K Line opened its first phase on October 10th

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by vincenze

There were FlyAway buses to Hollywood, Orange County, Long Beach, etc.
They were canceled during Covid as people didn't want to use them.

The People Mover will connect LAX to 2 subway lines and a bus center.

I think the buses being cancelled during the pandemic probably had more to do with the fact that LAX was virtually shut down at that time, rather than people not wanting to ride the buses. Nobody needed to ride busses to an empty airport terminal.

[archmagus]

This is cool. But what I don't understand is why North American cities use light rail where it does make sense! (over huge distances that should be heavy rail)

[BOORGONG]

Originally Posted by archmagus

This is cool. But what I don't understand is why North American cities use light rail where it does make sense! (over huge distances that should be heavy rail)

Well there is always the problem of expropriations that are probably more substantial when applied to heavy rail infrastructure. In Montreal's case, the new REM, similar to Vancouver’s skytrain was transformed from an old heavy commuter rail to light electric over one third of the length of it. The focus was on the electric vs diesel part, and the driverless part, too.

Mind you, only the South Shore spur is rolling, and there are delays for the other parts of the system, namely the airport train line which had a difficult tunnel build episode.

The main line under Mount Royal had an old tunnel that had to be rebuilt because of damage done by water/salt over a hundred years. In Montreal's case, I can’t assure you that a light rail scheme will run faster than a similar run driving home, but there are a lot of bridges to cross here because the central city is in a large island, and the largest suburb is on an island and suburbs past it, also cross bridges that are often bottlenecked at rush hour.

In LA's case, you can’t complain of car traffic if transit exists that takes you to work and back without the usual delays. Of course the milk run slows down the motion but very few trains in existence are express. NYC is probably the only system that runs them in North America.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Off topic from the K Line but still on the subject of LA rail, Metrolink really needs to add a walk up station on the Antelope Valley Line near the LA RV Resort in Soledad Canyon. That is the junction point for the Pacific Crest Trail. I can guarantee them they would get hundreds, if not thousands of PCT thru hikers who would ride the train into town to get resupplies. I could also see it possibly becoming popular with people in LA who could ride the train up there to day hike up to Vasquez Rocks and other popular hiking destinations in that area. As well as people from the RV Resort who might want to ride the train into LA for tourism purposes.

To minimize inconvenience to commuters they could probably just have mid-day and weekend trains stop there. The station could be patterned after the highly successful Appalachian Trail Station on the New York City Metro North Railroad. It would never be the busiest Metrolink station, but all extra riders who they wouldn't get otherwise.

The Appalachian Trail Station.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwEmjd2Hu3g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBWjcb_Py2c

[CA4Now]

Mayor Karen Bass ordered a “surge” of law enforcement inside the region’s hundreds of buses and miles of subway system, saying Metro riders don’t feel safe after a spate of violent attacks that have roiled an agency already struggling to improve safety and increase ridership.

The move by Bass, who heads the board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, marks a significant departure for the agency, which opted not to beef up law enforcement’s presence to reduce drug use, crime and disruptive behavior. Critics are coming from all sides. Some say the move is too little too late; others call the tactic doomed to fail and say it will only criminalize people who have drug addictions, serious mental illness and no housing.

“The spike in violent crime on Metro that we have recently seen against operators and riders has been absolutely unacceptable,” Bass said. “We wanted to act immediately because we understand that our No. 1 job is for Angelenos across L.A. County to feel safe.”

There are roughly 600 uniformed officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Long Beach Police Department patrolling the system, said Robert Gummer, who oversees security for Metro. There are also 200 transit security officers. It’s unclear how Metro will pay for an increase in daily deployment and whether that will mean hiring more Metro staff or contracting for more police shifts.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...-16/mayor-bass

[BGS91762]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Mayor Karen Bass ordered a “surge” of law enforcement inside the region’s hundreds of buses and miles of subway system, saying Metro riders don’t feel safe after a spate of violent attacks that have roiled an agency already struggling to improve safety and increase ridership.

The move by Bass, who heads the board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, marks a significant departure for the agency, which opted not to beef up law enforcement’s presence to reduce drug use, crime and disruptive behavior. Critics are coming from all sides. Some say the move is too little too late; others call the tactic doomed to fail and say it will only criminalize people who have drug addictions, serious mental illness and no housing.

“The spike in violent crime on Metro that we have recently seen against operators and riders has been absolutely unacceptable,” Bass said. “We wanted to act immediately because we understand that our No. 1 job is for Angelenos across L.A. County to feel safe.”

There are roughly 600 uniformed officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Long Beach Police Department patrolling the system, said Robert Gummer, who oversees security for Metro. There are also 200 transit security officers. It’s unclear how Metro will pay for an increase in daily deployment and whether that will mean hiring more Metro staff or contracting for more police shifts.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...-16/mayor-bass

I ride the metro weekly. Instead of increasing numbers of law enforcement I recommend they start riding trains and buses instead of standing around outside of stations in groups of 4-6 officers. I see it almost every time and it infuriates me.

[Cloudy Dayz]

Originally Posted by BGS91762

I ride the metro weekly. Instead of increasing numbers of law enforcement I recommend they start riding trains and buses instead of standing around outside of stations in groups of 4-6 officers. I see it almost every time and it infuriates me.

That's what cops do. Stand around and do nothing. But for some reason that makes people feel safe, so people pay them big money to do nothing.

In New York not only do they have cops standing around doing nothing but they also have National Guardsmen standing around doing nothing. Are the guardsmen trained in law enforcement? Nope, but that doesn't matter. Seeing an army guy with a gun makes people feel safe so they stand there doing nothing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z1KVPEtR6o

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by BGS91762

I ride the metro weekly. Instead of increasing numbers of law enforcement I recommend they start riding trains and buses instead of standing around outside of stations in groups of 4-6 officers.

Exactly.

A dead man was slumped over on a bench at Metro’s San Pedro Street station in February. For nearly six hours, nobody checked his condition, including five Los Angeles Police Department officers who had been patrolling the platform. It took a transit ambassador doing a welfare check to see the man had died, said former Metro security chief Gina Osborn.

“They weren’t even paying attention,” she said. “They weren’t engaged enough to see that there was a human hunched over.”

Osborn, a former FBI agent, knows because she and her staff had access cameras set up around the system and over her two years at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority increasingly used them to oversee law enforcement patrols. Her conclusion: They aren’t doing enough.

The security issues surrounding Metro have only grown over the last month after a string of stabbings and two killings on the system. Metro is slated to spend $195 million on law enforcement in the next fiscal year, a figure that continues to rise as the agency is exploring the development of its own police department.

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...man-at-station

[BGS91762]

Last February I was at 7th and Metro and noticed two guys smoking crack on the train platform. When one tried to light up whatever they use there was a small explosion. I immediately looked for law enforcement but nobody was there as usual. I then went up to the street level and saw 4 LAPD officers discussing the upcoming Super Bowl. I told the officers what I had just witnessed and they just stared at me. They then proceeded to go back to discussing the Super Bowl. I pretty much gave up after that…..

[NORTY FLATZ]

Originally Posted by BGS91762

Last February I was at 7th and Metro and noticed two guys smoking crack on the train platform. When one tried to light up whatever they use there was a small explosion. I immediately looked for law enforcement but nobody was there as usual. I then went up to the street level and saw 4 LAPD officers discussing the upcoming Super Bowl. I told the officers what I had just witnessed and they just stared at me. They then proceeded to go back to discussing the Super Bowl. I pretty much gave up after that…..

THEY have to witness it, not you. For all they know, you might be baiting them into a full auto ambush. Sad but true...