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. May 2011 Vol. 19, No. 05 ISSN 1525-2892 addressed stamped envelope for returns. SO.CA.TA officers, 2011 Newsletter deadlines are the Fridays a week President: Nate Zablen before SO.CA.TA meetings, at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Vice President: Kent Landfield time, unless otherwise announced. Recording Secretary: Dana Gabbard Executive Secretary: (VACANT) Opinions: Unless clearly marked as "Editorial" or Treasurer: Edmund Buckley "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 Dave Snowden necessarily that of the Southern California Transit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Advocates. Newsletter Editor: Andrew Novak Newsletter Prod. Mgr: Dana Gabbard Copyright: © 2011 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 : May 14 and June 11 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- May 2011 — Issue 222

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: Amtrak P42 156 at 8th Street Yard in Los Angeles on April 3, 2011. This is one of four P42’s that Amtrak has • Bulletin Board (pg. 2) painted in the railroad’s historic paint schemes. Unit • Members in Action (pg.2) 156 represents Amtrak’s first paint scheme. • Transit Updates (pg. 3) — Andrew Novak Photo • Public/Legislative Affairs (pg. 6) • Amtrak at 40! (pg. 8) • Photos of the month (pg. 11) Bulletin Board / Members in Action Photos of the Month

Bulletin Board: booth at National Train Day held May 7th at Gordon Robinson's presentation at our April L.A. Union Station. Among the members Omnitrans 5876 “Old 9th meeting on OCTA's transit system study who attended and/or dropped by to say Blue” at the San was informative and resulted in a spirited hello were Erik Griswold, Craig Weingarten, Bernardino Station on Q&A session. Nick Matonak, Bart Reed, April 17, 2011. The Jerry Martin, Chaffee Yiu, John Ulloth, Ken Stephen Villavaso of the Los Angeles County bus was on display for Ruben, Charles Powell, Dave Snowden, Alek Bicycle Coalition will be the speaker at the San Bernardino Friedman, Dominick Falzone, Perias Pillay, our June 11th meeting. Railroad Days. Joe Dunn and Andrew Novak. If your workplace could benefit from partici- Ruben, Griswold and Novak attended San Old Blue is the pating in Metro's employee pass program Bernardino Railroad Days, held April 16-17. agency’s historic bus contact Stephanie Henderson at and was originally 213-922-6031. Ruben attended the Metro Westside/Central from Metropolitan Governance Council and the San Gabriel Save the date: Saturday June 11th the city Coach Lines in Valley Governance Council meetings, Los Angeles. of Torrance will be holding its annual City held respectively on April 13th and 11th. (Andrew Novak Yard Open House at 20500 Madrona Avenue Photo) from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Among those participating in the Pacific Railroad Society April 2-3 excursion between As of June 30, 2011 1-800-COMMUTE, the L.A. and Bakersfield were Andrew Novak regional transit information number will be (who was the assistant excursion director), discontinued. Replacements include 323-GO Ken Ruben, John Andoh, Hank Fung, and -METRO and 511. Russ Jones.

Members in Action: Joe Dunn attended the April Green Line The April/May issue of Metrolink Matters in- extension community meeting in Torrance. cludes comments Charles Hobbs first posted on Metrolink's Facebook page.

Tom Rubin's article "Los Angeles: The MTA's San Diego MTS NABI Bus Stop Strategy", analyzing Metro's ra- Are you buried in paper? 1011 at the end of tionale for its June service cuts, appeared on Are you interested in getting your SO.CA.TA Line 7 in La Mesa on Newgeography.com. newsletter in PDF? April 26, 2011.

Addenda to last month's column: co-founder (Andrew Novak Photo) Steve Crosmer was among those attending We are now offering the SO.CA.TA newslet- the "Steel Wheels in California" RailPAC/ ter in PDF format to our members. The PDF NARP meeting on March 19th, held in the newsletters will be available a week before Metro Board Room. the meeting and will be in full color. If you would like to get the PDF newsletter instead Andrew Novak had a photo in the March of the printed version email us at: 2011 issue of Western Transit. [email protected] Dana Gabbard and Joe Dunn staffed our

Page 2 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 11 Amtrak at 40 Continued Transit Updates

By April 1971 train-off notices began to ap- Norwalk Transit San Bernardino Line (Monday - Friday) pear across the county as the May 1st dead Norwalk Transit has postponed the proposed -New express trains 383 and 384 have been line approached. Many cities and towns changes that were reported on in last added to the schedule. would lose passenger service forever as the months newsletter. We will report on the -Trains 382, 386, 385, and 387 to San Ber- new era arrived in the United States. On changes if and when they occur. nardino have been added to the schedule. April 19th, the Railpax name was dropped in -Changes have also been made to Trains favor of Amtrak, short for American Travel Metrolink Angels Express Trains 300, 301, 305, 309, 312, 320, 322, 324, by Track. Along with the new name a red, Starting April 26th passengers can purchase 326, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, the special Angel Express Train tickets at white, and blue paint scheme was unveiled 335, 336, and 337. along with the classic pointless arrow logo. Orange County Ralphs Supermarkets. Riverside Line (Monday - Friday) It was now only a matter of time before Am- In mid-May Metrolink will begin offering a $4 -Train 408 has undergone a schedule trak would be starting a new era in the youth ticket (ages 6-18) for the special change. United States. Angels Express Trains. Since the service began on April 8th Metrolink reports close to Orange County Line (Monday - Friday) On May 1, 2011, Amtrak celebrated 40 years 1,000 passengers have used the special -Train 681 now departs earlier to connect of being America’s RailroadSM. Not a bad re- Service offered for 7:05 PM home games. with Train 901 and Train 687 has also un- cord for an experiment that was only sup- dergone a schedule change. posed to last two years. While it has not Additional Metrolink changes been easy going for all 40 of those years, Effective May 9th Metrolink will make Inland Empire/Orange County Line Amtrak continues to show that Americans several changes to their service aside from (Weekends) still have an interest and a need for passen- the two new express trains reported on in -Seasonal Train 857 and 858 will begin ger rail travel. To celebrate the 40th Anniver- last months issue. operation on July 2, 2011 and continue sary, Amtrak has painted four of their Gen- through October 9, 2011. eral Electric P42 locomotives in the various Ventura County Line (Monday - Friday) paint schemes used by Amtrak since day 1. -The Montalvo Station will be renamed East NCTD They have also assembled a special museum Ventura. On April 22nd, NCTD eliminated seven stops train that will spend the next year touring -Trains 150 and 155 have been added to the on Line 350 as part of the new Breeze Rapid the United States showing the history of schedule. a six-mile route from the Escondido Transit Amtrak. For more information of the 40th -Trains 901 and 900 have been extended to Center to Westfield North County. Anniversary, visit Amtrak’s 40th website at: the Burbank Airport. -Changes have also been made to Train The eliminated stops are: http://amtrak40th.com/ 908. -Escondido Boulevard at 4th Avenue, northbound and southbound stops. On the right is a sample of Amtrak trains Antelope Valley Line (Monday - Friday) through the years, from top to bottom: Amtrak -New express trains 282 and 285 have been -Escondido Boulevard at 11th Avenue, E-Unit 417 on the point of the “San Joaquin” northbound and southbound stops. in Merced in March 1976. (Jim Walker Photo) added to the schedule. -Escondido Boulevard northbound Amtrak F40PH 229 on the point of a “San Die- -Trains 281, 283, 284, and 286 to Santa stop, south of Felicita Avenue. gan” in San Diego in the early 1980s. (Jim Clarita have been added to the schedule. Walker Photo) Amtrak P42 117 leads the -Changes have also been made to Trains -Bear Valley Parkway at San Pasqual Road, “Coast Starlight” through Black Butte, 202,215, 217, 220, 222, and 223. northbound and southbound stops. California on September 6, 2004. (Andrew Novak Photo) (Continued on Page 4)

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Culver CityBus Monrovia Trolley NRPC was designed to be a quasi-public 1983. The Rio Grande Zephyr became the Starting on May 9th and continuing to Effective May 27th, Monrovia Transit will can- agency that is not directly run by the gov- last privately-operated passenger train in November 2011, Sepulveda Boulevard will cel their free Old Town Trolley which had ernment, but does receive public funding. the United States. The Georgia Railroad was undergo a widening project from Jefferson been in operation since 2002. The eight stop Initially the hope was that the NRPC could required by state charter to operate some and Playa to Green Valley Circle. During this free service had operated from Old Town to become self supporting. With the operating 200 miles of passenger service in their time Culver CityBus is anticipating delays on the YMCA via East Huntington Drive on name Railpax, NRPC, along with DOT, the namesake state. This service was in the Line 6 in this corridor. The agency is advis- weekdays from 11 AM to 6 PM. The city of Interstate Commerce Commission, various form of mixed train service, and the Georgia ing passengers to plan for delays, detours Monrovia plans to re-direct the funds to a railroads, labor unions, politicians and Mixed operated until the railroad was and possible stop closures. new public transit program that will comple- advocacy groups began planning the routes absorbed by the Seaboard System in 1983. ment the new Gold Line which is scheduled for the new company. The following Culver CityBus stops have al- to open in Monrovia in 2014. The freight railroads were then given a ready been affected by this project: -Line 2: Jefferson/Inglewood Eastbound and choice to join the newly formed NRPC. If an Jefferson/Mesmer Eastbound eligible railroad chose not to join NRPC, they -Line 3: Green Valley Circle/Sepulveda/Blvd. would have to continue to operate passen- (Northbound & Southbound) ger service for five years. At that time they -Line 6: Southbound at Sepulveda/Slauson could either petition for abandonment of & Northbound at Sepulveda/Playa service or join NRPC. Railroads that did opt to join NRPC had to pay a fee to NRPC. The Now through June 2011 construction around fee was calculated as fifty percent of the Wilshire Boulevard after approximately 7:45 railroad’s losses from operating passenger PM on weeknights with effect Line 6. Bus will Omnitrans service in their last full year of service, nd detour around the construction zone and the On May 2 , Omnitrans made several 1970. Railroads could pay this fee in cash or following stops by be bypassed: changes to their system. Below is a sum- passenger equipment. They could also pur- Above: Santa Fe PA #76 leads a “San mary of those changes. chase common stock in the new company. Northbound Diegan” over Miramar Hill as it approaches San Diego in The following routes had minor schedule The deadline to join NRPC was May 1, 1971. the early 1960s(Andrew Novak Collection) Sepulveda/Santa Monica Sepulveda/Ohio Avenue adjustments: 5, 8, 10 (weekdays), 15, 19, Several railroads chose not to join NRPC Below: The last eastbound “City of Los Angeles” stops at the Sepulveda/Westwood Rec Complex 66, 83, and OmniGo 325. including the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Union Pacific Station in East Los Angeles on April 30, 1971. (Jay Roberts Photo) Southbound The agency has made a variety of other (Rock Island), The Southern Railroad, The Wilshire Boulevard/Veteran Avenue changes listed below: Denver and Rio Grande Western (Rio Sepulveda/Salvation Army -Route 1: On weekends, minor schedule Grande), and The Georgia Railroad. The Sepulveda/Ohio Avenue changes were made at the Mount Vernon/ Rock Island did not have the funds needed College and E/Court Street timepoints. to join NRPC and continued to operate ser- For more information and updated service -Route 3: Minor schedule changes were vice until 1978. The Southern Railroad was alerts, please visit www.culvercitybus.com made to afternoon/evening trips at the E/ not pleased with the fact that the new net- or call the Culver CityBus Service Alert Court Street timepoint. work was only interested in their train the Hotline at: 310-253-6589 -Route 4: Minor schedule changes were “Southern Crescent” and continued to oper- made to afternoon/evening trips at the E/ ate all their trains until 1979. Rio Grande was originally set to join NRPC, but at the Court Street, 17th/Medical Center Drive and Highland/Waterman timepoints. last minute decided not to join and continued operation the “Rio Grande Zephyr” until (Continued on Page 5)

Page 4 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 9 Amtrak at 40 - By Andrew Novak Transit Updates Continued

On May 1, 1971 at 12:05 AM, Amtrak Train Company ended Pullman Car (sleeping car) Omnitrans continued -Route 27: Schedule adjusted for detour at 235, the “Clocker” departed Penn Station in service in the United States. Railroads were -Routes 65 and 80: All Days: Run times 4th St. in Perris New York City bound for Philadelphia, now tasked to staff Pullman cars on their have been adjusted to allow easier transfer -Route 32: The timepoint at Acacia & Palm Pennsylvania ushering in a new era in rail trains. It was at this time that many rail- timing between both routes. has been moved to San Jacinto & Mayberry. passenger travel in the United States. This roads ended sleeping car service. It seemed -Route 66: The long-term detour on Foothill -Route 33: Now serves the Social Security was the first train operated by the newly like the end was near for rail passenger ] between Citrus and Cherry has been lifted. Office at Devonshire and Sanderson formed National Railroad Passenger Corpo- service in the United States. Avenues. Riverside Transit Agency ration (NRPC) doing business as Amtrak. th -Route 35: Improved connections at Moreno In May of 1967 the National Association of On May 8 , RTA made several changes to Valley Mall Prior to the formation of the government Railroad Passengers (NARP) was formed by their system. Below is a summary of those -Route 41: Improved connections at Moreno sponsored Amtrak service, the freight rail- attorney Anthony Haswell. NARP advocated changes. Valley College. roads in the United States operated their that the Federal Government should step in -Route 55: No service from June 13, 2011 own passenger trains across the country. and save rail passenger service in the United The following routes had schedule adjust- through August 5, 2011. During the first half of the 20th Century rail States. This position was not favored by ei- ments to improve on-time performance: -Route 79: Route has been extended to travel was the preferred form of intercity ther Democrats or Republicans in Washing- 10, 14, 21, 31, 32, 35, and 202. Old Town Temecula via Jefferson and will no transportation in the United States. After ton at the time. In 1969 the American Asso- The agency has made a variety of other longer serves Diaz and Ynez. World War II rail travel fell out of favor with ciation of Railroads (AAR) approved the con- changes listed below: -Route 202: Additional summer service will the public as commercial airline traffic grew cept of a government subsidized railroad -Route 11: Route changed to travel on be added from June 20, 2011 through and personal automobiles became more passenger service utilizing a fleet of govern- Frederick instead of Goldencrest and September 4, 2011. popular especially after the development of ment-owned railroad equipment. Later that Elsworth between Alessandro and Cactus. -Routes 204, 208, 210 and 212: Now stop the Interstate Highway System. In the mid- year senators signed a resolution aimed at -Route 13: On weekends alternate service to at University Avenue and Lemon Street in 1950’s railroads began canceling many pas- saving rail passenger service. In 1970 the Hulen & Massachusetts was added. downtown Riverside. senger trains and the ones that did remain United States Department of Transportation -Route 14: Improved connections at -Route 216: Improve connections at the suffered due to deferred maintenance of (DOT) announced the creation of Railpax, a Michigan and Center. Village of Orange. equipment and facilities. The situation had quasi-public corporation designed to save -Route 16: Improved connections to Route 1 -Route 217: Improve connections with San become so bad that in 1959 Trains Magazine intercity rail passenger service. May 1, 1970 in the evenings. Diego MTS commuter services. Editor David P. Morgan wrote an article the Railpax bill was introduced, and after -Route 20: The timepoint at Moreno Valley entitled “Who shot the passenger train?” passing The House and Senate, President Community Hospital was changed to Kaiser Nixon, reluctantly, signed the Railroad Pas- The 1960s did not make the situation any Permanente Hospital. The timepoint at senger Service Act into law on October 30, better and two significant events in the Alessandro Boulevard and Elsworth Street 1970 creating the National Railroad Passen- latter part of the decade paved the way for was changed to Alessandro Boulevard and ger Corporation (NRPC). President Nixon, the creation of Amtrak. In September of Frederick Street. along with many others, felt that the new 1967 the United States Post Office Depart- -Route 21: The alternate routing to Jurupa NRPC would not last longer than two years ment cancelled most of the mail contracts Valley High School was discontinued due to and that this “experiment” would be the last they had with the railroads and switched to low ridership. hurrah for rail passenger service in the trucks and planes for transportation of mail. -Route 22: The 2:55 p.m. weekday United States. These mail contracts had kept many of the southbound trip was adjusted to begin at remaining passenger trains profitable for the 2:44 p.m. at Trautwein & Van Buren. railroad and now without them the trains -Routes 23, 24 and 79: Their schedules (Continued on Page 9) were losing money. The final blow came on were adjusted to enhance connections at

December 31, 1968 when the Pullman County Center Drive.

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The San Bernardino Associated Govern- Authority board. In comments to the San I'll conclude with three examples of industry interact with Ms. Negriff who is a class act ments (SANBAG) has been pursuing a rail Mateo County Daily Journal he explained his professionals in transition: and has done some great things at Santa project linking San Bernardino and Redlands action by noting being on the Board "isn’t Monica. My best wishes to both whatever David Armijo, who formerly was the man- since the 1990s. This would use right of way fun like it used to be.” But Kopp promises to ager of Metro's San Fernando Valley Sector their futures hold. the agency purchased as part of the giant continue being a vocal advocate for the and then Westside/Central before moving on 1993 deal by which the region acquired the project. heading the toll agency in Orange County corridors that Metrolink and several Metro In other news from up north, Governor and most recently hired as the head of Hills- Rail lines utilize. SANBAG hoped it could Brown has appointed longtime Alliance for borough Area Regional Transit Authority draw on federal small starts funding but the Jobs head Jim Earp and Silicon Valley (HART) in Tampa Florida, has been fired by cost effectiveness numbers generated by the Leadership Group president Carl Guardino to the HART Board. As far as I can glean Ar- analysis of consultants didn't remotely allow the California Transportation Commission. mijo was the victim of a culture clash plus the proposal to be eligible (Item #17, April Both are heavy-hitter insiders which I guess the tensions of when an outsider is brought 6th Agenda for the SANBAG Board). signifies Brown doesn't see the Commission in to reform an ailing agency. Armijo is for This should have been a red flag warning as a backwater. now going the consultant route. My dealings the project probably should be shelved until with him back when make me suspect he Access Services has received news of such time as ridership patterns develop to got a raw deal and that hopefully he eventu- the first felony conviction of a person make it worth pursuing. Instead SANBAG is ally will get a chance to again assume a impersonating an ADA-eligible paratransit taking what it calls a "phased" approach: leadership position in the industry. rider and there are four more such cases commuter rail service with 30 minute head- pending (per the minutes of the March 8th Stephanie Negriff, Director of Santa Monica ways during peak periods, hourly in off- Access Community Advisory Committee Big Blue Bus, has announced plans to retire peak. Basically they are trying to do it on meeting). Way to go, Access! in October. Likewise Deborah Moraza the the cheap, which will entail sticking a giant Transportation Services Division Manager for straw into existing funding sources at their I somehow have managed to have my the city of El Monte is retiring in June. I only disposal and likely rob a lot of other projects e-mail address acquired by a gentleman who know Moraza by reputation, but have over of promised funding. I fear SANBAG has rib- sends ranting messages to Metro on various the years I have had many opportunities to bon cutting fixation--this project is their complaints he has that are sent to a mind- Stephanie Negriff Photo by Dennis Finn/filmeye.com baby and they are determined to go for- numbing long list of Metro employees, few ward, and to hell with the likelihood it will of whom have jurisdiction to deal with cus- produce only so-so ridership. tomer complaints. To his credit CEO Art Leahy responded to this latest ranting with a AVTA's Board has decided Interim Executive dignified apology: "Thanks for your email. I Director Julie Austin is the perfect choice to apologize your the inconvenience we caused have the job permanently with a base pay of you. There is no excuse to be offered for $165,000 (agenda item NB 14, April 29th such poor service. I very much would like to Special AVTA Board meeting). Given the tur- know more about the problems you faced moil that roiled the agency of late and a and what we can do to improve our service. seemingly fractious Board I think she'll be We will contact you to get the details and earning her pay helping the agency recover. your ideas. Again, I apologize." Classy! Not In a bit of a surprise Quentin Kopp, one of that I expect Mr. Diatribe to get a clue that the key figures in launching California bullet his rambling messages make most of us train effort, has left the High Speed Rail want to hit delete the moment we see them.

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Page 6 The TRANSIT Advocate www.socata.net Page 7 Amtrak at 40 - By Andrew Novak Transit Updates Continued

December 31, 1968 when the Pullman County Center Drive.

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

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. May 2011 Vol. 19, No. 05 ISSN 1525-2892 addressed stamped envelope for returns. SO.CA.TA officers, 2011 Newsletter deadlines are the Fridays a week President: Nate Zablen before SO.CA.TA meetings, at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Vice President: Kent Landfield time, unless otherwise announced. Recording Secretary: Dana Gabbard Executive Secretary: (VACANT) Opinions: Unless clearly marked as "Editorial" or Treasurer: Edmund Buckley "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 Dave Snowden necessarily that of the Southern California Transit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Advocates. Newsletter Editor: Andrew Novak Newsletter Prod. Mgr: Dana Gabbard Copyright: © 2011 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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