Title:

Date: Wednesday January 18, 11:37 pm

 

In May 2011, I listed all of the Metrolink stations by Walk Score . In this post, I’ll do the same with Metro Rail stations (including the Orange and Silver Line busways). Since Metro will open the Expo Line (from LA to Culver City) and the Chatsworth extension of the Orange Line sometime in 2012, I added those stations to the list as well.

To recap, this is how Walk Score rates stations (or other neighborhoods):

90–100 Walker’s Paradise — Daily errands do not require a car.
70–89 Very Walkable — Most errands can be accomplished on foot.
50–69 Somewhat Walkable — Some amenities within walking distance.
25–49 Car-Dependent — A few amenities within walking distance.
0–24 Car-Dependent — Almost all errands require a car.

With the same caveats as my prior article, let’s take a look at the stations with the top 10 Walk Scores.

Top 10 Walk Scores
(tie)

  • Pershing Square (Red/Purple, no parking, Walk Score 100)
  • Memorial Park (Gold Line, no parking, Walk Score 100)

(tie)

  • Hollywood/Highland (Red Line, no parking, Walk Score 98)
  • Wilshire/Western (Purple Line, no parking, Walk Score 98)

(tie)

  • Wilshire/Vermont (Red/Purple Line, no parking, Walk Score 97)

(tie)

  • Vermont/Sunset (Red Line, no parking, Walk Score 95)
  • North Hollywood (Red Line, 803 spaces, Walk Score 95)
  • Wilshire/Normandie (Purple Line, no parking, Walk Score 95)
  • Del Mar (Gold Line, 290 spaces, Walk Score 95)
  • Figueroa/Olympic (Silver Line, no parking, Walk Score 95)
  • 3rd/Grand or Olive (Silver Line, no parking, Walk Score 95)

(tie)

  • Hollywood/Vine (Red Line, no parking, Walk Score 94)
  • 7th/Metro (Red/Purple Blue Lines, no parking, Walk Score 94)
  • Mission (Gold Line, 118 spaces, Walk Score 94)
  • 5th/Fig or Grand (Silver Line, no parking, Walk Score 94)
  • Jefferson/USC (Expo Line, no parking Walk Score 94)

(tie)

  • Long Beach Transit Mall (Blue Line, no parking, Walk Score 92)
  • Vermont/Santa Monica (Red Line, no parking, Walk Score 92)
  • Little Tokyo/Arts District (Gold Line, no parking, Walk Score 92)
  • 1st/Spring (Silver Line, no parking, Walk Score 92)

(tie)

  • Pico (Blue Line, no parking, Walk Score 91)
  • Figueroa/Adams (Silver Line, no parking, Walk Score 91)
  • Figueroa/Pico (Silver Line, no parking, Walk Score 91))
  • 23rd St (Expo Line, no parking, Walk Score 91)

(tie)

  • Civic Center (Red/Purple/Silver Lines, no parking, Walk Score 89)
  • Hollywood/Western (Red Line, no parking, Walk Score 89)
  • Expo Park/USC (Expo Line, no parking, Walk Score 89)
  • Culver City (Expo Line, ???? spaces, Walk Score 89)
  • Westlake/MacArthur Park (Red/Purple Lines, no parking, Walk Score 88)

Honorable Mention:

  • Union Station (Red, Gold Lines, paid parking only, Walk Score 83)

(tie)

  • Chinatown (Gold Line, no parking,Walk Score 80)
  • Soto (Gold Line-Walk Score 80)
  • Fillmore (Gold Line, Walk Score 75)

(tie)

  • Willow (Blue Line-Walk Score 74)
  • Florence (Blue Line-Walk Score 74)

Bottom 10

(tie)

  • Wardlow (Blue Line, 82 spaces, Walk Score 57)
  • Norwalk (Green Line, 2050 spaces, Walk Score 57)
  • Vermont (Green Line, 155 spaces, Walk Score 57)
  • Woodman (Orange Line, no parking, Walk Score 57)
  • Tampa (Orange Line, no parking, Walk Score 57)
  • Mariposa (Green Line, no parking, Walk Score 55)

 

(tie)

  • El Segundo (Green Line, 90 spaces, Walk Score 54)
    Expo/Western (Expo Line, no parking, Walk Score 54)
    Artesia Transit Center (Silver Line, xxx spaces, Walk Score 54)
    Pierce College (Orange Line, no parking, Walk Score 54)
    Artesia (Blue Line, 292 spaces, Walk Score 54)

 

  • Imperial/Wilmington “Rosa Parks” (Blue/Green Line, 975 spaces, Walk Score 52)
    Balboa (Orange Line, 270 spaces, Walk Score 52)

 

  • Vernon (Blue Line, no parking, Walk Score 51)
  • Lakewood (Green Line, 545 spaces, Walk Score 49)
  • Aviation/LAX (Green Line, 405 parking spaces, Walk Score 45)

(tie)

  • Del Amo (Blue Line, 391 parking spaces, Walk Score 40)
    I-105/I-110 (Green/Silver Line, 253 parking spaces, Walk Score 40)

Avalon (Green Line, 158 parking spaces, Walk Score 34)

Average Walk Score for each line:

  • Purple Line: 93
    Red Line: 91
    Expo Line (LA-Culver City): 81
    Silver Line: 79
    Gold Line: 78
    Orange Line (including extension to Chatsworth): 70
    Blue Line: 69
    Green Line: 57

Systemwide average Walk Score: 75. Not too bad.

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Title:

Date: Sunday December 4, 3:08 pm

A new job and the holidays have kept me quite busy lately, but rest assured, I have some interesting articles planned for the next few weeks and into the next year.

Meanwhile, enjoy this video of a Metrolink express train barreling through Montclair….
Metrolink Express thru Montclair

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Title:

Date: Tuesday September 6, 11:36 pm

The Big Blue BreakthroughMap of Rapid 7 extension

In the early morning hours of August 29, 2011, a bus pulled up to the intersection of Wilshire and Western, loaded a few passengers, and continued on its route.

But this was not one of Metro’s orange Local or red Rapid buses. Nor was it a LADOT DASH shuttle. Instead, this was one of Santa Monica’s Big Blue buses, for the first time operating on surface streets east of the Pico/Rimpau transit center (not counting Santa Monica’s #10 Express to Downtown via the freeway).

Appreciation of the historic significance of this route extension requires a discussion of the history of the Pico/Rimpau transit center, the Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines (“Big Blue Bus”) and of transit in West Los Angeles in general.

Do You Know The Way to Santa Monica?

From the late 1800′s onward, passenger transportation between Santa Monica and Los Angeles was provided by a variety of rail lines which became the Pacific Electric. In 1924, PE started a busroute along Pico Boulevard between Santa Monica and its Vineyard depot, near the intersection of Venice and San Vicente.

Additional rail service west of Downtown Los Angeles was provided by Los Angeles Railway. LARY operated streetcar routes on Pico Bl, Washington Bl, 3rd St, etc. These terminated at or just short of La Brea Avenue.

Dissatisfied with PE’s service and fares, the City of Santa Monica began running its own bus service along Pico Bl. on April 14, 1928. Santa Monica’s bus line used the same route as PE’s, except it terminated at Rimpau St. At Rimpau, passengers could board LARY’s “P” streetcar line to Downtown LA. The combination of Santa Monica’s bus and the LARY streetcar offered a lower fare than PE did between Santa Monica and LA. PE resented the competition, there was nothing they could do about it, since municipal bus services were not constrained by the same Railroad Commission regulations as private companies were. So PE discontinued its Pico Bl line, leaving the market to Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines.

Birth of the Pico/Rimpau Terminal

The SMMBL buses layed over off-street in a leased lot at Muirfield Road. This facility, which was also used by Bay Cities Transit buses, was inadequate; buses and boarding passengers often blocked the nearby sidewalk. (Bay Cities Transit, another bus company serving Santa Monica and West Los Angeles, was acquired by Santa Monica Municipal Bus in 1951.)

In mid-1934, the owner of the Muirfield lot announced plans to erect a building on the property. No longer would it be available for use as a bus depot. The transit agencies, along with the City of Los Angeles scrambled to find an alternative. By March 1935, construction began on a transfer facility, just south of Pico at Rimpau Bl. This terminal provided off-street loading areas for both streetcars and buses. The new terminal opened for service in April.

Reaching Beyond Rimpau

Although the new terminal made transferring between bus and streetcar much easier, some people in Santa Monica demanded a direct, one-seat bus service into Downtown Los Angeles. Although PE provided such services over their rail network, many in Santa Monica considered PE’s fares too high. They believed that Santa Monica’s municipal bus could provide a better service at a lower fare.

In October 1935, the City of Santa Monica applied for a permit with the City of Los Angeles to operate a proposed bus route via Wilshire, Santa Monica, Burton Way, Alpine to 3rd St through Beverly Hills and Los Angeles into Downtown. Fares for the entire trip would be 20 cents one way, 35 cents round trip. Santa Monica planned to cover the entire route in slightly under an hour.

LARY operated its “R” streetcar on 3rd St, between Downtown Los Angeles and La Brea Avenue. LARY, along with PE, vehemently protested against Santa Monica’s proposed bus route. Since Santa Monica planned to provide local service along the entire length of its proposed new route, PE and LARY worried that they would lose business to the new line, and perhaps even be foreced to cut service.

Another issue was that the Santa Monica line, as part of a government agency, would pay no franchise fees or taxes as the private companies (such as LARY and PE) were required to. The rail operators also questioned whether Santa Monica could run the line in as short a time as 55 minutes. A City of Los Angeles traffic engineer strongly advised against allowing more buses into the Downtown area, as it was already choked with auto and streetcar traffic.

Testimony, both for and against the Santa Monica line, before the Los Angeles Board of Public Utilities and Transportation went on for five days. Finally, in March 1936, the City of Los Angeles rejected Santa Monica’s application, in favor of a competing proposal by the rail operators to offer shuttle bus service between the La Brea streetcar terminal and Beverly Hills. Santa Monica mulled suing Los Angeles, but decided it had other issues to deal with at the time.

Santa Monica tried again in 1955 to provide direct service to Downtown LA. This time the bus line planned to extend its Pico Bl. route (#7) eastward from the Pico/Rimpau terminal via Rimpau and Olympic into Downtown. Unlike the 1935 proposal, this would be an express service, stopping only at major transfer points to discharge passengers on eastbound trips, and to board passengers going westbound.

Again the streetcar company (now Los Angeles Transit Lines) and PE’s replacement Metropolitan Coach Lines, which operated bus service along Olympic Bl, protested, claiming that the proposed Santa Monica bus route would cause them to lose money. The Los Angeles City Council, concerned about losing franchise fees paid by the two private operators if Santa Monica started operations east of Rimpau, also voiced its opposition.

On May 29, 1956, the LA BPUT voted aganist allowing Santa Monica Bus to serve Downtown LA. Santa Monica officials considered operating the service without LA City permission, claiming their right to do so under the California State Constitution, but did not push the matter further. The eastern limit of the Santa Monica bus system remained at Pico/Rimpau.

In 1971, the passage of the Transportation Devlopment Act (TDA) codified the areas in which each municipal bus company, including Santa Monica’s, covered; service could not be extended outside of its so-called “reserved service area” without permission from any other affected transit agency. During the mid-1970s, LA’s dominant transit agency, now RTD, reconfigured its services throughout the region into a grid pattern. But Santa Monica still held the rights to Pico west of Rimpau, and RTD’s Pico route (#30/31) ended at the Pico/Rimpau terminal just as its forerunner, the LARY’s “P” streetcar, did. RTD and Santa Monica did trade a few operating rights, most notably RTD’s acquiring local rights along Wilshire west of Westwood in exchange for Santa Monica getting exclusive coverage of Lincoln Boulevard between Santa Monica and LAX.

Blue Diamond Express
A major service change came in March 1976 with the opening of the “Diamond Lane,” a carpool lane on the Santa Monica Freeway. Santa Monica implemented a new Line #10, otherwise known as the “Blue Diamond Express,” along the freeway between Santa Monica and Los Angeles. While the Diamond Lanes proved politically unpopular and were removed within a few months, the express bus service remained and continues to be one of Santa Monica’s most popular bus routes.

Under New Management

Big changes were in store for the Big Blue Bus with the retirement of Jack Hutchinson and the appointment of John Catoe as General Manager in 1992. Since the early 1960s, Hutchinson had run the Santa Monica bus system efficiently but conservatively, and rarely considered route modifications or other changes to the system. With Catoe at the helm, Santa Monica’s bus service planners began to look at ways to modify the system to bring in new ridership.

A few years later, several transit advocates (including the author) presented some service change suggestions at a Big Blue Bus public hearing. Included was a proposal to extend several SMMBL routes, including the Pico route (#7), from Pico/Rimpau to the Wilshire/Western Metro Red (now Purple) Line station. In effect, Wilshire/Western would become the “new” Pico/Rimpau terminal. Although the advocates’ comments were welcomed, it was not until the mid-2000s when Santa Monica seriously began considering extending the route to Wilshire/Western. LACMTA resisted the expansion, which would have duplicated several of its own routes on Crenshaw and Wilshire Blvds.

Midtown Crossing

In 2006, the extensive redevelopment of a shopping center near the Pico/Rimpau terminal required that the bus transfer facilty be moved to the south side of the center, near San Vicente Bl. The relocation did not change the basic function of the Pico/Rimpau terminal: it was still the place where Santa Monica and LACMTA (“Metro”) exchanged passengers.

In August 2008, Big Blue Bus started their “Rapid 7″ service, using limited stops and signal preemption to provide a faster trip between Santa Monica and the Pico/Rimpau terminal. The Pico/Rimpau transfer point was becoming more and more crowded, as it was served by both local and Rapid #7 buses, other Big Blue Bus routes and Metro buses.

Breakthrough!

Finally in late 2010 or early 2011, Metro relented, and allowed the Big Blue Bus to extend its Rapid 7 to the Wilshire/Western Metro station. As part of the deal, Santa Monica agreed not to handle local passengers west east of Pico/Rimpau. But this restriction could not take away from the fact that the “Rimpau Curtain” had finally been broken after all these decades.

As more and more transit users become aware of the new connection, ridership on the extended Rapid 7 will only increase. Once Big Blue Bus starts accepting the TAP card (a universal transit pass) the ridership will increase even more.

Sources:

California Railroad Commission Decision #13841 (July 1924 – establishes PE bus service on Pico Bl.)

Ayer, Bob. History of Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus.

Minutes of the Board of Public Utilities and Transportation (Los Angeles) 1935, 1936

“Proposed Bus Route On File.” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, October 3, 1935.

“Board Rejects City Bus Line Extension Plea.” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, March 4,1936

“SM Buses Get OK For LA Run.” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, Feb 28, 1956

“SM Bus Line to LA Meets New Protests.” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, Mar 19, 1956

“SM to Seek OK on Bus Line May 29.” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, May 16, 1956

“SM Bus Extension Rejected.” Santa Monica Evening Outlook, May 29, 1956

TDA (Transportation Development Act). Sacramento: California Department of Transportation, p. 67

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/MassTrans/Docs-Pdfs/STIP/TDA7-15-2011.pdf

SMMBL Short Range Transit Plans: 2005-2007, 2006-2008, 2007-2009

“New Pico/Rimpau Transit Center Opens.” Metro News, February 2006, p. 2

(http://www.metro.net/news_info/publications/images/metronews_2006_02_eng.pdf)

http://transittalk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=muni&action=display&thread=465

(discussion on LACMTA’s reluctance to allow SMMBL access to Wilshire/Western)

“Big Blue Bus starts ‘Rapid 7′ service on Pico Blvd. Corridor” Argonaut, August 28, 2008.

http://www.argonautnewspaper.com/articles/2008/08/28/news_-_features/santa_monica/s5.txt

 

“SMC Students to Get Free Ride.” Santa Monica Lookout, April 18, 2008

http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2008/April-2008/04_18_08_SMC_Students_to_Get_Free_Ride.htm

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Title:

Date: Sunday July 31, 12:33 pm

Last September,  took a trip along the under-construction Expo Line, between Downtown LA and Culver City.

Now there are test trains running, but up until about a week ago, the trains ran along the Exposition Bl. segment of the route, where I rarely go anymore.

Last week, however, I started seeing Expo Line cars (similar to the Gold Line vehicles) on Flower St,  just south of the junction at Washington Bl.

Enjoy the pictures, and I hope to see the Expo Line cars testing at 7th/Metro Station real soon….

 

Looking south on Flower, two Expo Line trains in distance

Along Flower headed south. One set of three cars and one set of two cars

Looking northward along Flower. Downtown in background

Looking northward on Flower towards Washington (and Downtown). A Blue Line Train can be seen in the background.

 

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Title:

Date: Monday July 25, 10:47 pm

The Transit Gods both giveth and taketh away, nowadays. It was just a few months ago when transit fans were excited over the possibility of an all-transit trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

But now another classic all-transit trip is threatened. The connection between the Orange County Transit Agency and the North County Transit District may go away, due to budgetary and other issues.

Currently, OCTA and NCTD meet in southern San Clemente, at the Orange-San Diego County border. OCTA route #1 continues via Pacific Coast Highway to Long Beach, while #191 is a local circulator through San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and Mission Viejo. NCTD #395 (formerly #305) connects San Clemente and Oceanside via the Camp Pendleton Marine Base.

But the magic is in the connection between OCTD/OCTA and NCTD at Carls Jr restaurant at the southern tip of Orange County. For a few dollars (much less than Greyhound or Amtrak fares), people could take a cheap (but lengthy) trip between San Diego and Los Angeles by transferring from bus to bus to bus…

 

Camp Pendleton and its Transit Service

The United States Marine Corps acquired 122,798 acres of a former Mexican Rancho and built Camp Pendleton in 1942. As Los Angeles and Orange County developed, San Diegans began to consider the Marine base a buffer between their county and the urban sprawl of the counties to the north.

In 1946, Greyhound agent Ray Campbell began a taxi service between the San Clemente bus station and northern Camp Pendleton. As ridership increase, the taxis gave way to buses. Ray named his bus company  “San Clemente Stage Lines” and operated two routes: one linking San Clemente with Camps San Mateo, Christanitos and Talega via the San Mateo Gate, the other serving San Onofre and Horno through the San Onofre Gate. In 1967, Community Enterprises (same company that owned several local transit lines in Orange County) acquired the system. Service operated from 4 pm to 2 am on weekdays; 8 am to 3:30 am on weekends. At some point [mid-1970s?], Pinetree Service Corporation bought the operation and operated yellow buses (school buses?) on the routes.

Meanwhile, in the mid-1970s, the Orange County Transit District implemented a network of bus lines throughout the county. One line in particular (#1) connected all of the communities along Pacific Coast Highway, from San Clemente to Long Beach. In northern San Diego County, the local transit systems in Oceanside and Escondido were merged to form the North County Transit District. NCTD ran a bus (#305) between Oceanside and the southern portion of Camp Pendleton. Connections between NCTD and the Yellow Bus were possible. But the infrequent Yellow Bus service, plus the need to pay an additional fare, made transferring between the two services inconvenient.

As early as 1984, NCTD discussed taking over the Yellow Bus service and operating one continuous line between Oceanside and San Clemente. In mid-1985,  NCTD did just that; a year later, the agency added limited weekday daytime service.

 

Riding the Base Bus

Although the Marines and their visitors were the primary users of the NCTD route, other passengers used it to transfer to the OCTD in San Clemente and continue on into Los Angeles.  These souls included VA patients needing to visit the Veterans’ Administration hospital in Long Beach, homeless and transients going from San Diego shelters to ones in Los Angeles, the occasional bus fan or transit advocacy group, and folks who simply wanted to do something different on a day off. Contrary to some people’s fears, illegal aliens rarely used the buses serving Camp Pendleton. The ID checks and other screenings on the bus as it entered the base undoubtedly deterred them.

 

The Threat to Transit

When NCTD took over the Yellow Bus, the agency hoped that the resulting San Clemente-Oceanside route would be a moneymaker. Instead it ended up being a high subsidy route, costing at least $5-7 per passenger. Large deployments of Marines (such as to the Persian Gulf) caused ridership to dip dangerously low. But public support for the military kept the buses running.

The 2008 closure of the San Clemente Greyhound station, combined with limited Amtrak service, diminished San Clemente’s importance as an access point for long-distance transportation. The Marines preferred to ride the bus to Oceanside and its frequent Amtrak and Greyhound service..

Recently, Camp Pendleton began to close its northernmost gate (Christanitos) in the early evening. Night trips on #395 detour via the San Onofre gate and onto I-5, adding nine miles (one way) to the trip. The longer distance also discouraged ridership to San Clemente on the night trips. In 2011, NCTD cut back the number of daytime trips to San Clemente and eliminated night service north of Camp San Mateo, forcing passengers to ride back to Oceanside to make their connections.

Also in 2011, OCTA, facing budgetary problems of its own, is considering removing all fixed-route service south of the San Clemente Metrolink station. Although OCTA proposes alternatives such as dial-a-ride, most area bus riders consider such services more inconvenient than fixed route buses. Eliminating the service to the NCTD transfer point will certainly make those inexpensive San Diego-Los Angeles trips much more difficult.

 

Sources:

Southern California Association of Governments. Transit Development Program.
(contains histories of bus routes up to 1971)

Shaffer, Ralph E. “To Tijuana, Via RTD, the OCTD, the NCTD.” Los Angeles Times, Mar 4, 1979.

“San Clemente Stage Lines Granted Increase in Fares.” Los Angeles Times, September 28, 1989

Sherman, Lola. “Bus -service plan revived despite Marines’ concerns.” San Diego Evening Tribune, October 18, 198

Sherman, Lola. “Orange County bus tie sought.” San Diego Evening Tribune, December 14, 1984

Ray, Nancy. “Door-to-door Van Service to Replace Bus in Fallbrook.” Los Angeles Times, Apr 12, 1985

“Bus routes.” San Diego Union, June 4, 1985

Western Transit, June 1986 (Weekday daytime service on NCTD #305)

Manson, Bill. “Buses Took 9 ½ Hours, but He Got There Cheap.” Los Angeles Times (San Diego County Edition), Jan 25, 1987.

Manson, Bill. “You Can Get Here From There…and for Only $1.85.” Los Angeles Times, April 6, 1992

Western Transit, March 2002 (NCTD #305 replaced by #395, with some route modifications)

Swegles, Fred . ”A road less traveled: the $2 tour of scenic Camp Pendleton.” Orange County Register, December 31, 2007

Nichols, Chris. “Sparsely used bus routes on chopping block.” North County Times, July 12, 2010

OCTA Transit System Study. February 2011 http://www.octa.net/TransitSurvey/Default.aspx

Swegles, Fred. “San Clemente may lose nearly all OCTA bus service.” Orange County Register, July 15, 2011

Swegles, Fred. “San Clemente wants to preserve bus service.“ Orange County Register, July 20, 2011

 

 

 

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Title:

Date: Monday July 18, 11:33 pm

As “Carmageddon” (the closure of I-405 in the Sepulveda Pass) fades into history for the next eleven months, let us now discuss the history of bus services between West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley

Between the Westside and the Valley – Before the I-405

Before there was a road in the Sepulveda Pass, travelers in Santa Monica or West Los Angeles who wished to get to the San Fernando Valley had to take a circuitous route via one of the other mountain passes. The Cahuenga Pass, which had both roads and rail, was the most likely choice; other passageways included Laurel Canyon, Beverly Glen and Topanga Canyon.

Between 1929 and 1934, Bay Cities Transit (a forerunner to Santa Monica’s Blue Bus) operated a bus route through the mountains via Beverly Glen Bl. Sepulveda Bl. through the Pass opened in 1935; by mid-1936, Lomita-based Motor Coach Company extended its Long Beach-Santa Monica route via Sepulveda Bl. through the Pass and into Van Nuys and San Fernando. Motor Coach was absorbed by Greyhound in 1940; the Santa Monica-San Fernando portion of the route was abandoned sometime in the mid-50s.

I-405

Over time, Sepulveda Bl. clogged with traffic. More lanes (at least in the opinion of highway engineers) were desperately needed. Construction began on the portion of I-405 (San Diego Freeway) through the Sepulveda Pass in 1960; by 1962, the freeway opened to traffic. However, transit bus service through the Pass was still a few years away.

RTD’s Freeway Flyer

In May 1967, RTD implemented new Line #88. This service started in the center of the San Fernando Valley at Van Nuys Bl. and Sherman Way, continuing south along Van Nuys to Ventura Bl, then onto I-405 to UCLA and Westwood. Service operated Monday through Saturday.

#88 was extended further south along I-405 to Westchester, using Sepulveda to LAX, in November 1968. To “protect” the Culver City #3 along Sepulveda Blvd, there were boarding/alighting restrictions on #88; these were removed in August 1973.

1976 brought a number of improvements to #88. RTD added Sunday service in January, service to the Fox Hills Mall in May, and a substantial realignment at LAX in June. #88 (along with 12 other RTD routes) were kicked out of the LAX terminal loop and ended at 88th/Vicksburg. An RTD-operated shuttle (#206) connected these lines to the airport terminals. SCRTD extended #560 northward to Lakeview Terrace in January 1977, replacing former line #157.

In 1983’s “Great Renumbering,” #88 became #560. 1984 was the year that LAX’s City Bus Center at 98th St near Sepulveda opened, and all transit buses were routed into the new facility. LAX shuttle buses replaced RTD’s #206 airport terminal shuttle service.

Imperial Terminal service

Imperial Terminal, south of LAX’s main terminals, was mostly for freight and charters, although a few scheduled services such as MGM Grand Air also used it. #88/560 served Imperial Terminal between 1981 and 1987. This was mostly late at night when other buses serving Imperial Terminal provided little service.

Out of One, Two

In 1995, bus service in the San Fernando Valley underwent an extensive restructuring. #560 was replaced by two new lines. #233 operated local service along the Van Nuys Bl-Lakewood Terrace route, while #561 followed the #560 route from LAX and Westwood via I-405 to Ventura Bl. Then served limited stops along Van Nuys Bl between Ventura Bl. and San Fernando Road. Then, #561 operated along San Fernando Road to the Sylmar Metrolink station. Late at night, when neither limited stop service on Van Nuys Bl nor additional service to Sylmar was warranted, #561 through-routed with #233 at Ventura Bl. When the Metro Green Line opened in August, #561 was extended to serve the Aviation/I-105 station. Similarly, the opening of the new Getty Museum along the I-405 in 1996 was cause for rerouting the #561 to serve that facility, although the reroute put more bus travel along Sepulveda Bl, and off the freeway.

Traffic continued to worsen on I-405, causing buses to run slower and later. It was not uncommon for a passenger aboard a #561 stuck in traffic to see a Culver City #6 zooming by on Sepulveda Bl. Therefore, in 2003, when LACMTA reconfigured #561 into Rapid Bus #761, the service south of Westwood was dropped. MTA hoped that Culver City would soon operate a rapid bus along Sepulveda Bl, replacing this portion of #561. Culver City did implement a Rapid—in January 2010.

Due to a construction (freeway widening) project in 2005 LACMTA moved the northbound #761 off the freeway and onto Sepulveda Bl. This detour became permanent in 2006.

Other services

Flyaway buses between Van Nuys Airport and LAX have been operating since the mid 1970s. An additional Flyaway route from Westwood operated briefly in the 1980s, and was reinstated in the early 2000s.

In the 1970s, 80s and early 90s, private buspools used the I-405 to connect commuters living in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita or Antelope Valleys with aerospace plants in El Segundo and Orange County.

LADOT Commuter Express started operating two new routes in 1993. #573 runs from the San Fernando Valley (Balboa Ave) to Westwood and Century City. #574 uses a similar route in the Valley, but ends in El Segundo.

After the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, transit agencies in Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley started providing service along the I-405 corridor to the San Fernando Valley, Westwood and El Segundo. Many (but not all) of these services survived to the present day.

 

Sources:

Anton, Mike. “405 Freeway’s path tells a story of near-constant change.” Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2011

http://map.ais.ucla.edu/go/1004537 (Culver City Rapid)

“Bus Service Franchise is Applied For” Van Nuys News, August 23, 1929 (Bay Cities Transit service from West Los Angeles to Van Nuys via Beverly Glen)

“Taps for University Buses” Van Nuys News, July 16, 1934

“Approve Bus Line, Valley to Beaches” Van Nuys News, June 18, 1936

Husing, Jim. “Greyhound’s Santa Monica-Long Beach Commute Service.” NorCal Express, Winter 2010.

“New Motor Coach Line Operating” Van Nuys News, July 16, 1936

http://www.transit-insider.org/ (history of bus service in San Fernando Valley)

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Date: Tuesday May 10, 7:50 am

Due to a software bug, some comments did not get through. Please try posting them again. Thanks for your continued interest in More Than Red Cars!

 

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Title:

Date: Wednesday May 4, 5:41 am

In a discussion on the Transport Politic blog, “Chris” wrote on April 25, 2011, in part

 

“[…]Unfortunately, unlike in New York, Metrolink usually decides to place their stations in the middle of nowhere instead of in populated areas for the ease of providing parking.”

 

Is this true? Are Metrolink stations deliberately located where there is nothing within walking distance?

 

Using data from the Metrolink website, I made an Excel spreadsheet containing the name of each station, which of the six Metrolink lines it serves, which county it is in, the number of parking spaces, and its “Walk Score” number. More on that in a moment.

 

Excluded from this analysis are the following

 

  • Los Angeles Union Station. It is primarily a destination and transfer point for the vast majority of Metrolink riders. (As more people reside in Downtown Los Angeles, it may take on a future role as an originating station…)
  • San Clemente Pier. Served only by a couple of weekend trains
  • Los Angeles County Fairgrounds and California Speedway: Served only a few days per year.

 

With these exclusions, the total number of Metrolink stations (as of 5/1/2011) is 54. Many of these stations are shared between two or more Metrolink lines. For example, both the Glendale and Burbank stations are served by both the Ventura County Line and the Antelope Valley Line.

 

Parking

Since the vast majority of Metrolink passengers drive to the station and park, nearly all stations have parking available. I obtained parking lot figures from the Metrolink station web pages. Two stations (San Clemente and Norwalk-Santa Fe Springs) did not give the number of spaces: I obtained numbers for those stations from newspaper articles.

 

The total number of parking spaces at all 54 Metrolink stations is 21,629; the average number of parking spots per station is 401. The two stations without any dedicated Metrolink parking at all are Burbank Airport (not counting the airport’s own parking lots) and Cal State Los Angeles (again, not counting campus parking). Burbank Airport and Cal State are meant as destination stations anyway.

 

The station with the largest parking lot (most number of spaces) is Montclair, at 1600 spaces. Irvine is #2 (1500 spaces) and Industry is #3 (1000 spaces). Montclair and Irvine are major bus transit hubs as well as Metrolink stops.

 

Walking

To return to the original question: Are Metrolink stations “out in the middle of nowhere?” Although I could check Google Maps for businesses and services within walking distance of each station, I instead chose to take advantage of Walk Score, which tries to determine the walkability of a given address by counting how many destinations (shops, restaurants, bars, schools, parks, etc..) are within walking distance. Certain road configurations (such as block length) are also taken into account in calculating the neighborhood’s score. Walk Scores, ranging between 0 and 100, indicate how easy it is to perform various errands in a neighborhood by walking:

 

90–100 Walker’s Paradise — Daily errands do not require a car.

70–89 Very Walkable — Most errands can be accomplished on foot.

50–69 Somewhat Walkable — Some amenities within walking distance.

25–49 Car-Dependent — A few amenities within walking distance.

0–24 Car-Dependent — Almost all errands require a car.

 

Walk Score is not perfect: its scores are based on where one can walk to various shops and services, not necessarily on whether one would like to walk or even should walk. See http://www.walkscore.com/how-it-doesnt-work.shtml for a list of limitations. For example, the Orange and Chatsworth Metrolink stations both get a Walk Score of 80. I’ve been to both: the area around the Orange station is very walkable; leaving the Chatsworth station on foot requires a long walk from the platform to the street, then (most likely) a   walk across busy Devonshire Blvd, then perhaps a traipse through a parking lot to get anywhere….

 

The systemwide average Walk Score for all 54 stations is 66 (“Somewhat Walkable”) 31 stations, or 57% of all stations, have a Walk Score of 66 or higher. Only 14 stations (26 %) have a Walk Score of 50 or lower (“Car Dependent.”)

 

There was no correlation between parking lot size and Walk Score (see the graph in the spreadsheet).

 

Here are the stations with the top ten Walk Scores:

[Note: I will make links to the associated Walk Score pages in the near future. -CPH]

 

Claremont (400 spaces, Walk Score 98)

When Walk Score says that downtown Claremont is a “Walker’s Paradise,” they mean it. All sorts of shops, restaurants, banks, public services (post office, library) and the Claremont Colleges too. Need to get away? Grab a Foothill #480 to Pomona or West Covina, or #187 or #690 to Pasadena….

 

San Juan Capistrano (103 spaces, Walk Score 97)

Even if the swallows are not around, there is plenty that is reachable with a short walk from the station.

 

Fullerton (510 spaces, Walk Score 95)

From the platform you are just steps away from downtown Fullerton, with its choices of restaurants, bars and other entertainment.

 

Oxnard (75 spaces, Walk Score 94)

Again, a station right smack dab downtown. Too bad Metrolink doesn’t offer any reverse commute or midday service there…

 

Newhall (150 spaces, Walk Score 89)

This is “Old Town Santa Clarita,” so to speak. While most of Santa Clarita is typical suburban, Newhall is very accessible via foot. The Newhall Metrolink station is also a bus hub for the local Santa Clarita Transit buses.

 

Oceanside (450 spaces, Walk Score 89)

If you like your walkable neighborhood with a military touch, this is the station for you. The station itself is a veritable beehive, with four rail services (Amtrak, Metrolink, Coaster and Sprinter) and a major transfer point for NCTD buses.

 

Pomona Downtown (300 spaces, Walk Score 88)

Once bleak and neglected, Downtown Pomona now sports several restaurants, nightclubs, and the ever-expanding Western University. The real problem is that Metrolink only runs commuter service to Downtown Pomona, so carless visitors will most likely have to use Foothill Transit’s Silver Streak to get here. The elevators and walkway over the tracks is a bit spooky, especially at night, but your other alternative, should you need to cross the tracks, is to walk all the way to the street. And look out—freight trains are frequent, and do not blow their horns through here!

 

Burbank (450 spaces, Walk Score 86)

You have to take an elevator from the station to the street, then walk over a freeway (better than under, in my opinion), but once you do, however, you will find yourself in a very walkable neighborhood indeed.

 

Covina (874 spaces, Walk Score 86)

A happening neighborhood is just a short walk south of the station, give or take a few car dealerships along the way….

 

Fontana (300 spaces, Walk Score 86)

A goodly number of shops and restaurants within walking distance. Also a bus hub for trips farther afield, such as to the Kaiser Medical Center (12 blocks south of the station) Nearby (senior?) apartments are also a good sign that the area near Fontana Metrolink should stay walkable for a long time to come…

 

Honorable mentions go to Upland (170 spaces, Walk Score 82) and Orange (225 spaces, Walk Score 80).

 

Now the bottom ten:

 

Riverside-La Sierra (350 spaces, Walk Score 46)

This station is near Kaiser Hospital and the Castle Park amusement park, but it is stuck behind the Riverside Fwy (SR-91), necessitating a long walk.

 

Industry (1000 spaces, Walk Score 45)

There may be shuttles to nearby workplaces….

 

Buena Park (300 spaces, Walk Score 45)

On Dale Street in the middle of a residential neighborhood. If Metrolink could have put the station at/near Beach Blvd. instead, the Walk Score would be at least in the low 60s…

 

Rancho Cucamonga (960 spaces, Walk Score 42)

Actually, not all that bad if you work at one of the nearby office parks, and there is even housing (apartment complexes) nearby. And the Ontario Mills Mall in all its glory is only a 20-30 minute walk away (I’ve done it…)

 

North Pomona (225 spaces, Walk Score 40)

The platform is some distance from Garey Ave. and its bus stops. And once you get there, what do you find? Mostly car repair shops and a burger joint or two. If you don’t need to park here, I suggest you stay on the train until Claremont.

 

Pedley (285 spaces, Walk Score 40)

Actually, there’s a cluster of shops (mostly fast food in a strip mall) 1/3 of a mile south, at Limonite and Van Buren. But Van Buren is like a little freeway here, with fast traffic…

 

West Corona (540 spaces, Walk Score 38)

Hey, what do you expect of a station whose address is “155 Auto Center Drive?”

 

East Ontario (650 spaces, Walk Score 29)

It’s just a place to park. The nearest transit service is nearly ½ mile away on Haven, and runs once an hour. Airplanes from nearby Ontario Airport buzz in and out, but if you think you’re going to use this station to catch a plane, think again.

 

Santa Clarita (350 spaces,Walk Score 18)

This was the first Santa Clarita station, opened when Metrolink started service in October 1992. It was (and is) still well served by local buses, but there is nothing nearby. Visitors to Santa Clarita should probably get off at Newhall, then take a bus from there if needed.

 

Vincent Grade/Acton (414 spaces, Walk Score 0-yes, zero)

This station is so far out in the country, people using it probably expect hitching posts for horses in the parking lot….

 

Sources:

Metrolink Station Guides (http://www.metrolinktrains.com/stations/)

Walk Score (http://www.walkscore.com)

Adler, Arnold. “Norwalk Hikes Parking Fee; SFS Expands Metrolink Lot.” Los Angeles Wave, Jan 27, 2011.

Hall, Len. “San Clemente: North Beach Metrolink Station Near Completion.” Los Angeles Times, Feb 1, 1995.

 

 

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Title:

Date: Monday May 2, 12:12 am

I belong to an online writers’ critique group known as the Internet Writers’ Workshop. We discuss subjects related to the craft and business of writing, and critique each other’s writing projects. If you are the least bit interested in any kind of writing, I highly recommend the IWW.

Any time one of our members gets their work published or reviewed, no matter how small, it is a big event in the IWW. We call such an occurrence a “Yahoo,” and congratulate the lucky person.

Well, on March 11, I posted a small comment on Metrolink’s upcoming express service on

my comment on front page of Metrolink Matters

my comment on Metrolink's Facebook page

their Facebook page. I thought nothing more of it until I saw the April-May Metrolink Matters. Right on the front cover was my comment!

Not quite a book contract, but….ya gotta start somewhere!

Now back to my policy analysis spreadsheet…

 

Tags: ,,,,,,
 

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Title:

Date: Monday April 18, 11:15 pm

Since the mid 1910s, agricultural interests in California’s Imperial Valley had proposed a 220-mile highway stretching from Calexico to Los Angeles. 1930 saw the start of construction on this so-called “Imperial Highway,” a new road through southern Los Angeles County, northern Orange County, through the Santa Ana River Canyon into Riverside County, then southeasterly into San Diego and Imperial Counties via the old “Butterfield” stage coach route.  The Los Angeles County section opened in 1932; the last bit of paving in San Diego County was completed in 1961. However, only the portion between El Segundo and Yorba Linda kept the name “Imperial Highway,” and this portion will be the subject of this transit history article.

During the 1920s and 1930s, transit service in south Los Angeles County was relatively sparse and designed to carry passengers to and from the central city. Crosstown service (bus routes running along east-west streets) was uncommon, especially in the southern part of the county.

The first bus service to serve a major portion of Imperial Highway was the “Cross Town Bus Lines,” started in 1945 by Lynwood businessman Dean Carson and his sons David and James.  Cross Town started with a short line along Imperial Highway within the city of Lynwood. Two years later, Cross Town extended the route westward to Hawthorne. After a merger with Compton-based Southern Cities Transit in 1954, Cross Town extended the route southward along Wilmington Avenue to Compton, forming a roughly “L”-shaped route. Upon acquisition of Cross Town by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (LAMTA) in 1961, this route was numbered #115.

#115, as was the Cross Town service prior to the SCRTD takeover, ran infrequently, about once an hour. Most of the cities along Imperial Highway had transitioned from agricultural to low-density suburban by the late 1950s . However, the portion of the highway serving South Central Los Angeles (between Western Ave. and Alameda St.) was more densely populated with low-income, minority residents who were transit-dependent. The infrequently-running #115 was just one of the bus lines in the area that simply did not meet their needs. Indeed, one of the underlying causes of the 1965 Watts Riots was lack of public transportation.

In response for the growing need for public transportation in this area, SCRTD started a new route, #137, along Imperial Highway in November 1968. #137 operated between El Segundo to Norwalk, terminating at the Metropolitan State Hospital at Norwalk Blvd. This new line provided additional access to the aerospace plants in El Segundo, as well as to St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood and Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in Downey. However, #137 also provided only hourly service, and no weekend service at all.

A vast improvement to bus service along Imperial came in 1975 with SCRTD’s “Grid” bus system. Before the Grid was implemented, bus routes usually fanned out from Downtown Los Angeles or suburban city centers (Lynwood, Compton, Hawthorne, etc.) on zigzagging, sometimes complicated, routes. The Grid simplified the bus routes along major streets and made them more frequent (20 minutes or better). Transfers between routes could be made with a minimum of waiting, allowing easy access between any two points on the grid. As part of the Grid, #137 became #836, and was extended from El Segundo, all the way to the Orange County line at Beach Blvd in La Habra. #115’s meandering route to Compton was no longer needed or desired; the route was cancelled in 1977.

Bus service along Imperial flourished under RTD’s Grid system. Not only were frequencies improved, but #836 had its route lengthened in 1979 to Brea Mall. In 1981, #836 was renumbered to #120, under the new route numbers provided in the “Great Renumbering.” The route even had a short-lived extension further eastward to Yorba Linda; it was cut back to Brea Mall around early 1983. Two years later, #120 only served Brea Mall on rush hour trips (otherwise terminating at Beach Blvd).

On the El Segundo end, some #120 trips served LAX’s Imperial Terminal, which was mostly used for cargo and charter air operations, but also for a time served “MGM Grand Air,” a luxury, all-first class airline. In 1987, most #120 trips were rerouted to serve the LAX City Bus Center; trips to Imperial Terminal were at first operated during peak hours only, and then were cut out entirely. All #120 service was cut back to Aviation Green Line Station in mid-2003.

The Century Freeway (I-105), which paralleled Imperial Highway between El Segundo and Norwalk, opened in late 1993. While the freeway itself did not affect the bus service all that much, the Metro Green Line, which opened in mid-1995, changed the game considerably. Many former Route #120 passengers found the Green Line faster and more frequent.

#120 also underwent several changes once the Green Line opened. The bus route, which had up until now extended from El Segundo to Brea, was split into four sections:

· The portion designated #120 now only operated between El Segundo and Wilmington/Imperial station, where the Blue and Green Lines met.

· New route #121 ran along Imperial Highway between Wilmington/Imperial Station and the Norwalk Metrolink station.

· The route east of Norwalk Metrolink station was now covered by new Norwalk Transit #4, which ran from the Norwalk Green Line station (I-105/I-605) to Beach Bl. That meant that #121 and Norwalk #4 overlapped between the Green Line and Metrolink stations in Norwalk, providing frequent service for people transferring between the two rail lines. This practice continued until early 2004, when MTA cut back #121 to the Norwalk Green Line station, leaving Norwalk Transit to perform interstation shuttle duties via its #4 route.

· Service within Orange County (between Beach Blvd. and Brea Mall) was provided by new OCTA #20, which was eventually extended eastward to Yorba Linda.

In late 2006, #121 was extended via Leffingwell Road to Whitwood Center in Whittier, replacing a portion of #111 (Florence Ave).

It is also worth mentioning Line #622, the “I-105 Nightline Shuttle.” #622 was an experimental service designed to replace certain late-night trips on the Metro Green Line. It ran via either Imperial Blvd. or the I-105 freeway along the length of the Green Line, making limited stops at rail stations. #622 operated between June 2005 and June 2007, when it was cancelled due to low ridership.

Sources:

“Trucks Will Link Counties.” Los Angeles Times, December 15, 1918.

“Old Road May Come To Life.” Los Angeles Times, December 1, 1930

“Plane Cuts New Road Tape.” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1932

“State Officials to Open Road.” Los Angeles Times, July 30, 1937

“Final Link Dedicated on Imperial Highway.” Los Angeles Times, December 3, 1961

Bourne, William D. “Cross Town Suburban Bus Lines.” Motor Coach Age, January-March 2007
Jones, Lionel. Los Angeles Bus Line History Book (updated route histories as of 2004)
Southern California Association of Governments. Transit Development Program.
(contains histories of bus routes up to 1971)
“The Consumer and the Commuter.” Violence In The City: An End or a Beginning (Governor’s Commission on the Los Angeles Riots)

“Proposed Changes to Metro Bus Service,” October 19, 2006

“Proposed Modifications to Gateway Cities Bus Lines,” March 8, 2007

Gabbard, Dana. “LAX-Valley Owl Tour.” Transit Advocate, September 2006, p. 6

 

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