Who Says LA’s Not a Football/Transit Town?

September 6, 2012 Leave a comment

When I think of the great things that have happened in my world so far this year, there are a few that immediately come to mind… Aside from getting engaged (which obviously tops the list), it’s hard not to recognize the greatness of the Metro Expo Line opening and the USC football season starting.

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.

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The Secrets of Metro Rail Operations

July 25, 2012 4 Comments

Last night, I went to the meeting of the Transit Coalition at Metro’s Headquarters. It was being billed as a place to “learn the secrets of metro rail,” and while I don’t know how much of this was secret, it was incredibly informative.

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.

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