parking will be on the following detour due to road travel on Citrus between Wabash and Craf- cated to northbound Robertson between Services respectively. construction. From southeast on 2nd Avenue ton for approximately 6 months. YY Venice and Washington for a better connec- the route will make a left on East Buena tion to the Expo Line. (Continued on Page 4) Vista Street and a right on Barstow Road
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Bulletin Board: Jane Reifer was quoted stating "It boils Our thanks to John Standiford of the River- down to the fact that bus riders need bus side County Transportation Commission for service" in the Orange County Register Au- Former SCRTD th an excellent presentation on the Metrolink gust 10 article "Long Beach seeks to Flxible 7103 in th extension to Perris at our August 11 meet- charge Seal Beach for buses." The article Fremont on Au- th ing. At our September 8 meeting David further notes Transit Advocates of Orange gust 26, 2012. Rutherford of Omnitrans will make a presen- County (which Jane chairs) has been meet- This bus is now tation on the sbX Bus Rapid Transit project ing with Long Beach and Seal Beach bus rid- owned by the under construction in San Bernardino. We ers regarding the current situation. Pacific Bus Mu- will also discuss candidates for the day After seum. Thanksgiving annual transit tour. -Richard Silagi Save the date: our annual holiday banquet Photo will be Saturday December 8th at 5:00 PM at Taix (1911 West Sunset Boulevard).
Via Fred Frailey's Trains Magazine blog we have learned Bill Baird, a BNSF Railway train dispatcher assigned to its San Bernardino office, sends a daily e-mail he calls “The Tortoise Tattler” with rail related history les- Speakers wanted! sons and news links. To be added to the mailing list send a request to FOR TRANSIT INDUSTRY READERS [email protected] OF THIS NEWSLETTER -- We are now
At www.lossan.org/timetable you can see arranging our guest speakers for our Long Beach Transit the just posted LOSSAN Corridor Joint Time- monthly meetings for 2013. We invite
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How to join SO.CA.TA: Yearly dues are $30.00 cates. In all other cases, permission must be ($12.00 low income). Dues are prorated on a secured from the copyright holder. THE TRANSIT ADVOCATE quarterly basis. Disclaimer: The Southern California Transit Submission of materials: ALL materials for the Advocates is not affiliated with any governmental Newsletter of the Southern California Transit Advocates TRANSIT ADVOCATE newsletter go to Andrew agency or transportation provider. Names and September 2012 Vol. 20, No. 09 Novak at P.O. Box 2383, Downey California 90242 logos of agencies appear for information and or to [email protected]. Please enclose a self reference purposes only. addressed stamped envelope for returns. SO.CA.TA officers, 2012 Newsletter deadlines are the Fridays a week President: Nate Zablen before SO.CA.TA meetings, at 6:00 PM Pacific Vice President: Kent Landfield time, unless otherwise announced. Recording Secretary: Edmund Buckley Executive Secretary: Dana Gabbard Opinions: Unless clearly marked as "Editorial" or Treasurer: Dave Snowden "Position Paper", all written material within, Directors at Large: Ken Ruben including all inserted flyers and postcards, are the J.K. Drummond expressed opinions of the authors and not (Vacant) necessarily that of the Southern California Transit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Advocates. Newsletter Editor: Andrew Novak Newsletter Prod. Mgr: Dana Gabbard Copyright: © 2012 Southern California Transit Webmaster: Charles Hobbs
Advocates. Permission is freely granted to repro- th th duce/reprint ORIGINAL articles from the Transit NEXT SO.CA.TA MEETINGS : Sep 8 and Oct 13 at Angelus Plaza, 4th Floor, 255 S. Hill, Los Angeles Advocate, provided credit is given to both the au- thor and the Southern California Transit Advo- September 2012 — Issue 238
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Inside This Issue: Omnitrans New Flyer 1251 in the agencies’ new • Bulletin Board (pg. 2) paint scheme at the rebranding event on August • Members in Action (pg.2) 15, 2012. Omnitrans mascot Buster also sports • Transit Updates (pg. 3) his new image. • Transit Topics (pg. 5) —Photo by Janice Kuhn/Omnitrans • Public/Legislative Affairs (pg. 6) • MTS Service Changes (pg. 7) • Photos of the month (pg. 11) ISSN 1525-2892