From: jeremy@classic.asd.sgi.com (Jeremy Higdon)
Newsgroups: ba.transportation,la.general,oc.general
Subject: Re: I hate "Rapid" Transit District (RTD)
Keywords: slugbut
Date: 6 Jan 93 04:32:05 GMT
Distribution: ca
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.  Mountain View, CA

In article <1993Jan5.102755.15262@netcom.com>, johnwu@netcom.com (John M. Wu) writes:
> [This is cross-posted to ba.transportation in the event
> transportation people in the Bay Area have used mass transit in
> Southern California in the past.]
> 
>      I'm a student from UC Berkeley currently vacationing in
> Southern California.  I've been realatively pleased with the Bay
> Area mass transit system but I am very disappointed with L.A.
> County's mass transit system.  In the Bay Area, I would use AC
> Transit/BART.  In LA, I would use my car. 
> 
>      Why?
> 
> Los Angeles
> 
> 1 - 1:10 by bus, <0:35 by car - WAY TOO SLOW.  A bus can't beat a
> car but let's be reasonable.  I don't want to spend double the
> time to get to where I want to go.

This isn't too bad.  Unless you start and end your trip at a
rapid transit stop (bus or rail) you are looking at about
double the time or worse for taking transit, particularly
if the car gets to use freeways.

> 2 - have to get out of Downtown by 7pm or else take a taxi or
> walk 30-40 minutes in the dark.  The line closest to my house
> ends at 7:30pm.  Poor area coverage.

Much of LA has marginal transit.  This is a money problem.

> 3 - Monthly Base Card (no express) = $52.  Express 1 = $66. 
> Express 2 = $80.  I am a student but not while I'm in L.A.
> High prices stems from the politics between Foothill and RTD.

RTD also has a very high farebox recovery ratio.

> 4 - a bus system that does the below and earns my hatred doesn't
> deserve my money.
> 
> Bay Area
> 
> 1 - I can use AC transit letter lines to get to SF or use AC/Bart
> to SF quickly and use express lines to get to places south of
> Oakland quickly or use BART.
> 2 - Berkeley AC Transit lines run late enough.  Line 40 is 24
> hours.  Coverage in the East Bay is excellent. 
> 3 - Base Card for non students is $40.  Bart Plus $44.  Students
> $95/semester.
> 
> Why I hate RTD/LACTC
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 1)  If Blue Line is going to be the future of rail in Los
> Angeles, upper middle class people in their respective
> neighborhoods won't ride their derivatives.  It has too many
> stops.  Realistically, it takes slightly more than an hour to go
> from Downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach.  RTD needs to cater to
> long distance commuters or else LA freeways will pay dearly.
> The classic dumb stop:  There is a stop 0.1 miles before the
> Transit Mall on the Blue Line in Long Beach. 

This is a problem with light rail lines in general.  They are not
very fast.  At night, RTD route 60 is about as fast as the blue line.
Similarly, in Portland, Ore., route 4 is about as fast as MAX.  During
the day, however, the rail lines are quicker, since they don't get
stuck in traffic.

> 2)  RTD caters mainly to low income minorities,  the people who
> can't afford to buy and maintain an automobile.  A couple of
> years ago, RTD had an ad campaign that said  "I used to ride with
> Sancho Panza.  Now I ride with RTD." or something similiar. 
> First of all, this is racist.  Secondly, this will do very little
> to reduce freeway congestion.  Let's have a little more ethnic
> and economic diversity on mass transit in LA.  I give
> RTD/LACTC/etc. an F- as far as encouraging mass transit in LA for
> the last 20 years.  AND YES, I BELIEVE RTD/LACTC GETS THE MAIN
> BURDEN FOR FAILING TO GET PEOPLE TO USE MASS TRANSIT!!!  LA
> people have good reasons not to ride buses.  I do too.  Therfore
> I shall use my car.

RTD/LACTC is playing with the hand it was dealt, and it wasn't a
very good one.  Remember, they don't have the arbitrary authority
to subsidize lines as much as they want.  I'm sure they'd like
nothing more than to run all their lines at 15 minute intervals
until midnight, but they don't have the money.

> 3)  RTD bus coverage in low income areas is good to excellent
> while wealthier areas get poor coverage.   This is an extenstion
> of #2.  Of course, a large source of our traffic congestion comes
> from areas with poor coverage.
>
> 4)  Until LA county has a real rail system that you don't have to
> pay sky high to ride (eg. Metrolink), RTD and Foothill need to
> establish express lines that serves 2 or 3 communities and then
> dash onto the freeway to Downtown.  Car pool lanes are absolutely
> mandatory for these lines to work.  These lines exist in several
> communities but towns like Walnut are left out.  

Once again, I'm sure RTD would love to have carpool lanes, but
they don't have the authority to put them in.

> 5)  Have limited stop versions of popular lines or have new
> express lines shadow them.  Line 2 is a noteworthy slug from UCLA
> to downtown.  Line 484 from Ontario Airport to Downtown LA is
> another.  I don't want to spend three hours to go from SG valley
> to Santa Monica beaches when a car can do it in one.

The Wilshire lines have limited stop versions.  They go very
close to UCLA.  Also, try Santa Monica 10 from downtown LA.
It runs on I-10 to Santa Monica.

> 6) Create carpool lanes on the 210, 60, etc. so carpools and
> buses can be rewarded.  If freeways can't be widened, then take
> it away from one of the existing lanes.  IMHO, widening freeways
> is not a good answer to LA's traffic problems.  RTD got the El
> Monte busway, why not do it again for Diamond Bar or Pomona?
> 
> 7) Put more money into keeping buses grafitti free.  Nobody likes
> to look at aesthetic endeavors by taggers on the RTD.  Also, I'd
> like to be able to see through the windows so I know where I am. 
> RTD spends only $2 million on removing grafitti.  Makes riding
> RTD seem like riding in a gang zone.  No wonder people feel
> unsafe on those buses.  See point #9.  
> 
> 8) A friend who decided to attend Spring Semester at college
> after staying out Fall Semester got their RTD College Application
> denied because "This is a Fall Base Card from Sept. to March. 
> You will have to wait until after March to apply."  Sorry, but
> Spring semester starts in January for some schools.
> 
> 8.5) A student taxpayer in LA county applied for an RTD college
> pass to go to CSU Fullerton (in Orange County) on line 490 and
> got denied because CSUF is not in LA county.  Well, FYI, RTD line
> 490 goes right next to CSUF.
> 
> Both students plan to write nasty letters to RTD.  The policy
> maker for this should be fired!  

RTD lines that run in Orange County are contracted for by OCTD.

> 9) Hire more RTD transit police.  I've yet to see one in action
> on my occasional bus trips over the years.  I've seen knives and
> guns drawn before.  Also cuts down on rampant fare cheating.

Most of your complaints are best directed at the political arena.
Who is in charge of them now that RTD and the LACTC have merged?
You might try a letter to whomever the elected representatives
are.  Send suggestions on carpool lanes to county supervisors,
city councilmen, state legislators, etc.  I would direct the
grafitti complaints and limited stop bus suggestions to RTD, though.

> 
> ---
> 
> Besides ranting on RTD, Metrolink deserves its own share.  Who
> wants to pay $170/mo. when it's cheaper by car and doesn't run on
> restricted hours.  Right now, each rider is paying only $5.50 for
> the $55.00 it costs to transport each person currently riding
> Metrolink.  Who wants to invest in mass transit that returns only
> 10%?  Decrease the prices!!!!  Then Metrolink may actually get
> more riders.   I admire their public outreach programs in
> December like free Metrolink rides during a Saturday before
> Christmas but it still costs way too much even if I do get into
> Downtown faster than the 10 Freeway.

If the prices go down, ridership probably will not go up enough
to make up for lost revenue.  There is a lot of empirical evidence
that fare increases do actually get more revenue, even though
ridership may drop.  Transit demand is relatively inelastic.

> ---
> 
> I encourage comments and especially criticism about what I have
> said.  I need opinions on what I've said in case I made any rash 
> judgements.

Cut poor old RTD some slack.  I'm sure they have their problems
(they are a large government entity, after all :-), but they do
a lot of things better than other transit agencies.

jeremy
Newsgroups: ba.transportation