The Transit Advocate

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. quarterly basis. Disclaimer: The Southern California Transit THE TRANSIT ADVOCATE Submission of materials: ALL materials for the Advocates is not affiliated with any governmental TRANSIT ADVOCATE newsletter go to Andrew agency or transportation provider. Names and Newsletter of the Southern California Transit Advocates 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. January 2012 Vol. 20, No. 01 ISSN 1525-2892 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 Joe Dunn 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 : Jan 14 and Feb 11 at Angelus Plaza, 4th Floor, 255 S. Hill, Los Angeles Advocate, provided credit is given to both the author and the Southern California Transit Advo- January 2012 — Issue 230

Southern California Transit Advocates 3010 Wilshire #362 Los Angeles, CA 90010 44¢ First 213-388-2364 Class http://www.socata.net Postage [email protected]

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Inside This Issue: Santa Monica New Flyer 4075 wearing a holiday • Bulletin Board (pg. 2) wrap on December 25, 2011. • Members in Action (pg.2) —Russ Jones Photo • Transit Updates (pg. 3) • Transit Topics (pg. 5) • Public/Legislative Affairs (pg. 6) • Photos of the month (pg. 10) Bulletin Board / Members in Action Photos of the Month

Bulletin Board: now Joe Dunn also is regularly attending Former San Our January speaker is Rolando Cruz, Ex- them. Mr. Drummond also had a letter in Diego Transit ecutive Director and Vice-President for Main- the Christmas issue of the Daily Breeze 517 in Niles, tenance and Facilities at Long Beach Transit, "MTA ignoring the South Bay", noting the California op- discussing asset management. The meeting need for ticket machines at the Park and erating on the begins at 1:00 PM with the speaker sched- Ride lot at the end of the Harbor (110) Tran- Niles Coach uled for 2:15 PM. sitway. Lines. The bus was operating Ken Ruben attended the Los Angeles-San December 10th we had our annual holiday on a special Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Board banquet at Taix. Attendees included Chaffee shuttle from meeting on December 14th and its Technical Yiu and his wife, Andrew Novak, Edmund the Niles Can- Advisory Committee meeting December 8th. Buckley, Dave Snowden, Dana Gabbard, yon Railway He also spoke at the Metro Westside/Central Perias Pillay, Mark Strickert & his wife “Train of Service Council meeting on December 14th. Nancy, Juanita Dellomes & two guests, Lights.” This Robert Meinert, Joe Dunn, Eugene Salinsky, Andrew Novak was on the Pacific Railroad bus is owned Charles Powell, Ken Ruben, Kirk Schneider, Society excursion on December 18th to San by the Pacific Pat O'Connor, Hank Fung, Jane Reifer, Nate Luis Obispo. Nick Matonak was also on the Bus Museum Zablen, Adrian Mandese and Josh Thurman. trip and Ken Ruben joined the excursion in The goodies and door prizes were donated -Richard Silagi Van Nuys on the return trip. Photo by Steve Crosmer, Chaffee Yiu, Dana Gab- bard, GET, Culver CityBus, Torrance Transit, Foothill, RTA, Omnitrans, MTD, Gold Line Are you buried in paper?

Authority and Gardena. A big thanks to An- Are you interested in getting your SO.CA.TA drew Novak for handling the trinket receipt newsletter in PDF? and bagging. We are now offering the SO.CA.TA newslet- Dana Gabbard is a regular contributor to ter in PDF format to our members. The PDF Torrance L.A. Streetsblog and links to his posts can newsletters will be available a week before Transit Gillig be found at http://la.streetsblog.org/author/ the meeting and will be in full color. If you 464 decorated dana-gabbard/ would like to get the PDF newsletter instead for the holi- of the printed version email us at: Members in Action: days. [email protected] Alek Friedman was quoted in the Transpor- -Torrance tation for America press release "Public Transit Photo transportation ridership continues to grow; via Facebook agencies continue to raise fares and cut service" and his artwork was the impetus for the L.A. Streetsblog post "Is It Time for Metro Rail to Get a Face Lift?"

For the past few years J.K. Drummond has attended the Metro South Bay Service Coun- cil meetings on a regular basis. We note that

Page 2 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 11 Photos of the Month Transit Updates

Coach America LADOT - DASH On January 3rd one of the nation’s largest Effective January 9th DASH Wilmington be- Once again the New tour and charter bus companies, Coach gan serving the Boys and Girls Club at the York MTA operated America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy corner of Figueroa and Q Streets. This new several of their vintage protection. Coach America has a large pres- service operates Monday through Friday buses during the holi- ence in southern California operating the from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Below is a map of the days on various routes. LAX Flyaway service, several Amtrak Califor- new routing. Here we see Flxible nia contracts, and most recently one of the New Look 7340 on the M42 on December 14, LADOT Commuter Express contracts. Coach 2011. These buses op- America is continuing to operate all services erate between the during the bankruptcy proceedings. For regularly scheduled more information visit: buses. www.coachamerica.com/restructure/ www.bmcgroup.com/coachamerica -Wayne Doran Photo

LADOT - Commuter Express Recently LADOT posted an artist rendition of what the Encino Park-n-Ride lot will look like after the improvements are completed. The agency ensures riders that the new lot will be well worth the wait and inconvenience of the construction. Below is LADOT artist ren- Caltrans/Metrolink dition of the remodeled parking lot. Temple City Recently Caltrans has added Metrolink and Dial-A-Ride ve- Amtrak travel times and departure informa- hicle 0703 in tion from Orange County to Los Angeles. front of the K- There is one freeway message board on Mart in Temple westbound State Route 91 that displays City on January 6, 2012. travel times and departure information for trains from Fullerton. A second message -Andrew Novak sign on northbound Interstate 5 displays in- Photo formation for trains from Anaheim. The train travel times are displayed on weekdays along with the freeway travel times. Cal- trans displays similar train travel times on US 101 in the San Francisco Bay Area for Caltrain peninsula commuter service. (Continued on Page 4)

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Metrolink Riverside Line (Weekdays) RTA continued San Diego Vintage Trolley Effective January 9th Metrolink has made Train 408 will depart Los Angeles 2 minutes Finally RTA anticipates an end to the detour Recently the San Diego Vintage Trolley has several changes to their schedules in con- later. routing on Magnolia Avenue between Central started operating on Tuesdays and Thurs- junction with Amtrak Service changes. Be- and Jurupa Avenues for Routes 1, 13, and days from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Previously Orange County Line (Weekends) low is a summary of the changes Metrolink 15. Rider alerts will be posted on the buses. the special service ran only on Saturday and Train 661 will depart Oceanside earlier. has made. Changes to the weekend trains Sundays. The service continues to operate Train 663 will depart Laguna Niguel earlier. For more information call 951-565-5002 or will occur on January 14th. on weekends from 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM. Train 664 will depart Los Angeles earlier. visit: www.riversidetransit.com Metrolink has modified the San Bernardino For more information visit: Inland Empire/Orange County (Weekends) Santa Clarita Transit line schedules to improve reliability for some www.sdvintagetrolley.com Train 860 will depart Oceanside earlier Effective January 9th Santa Clarita made of the reverse afternoon trains from San Schedule time have been changed for Train several changes to better meet passenger Bernardino. Train 337 will now connect with 859 at San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente demand on their commuter routes. Below is Train 223. and Oceanside. a list of those changes. Orange County Line (Weekdays) For details and more information call Metro- Route 795: The 6:57 PM trip departing Trains 600 and 602 will arrive at Oceanside link at 800-371-LINK or visit Santa Clarita Metrolink station has been later. www.metrolinktrains.com discontinued. Train 609 will arrive in Los Angeles later. Route 795: The 3:43 AM trip departing Lan- Inland Empire/Orange County (Weekdays) caster Metrolink station has been discontin- Trains 808 and 850 will depart Oceanside ued. Thruway Bus Service (Amtrak California) later and Train 850 will have an improved In December 2011 Amtrak California added connection to Coaster service. Route 797: A new trip has been added a new Thruway Bus Route from Fullerton to departing Santa Clarita Metrolink station at San Bernardino Line (Weekdays) Indio. Stops on this new route include Full- 5:45 AM. Trains 319 and 331 will arrive in Los Angeles erton, Riverside (Metrolink), Cabazon later. Route 797: A new trip has been added (Morongo Casino), Palm Springs (Airport), Trains 333, 337, and 387 will now depart departing Century City at 3:45 PM. Palm Desert (Sun Line), La Quinta (Sun San Bernardino at different times. Line), and Indio (Highway 111 and Monroe). For more information call 661-294-1287 Trains 330, 332, and 334 will now depart Bus 4984 departs Fullerton at 6:20 PM and Los Angeles at different times. arrives in Indio at 9:15 PM. Bus 4969 de- Omnitrans Antelope Valley Line (Weekdays) parts Indio at 8:05 AM and arrives at Fuller- Omnitrans has recently installed eight new Trains 282 and 285 will now stop at Sylmar. ton at 11:21 AM. shelters at the interim transit center on 4th Train 222 will depart Lancaster later and ar- Street. These new shelters join trash cans Bus 4968 departs Fullerton at 11:50 AM and rive later in Los Angeles. and restrooms that were opened when the arrives at Palm Springs Airport at 1:50 PM. Train 286 will also arrive in Los Angeles Bus 4985 departs Palm Springs Airport at later. center opened late last year. 3:10 PM and arrives in Fullerton at 5:25 PM. Trains 211 and 215 will arrive in Lancaster Effective January 2nd Omnitrans made sev- A stop will eventually be added in downtown later. eral service changes to their system. Details Trains 217,219 and 223 have had schedule Palm Springs. Like other Thruway services, of those changes are on page 8. passengers must purchase travel on an changes to improve reliability (Continued on Page 8) Amtrak Train. These buses connect with various Pacific Surfliner Trains.

Page 4 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 9 Transit Updates Continued Transit Topics By Andrew Novak

Omnitrans continued Route 7: The last northbound trip on week- This month in Transit Topics we have a few Escalator Transit: In December 2011, the Minor changes were made to the following ends has been adjusted for better connec- things you might have missed from the City of Medellin Colombia opened an escala- routes at Omnitrans: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, tions with the Route 23. world of transit. tor in one of the poorest sections of the city, 14, 15, 19, 20, and 61. Routes 3, 4, and 14 Route 10: The weekday afternoon/evening Comuna 13. The escalator now allows resi- Ferry Boat Kalakala: In December 2011 have been moved from G Street to H Street schedules have been adjusted to meet pas- dents to travel up a 1,260 foot hill replacing the former Washington State Ferry Kalakala in downtown San Bernardino. senger demand. a set of stairs that the residence once use. was sold to an anonymous buyer for $1 with The $6.7 million escalator now shortens the For more information or to get details on the Route 11: The weekday schedule has been plans to restore the streamlined ferry. The 35-minute hike up the hillside to six min- above changes contact Omnitrans at 800- adjusted due to construction on Ironwood Kalakala began life as Key System Ferry utes. The escalator is free to use and is di- 966-6428 or on line at www.omnitrans.org Avenue between Heacock Street and Perris Peralta and operated between Oakland and vided up into six sections. There is a plan to Boulevard. San Francisco. In 1933 an arson fire de- eventually build a covering to protect users stroyed the Peralta and the hull was sold to Route 13: The weekday westbound 6:04 AM in inclement whether. the Puget Sound Navigation Company where trip has been adjusted to improve on-time she was rebuilt as a streamlined vessel performance. Kalakala. She continued to operate in the Route 14: The weekday afternoon/evening Puget Sound until retired by the Washington northbound schedules have been adjusted State Ferry system in 1967. The ship then to improve on-time performance. traveled to Alaska where she became a crab processing vessel. From 1967 to 1982 the Route 18: The weekend schedule has been Kalakala worked in Alaska as a crab proc- adjusted to improve on-time performance. essing vessel and was then abandoned in Route 20: The first westbound weekday trip Alaska. Since 1982 various efforts to save has been adjusted 10 minutes earlier for the ship have failed and this is probably the Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) better connections with other routes. ships last chance. To follow the history of this classic vessel visit: www.kalakala.org On January 8th RTA made several changes Route 29: The first eastbound weekend trip to there system, many of them to improve has been adjusted for better connections (AP News photo) on-time performance. Below is a list of those with other routes. Short Turns: December 16th was officially changes. Route 204: A bus stop has been added at the last day for the New Look buses in To- The following routes had changes made to University and Iowa avenues near the UCR ronto Canada. * The Bay Area Rapid Transit their weekday schedules to improve on-time Extension Center. District ha signed an agreement with Skan- performance: 3, 7, 19, 22, 40, 53, 61, 208, ska Construction to design and build the 10 210, and 212. Routes 208, 210, and 212 have had week- mile extension from Fremont to San Jose. day schedule adjustments to improve con- Work is set to begin in February 2012 and Timepoints have been added at the Banning nections for passengers boarding Metrolink Wal-Mart for southbound Route 31 and East- the extension is scheduled to open in Spring trains. 2016. * Finally the Las Vegas Monorail con- bound Route 35. Route 217: A bus stop has been added at tinues to struggle financially. The bank- RTA also made changes to several other County Center Drive. The Kalakala in Seattle in 2004. ruptcy court judge has not approved the routes. Below are details on those changes. (Seattle PI Photo) agency to exit bankruptcy and the company

Route 1: The Saturday service has been ad- does not have the money to scrap the line. justed to improve on-time performance. (Continued on Page 9) How long it will continue is anyone's guess.

Page 8 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 5 Public and Legislative Affairs By Dana Gabbard Public and Legislative Affairs By Dana Gabbard

I've now read the 60 page Title VI compli- why at the December Metro Board meeting -Used a Metro computer and telephone to buy and sell cars and boats. ance review of Metro by contractor DMP Metro Board member and Los Angeles -Conducted personal business activity during duty hours. Group for the Federal Transit Administration County Supervisor Mike Antonovich made a -Parked cars for sale in the Union Station Gateway Building Parking Garage, where he and have to say with a few exceptions it motion to review the expenditures made by showed the cars to potential customers. mostly comes down to Metro being ordered the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Con- to be more careful in preparing paperwork, struction Authority along with the Exposition I'll conclude this month by noting that at the November 29th meeting of the Santa Barbara undertake outreach etc. to respond to regu- Metro Line Construction and Alameda Corri- Metropolitan Transit District Board Assistant General Manger Jerry Estrada reported that latory mandates. Nothing earth shattering or dor-East Construction authorities. This just MTD driver John “Chino” Vasquez has been chosen by the Santa Barbara Independent as a likely to result in changes to fares or service reminds me again of why I had qualms Local Hero for his barbeque charity work for fundraisers. Good food for good causes hours operated. If the report results when these entities started cropping up. sounds like a winning combination--kudos to Mr. Vasquez! in improvements in the level of information provided for service change hearings that Here are two tidbits gleaned from staff re- would be a positive development. ports presented at the October 19th Metro Board Finance, Budget and Audit Committee In December Silver State Trailways increased service on their Los Angeles/Orange BTW, whatever faults Metro has not taking meeting: County to Las Vegas Service. Along with the expanded service they have lowered Americans with Disability Act complaints se- In re Crenshaw light rail "the project sched- the price to $25 one-way and are no longer offering a round-trip fare. Below is the riously isn't one of them considering (as re- ule at this time includes a forecast for the new schedule and for more information or to make reservation contact Silverstate vealed at the November 9, 2011 Westside/ Revenue Service date of December Trailways at 800-892-7979 or on the web at: www.silverstatetrailways.com Central Service Council meeting by John 2018" (item #20, p.3) : Hillmer in the Director's Report, item #7): "We have one individual who generates "Headway (frequency) improvement on close to 70-100 complaints per year; we Pasadena Gold Line is 70% complete. The take those complaints seriously and have goal is to attain five minute headways ... been out to speak with him and our opera- Staff working with South Pasadena and tors." Pasadena cities to implement the more fre- quent service on the Gold Line by the third A friend informs me the narration on the Las quarter in FY 12" (item #24, table on the Vegas monorail now gives the monorail last page). credit for helping the city "be green" by re- moving vehicle emissions from the Strip. He I bust a gut laughing while reading the was relieved that there was nobody else rid- Metro Inspector General's Annual Activities ing in his monorail cab because he was Report, presented to the October 20th Metro laughing so hard upon hearing this ludicrous Board Executive Management Committee as claim. item #39, upon coming across this priceless bit of investigation: In November CBS channel 2 revealed "Gold Investigation of Alleged Misuse of Metro As- Line construction officials spending money sets for Personal Gain. This investigation on expensive hotels, questionable meals and found that a Metro employee was engaged fancy business-class travel" with Authority in the business of buying and selling used CEO Habib Balian having the most ex- automobiles. Specifically, the employee: treme free spending ways. Now you know

Page 6 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 7 Public and Legislative Affairs By Dana Gabbard Public and Legislative Affairs By Dana Gabbard

Page 6 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 7 Transit Updates Continued Transit Topics By Andrew Novak

Route 1: The Saturday service has been ad- does not have the money to scrap the line. justed to improve on-time performance. (Continued on Page 9) How long it will continue is anyone's guess.

Page 8 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 5 Transit Updates Continued Transit Updates Continued

Page 4 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 9 Photos of the Month Transit Updates

Page 10 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 3 Bulletin Board / Members in Action Photos of the Month

For the past few years J.K. Drummond has attended the Metro South Bay Service Coun- cil meetings on a regular basis. We note that

Page 2 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 11 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. quarterly basis. Disclaimer: The Southern California Transit THE TRANSIT ADVOCATE Submission of materials: ALL materials for the Advocates is not affiliated with any governmental TRANSIT ADVOCATE newsletter go to Andrew agency or transportation provider. Names and Newsletter of the Southern California Transit Advocates 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. January 2012 Vol. 20, No. 01 ISSN 1525-2892 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 Joe Dunn 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

Southern California Transit Advocates 3010 Wilshire #362 Los Angeles, CA 90010 44¢ First 213-388-2364 Class http://www.socata.net Postage [email protected]

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