Unfortunately, many of these screens have been added in less-than-useful places or show less-than-useful information.

Take, for example, these two screens that show you departure times on your way out of the station (presumably, after you’ve gotten off of the train), rather than on your way in.

On the left is the view as you exit the station toward Figueroa. There are two screens showing you train departure times. Meanwhile, those entering the station (view on the right) see a blank space with no information.

Every day, when I get off the Expo Line and prepare to transfer to the Red Line, I (and a mad rush of commuters) practically run over to the stairs to peer down at the lower level in hopes that my train is not already sitting there, ready to close its doors as I’m stuck in a crowd trying to make my way downstairs. Every day, hanging from the ceiling just above me are two screens, both of which show departure times for Expo Line, which I just got off.

I’ve always thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be nice if that screen showed the Red Line times instead?” Then, I could simply look up and know that my train wouldn’t be leaving for another 4 minutes and I’d have no reason to rush, letting those who did need to hurry tap their cards and get down the stairs before me. I started looking around the station and I realized there are a ton of screens, but they often show riders info for the lines they just got off, rather than the lines they might be going to.

So I decided to map out the screens and try to determine a more useful way to display the same information, just by changing what is on each screen.

Below is a map of the upper level of the station. It shows all of the screens, and the lines which they display times for. I simply used red and blue, but all of the ones in red show times for the Red/Purple Lines and all of the ones in blue show times for the Blue/Expo Lines.

This is the current screen layout at 7th Street / Metro Center. (Click to see larger)

My example of transferring from the Expo Line to the Red Line takes place on the right half of this map. When I exit from the tracks on the right, I look up and see a bank of two screens on each side of the stairs with departure info for the Blue and Expo Lines. This platform is ONLY used for Blue and Expo Line arrivals, so nobody would typically be standing on this platform, facing the station exit, and hoping to get ON one of those trains. They would, however, very often be getting OFF a Blue or Expo Line train and either exiting the station or looking to transfer to the Red or Purple Line. Why shouldn’t these banks of screens show the Red/Purple Line departure info instead? Of course, there are two banks of two screens each, so you could theoretically have one screen showing Red/Purple and one screen showing Blue/Expo just to cover all your bases.

I created the map below based on pedestrian flow, with the screens displaying the info that would be most valuable to riders moving throughout the station at each location.

This is how I would display departure info on the screens throughout the station. (Click to view larger)

Of course, I really think many of these screens were installed in places that don’t make sense. If I were to start from scratch, I would completely move a good number of them , but decided to do this simply by changing the information displayed on all but a select few near the entrances.

For some reason, near the entrances screens face inward towards the station. I would flip them to face the entrances, so that riders can see the information as they’re coming in. (I did add a second screen near the Hope St. entrance, because there is currently only one there).

Near the ticket vending machines, I’d want to see one screen showing Red/Purple info, and one showing Blue/Expo.

Inside the fare gates, I left the single screens showing Red/Purple info. Ideally, I’d add a second screen here for Blue/Expo info, but at this point, a single screen should show Red/Purple for riders who are going to head straight down the stairs. The back sides of these screens, however, should definitely show Blue/Expo info. They are the first screens in the point of view of riders coming up the stairs from the lower level. There’s a good chance these riders are transferring to a Blue/Expo train, or simply exiting the station.

As you climb the stairs from the Red or Purple Line, in order to transfer to Blue or Expo, the first screen you see shows you times for the train you just got off of rather than the one you’re going to.

Beyond these, closer to the tracks on the upper level, are double banks of screens. I’ve designated one for Red/Purple and one for Blue/Expo. I reality, I think only a single fixture is needed here, with one side showing Blue/Expo info (for riders approaching the platform) and the other side showing Red/Purple (for riders exiting the Blue/Expo trains, facing away from the tracks).

Finally, there are a couple screens mounted directly above the Blue/Expo line departure platform that I’ve never seen turned on… but that should show the Blue/Expo info when they are activated. Ideally I would have turned these screens so they are perpendicular to the tracks and can be seen by riders already waiting on the platform.

These simple changes could make things a lot easier for riders making transfers, and even help clear up traffic jams with pedestrians inside the stations.

Some good news regarding screens… There’s apparently a new design being tested (thanks to Subway Joyride) that will make them easier to read from a distance. Not sure that I love it, but it is better than the current design with very small text.

The bus only lane doesn’t start until you get to Figueroa and Sunset. It was Sunday and there wasn’t much traffic, but last season I did spend a good portion of my trip in traffic on Cesar Chavez between Alameda and Sunset. One game in particular, it took us 35 minutes to get to Figuaroa (at which point we got off the bus and walked). It would be a HUGE improvement if the bus lane could start at Alameda.

Map of the Dodger Stadium Express route. I highlighted the portion with a bus-only lane in yellow.

In practice, the bus lane worked just as well as in theory. We zipped right on by the rest of the cars trying to get into the stadium, and as we turned right onto Elysian Park Ave., I was actually surprised to see that the lane continued all the way up the hill. There are a ton of cones put out and cops monitoring every so often, so the lane was definitely well-respected by other drivers.

We made it up the hill and into the gates of the Dodger Stadium parking lot… and then we sat. From the time we left Union Station, it had only been 10 minutes to this point. We spent the next 6 minutes in parking lot traffic trying to make our way around the stadium to the drop off point by center field.

At the end of the day, I think it’s time for the Dodgers to step up and contribute. As far as I know, they’re not providing any money for the service (thanks to a grant from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Committee). Metro is running the busses and the LA City Department of Transportation is operating the bus only lanes to the stadium. Once you’re in the stadium’s parking lot, I think the Dodgers could seriously step up their game and allow the busses a quick route to the drop off point. Almost 40% of the total trip time should NOT be within the parking lot. That being said, even a 16 minute trip is awesome.

On the way back to Union Station there is no dedicated bus lane… which is understandable. After the high of the game, fans are more willing to sit through traffic to get out than they are when trying to get into the stadium. If everyone involved wanted to go the extra mile, however, this would make a major difference.

Without a doubt, the addition of a dedicated bus lane to the Dodger Stadium Express has made the service many times better and will certainly be the only way I get to Dodgers games in the future. I have no doubt that ridership will soar this season, as it already has in the first homestand. Thanks to Metro, LADOT, and the MSRC for providing this great service… and to the Dodgers, now it’s your turn to step up and continue to help it improve.

I spent a week in Washington, D.C. back in December, working on the National Christmas Tree Lighting. It was the first show I’ve ever worked where the production office had a metro map in it so that staff knew how to get around. I had some time to do exploring on my own in the evening or during breaks, so here’s what I thought…

Airport

The arrivals level of Dulles Airport is one the best I’ve ever seen. Architecture firm Gensler has promoted the idea of arrivals being on the top level (at most airports, arrivals are below departures) so that you welcome visitors to your city with wider views and a typically nicer atmosphere compared to the loud and cramped pickup areas, under an overhang, you get at most airports. For backend airport operations it’s typically easier to have arrivals on the lower level, but Dulles Airport accomplishes the open, clean, welcome feeling of an upper level, while still actually being on the lower level.

This is the view upon exiting the arrivals area at Dulles Airport. Nice, wide, and open (not underneath an upper level).

When I first exited the airport, I was amazed and thought I was on top. I could see for miles, above the central parking garages and in the open air. It wasn’t until I followed the entrance road around with my eyes that I realized the departures level actually was above me… but it was also BEHIND me.

The departures level is located above and BEHIND the arrivals level.

I think this is a genius way of designing an airport. Arriving guests are not thrown into the “basement,” but exit to an open view, as they actually walk under the departures drop-off while still inside. Of course, this requires an airport with some space (something that LAX does not have much of), but if designing a new one or seriously renovating an airport, it makes for a much better passenger experience.

Airport Transit

They’re building a rail extension to the airport, but for now it’s a bus similar to LA’s FlyAway. Except, the bus doesn’t actually take you into the city… it connects you to the closest Metro stop. It’d be like taking a FlyAway to the Expo Line, and then having to transfer to head into Downtown. The whole process takes longer and the bus itself (not counting the Metro fare) is more expensive than FlyAway, which is seriously LA’s biggest secret.

Ticket Vending Machines

This TVM is not the epitome of clear or easy to use, even with the big numbered steps.

People give LA Metro’s TVMs a lot of crap. Compared to the TVMs in many other cities, though, they’re not the worst. In Washington, there are so many labels and words all over the TVMs that it’s hard just to figure out how to start. Their attempt to be helpful makes things more confusing. Fares are distance based, but I was looking for a pass. There were two types of passes, one for trips under a certain dollar value, and one for all trips. I would have had to estimate the cost of every trip I might take, before deciding on which pass to buy. As a visitor who is not completely familiar with the fare system, I didn’t automatically know that all of my trips would be under a certain dollar value. I hoped they would and bought the cheaper pass, and it worked, but I did so with blind faith.

Arrivals Info

The screens in Metro stations show real time arrivals info, rather than scheduled times like they do in LA. This is so much better, because it shows you exactly how long you have to wait for your train. Even if the trains were always on perfect schedule in LA, you still have to do the math to figure out how long it will be. Also, note in the picture the 2 minute frequencies during rush hour. Epic. Though they do drop off considerably (to 20 minutes or so) late night (also, the trains are VERY empty late at night, much more so than in LA).

Real-time arrivals info based on minutes until arrival (rather than time on a clock).

Signage and Maps

These signs show all of the future stops in the direction of the platform you’re standing on. Don’t see your stop? Then you’re on the wrong platform.

On the platforms, WMATA has great signage for each line… there are pillars on every platform showing you all of the stops down the line. But there are no system maps showing you how that line fits in and connects to the others. For a system map, you typically have to go back outside the fare gates.

Inside the cars, it’s the opposite. There are system maps, but no line maps (LA’s line maps have been rated very well).

Metro Center

Like LA, Washington has a station called Metro Center. Also like LA, it is a station where two lines, on two levels, cross perpendicularly. It’s in the center of the city and is a major transfer point as well as a major destination station. Unlike LA, however, there is a Metro Customer Service Center at the “Metro Center” stop.

Especially as the 7th Street / Metro Center station becomes busier (now with the Expo Line and soon with the Regional Connector), I think it makes a ton of sense for Metro to add a customer service center to the mezzanine of the station (probably on the Hope St. side). There’s plenty of space, and customers could get help with TAP, system information, and other help from a real person.

Customer service booths at the Metro Center station in Washington, D.C.

Bike Infrastructure

There’s some great bike infrastructure in Washington, D.C. They have a variety of cycle tracks (on the side of the road, and in the center at some points). On a smaller level, there are bike racks almost EVERYWHERE. Around DuPont Circle, on the walk from the Metro station to my hotel I passed tons of them, and many of the Metro stations have ample bike parking very close to them as well.

Washington, D.C. has implemented a number of different types of buffered, protected, and colored bike lanes and “cycle tracks.”

These bike racks were all found within a couple short blocks.

Parks

Washington, D.C. was master planned as the nation’s capitol and tons of parks were included. LA is trying to add some parks now, but the parks have a very different feel to them. Visit a park in many of the “older” cities and you’ll find grass, trees, and maybe a path or bench at most. Visit a park in LA and you’ll typically find concrete, planters, dirt, paths, and benches. Grand Park has a section at the bottom that is mostly grass, but there’s some strange cement strips through it for apparently no reason. Look at the National Mall, or President’s Park, or many of the others… they are basically grass, with a path on each side and that’s it. People walk and run, play football or frisbee, and take their dogs along in these parks. With every new park we put in LA, it seems there’s a tendency to over design it. Expensive architects are hired, and we end up with a park that looks great, but is really less versatile and usable. All we need is some flat, mowed grass.

—–

I really enjoy Washington, D.C. You certainly feel a sense of history and the monuments are great. The city is built well, has a peaceful feeling to it even though it’s very busy, and has a bunch of great cultural and entertainment options. It does seem that Washington, D.C. remains a commuter city to a large extent, however, as the activity dies down fairly quickly at night in most areas. There is, without a doubt, a grandness that you don’t get elsewhere, and Washington, D.C. is a wonderful place to visit and explore thanks to the ease of getting around by foot, bike, bus, or train.

I thought it was about time to review the park again with some of my new thoughts now that it’s completely open.

First of all, I love Grand Park. I think it’s a great civic space, as well as a wonderful amenity for those (like myself) who live nearby. I know that a lack of grass was a common complaint with the first section, but the opening of the third section has effectively assuaged my fears there. I realize the court of flags is mostly concrete, but it’s still a neat area to walk around, and I’ve been able to find my own little shady spot to sit on the grass on multiple occasions. It’s sort of the pass-through area between the other ends of the park (anchored by the large event lawn on one end and fountain on the other), but I think it also serves as a more calm and private section of the park for those wanting to stake out a little spot and relax. The flags are a cool civic monument–something Los Angeles often seems to lack compared to other cities.

Also, I’m just dying to have a huge neighborhood dinner party on the large wooden table (which I think might actually be an exhaust vent for below, but I’m not sure).

I envision enjoying an amazing community meal with all of my friends around this large wooden table.

The three sections of the park make a very effective whole when put together, but they’re still clearly split into three disjointed sections, which brings me to my three suggestions:

• Connect the Sections
• Open the City Hall Spring Street Entrance
• Don’t Overprogram the Space

Read on for explanations of each…

Connect the Sections

This doesn’t need to take a drastic measure like closing the street and making it a continuous pedestrian zone or forcing cars to go all the way around. Small adjustments to the crossings will help. At the minimum, the crosswalks should be realigned to match up with the park. They need to be as wide as the park is. There are too many zig-zags that pedestrians have to make when coming from a walkway in the park to a crosswalk and then back to a walkway (it should also be noted that most of the handicap ramps are on the sides, not aligned with the center crosswalks). Improvements can easily be achieved with a simple restriping of the crosswalk to make it wider — and may require moving the signals slightly as well. On Hill Street, it would be great to cut paths through the center median that align with the walkways on each side.

To go a step further, the crosswalks should be repaved to have a clear plaza look and feel to them. Bricks, stones, paint, whatever… it should be clear that cars are passing through the park, the park is not being split by the street.

This is the view when exiting the Civic Center Metro Station inside Grand Park. If you want to head the the fountain or Starbucks, you need to cross Hill St. to the walkway straight ahead, but there’s no crossing here.

Coming out of the Metro station, the crossing is down the street to your left, aligned with the center of the park.

The crosswalk on Hill, however, leads pedestrians not into the park, but into the center of two parking ramps. You then have to cross the driveways to the left or the right to get to the park’s nice wide paths, which are on the sides of the park.

Here’s a view from the southern side (the Metro entrance is on the northern side). There’s a pathway in the “Court of Flags” section of the park that looks directly across at a pathway in the top section of the park… yet there’s no crossing to connect them.

Here is the broadway crossing (click the image to see it larger). Again, a would-be direct connection on the left side, with no crossing. There’s crossing in the middle, but it’s offset from the actual paths within the park. And another direct path on the right, with no crossing. As you can see in the picture, pedestrians naturally jaywalk here (and they’re not the only ones… I watched a few, plus an LAPD officer do the same).

And finally, the Spring Street crossing. There’s no direct path crossing to the bus stops on opposite sides of the street, which would be possible with a wider crossing. The center does lead directly to City Hall… but I’ll get to the problems with that next.

Open The Spring Street City Hall Entrance

I’ve always thought that visitors should be allowed to enter City Hall from Spring Street. This is even more important now that Grand Park is open. Ascending the wide stairs and passing under the arches, below the flags and through the courtyard is a very majestic experience, but visitors are then met with a large sign telling them they’re not allowed here. The visitors’ entrance is through a small door under a bridge on the other side of the building, hardly a warm or inviting experience.

Most people don’t even know that City Hall has a public observation deck at the top. It’s an incredible view for 360-degrees, and one of the highest publicly-accessible points in Downtown. With Grand Park acting as a brand new and incredible front yard, City Hall should welcome visitors through the side facing the park. Whether you’re a local, tourist, or other visitor, the connection between Grand Park and City Hall could serve to welcome you to our great city, but instead it asks you to take the long way around and enter through the other side. It’s closed off and impersonal, which gives a bad impression of the city in general.

Grand Park is a wonderful “front yard” for City Hall… leading visitors right to it’s grand staircase, under it’s arches and below it’s flags.

Unfortunately, visitors are not met with a welcome, but a cold hard message that they can’t enter here. They’re not invited to read the plaques and inscriptions in the courtyard at the top of the stairs or appreciate the architecture or history of City Hall.

The visitors’ entrance is through a small door under a bridge off a small sidewalk on Main Street. It’s not inviting, it’s not bright. It’s certainly not a great welcome impression for visitors to this city.

Only the privileged few, the city employees, may enter up the wide staircase.

Don’t Overprogram The Space

I think Alissa Walker said it best in her review of the park for L.A. Weekly:

The key to Grand Park’s success will be in that delicate balance between how people want to use this space and how the city thinks they should use it.

Last time I visited Grand Park, I took a nice walk around in the evening, just after it had gotten dark. The Event Lawn was covered in pipes, tents, chairs, and signs from a large event earlier in the day. I’m sure the event was great (as the events I’ve attended have been), but everything was also in the way.

As someone who lives Downtown and craves open space, I’m excited by the arrival of Grand Park, but I hope that Saturday picnics, evening jogs, or pickup football games aren’t always taking second place to a programmed special event. Of course, I will also enjoy the benefit of many of these events, as will others from all over the city/county/region… but it’s a delicate balance. Too many planned events will take the park away from those it stands to benefit most. The events planned by the Music Center are great and attract people, but if every Saturday brings a loud concert and arts and crafts taking up all the space, the park might as well be an event venue rather than a park.

Back to Alissa:

Downtown-dwelling Angelenos have to learn to live publicly, making that massive Event Lawn into their own backyard. I’m talking about exuberant picnics on the pink tables and frisbee games on the lawn and a packed dog run and free yoga and street vendors and local food carts and anything that puts more people on that grass. And — and this a big “and” — the city, which is obviously hyper-sensitive about how parks should function (just look across the street at the replanted City Hall lawn) will have to learn how to work with and encourage those spontaneous activities to make this public space as diverse, eclectic and inclusive as those pillars in 25 languages make L.A. out to be.

She’s exactly right. Without those who live nearby (or those who come just to visit) making the park their own backyard, it won’t be successful. But we must be given the freedom to do this. The movable tables and chairs are a great start — I just hope that the programming follows suit and doesn’t overdo it. Picnics and frisbee aren’t possible if there’s always a thousand lawn chairs waiting for a band to start.

With so many great events coming up, it still seems the man jogging in the background is having the truest experience of the benefits Grand Park brings.

At the end of the day, none of these suggestions are dramatic–some small adjustments to pedestrian crossings, opening up the facing City Hall entrance, and thoughtful restraint in programming the park–but if implemented effectively, they will help to make Grand Park both a true and effective civic space and a comfortable neighborhood park.

In order to see how much time the train could save if Metro was able to completely eliminate stops (other than those at stations, of course), I did a little non-scientific research. For two weeks, I timed the amount of time the train spent stopped while not at a station. Here’s what I found:

Total Time Stopped

There are some holes in my data, as I didn’t ride Expo home every day (I told you this was non-scientific), but the surprising thing to me came in comparing the outbound and inbound trips. The Expo Line has mainly gotten bad press for it’s stops while heading inbound, or towards Downtown, but on many days, it stopped just as much or more on the outbound trip.

You’ll notice on asterisk (*) on Wednesday 9/19.  That 4:06 includes 1:40 just after the 23rd Street station, when the train missed a complete light cycle because a biker was asking the operator some questions from outside the train. This is not a “normal” operational occurrence, so I’ve counted that as 2:26 in some of my calculations. On Thursday, 9/20, the train stopped for 4 minutes at the junction and 1 minute inside the tunnel approaching 7th Street. These long stops, while less common lately, are a major part of the complaints against the line.

Some Interesting Numbers

The average (mean) time stopped per outbound trip towards Culver City was 3:39.
The average (mean) time stopped per inbound trip towards DTLA was 3:47 (3:31 using the lower number on 9/19).

These numbers are very close, with less than a 10 second difference between inbound and outbound times.

When you use the median, however, and diminish the effect of the one longer extreme, the inbound trips actually have a significantly lower total stop time:

The median time stopped per outbound trip towards Culver City was 3:40.
The median time stopped per inbound trip towards DTLA was 3:22 (2:53 using the lower number on 9/19).

This calculation was particularly surprising to me because of the general consensus that stops are greater and longer while heading towards Downtown. As I sat on the train paying attention every day, however, I was particularly annoyed at how much the train stopped while heading away from Downtown — mainly because I had expected it to be so much faster in that direction and was facing the realization that it wasn’t.

Also interesting is the breakdown of how much the train stopped on the west side of Western versus the east side of Western. It is well documented that the majority of stops are in the space from Downtown to USC, with significantly less between Western and Culver City.

The median time stopped between DTLA and Western on outbound trips was 2:59.
The median time stopped between Western and DTLA on inbound trips was 2:18 (1:58 using the lower number on 9/19)

The median time stopped between Western and Culver City on outbound trips was 0:38.
The median time stopped between Culver City and Western on inbound trips was 0:43.

On outbound trips west of western, the bulk of total stopped time occurs between La Cienaga/Jefferson and Culver City, where it seems the train has to completely stop at the track crossover. On inbound trips, the train didn’t stop at all until it got to the Western Ave. crossing a number of times.

The Takeaway

Metro can speed the train up by about 3:40 in each direction just by eliminating non-station stops. Of course, when you stop, you also have to slow down, and then speed up again. So, in reality, by eliminating stops the train will actually save more than 3:40.

That nearly 4 minutes could be the difference between riders making their Metro-to-Muni or Red Line transfers, getting to work on time, or catching their Metrolink train home. Above all, though, the perceived value of having a train that doesn’t spend 4 minutes stopped on the tracks will lead to more riders and less complaints.

To Metro’s credit, when the line first opened, trains would often stop for 4 minutes just at the junction on Washington. To have the total down to 3:40 is a vast improvement… but there is still room to get better.

When the Expo Line opened in April, it dramatically changed the way I commute to work from Downtown LA to Culver City. It gave me time to read every day, something I had seriously been missing, and put me on my bike at the end of the ride, getting me out in the beautiful Los Angeles weather, if only for a few minutes each day. It also saved me a ton of gas money, stress, and wear & tear on my car. And it wasn’t just for work, I’ve written before about some of the great adventures I’ve had on the Expo Line. Ridership is already above predictions for this point in time, and on it’s way to meeting projections far into the future. It’s crowded even late into the night… And yet people say LA isn’t a transit town.

An Expo Line train with a USC Football ad waits at 7th Street / Metro Center Station.

So, here we are in September now, with the dawn of another great football season. Of course, USC Football starts every year, but this year is special. I haven’t been this excited for football season in a long time. Coming off of a two year bowl ban, USC opened the season ranked #1, and played a great game against Hawaii to start 1-0. There’s a good chance they could go undefeated, or close to it, this year and play in the National Championship Game. Three games (including last weekend’s season opener) are already sold out (over 93,000 tickets each), and at least two of the remaining three look to be so soon… And yet people say LA isn’t a football town.

A packed Coliseum watches a ceremonial flyover before the 2012 USC Football season begins.

The best part of all this, however, is the way in which these two things relate to each other. This week marked the first time you could take rail transit to a USC Football game in over 50 years (see a photo from the previous era, here). Metro is reporting that about 8,000 people took the Expo Line to the game. That’s over 16,000 boardings on the line just for the game (which is not far below the average amount for an entire regular day!), and they say that many of these riders transferred to other lines or busses as well, resulting in about 22,000 systemwide boardings related directly to the football game. The Source has some more details and photos, here.

Who wouldn’t want to take the train to USC to play some giant Jenga before watching the Trojans beat any opponent in football?

The 8,000 riders represent over 8.5% of the total announced attendance of 93,607. Though the game was a sellout, there were clearly (as with any sold out event) some seats open throughout, and I’d push that percentage up even a little higher. This is great for the first time! There are 5 more home games, and I have no doubt that actual ridership, as well as the total percentage of fans who arrive via the Expo Line, will continue to grow.

I took the Red Line and the Expo Line to get there, and it was a breeze. Customer service reps were everywhere for riders less well versed in riding the trains, and crowd control around the Expo Park/USC crossing was superb.

All of this proves that yes, Metro can handle the crush of crowds that enter or leave big events in small time periods, fans are willing to take Metro to sporting events, and LA loves to watch a football game. Put a good team on the field and you’ll have thousands of people willing to show up by train and watch them play. These numbers will only go up.

Also this week, Tim Leiweke updated followers of Farmers Field on the project’s status. The stadium, like the Coliseum, would be situated one block from the Expo Line (and the Blue Line, and only a few from the Red and Purple Lines). Here’s a quote, and you can watch the whole video below.

It cannot be just a standalone stadium. This must be fully integrated into urban planning that not only gives us every chance to use mass transportation… but takes the economic wins from that football stadium to create other economic projects…

To anyone who says LA isn’t a transit town or isn’t a football town… It ain’t the 90′s anymore. LA really is becoming both a transit town and a football town.

The signs are a cheap, easy way to make things a little clearer for passengers trying to get on the right train.

The new Blue Line dash sign in the front window of the train, in addition to the destination sign on top, helps passengers identify it as the train approaches.

They are, however, limited to help only passengers who see the front of the train as it approaches. They’re nice and clear when outside in the sun and should be great for the Pico stop, though they’re a bit harder to see on the dark platform at 7th Street / Metro Center. Also, trains are often already sitting at the platform at 7th Street, so you won’t see it approach before getting on.

In the end, it will provide some help and it’s definitely a good addition to the trains. Little steps to make things clearer are always great. Except of course when the driver forgets to switch the sign, like today when I boarded a train that said CULVER CITY with a BLUE LINE dash sign… then things get extra confusing.

The signs are placed in the dash of the trains by train operators.

The signs have Expo Line on one side and Blue Line on the other, allowing operators to flip them back and forth to reflect train’s current identity.

Here you can see an Expo Line card, with a colored circle, to help clearly identify an outbound train heading toward Culver City at Pico station.

While they’re great outside in the sun, the signs are a bit harder to see in the darker station at 7th Street / Metro Center, and the trains are often already sitting at the platform, so riders won’t see the sign as it approaches.

I say this not to be negative, but because the park is actually only half open. The first two blocks (which are really contiguous as one) opened this week, but the final two will open later in the fall.

It’s hard to accurately judge the park before it’s completely open, but I’d like to give a quick review anyway.

With the lighted fountain and City Hall in the background, Grand Park feels like the open, public, and civic space Los Angeles had been missing.

First of all, I love the park. It’s been compared to Central Park in New York and Millennium Park in Chicago, with some push back from those involved in making it happen as well as those who are critical of the new park. Instead of focusing on “this one’s larger” or “this one has more art” and similar specifics, though, I think that the parks all accomplish a similar thing regardless of how different they may actually be. Its still opening week and the awe hasn’t worn off, but I’ve spent one afternoon and another evening at the park and it’s been full of people walking around, sitting at tables, reading, eating, playing in the fountain, taking pictures, and more both times. What the park does is give residents, employees, tourists, and anyone else a place to relax, a place to come together for events, a place to enjoy the beautiful weather, and a place to sit and appreciate the city. In this way, the park is very much like both Central Park and Millennium Park.

My fiancée spent much of the day on Monday at the park and later exclaimed “This makes me like Downtown so much more!” Similarly, I’ve had people comment on some of my pictures “That looks amazing, like a real city.” Of course, you and I have known all along that Los Angeles is a real city, but the park has already added a distinct level of civic pride that is often lacking around here. Personally, I also love the statues and plaques throughout the park… ones that were already there, but are now more visible to the greater public.

My fiancée liked the park so much she surprised me with a homemade dinner there this week!

I can’t walk through a new public space like this without just a few suggestions for what would make it better. The park is broken by cross streets, and even without the blocks on each side of Hill St. being open, it’s already clear that this will be a problem. Steve Lopez, from the LA Times, suggested building pedestrian bridges to connect the park on both sides of the cross streets. I get what he’s suggesting, but I agree instead with Carter Rubin who replied that “[Pedestrian] bridges would be inappropriate… Parks need to interact with streets, not avoid them.”

Bridges would ruin the flow of the park and separate it even more than the street alone does. Even though movement would technically be unrestricted, the blocked sight lines and constrained routes the bridges would create will be more of a detriment than improvement. Lopez seems to take issue with the fact that you have to wait to cross. That is, in my opinion, not so much of a problem as the fact that the park design is completely halted and broken by the streets. A better solution would be to improve the crossings.

Take, for example, the Hill Street crossing, where the Civic Center Metro station is located. Unfortunately, because of budget the parking ramps could not be reconfigured–maybe in the future, but for now we’ll play with what we’ve got. The station elevator is on the south and the escalators exit to the north. There is a pedestrian walkway on both sides of the parking ramps, to the north and the south, yet the crosswalk from the station portal to the park is skinny and in between the two ramps. The crossing could be improved by widening it to the width of the park so that patrons exiting the Metro can walk straight across to the pedestrian entrances, rather than having to to walk to the center, cross the street, then cross the driveways to the park entrance.

Simply widening the crosswalk for convenience is not the whole answer, however. It should be redesigned to visually appear as if it is part of the park. Of course, pedestrians need to know they are crossing a street, but drivers must also feel as if they are crossing a park. Some bollards for safety (like those at the Expo Park/USC Expo Line station, minus the stripes), plus landscaping, bricks, or cement pavers across this whole area would dramatically improve the feeling of connectedness within the park, without actually changing the current pedestrian or vehicle access. This crosswalk should appear visually like a pedestrian plaza crossing.

Current Grand Park Access (on the left) from the Metro Red Line Station can be improved (on the right) in a number of ways. Pedestrian access ways are in blue, with Red Line portals in red. The yellow area should be landscaped and paved in a way that makes it look like the park, creating a wider, safer, more continuous park experience even as its crossed by streets. In this scenario, pedestrians can cross straight from the subway portals, and those crossing to the other side of the park have a wider, more contiguous area rather than a skinny crosswalk. (Click image to view larger)

I foresee the park making the Metro much more popular for events at the Music Center, as attendees now have a beautiful, safe, lighted path directly from the station to the venues. The fact that the park is managed by the Music Center will certainly help, as it’s really all part of one major venue.

The one other major complaint I’ve heard is the lack of grass. The plans show a lawn apparently larger than the one currently open on the east side of the park, so I will reserve judgement on that until the whole park is open. It seems that there’s already more grass here than many Downtown parks, but as someone who thinks grass and lawn space is far more important than landscaping in a park, I am always open to more and look forward to the second lawn opening later this year.

Also, Brigham Yen and many others have suggested tearing down the county buildings on one or both sides and expanding the park further. This is obviously a much longer term project, but I think that the building on the 1st St. side specifically would make an excellent extension of the park, towards the Disney Concert Hall and the rest of the Grand Avenue attractions.

This week’s opening is a milestone for Downtown Los Angeles. The park is a significant step in the right direction for Downtown’s transformation, and it will be exponentially more so when the final two blocks open. It is proof that open, public, civic space is important to a community and suggests that something dramatic like Park 101 could be truly transformative in reconnecting Downtown LA.

That being said, this week’s opening only brings us half way there. First, we need to open the rest of the park. And then, there will always be improvements to be made. The rest of the park is coming within months, and further improvements are already a topic of discussion, so we’re clearly on our way.

Bruce Shelburne, Metro’s Interim Executive Director of Rail Operations spoke and took questions for nearly two hours. Here are some of the best takeaways…

Special Event Service

With the fast-approaching college football season and the new Expo line passing by the Coliseum, Metro is heading into regular special event service for the first time. They’ve run extra trains or longer trains for events here and there, but nothing with 100,000 attendees directly off a light rail line, and nothing with the regularity of USC home football games. Shelburne says this will be a “gamechanger for us at Metro.”

USC Football at the Coliseum, plus the Expo Line, is a “gamechanger for Metro.” (Photo: Bobak Ha’Eri on Coliseum Wikipedia Page)

So far, the plan is to have trains running every 6 minutes in both directions on the Expo line for much of the day, hours before and after the games. There will be staff at every Expo station. Other lines will also have increased service and added staff at key stations. Metro is actively working with USC to get information on where fans come from and scheduling/staffing accordingly (this fan will be taking the Red/Purple Line from Union Station to the Expo Line — Fight On!). Service will be refined throughout the season.

One major issue will be the crossing at the Expo Park/USC station. Thousands of fans will be crossing the tracks between Expo Park and USC here and safety is incredibly important. There will also be staff and a plan in place to queue fans who are lining up for trains at the station so that it’s–and we’ll see how this works out–orderly.

Expo Signal Synchronization

The Expo line doesn’t currently have signal priority (it can’t change lights to green), but (would you believe it?) the lights are actually synced and timed to match the train’s speed. Supposedly, if you’re traveling from Culver City to Downtown, you should be hitting green lights all the way in. Unfortunately, this rarely happens, and the problem is not what most of would expect. Pedestrians are the main reason that the train doesn’t hit all its green lights. When someone hit’s a crosswalk button, their light cycle gets some extra time for them to cross. The catch is, the lights down the street don’t also delay… so the train ends up missing all of the green lights after that. Shelburne says the best option is to change the priority on the lights so that pedestrians can’t interrupt a cycle’s timing like that, but rather have to wait until after the train makes it’s light and moves on before they can cross.

[UPDATE: Metro's Blog, The Source, updated readers on the issue, saying...

The bottom line is that the signals need to be better timed to accommodate the train — the issue is not solely related to pedestrian signals, as some have written.

In addition, trains on the Expo and Blue line are running slow through the junction of the two lines at Washington and Flower due to issues there involving the tracks. The tracks are safe and allegations otherwise are unwarranted. But trains do have to go slow for now and that’s impacting Expo train speeds.]

More Expo Graphic Design Changes and Insight

New Expo and Blue Line maps show the improved color and bold E added to the Expo line.

Apparently the reason that Expo’s blue color was so close to that of the Blue Line was not the fault of the designers (Metro is known for having some of the best graphic designers around). The original “aqua” color to be used was determined to not be in compliance with ADA standards because it was actually too close to white. For some visually impaired, the specific shade of aqua gets lost and basically becomes invisible. So we ended up with a “light blue” line and a blue line.

Metro is addressing the problem by adding a bold E to all of the Expo signage. They’ve also adjusted the color on maps a bit to separate it from the Blue line as much as possible. The improvements have been great. The changes have been rolled out at 7th Street/Metro Center and Pico Station will expand to the rest of the line soon.

Next up is improvements to the signage on the trains themselves. To help differentiate between Expo and Blue line trains, Metro has ordered old-fashioned dash signs. They’ve been received and should go into use in the next week or so. Basically, it will be a card that the operator sticks in the front window and should very clearly display, with both color and text, which train this is. The hope is that they’ll be more clear than the old rolling signs which often get stuck or are hard to decipher from a distance. Could be a very effective, old-school, low-tech, low-cost improvement. We’ll find out soon.

Letters Replacing Colors

There’s no timeline for this yet, but letters will eventually be replacing colored names for all lines. Nobody knows how… obviously Expo is already starting to use E, but it may not stay that way. You could start using the first letter of the color for each line, but then you get two G’s for Green and Gold. More than likely it’ll just start going down the alphabet with A, B, C, D, etc…

For Shelburne, this change can’t come soon enough. “I’d do it tomorrow,” he says. But it will happen eventually. My question is what happens to the map? Do we still use the colors on the map? Do colors represent a type of service, are they random, do they stay the same as they are now? I figure we’ll leave the colors as they are now, plus assign a letter to each line. Future lines will receive a new color and a letter, and they’ll regularly be called by the letter name but the color will help signify it on maps and signage.

Final Thougths on Expo

Shelburne thinks, and most observers agree, that once the Expo line is completely done, it’s peak service times may not be during rush hour. There’s a good chance this will be a “weekend line.” Of course it’ll be packed during rush hour… but just imagine the traffic it could be taking to and from Santa Monica on the weekends, especially during the summer. Heck, I’ll go to Santa Monica — somewhere I currently avoid — once the line is open, and judging by the crowds that sit on the 10 every weekend in the summer, they’ll find this a great alternative too.

At the end of the day (or decade), the Expo Line will be short lived. It’s name and color will go away when the Regional Connector opens. More than likely, it will become part of the Gold Line and be rebranded as such.

Regional Connector Routing

The plan is to have the Gold Line go from East LA to Santa Monica and the Blue Line go from Long Beach to Pasadena. I asked if this was done because the East-West and North-South lines are less confusing on a map or based on ridership, and Shelburne stressed this was a conscious decision based on LA commuter patterns and bus ridership. Traditionally LA has had a North-South and East-West commuting pattern.

This is the concept for Regional Connector Routing. I think it’s at least worth extra consideration to run from Pasadena to Santa Monica and East LA to Long Beach in order to connect Union Station to the current Expo Line.

I worry about the Union Station connection, though. If it were me (and based on no scientific study at all…) I would connect the current Expo Line to Union Station. It’s probably just because of the communities of people I know… but I’m aware of many more people in the Culver City area and at USC who already do or would take Metrolink to Union Station (from the Inland Empire) if there was an easier connection. I also know plenty of people who commute from Pasadena to USC. The Regional Connector won’t help this at all and I think it could be good to connect the Pasadena and Santa Monica branches together so the current Expo Line gets a direct connection to Union Station. Again, I’m only guessing, but I think there are less people along the Blue and Gold Line Eastside who connect from Metrolink. These commuters are most likely coming into Downtown. I could be wrong here, and maybe doing this would actually mean more transfers for more people who are trying to get across the region horizontally or vertically.

Purple Line Subway Extension

One of the most important projects is the Purple Line Extension. Once it’s open, ridership in LA will undoubtedly jump like crazy. The current plan is to run 4-minute headways on both the Purple and Red lines once this is done. That means that within Downtown, there will be trains every 2 minutes in each direction (this will be incredible!!!).

The problem with this? Union Station was not built as a turnback station and doesn’t work well in that way. Trains have to slow down, cross the tracks, and end up getting bunched up and have to wait for trains to leave before proceeding. I ride into Union Station every day and there’s definitely wasted time approaching the end of the line. It won’t be able to handle the frequency once the Purple Line extension opens.

So, the plan is to extend the line into the rail yard, which sits on the back side of the Arts District. We’ll renovate the yard, add a third track so trains can extend past Union Station and do their turnback there with much more ease and efficiency.

The best case scenario means there will also be an additional station here at the end of the line. At Union Station, trains will stop for 30 seconds and continue on just like they do at every other station. The Arts District would then be the end of the line, where staff can clear the trains, prepare them for a return trip in the other direction, and queue them on a third track. This also connects the Arts District very easily to the entire Metro system, as they’ll get a ground-level platform right across from SCI-ARC near the new One Santa Fe Development.

Metro’s Biggest Problem

Shelburne said Metro’s biggest problem, “bar none, is communication with the passenger.” When things go wrong, they need to improve communication. Even when everything’s running smoothly, they need to communicate better. This has been improving with better signage in stations, better announcements, new screens, service announcement tweets, etc… but there will always be more to do in the customer service area (for Metro or any agency). They are, in my opinion, continually getting better.

The most effective route for the streetcar would travel east on 9th Street, not 7th.

I’ve written a couple times about the streetcar being planned for Downtown LA. First, examining all of the suggested route options and then praising the selection of the locally-preferred-alternative. As I said in those pieces, I think the LPA that was selected is good, but after looking at it further, it’s certainly not best. Upon more reflection I’ve come to believe that taking the route east on 7th Street instead of 9th Street would be a particularly unfortunate decision for both mobility and development reasons and wanted to explore the options further. (Click here for a pdf of both routes from the city.)

Here’s why:

7th Street Doesn’t Gain You Much

The key reasoning behind taking the streetcar up to 7th Street is access to the 7th Street/Metro Center station. That’s all well and good, but what does this actually get us? We must first remember that this portion of the route will be a one-way loop headed east and then turning north on Hill.

With this in mind, it will certainly be useful for travel from Staples Center/LA LIVE/Convention Center to connect to the Metro Red/Purple lines. However, with a probably similar fare, the more frequent combined northbound service from the Metro Blue/Expo lines at Pico is probably a better bet anyway. It’s a block or two further from LA LIVE, but closer to the Convention Center and Staples south entrances.

What about the other direction, though?

There won’t be southbound streetacr service from 7th Street to South Park, so you would not be able to take the streetcar from the Metro Center to these venues without doing a huge loop to the other end of Downtown and back. The streetcar connection to 7th Street / Metro Center only gives you an after event connection to Metro Rail, not a before event connection.

The Metro Red and Purple Lines still meet the streetcar route at Pershing Square and the Expo/Blue/Gold lines will meet it at a Regional Connector Station on 2nd Street, so there’s no increased accessibility, and the only real benefit of having the streetcar meet the Metro Center would be for anyone who wants to go to a final destination along the route between the 7th/Hope and 5th/Hill and can’t walk the maximum of 3 short blocks from the Metro station to get there.

This map shows the one-way only connection the streetcar would provide from South Park to the 7th Street/Metro Center station, compared to the two-way connection provided by the frequent Blue/Expo lines. The highlighted area shows the relatively small section that could benefit from increased transit coverage.

7th Street is Congested and Only Getting More So (but this is a good thing)

7th Street is currently one of the more congested streets Downtown. It’s full of cars and busses going in both directions, pedestrians, and bikes. Soon, there will be a bike lane project going in, which could mean some operational difficulties with the streetcar (this is why they are still including 9th St. in the study) and will result in less available street space. When planning the use of this street, we should focus on pedestrians, bikes, and busses that already serve the area. Adding a streetcar to the mix will be complicated for little gain.

By contrast, 9th Street is a one-way eastbound road with far less traffic (especially during rush hour). The streetcar could move relatively freely here, and could even run in the leftmost lane for an easier left turn onto Hill. On 7th, it would require a special signal to allow it to cross traffic lanes while turning left from the far right lane, halting all other vehicles at the intersection.

7th Street is Relatively Developed

One of the major goals of the streetcar is to contribute to new development. Not to say that we’ve “made it,” but compared to much of the area around it, 7th Street has experienced a boom of new restaurants and retail. These developments are contributing to more in the pipeline, while 9th Street is still lined with expansive parking lots that would become much more valuable to developers with the streetcar passing by out front.

That being said, there are some exciting new developments coming to 9th Street as well that could open around the same time as the streetcar and contribute to an amazing new corridor. The 9th Street route would already pass by Ralphs, FIDM, Grand/Hope Park, and some scattered residential buildings. The biggest new project will be the hotel and restaurant in the Trinity Auditorium building. This could be a major ridership generator if the streetcar passed by outside.

7th Street Misses Much of the Action on Broadway

The streetcar was originally envisioned (and is still mostly designed) to bring life to Broadway. It was part of Councilman Jose Huizar’s “Bringing Back Broadway” initiative before being spun off into it’s own non-profit, but it’s still the centerpiece of the Broadway plan.

Much of the recent action on Broadway has happened on the south end of the corridor between 7th and Olympic. With a route that travels on 7th Street, this entire section of Broadway will only have access to one direction of travel, with the streetcar traveling north on Hill up to three long blocks away (the north-south blocks Downtown are much longer than the east-west blocks).

This map shows the area that would have a reduced or one-way-only level of service if the route traveled on 7th Street. Notice the large loop the route makes. A 9th Street route would serve the area much better.

The LA Brewing Company, the Broadway Bar, the Orpheum Theatre, Two Boots Pizza, and the extremely popular Umamicatessan are all on this stretch of Broadway. So is (will be) the Sparkle Factory, the residential Eastern Columbia Building, and perhaps most importantly the Ace Hotel (and renovated theatre) taking over the United Artists Building. The Ace Hotel guests may be among those most apt to use the streetcar, but the 7th Street route wouldn’t effectively serve the hotel (or any of these other destinations) except in one direction.

A 9th Street route would allow visitors to either Broadway or South Park/LA LIVE to take the streetcar both ways between these destinations, while the 7th Street route would cut this section of Broadway off from any trips originating in South Park. A 9th Street route would allow people in this section of Broadway to travel west to South Park or north to other parts of Downtown and back again. It would also pass within view of the Golden Gopher and D-Town Burger Bar while northbound at Hill at 8th (hopefully also spurring development on this block of 8th).

While this list of theatres, restaurants, hotels, and residential buildings sounds impressive, it’s easy to see if you’re in the neighborhood that this area is still in need of more. For the streetcar to be effective at promoting development, it must connect other recent developments and be considered an easy way to get both to and from current and future destinations.

It must also be noted that from a mobility point of view, this bustling section section of Broadway and 9th is currently a good walk away from Metro Rail. Having easy access to the northbound route will connect it directly to all of the Downtown Metro Rail lines (Red/Purple at Pershing Square and Regional Connector at 2nd).

—–

As I look at the neighborhoods and explore the possible routes on foot, it becomes more and more clear that the 9th Street option would be the best able to accomplish both the mobility and development goals of the project. Traveling all the way north to 7th Street would not bring much benefit to the project (and the project would not bring as much to the area) as the mutual benefit we could see with a 9th Street route.

Finally, while all proposed maps for the study show the streetcar turning left on 1st Street and heading over to Grand, where it will pass by the Music Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and possibly even extend down to the Broad Museum, the most recent update I’ve heard is that this is actually not probable with the funding they’re looking at. This is unacceptable. I know that funding often gets in the way of plans, but this route is one of the cheapest options presented, and all previous discussion had centered on whether to connect the route to Union Station or to the cultural establishments on Grand. Now, it looks like planners are resigned to neither. So, the route would circle from Hill to Broadway at 1st Street… passing only everybody’s favorite giant pit that might someday be a new courthouse.

To be honest, most of the ridership will probably come from “destination” riders going to/from the Music Center, LA LIVE, or somewhere on Broadway, and not people needing to get just a few blocks away. Skipping out on both the Music Center and Union Station would be a huge negative.

Of course they have their own fundraising to do, but they also have large and wealthy donor bases, many who could support the streetcar project with ease… I’d like to see the Music Center, Disney Concert Hall, or even Eli Broad himself step in and help (if not with money directly, then with fundraising support). This may also be a great idea for a neighbor.ly campaign. A specific campaign to extend the streetcar and connect to the cultural destinations on Grand could prove extremely successful.

As a baseball fan, no trip to any city is complete without a visit to the stadium. I’ve been to a game at San Francisco’s AT&T park before, but arrived late from the airport and headed straight inside. This time, I didn’t attend the game, but explored the area all around the stadium as crowds were arriving for the crossbay showdown between the Giants and the Oakland A’s.

AT&T Park in San Francisco is perhaps one of the country’s best urban baseball stadiums.

So far, San Francisco’s AT&T park and San Diego’s Petco Park are two of my favorite urban stadiums. There are many lessons for Dodger stadium to be found in them, though we also have to realize that Dodger stadium is a diametrically different kind of ballpark. It’s location on an isolated hilltop makes it much more of a suburban style stadium (surrounded completely by parking lots) than any of the country’s urban stadiums.

While some have proposed moving Dodger Stadium to a Downtown location, as a longtime baseball fan and purist I am conflicted with the idea. The urbanist in me says YES! while the fan wanting to retain as much of the history of the stadium says NO. For now, I will assume (as is most probable) that the stadium won’t be moving anytime soon. There are still many improvements that can be made in its current location.

So let’s look… What is so great about AT&T Park?

Publicly Accessible

AT&T Park is part of the city. It is accessible on all sides by the public. You can walk right up to its walls at anytime, gameday or not, ticket or not. The area around the stadium is a public space, where visitors will come and take pictures even if there is no game going on. There are no gates hundreds of yards away from the stadium, blocking access and opened only for cars on gamedays. This stadium is part of the city. When there is a game going on, even the action on the field is publicly viewable to fans outside from beyond the outfield walls.

From behind the outfield, a wide pedestrian promenade lets you watch the action through the wall.

Fans can watch the game from a walkway behind the stadium. If there are large crowds, they clear the area out after every three innings to ensure that many spectators get to see. Watching from here is not free admission to the entire game, but it’s still a valuable way for the public to be part of the gameday experience.

Multi-Use Ground Level

The stadium’s exterior is a great example of multi-use development. There is a doctor’s office and multiple restaurants around the ground floor. These are open and accessible from the outside and have regular hours whether there is a home game or not.

Restaurants and Bars are part of the stadium building, but open to the exterior and have regular business hours on non-gamedays as well.

Wile the doctor’s office may seem a bit out of place, the bars an restaurants contribute to the gameday atmosphere and the neighborhood on off-days. They provide a place for fans to gather and watch away games and for locals to grab lunch or dinner when there isn’t a game. These commercial uses make the stadium building a valuable contributor to the neighborhood on a daily basis, rather than a black hole of inactivity when there isn’t a home game.

Transportation

The stadium is conveniently located immediately next to a light rail station that serves two of the city’s most heavily used lines. The light rail provides connections to BART and the city’s central Market Street. One block away from the stadium is a CalTrain depot, providing commuter rail service from points south to San Jose.

The light rail stop serving SF Muni N&T lines is next to AT&T Park, and riders only have to cross half of a street to reach the stadium.

Behind the stadium is the bay and a ferry dock that provides service from East Bay cities directly the the stadium’s outfield gate. At least hundreds of fans take a boat to each game at AT&T Park.

Also behind the outfield wall, the San Francisco Bike Coalition operates a bike valet. I was there before most fans arrived, but there were already many bikes checked and more people arriving on bicycles by the minute. I know a lot of people who bike in San Francisco and it’s great to see that you can bike right up to the stadium, check your bike at a valet (so you don’t have to worry about it being stolen off of some bike rack somewhere), enjoy the game, and then bike home after. There were signs and friendly attendants that made the valet a visible aspect of the stadium, so fans would see it and know it was there for future use even if they didn’t bike this time.

A permanent bike valet at AT&T park caters to San Francisco’s many fans who arrive by bike, offering an easy, safe place to park while they enjoy the game.

Finally, as I walked around I was astounded at the fact that I didn’t see a single stadium-operated parking lot. There were some private lots a few blocks away (making use of space under an elevated freeway). A little while later, I did find the stadium lots, across the creek. While it’s still a large amount of land dedicated to surface parking (that may have a better possible use), this land is separated from the stadium and the main downtown section of the city. It does not impede the pedestrian experience or separate the stadium from the neighborhood around it.

Parking lots are located across a creek, without separating the stadium from the main part of the city next to it. In this photo you can see the stadium in the far background.

I am impressed by the team’s official transportation page and map. Transit directions are listed first, followed by car and then bike information. The map shows transit routes and pedestrian walking routes to the stadium before driving routes and parking lots. The only improvement I would make is to move the bike information higher. The service looked great and it should be marketed higher on the page.

Fan and Civic Pride

AT&T Park sits on a portion of street named for its Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Mays. There are multiple statues of Giants greats outside the stadium, and fans spend time taking photos with the statues before and after the game. The stadium and its surrounding grounds contribute to a sense of civic pride, just as the team that plays inside does.

This statue, of Giants hall-of-fame pitcher Juan Marichal is one of five statues and numerous other plaques and memorials surrounding the stadium.

Dodger Stadium

With all of this in mind, what can be done to improve the fan experience and contribution that Dodger Stadium makes to the surrounding neighborhood and Los Angeles?

The biggest improvement is to make it a place to go, and make it publicly accessible all the time. Right now, there are gates that close off the stadium far below at the parking lot entrances. Of course, nobody has any reason to go to the park if there’s not an event at the moment either. Real improvement of the Dodger Stadium experience will take development. Housing, restaurants, a baseball museum… All of these things could bring more life to the area and make Chavez Ravine a regular part of daily life as well as a destination.

It’s hard to add any use the ground level of Dodger Stadium because for most of the perimeter, there is no real ground level. Because the stadium is build into the hill and not just on top of it, any new retail that is open to the outside would most likely be in the form of additional development around the stadium structure.

Transportation is perhaps the area where Dodger Stadium could use the most immediate improvement. While many fans take the Dodger Stadium Express Bus, it isn’t nearly as good as it should be. I took the Angels Express Metrolink train to Anaheim last week. Exactly 50 minutes after departing Union Station, I was off the train and walking through the parking lot at Angel Stadium. I have sat in traffic on the Dodgers Express bus for 45 minutes before and only been half way from Union Station to the ballpark. We eventually got off the bus and walked. Dodger Stadium is far closer and its express service gets much more use than the train to Angel Stadium — but it pales in comparison when looking at ease of use and reliability.

I look forward to the day when we’ll have a rail link to Dodger Stadium (if I had my way, it would be part of a line heading through Silverlake to Glendale), but until then, the bus must be improved. A bus only lane would do wonders. It would be easy to implement and would speed the travel times considerably. For a start, this should be implemented right away at least along Elysian Park Ave all the way into the stadium. Including Sunset Blvd. will take some more planning, but should be accomplished soon enough.

Because it sits atop a large hill and further from the rest of the city, I don’t think Dodger Stadium will see the same amount of bikers as AT&T Park, but with some improvement of facilities and marketing, I know plenty of people who would be glad to bike to the games. Many fans are coming from bike-heavy Downtown and Silverlake, and a staffed bike valet would give them peace of mind when they are inside the stadium and a protected lane into and through the parking lot would give them peace of mind on the way.

Lastly, Dodger Stadium currently does next to nothing to contribute to civic pride. While there is plenty of Dodger Pride in LA, there is no reflection of this at the stadium. Dodgers fan blog “Vin Scully is My Homeboy” brought this up a few years ago, but why in the world are there no statues at Dodger Stadium?

Fans and visitors alike are always taking pictures at Star Plaza and the statues outside Staples Center (I know because I used to watch them from my office across the street). Baseball’s first African-American player, Jackie Robinson, will forever be known as a Dodger. He grew up in Pasadena, went to college in Los Angeles, and his number is retired by every Major League team, yet I see no memorial to him at Dodger Stadium. There is a plaque at the Coliseum for him and the Mets’ new park in NY has an entire entry rotunda dedicated to Robinson. I think at the very least a statue at Dodger Stadium would begin to do him justice. I’d also love to see a statue dedicated to Vin Scully within his lifetime. Chick Hearn’s memorial outside Staples Center is a fan favorite, and Vin Scully is arguably more well known and loved.

The current point of entry to Dodger Stadium is an outfield wall immediately abutted by a parking lot and a couple team stores in temporary tents. These structures should be permanently built (seriously, temporary tents at a major league facility?) and there should be an entry plaza outside center field with statues and other iconic elements. At Angel stadium, for example, while there are no statues on the entry plaza (there are some inside), there is a replica baseball diamond and large hats, with a huge main entry gate. This is the location of many family and fan photos before and after games. No such spot exists at Dodger Stadium, and the creation of something(s) iconic would absolutely contribute to more civic and team pride.

Taking lessons from AT&T park (and other stadiums) and applying them to fit with the location and structure of Dodger Stadium will enhance the gameday experience for fans and the everyday connection between the stadium and the city. There is a lot to be done, but some of the beginning steps are clear.

Having finally reached Oakland on the Amtrak Coast Starlight, we were picked up by a friend and drove to his apartment in the city. Two of my great friends live in the neighborhood between Pacific Heights and Nob Hill in San Francisco and were gracious enough to let us stay with them for a couple nights.

With a couple large gatherings for brunch together and late night drinks, we spent time with many of their friends. Of course, these were not all transit lovers like me, but with large groups of young urban dwellers, the conversation did turn there…

This was our homemade brunch. Good food, good friends, and good conversation.

There were two main things I noticed…

1. Conversations on transit are a normal part of daily life in San Francisco. One of my friends does not have a car — he uses taxis and busses — and the other does, but also uses his bike often. While my friends here in LA talk about the best shortcuts and side streets to take, directions there are most often about which bus routes to take. While discussing group plans for the next day, bus routes and train schedules were a normal part of the discussion. This is rarely the case in LA, though I have noticed it happening more recently even with people who rarely or never take Metro. I’ve heard the question “Can I take the train to that?” pondered many times recently… With the asker often surprised that the answer is yes. As these people continue to try taking Metro to more destinations, riding the bus and train will also become an average part of discussion and directions in LA.

2. Transit riders in LA have a reputation for being some of the nicest in the world. This astounds me, as I’ve always assumed that we Angelenos had a terrible (though undeserved) reputation (sort of like the way many Europeans view Americans). I first heard this unexpected news when I helped two Swedish girls who are studying abroad in Orange County find their way off the Red Line and to an Amtrak train at Union Station. While thanking me over some tacos at Olvera Street, they commented that everyone here was so nice, helpful, and talkative. Similarly, my friends in SF commented that people in that city rarely talk to each other on a bus or train, while they’ve noticed that those in LA are always willing to help. I’m not sure why this is, but I’m glad to hear we have the reputation of being kind and helpful. I think that the transit community here is very active in trying to show the world that transit does, in fact, work in LA. Thus, most people who ride are willing to help others along.

I didn’t necessarily set out to specifically spend the day without a car, but it was actually the easier and better way to get to most of my destinations for the day, which ranged from Downtown to the beach, with roughly 19 miles in between them. By the end of the day, I had traveled a total of nearly 50 miles by heavy-rail subway, light-rail, bike, bus, and foot. I exercised on bike, had tacos and margaritas by the ocean, grilled chicken, corn, and beer on a Downtown rooftop, and watched fireworks from a lawn in the shadow of the Coliseum.

Exposition Park hosted an hour-long fireworks show, easily accessible from the Metro Expo Line.

Read on for more detail of the fantastic Independence Day celebration and how it’s possible to experience an incredible range of Los Angeles without getting in a car.

Here’s a map of my travels by rail, bike, bus, and foot. (Click here for a detailed Google Map)

Lunch BBQ in Marina Del Rey

My host actually suggested I take Metro as far as I could and then bike. She knew I take the Expo Line to Culver City and bike to work, so figured I would enjoy the ride. Parking lots in Marina del Rey were full and streets were closed before noon, so anything we could do to not drive would help. From my home, we took the Red Line to the Expo Line and connected to the Ballona Creek Bike Path near La Cienega/Jefferson station. The bike path goes all the way to the marina, where we switched to the Marvin Braude path and then hooked up with Washington Blvd’s bike lane to get onto the peninsula. We enjoyed tacos and margaritas outside just as the sun was burning through the marine layer. Many guests said they drove around the area for 40 minutes looking for parking, and then had to walk an additional 20 from the spot they found… in total taking longer than our bike ride.

Shopping for Dinner BBQ

On the return trip, we followed the same path, but got off the Expo Line at Pico and biked to Ralphs Downtown to do some shopping for a dinner party. Instead of connecting back to the subway, we decided to try out the new bike lanes on Main and Los Angeles Streets to get back to Union Station. The protected/buffered lanes in Downtown make a huge difference when compared to the unprotected lane we rode on Washington earlier in the day. We definitely felt safer with the extra few feet between the bike and auto lanes.

Downtown Rooftop Dinner Party

Jumping on the 733 bus at Cesar Chavez and Alameda provided a quick way to get into the Historic Core and Fashion District, where we celebrated with barbecued chicken, corn, beer, and an incredible American flag cake.

I was the corn-grilling man for the evening.

As the sun started to set, we could see the beginnings of local (or home) fireworks shows all around us from our rooftop perch. Views like this are one of my favorite things about Downtown LA.

The sunset view from our Downtown rooftop party.

Fireworks Spectacular

A short walk to the 7th Street / Metro Center station and our group of 13 for the evening was on the Expo Line (my third time for the day), headed to Exposition Park to watch some fireworks. Alighting at the Expo Park/USC station, we were an incredibly short walk from the lawn in front of the Natural History museum, where were threw down our blankets and watched the sky burst into color. (Side Note: I cannot wait for USC football season and getting to the games by Metro. Fight On!)

After the show, half of the group went to explore the USC campus, while a few of us boarded the Expo Line to head back Downtown.

The station and trains were absolutely packed, proving what a blessing this train has already been and will continue be to the community for years to come. It hits residential areas, business areas, and community/public spaces perhaps better than any other line in the county (and will only get better with the extension).

This was the Expo Line station after the fireworks show at Exposition Park. Trains that were nearly full already packed in even more passengers.

Home

A short Expo ride followed by a farewell to our friends at 7th Street and then a short Red Line ride back to Union station rounded out the day. After 20 miles of biking and another 30 miles of travel, I was tired. You can bet I slept well after an incredible day celebrating this great nation in one of its greatest cities with many of my closest friends–and doing it all without a car, a truly independent feeling.

Downtown San Luis Obispo is certainly not an urban mecca. The population of the entire city is 45,000, which is just about the same as Downtown LA, but most of that population is outside of SLO’s retail-centric downtown. Regardless, there were some great things in SLO that can and should be taken note of when thinking of Los Angeles.

Retail Development

Similar to State Street in Santa Barbara or Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, Higuera St. in Downtown SLO is a pedestrian heavy, retail and restaurant-centric boulevard full of both locals and tourists. It was a medium-distance walk from the train station through a residential neighborhood. Higuera Street and the surrounding blocks are a great mix of both historic and modern structures with active businesses that create a lively atmosphere. Bars, restaurants, retail, art galleries, and more are all within walking distance.

At one end of the street is a relatively new retail complex that was designed very well to fit in with the historic neighborhood. The Court Street Mall includes interior walkways and exterior facing retail that seamlessly ties into the neighborhood around it.

The Court Street Mall in Downtown SLO fits in nicely with the pedestrian streetscape and historic buildings around it.

Near the center of the retail district, on Higuera is a ROSS Dress For Less. It seems like one of the older stores on the block, and I wonder if the amount of retail and restaurants on this street is a small prophesy of what Broadway in Downtown LA could become, with a ROSS coming in there soon as well.

Could this ROSS in SLO be a sign for what future retail Broadway’s ROSS in DTLA will bring after it?

Between the old and the new, nearly every storefront is filled. There are mid block crossings and wide sidewalks, all which help lead to a rather festive pedestrian environment. This festivity takes full-force on Thursday nights, when the street is closed for a Farmers Market. In my opinion, this Farmers Market is better than many of the ones here in LA, because the local merchants are actually involved. I’ve often seen the Tuesday market in Culver City full of people while its tents block the restaurants on the street, which don’t always see a major influx of business. In SLO, the restaurants all have their own tents in front on their storefronts… serving customers outside and inviting them in for more. More than any farmers market I’ve ever seen, the one in SLO has a positive effect on the local businesses and restaurants.

Transit and Biking

While we came in on a train, there’s not much in the way of local transit in SLO. Supposedly there’s an old-fashioned Downtown Trolley, but the sign said it only runs on Thursdays. During the summer months, it also will run on Fridays and Saturdays, but that’s still not much for regular use. It’s really a tourist thing.

The Old SLO Trolley… Thursdays only.

Where SLO did seem to Excel was in Bike infrastructure. While Higuera St. didn’t have dedicated bike lanes, Marsh St. (one block over) did. There is a series of bike lanes that connects Downtown to Cal Poly SLO, the major university about 2 miles away. It’s only about a 10 minute bike ride, and with dedicated lanes, it’s very easy for students to make their way Downtown and back. Practically every student at USC rides a bike, and upcoming lanes (protected!) on Figueroa St. will be another great way to link these students to Downtown LA, in addition to the Expo Line.

There were bike corrals near Higuera St, where parking spaces had been turned into bike parking, that provided room for many bikes. And the corrals were generally full. The record stores and clothing stores in SLO all seemed to promote biking, with various bike-endorsing posters or t-shirts for sale as well.

A bike corral off of Higuera Street in Downtown San Luis Obispo.

The train station, is not connected to Downtown via bike lanes, however, there is a “Bike Blvd.” where cars are forced to turn at one intersection and bicycles are allowed to continue going straight through. This intersection (Morro and Leff) is clearly marked with bike symbols and arrows on the ground. Near the train station, at the end of Morro St (the bike blvd) is an intersection where bikers will generally want to cross diagonally, and there is a dedicated bike signal installed here. Compare this to LA, where there are bike signal buttons (to signal the regular crosswalk) at Jefferson and National off the Expo Line that haven’t actually worked since they were installed. [If anyone has experienced the bike buttons working, let me know... I and everyone I've seen have had to press the pedestrian buttons.]

A diagonal bike crossing, with dedicated signal and sensors in the ground.

The light for the bike signal, in the shape of a bike, is next to the regular traffic light.

Transit Oriented Development

Without a lot of transit to speak of, it’s difficult to have much transit oriented development. I do have to note, however, that there are some new lofts, with retail and cafés, immediately next to the Amtrak train station. The lofts are closer to the boarding platforms than the parking lot, and are connected to Downtown by the previously mentioned Bike Blvd. So, even with the little transit they have, SLO is making the most of it, building right next to the train station and encouraging bike connections around the entire area.

The Railroad Square Lofts are immediately adjacent to the SLO Amtrak train station.

Lessons for LA

The biggest lessons for LA were in the bike infrastructure. Dedicated bike paths and complicated crossings (like some along the Expo Line) should have bike-specific signals, and bike corrals really encourage riding in specific areas.

Also, it’s clear that with a mass of retail and restaurants along various streets, LA can better create a pedestrian friendly shopping and living area. This has already been done in Pasadena and parts of Downtown LA and is certainly continuing.

Read the first post in this series, here: Traveling by Train Through California

From the historic halls of Los Angeles’s Union Station to the platforms of San Luis Obispo’s depot is about a 5 hour journey by train. The five hours, about an hour and a half longer than driving, pass quickly and smoothly, especially when you have a traveling partner. From beautiful seaside tracks to fields of crops, the sights are amazing. The ability to relax, use the free Wi-Fi (which works better than many public Wi-Fi systems, with just a limit on downloading individual files over 10MB) make the trip extremely pleasant.

The Pacific Surfliner between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, like the trip between Orange County and San Diego, follows what must be one of the most beautiful routes in the country.

Leaving Los Angeles, the stops are often — Glendale, Burbank, Simi Valley — and seem to come right after one another. The train speeds up quickly, though, and the ocean-front ride up to and through Santa Barbara must be one of the most beautiful trips in the country. It’s even more enjoyable with a drink, some snacks, and a camera. Not long after come the hills leading into San Luis Obispo county, which were picturesquely blanketed in a thick layer of fog.

Fog coming over the hills as the train begins to leave the coast and head towards San Luis Obispo.

We chose to stay in San Luis Obispo for a day (more on that in a later post) before continuing on to the Bay Area.

There are a few ways to do the trip. On a single train, you can take Amtrak’s Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Oakland. Because that train only runs once per day and we were going to stop in SLO, we took the Pacific Surfliner for the first leg of our trip. This is one of Amtrak’s most popular routes, used by tourists, locals, and commuters alike between SLO and San Diego. It’s fast, frequent, with unreserved seating and free Wi-Fi.

When leaving SLO, we took the once-daily Coast Starlight northbound. In San Jose, you can switch from Amtrak to Caltrain (the Bay Area’s commuter train, like Southern California’s Metrolink) to continue your journey up the peninsula and into San Francisco. Otherwise, you can continue on the Coast Starlight around the bay and into Oakland, which is what we did because we had a friend in the area who was going to pick us up.

The Coast Starlight makes a series of large, sweeping turns as it heads up the mountains past San Luis Obispo.

The trip from SLO to Oakland is another 5.5 hours or so, making the total travel time nearly 11 hours if you were to go straight from LA. This puts the train trip about four hours longer than the car trip by a similar route. If you were to take the 5 Freeway rather than the 101, you’d save even more time in a car.  The train trip was a bit cheaper than flying for two of us, but of course takes much longer too.

As you pass through Gilroy, the train hits speeds of 80 mph, which is pretty good in my opinion. If this could be sustained for most of the trip, it’d be a legitimate option for most people traveling in California. Unfortunately, average speeds for most of the trip sit between 35 and 60 mph. At times due to the curves of the track going over and through mountains, at times due to the short distance between stops… the train is just unable to sustain a higher speed. Average speeds between 35-60 mph simply do not cut it if you have to travel the whole way in one trip.

This is precisely where a new CA rail project through the central valley would be an immense improvement. If not with a High Speed Rail project, at least connecting Los Angeles to Bakersfield (from where Amtrak currently runs the San Joaquin line to Oakland) via rail will shave off a few hours from the current trip time. While I’m a proponent of HSR in general, who knows if the current project being discussed will really get going, with all of the mismanagement and mistrust it’s gained. Shouldn’t there be a secondary plan in discussion at least? While it won’t have nearly the amount of jobs, cost, or benefit of CA HSR, an LA-Bakersfield rail link would at least still serve the state well by vastly improving Los Angeles to Bay Area service (though it would also have nearly none of the beautiful views of the current route).

The Coast Starlight arrives in Oakland at Jack London Square.

In the end, the train trip was fun. It was scenic. It was relaxing. It was a great way to see the state and an enjoyable way to travel to multiple destinations, with one or more stops in the middle. It rivals or exceeds car travel for a trip like this. I’d do it again for similar trips with multiple stops or distances shorter than LA-SLO. It is not, however, a viable alternative for someone trying to make a quick trip all the way to San Francisco. California must do more to improve rail travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is much more comfortable than and can rival flying in certain situations (and will most certainly compete with–and beat–driving). Whether this improvement comes from a completed HSR project, or a blended approach as they’re currently pushing, or simply a completed link from LA-Bakersfield and improved Amtrak service, something must be done.

First, a few observations..

Low Floor Vehicles: San Diego MTS has some nice new, low floor, vehicles (that do seem to me more like a streetcar or a trolley). These vehicles are a vast improvement over the old ones, where you would have to climb two stairs to the higher floor. The new vehicles offer ample space for bikes and people, but there was definitely less space to sit. The center aisles near the doors are large and spacious, but very onorganized. It may seem strange, but because there was so much open space, the aisles became a mess of legs, bikes, shopping bags, and riders all mixed together, and it was actually hard for people to get on and off at stations. If there was a designated “bike, stroller, luggage” section, like on LA’s Metro vehicles, it may work better.

San Diego’s low-floor trolley. (Photo: San Diego MTS/Brett Shoaf)

Low Platform Stations: This is the aspect of the system I liked the least. While LA’s Metro vehicles are high floor, they are still flat-loading because you board from a high station platform (above the vehicle’s wheels). San Diego’s stations are all low platform (the boarding platform is only a few inches high), meaning you have to actually step up into the older vehicles and the newer vehicles have sections of seats raised above the wheels (similar to our busses). Architecturally, the stations are mostly wide expanses of concrete, part of this being due to low-platform design. In LA, the high platform give the architect a “platform” (so to speak) to build on, Many of the at grade stations in LA do a great job of being noticed while also blending in. San Diego’s stations stick out like a sore thumb even though (or because) they’re just flat plazas.

The Alvarado Medical Center Station in San Diego — one of many large, flat stations on the Trolley system.

Now, here is the major lesson I took from San Diego’s Trolley system…

Station Retail Opportunities

Advertising and construction for future retail space at the Gaslamp Quarter station.

Even a small retail amenity will go a long way. Most stations at least had vending machines. As part of station upgrades MTS is currently doing, they’re adding retail kiosks. Apperantly there has been a staffed snack bar at the Fashion Valley Transit Center for a few years, selling mochas, pastries, burritos, in addition to bus and trolley passes and more. The tracks at the America Plaza station are bordered by cafés, mini-marts, and more. It appears that San Diego MTS is preparing opportunities for the Gaslamp Quarter Station near PETCO Park as well. The company that activates the retail opportunities for San Diego MTS has some info on their kiosks, here. Kiosks and vending machines also present opportunity for more revenue in advertising. San Diego wrapped their vending machines with shelters that had ads on both sides.

In Los Angeles, I believe there is only one station with vending machines (Westlake/MacArthur Park). Rush Snack Bar (currently being revamped as a juice bar of sorts) is in the Hope St. portal of the 7th Street / Metro Center station, and is a great start for LA. More of this, with newspapers/magazines (if people still buy those) and transit passes as well, would be great.

Of course, in Los Angeles, riders are not allowed to consume either food or drink on Metro busses or trains. In San Diego, passengers may consume beverages on the trolleys if they are contained in a spill-proof or screw-top bottle. So, drinks bought at vending machines may be taken on trains. In Los Angeles, this would not be allowed. Rush Snack Bar is great for people getting off the Metro, but less useful for people getting on.

Maybe it’s the fact that so many more people are riding in LA or that LA riders are less careful about litter, but the problem here is not so much spills, but litter left behind (Blue Line riders, I’m looking at you… there are not enough people riding Expo yet for that much trash to be on my trains every day!). I think LA Metro should institute a policy allowing drinks in reusable bottles only (though this still won’t help the retail patrons).

Regardless of whether they can take it on a train or not, however, simple retail at stations will be a convenience for riders in LA and they help Metro to generate additional revenue.

The Pacific Electric / West Santa Ana Branch Corridor stretches from South LA County to Orange County in a nearly 20-mile-long straight line.

They are studying both mode and route for the project, with the goal to extend it from both ends of the right of way to Union Station in LA and the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC) in Orange County.

Alternative Modes

Among the alternatives, there are bus rapid transit, streetcar, light rail, and low speed maglev train. This seems like a fairly simple decision to me. The route has the potential for ridership far above what a bus line would have — and the street running portions on both ends would seriously hamper it’s effectiveness. A streetcar is much better for local circulation, without either the capacity or speed for the 20 mile or longer route. A maglev train could be a good alternative, but it’s at least double the cost of the next most expensive mode, and would ultimately create an entirely new system just for this line. As the ultimate goal is to connect the line to Union Station, this would mean adding a completely new mode to the mix at the already overburdened station.

The best solution is to build light rail like we see on the Gold, Green, Blue, and Expo lines in LA County. I’d propose having Metro operate the system after it’s built, with some form of subsidy from OCTA to account for the portion that runs in Orange County. It could seamlessly connect with the other Metro lines at Union Station or Little Tokyo and Metro already has the expertise and experience running a substantial light rail system. It should fit in operationally with the Metro fare structure (which should, admittedly undergo some changes as more lines, connections, and extensions start opening).

Light rail should be the obvious choice. What may be less obvious is the route.

Alternative Routes

The diagonal ROW goes from the Raitt St. in Santa Ana — where it becomes Santa Ana Blvd. — to the 105/710 Interchange, where it becomes the 105 Freeway. Because Santa Ana is already planning a streetcar for the end portion of the right of way, the plan it to have this line leave the right of way a little early, at Westminster/Harbor in Santa Ana and travel on (or under?) streets.

The first alternative for the southern portion of the route runs on Westminster Ave/17th St.

The two routes go either west on Westminster (17th St.) or south on Harbor to 1st and then west from there. The Westminster route turns south on Main street to connect with the planned streetcar at Santa Ana Blvd. The 1st Street route heads all the way to the SARTC. This route is certainly the better alternative, as it reaches a major transfer point. It will cost more and cross more intersections, but missing the SARTC will be like the Green Line missing LAX and the Norwalk Metrolink Station.

The second alternative runs on 1st St. to connect to the SARTC.

The northern part of the route, from the 105 (Green Line Connection) to Union Station has more routes and is a much harder decision. The total of four routes each follow another existing rail ROW from the 105 Freeway to Gage Avenue on the border of Huntington Park and Bell. The so-called “East Bank” alternative crosses to the eastern side of the LA River with a stop at Soto/Washington and then follows the riverbank and existing tracks to hook into Union Station from the north. The “West Bank” alternatives 1 and 2 also follow the LA River and existing tracks to hook into the north side of Union Station, though they do so from the west side of the river.

The “West Bank 3″ alternative is the best in terms of ridership and service area, and it leaves the door open for future connections and extensions. From the Gage Ave. stop, it has a stop in Huntington Park and Vernon and then goes into Downtown Los Angeles, with a stop at 7th/Alameda. The American Apparel headquarters and many other manufacturers and distribution centers are located nearby this intersection, a major Downtown job center. It’s also walking distance to some of the Arts District eateries, including Church & State, Tony’s Saloon, and Villains Tavern. From here, the line would head north on Alameda, connecting to the Gold Line tracks somewhere in Little Tokyo and sharing those tracks into Union Station.

The four alternates for the northern section of the line. Click for a larger image. Or, you can see a higher quality PDF here.

The key for making this alternative work is connecting to the Gold Line tracks in Little Tokyo. It seems as though the Alternatives Analysis for this project has not taken into account the Regional Connector project that Metro is already planning in this area — even though this will certainly add some difficulties. Operationally, the “Orange Line” would not add a third line to any of the tracks, but it would require a new junction to come right near the planned Junction of the Gold Line and Regional Connector in Little Tokyo. It seems this connection would best be made just north of where the current Little Tokyo Gold Line Station sits (this station will move across the street and go underground as part of the Regional Connector project). It would help to have a Little Tokyo Station for this line on Alameda, immediately next to the Regional Connector Station, to provide nearby transfers and access to Little Tokyo, though I’m not sure if this will prove practical or not.

Potential future stations in Little Tokyo. You can see the underground Regional Connector Station with the Gold and Blue lines, and a nearby transfer station for the new Orange Line. The Orange Line station may also be located where the current Little Tokyo Station is, but that could interfere with the Gold Line exiting its underground tunnel.

Once the connection to the Gold Line tracks is made, this route will travel into Union Station, where it will theoretically end.

Possible Extensions

The beauty of the West Bank 3 alternative is that it enters Union Station on the only existing pass-through tracks, those for the Gold Line, which makes future extensions possible. Rather simply, trains don’t have to stop at Union Station. They can continue north from Union Station on the Gold Line into Pasadena and beyond. The tracks can handle the extra frequency because the Gold Line at this point will already be limited by the frequency of trains able to travel through the Regional Connector. This is a great way to provide increased local service between Pasadena and LA, while also extending this line and the one-seat-ride opportunities.

If I had it my way, however, the line would split from the Gold in Chinatown to become a Glendale-bound line (that also conveniently connects to Dodger Stadium). It would head through Glendale and Burbank to North Hollywood, connecting to the current Metro Orange Line, which would then be upgraded to light rail for a continuous journey. In the end, maybe they weren’t mistaken when they called this line the “Orange Line.”

For a Google Map showing this whole route of an extended Orange Line (you’ll see it in orange), go here. Just know, this map is my speculative dream for the system and is under constant revision and change as various projects are studied.

I’m sitting on the Expo Line, literally zooming past cars on the street (and they’re not even in traffic) as I write this. I rode the length of the line on Saturday during the grand opening, but even more significantly, I rode it on the first workday Monday morning to my office in Culver City. Today is my first day riding the return trip from work.

There were cars in this photo when I clicked the button, but by the time the iPhone’s shutter snapped, we had already flown by them. They were moving quickly too.

To be honest, I was slightly surprised at how many people were on it Monday morning. Of course, it wasn’t full like the other lines during rush hour, but the number of people on my train did seem to rival the other lines during off-peak hours. For the first real day of service, that seems like a major success. The numbers will always grow.

The trip to La Cienega/Jefferson was so quick I didn’t get to finish nearly as much reading as I’d hoped. Barely a short block from the station is the start of the Ballona Creek Bike Path, which I swear was built long ago but in anticipation of my office moving from Downtown to Culver City and then the Expo Line being built. It practically connects the station directly to my office and provides a quick, easy, away from the danger of cars bike connection. Even with the transfers from the Red Line to the Expo Line to my bike, I still made it to work faster than taking the 733 bus (which is a convenient, one-seat ride from my home to office) and was the first person in the office by a long shot.

On the return trip, which I’m still in the middle of, I’ve already noticed a few things that need work, though. It was much more difficult to get from Ballona Creek to the station than it is to get from the station to the creek. There was no bike lane, path, or even directional signage that I could see. It’s imperative that this connection be more fully integrated, especially because La Cienega is currently the end of the line and will continue to be a major bike connection point even when it’s no longer the terminus. For my part, I had to ride on the sidewalks and against traffic to get to the station.

Speaking of bikes… There’s already a wait list for bike lockers at the station, and they haven’t even given out the keys yet. Time to add more — they only started with eight. And on the train… There was no spot for bikes. Metro has made room on most light rail trains in the center of the cars by turning the seats sideways. Not yet on this one. (This is a problem with the specific, individual train car I happened to be in, but necessarily with the Expo Line itself.) Good thing it’s not too crowded and I’m not in the first car, because the only place for my bike was in the entry way and blocking the cab door.

The only space for a bike in the train was on the ends of the car, in the entryway and blocking the cab door. This particular train did not have room in the center, where seats would normally be turned sideways for extra space.

I’ve spent a couple of minutes sitting at red lights (which I didn’t experience or didn’t notice on the westbound trip). The signals need to be timed better for trains and they need to have signal priority, because if you’re going to sit at a red light, you’re also going to lose the savings you’ve made. Regardless, I made it to USC only about 20 minutes after boarding. Not bad.

The trip from USC to downtown took longer than it should have too. I didn’t so much notice being stopped at red lights, but simply moving incredibly slow, staying at the stations for an extra long time, tentatively lurching forward inch by inch, and then sitting at Washington Blvd. for about four minutes. As I write this, we’re now holding at the Pico station for “a few minutes” too.

All in all, the simple fact that the Expo Line exists is a wonderful victory. For me personally, it’s great because it connects where I work and where I live, as I’m sure it does for many others too, but also because it connects USC (whose men’s volleyball team is playing in the NCAA Final Four at the Expo-adjacent Galen Center tonight [Thursday], Fight On!), the Coliseum, and the cultural and science centers of Expo Park to the ever-expanding transit system. There are still, however, improvements to be made. Fortunately, these improvements are things that can still be done, and with a little work the experience can be made nearly perfect.

Maybe it was just my experience on these particular days at these particular times, but it seems as if almost all of the shortcomings are far more apparent when traveling in the easterly direction — from the bike connections to the travel time and waiting time — while the westbound trip was smooth, fast, and easy (exactly like it should be!). The total time of my trip including my bike and Red Line connections was about 12 minutes longer heading towards Downtown.  Is it just me or has anyone else felt the same?

[Update: It's now the next morning and we've sat for just as long, if not longer next to LA Trade Tech on the westbound trip. Over five minutes already. Not sure why, as trains have passed us in the other direction, and we've already made it through the Blue Line junction. They've really got to figure out the signals on the Flower St. stretch of track between USC and Downtown -- everyone on the train is verbally complaining about the cars, busses, and bikes that are passing us. The total trip from 7th Street to USC on Expo took about a half hour just itself.

Also, I found the bike path connecting the station with the Ballona Creek. It's on the south side of the station, the southwest corner of La Cinenega/Jefferson, and is denoted by a single sign. This morning, however, it was unusable, as there were three Metro service trucks parked on the bike path, taking up its entire width.]

[Update 2: Turns out there were specific delays and signal system issues on Flower this morning. I missed the Metro alert before I got on the train. This morning's experience should not be a normal one, even though signals do need to be improved.]

The bike path between the La Cienega/Jeffterson Metro station and Ballona Creek Bike Path. This morning, it was completely blocked by 3 service trucks (one seen in this picture, two ahead of it).

Most of what I write on this blog, even the more technical posts, are really all about connecting people as a means to improve Los Angeles. By better connecting people, enabling them to move between neighborhoods quickly and easily,and interact with local businesses and each other, I think there is a better chance to right many of the wrongs in the city.

Whether it’s a pedestrian plaza that brings commuters from Union Station to local businesses, a Metro Rail connection to bring tourists and businessmen from LAX to Downtown, or a new rail line that connects to some of the city’s major cultural, educational, and business institutions, my writings on this blog are mainly focused on improving connections in the city. Similarly, events like CicLAvia, film screenings in historic theatres, and ideas about improving parks and education all contribute to the lives of the people in this city…

At the end of the day, however, a city is about much more than buildings, parks, and trains. A city is about people. It’s the people in a city who truly make the identity of that place.

I’m encouraged greatly by the city-focused ministry of Reality LA. Last weekend, the message was specifically about the city, with particular focus on the city of Los Angeles. It’s not often (or ever, other than here) that you hear William Fulton’s The Reluctant Metropolis quoted in church. It’s more often a book reserved for discussion on urban planning blogs and master’s theses. I was probably one of the few people who had ever even heard of it. And yet, Fulton’s points about Los Angeles’s development as short-sighted, separated, and segregated make a great spiritual metaphor.

It’s my hope that by working rather with an eternal, connected, and integrated view for Los Angeles, I can help to create a better city physically, economically, spiritually, relationally, and in many other ways: a city that serves as a reflection of the city to come.

I encourage you to listen to this message, as it deeply relates to working in and for a better city in all of these ways.

The current view walking out of Union Station, with the entry plaza directly ahead blocked by chain and stanchions.

Currently, there is a small plaza leading directly up to Union Station’s main entrance, with some memorial plaques and other pedestrian oriented designs. The problem is, the crosswalks crossing Alameda don’t lead to this plaza, they cross parallel on both sides of it due to Los Angeles Street splitting in two around this entryway as is comes into and out of the station. When you exit the front of the station, you’re actually blocked from crossing onto what is supposed to be an entry plaza by a chain and stanchions, forcing you to go around it.

To better serve pedestrians, this small entry plaza should directly connect the front doors of the station with the Plaza at el Pueblo.

The best way to do this is by consolidating Los Angeles St. to the south (where the current vehicle entry is) and moving the vehicle exit to the north side of the timed parking lot, next to Mozaic Apartments. The current vehicle exit from Union Station and the northern side of Los Angeles St. will be transformed into a straight pedestrian entry plaza that extends from Union Station’s doors, across Alameda Street, up to the entrance of Olvera Street.

An overview of my proposed changes to the Union Station Entrance. A large pedestrian entry plaza, consolidated Los Angeles St., and new vehicle exit lanes.

Not only will this improve the pedestrian connection to the station, but it will also improve car flow within the station.

Few cars actually exit the station and drive straight onto Los Angeles St. (I’ve watched the intersection often), most are turning left or right on Alameda and would not be affected by moving the exit slightly north.

Currently, the passenger pickup area is to the north of the main entrance, meaning cars that are picking up passengers have to pull in to the station and turn left to get the to the pickup area. To exit back onto Alameda, they then have to make a U-turn and come back towards the main entrance where they can then turn right to get to Alameda. With the vehicular exit moved north, they can simply turn left once entering the station to get to the passenger pickup area, and then turn left again to get out of the station and back go Alameda. The vehicles exiting to Cesar Chavez would not be affected at all.

LEFT: Current traffic flow at Union Station. RIGHT: Traffic flow with my proposed changes. Red is vehicles and green is pedestrians. (CLICK FOR LARGER)

For cars wanting to travel south on Los Angeles, a single lane would be preserved going away from the station at Alameda. It would be located where the current island is, while the island would be shifted north. This would allow cars traveling south on Alameda to turn right onto Los Angeles. When Los Angeles St. curves, the single lane would split into two in order to match the current configuration.

The only part of this that I don’t think works better than the current configuration would be the vehicle entry. Once vehicles enter and have to make the left turn at the station’s front doors, there would only be space for one car to stop in front of the pedestrian crosswalk. Currently, however, there are only two car lengths, at most. While the change will not improve this space, it will not make it necessarily worse either.

In all, adjusting the vehicular and pedestrian entrance and exit at Union Station will have a transforming effect on the way the station fits into the community around it, both as the area stands today and as it is planned in the future.

A basic rendering of my proposed changes. Of course, it would ultimately be designed and built much better than this, with plants, benches, plaques, and other pedestrian-friendly amenities.

[UPDATE: It does appear at least some of the firms proposing their 2050 vision for the area have thought about the same thing. While they're not specific plans, they're great to look at. If you haven't checked out the vision boards online, do so at The Source.]