CommentsGETTING THERE FROM HERE--For those with any understanding of the politics and psychology of transportation--and this November's half-cent sales tax measure for more transportation/transit, it's not hard to connect the success of the Expo Line with the success of the "Measure R-2" initiative.
And for my neighbors in the San Gabriel Valley, ditto for the Foothill Gold Line. So, while everyone is (rightfully so) in the Expo Line celebratory mode:
1) Ridership must be high even when it's not free, and it should be done as a common sense mobility effort, not as a civic duty.
To those of you reading this who envision transit ridership as a civic or even theological imperative, this may bother you to read this, but whether it's Chicago or San Francisco or Washington, D.C. or New York, transit ridership is ultimately a common sense/self-interested/capitalistic attraction to those who use it. It should be a no-brainer to avoid mind-boggling traffic, and THAT is the best way to promote ridership.
Sunday afternoon after a fun backpacking trip in the San Gabriel Mountains, the I-10 freeway was still an ugly and infuriating 40 minute trip from Downtown to the Westside, so the lengthy Expo Line transit time is still quite competitive with the freeway and/or streets of the Westside and Mid-City.
It will please you all to know that the LADOT, Big Blue Bus and Uber/Lyft industries are very much aware of the need for connectivity--and help is on the way. It certainly WILL be a trial and error experience with respect to buses and DASH line connections...but it should be remembered that the Green Line, which "goes from nowhere to nowhere", still has one of the highest riderships of any transit line in the nation because of bus and Blue Line connectivity.
With more businesses and housing projects moving next to the Expo Line stations as a free market strategy (it's amazing what human ingenuity and self-interest will do outside of government interference and dictates), it's certain that the Expo Line will reach high ridership levels faster than anyone can predict. Even the Westside neighborhoods that fought the Expo Line are seeing home prices go up, according to my friends in the real estate biz.
And I will NEVER back down from this last statement: to the women who want to ride transit, speak up!!! If the County Sheriffs have an insufficient presence, then raise the cry. If nighttime businesses and eyes/ears next to the transit station are so rare that certain stations pose a safety problem, speak up!!! But if we have enough riders to ride this train, then this will be a safe and convenient ride for ALL of us.
2) What IS your civic duty if you're a transit advocate: Speak up for betterments!
It's not Metro's fault that the City of Santa Monica rejected the advice of the Expo Authority to have a street-running Expo Line in Downtown Santa Monica, and it's not Metro's fault that the local opposition in the Westside rejected a compromise rail bridge at Overland Avenue (it HAD to be a $300 million tunnel or nothing...so they got nothing after all their lawsuits), so the length of the ride can't be helped much in the Westside.
But the Westside trip is fairly speedy. It's the Downtown Los Angeles street running portion of the Expo Line that can be worked on. It's incumbent on us all to fight for signal prioritization for trains to make the Downtown portion of the ride faster--or, for that matter, anywhere on any portion of any line where light rail trains run. The rail crossing guards should not be overly long (drivers have rights, too), but trains should have priority at crossings.
And with respect to parking, it's NOT inappropriate to both encourage alternative, non-automobile access to the Expo and other light rail lines, as well as to demand the private sector come up with parking, bicycle, bus and pedestrian amenities to access the line. Bundy/Olympic, Exposition/Sepulveda, and Venice/Robertson are ripe for such private sector sponsorship. If Culver City can do it, then so can Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
Finally, with respect to sidewalks, it's time the rest of the City's grassroots consider following the lead of the Mar Vista Community Council: we REJECTED the 30 year timeline the City came up with to repair our City's sidewalks. Forget THAT nonsense--we favor a 7-10 year timeline. Perhaps the City should prioritize the sidewalks within 1/2 mile of each of our rail/transit stations!
3) Be a Transit Advocate, not a Transit Bully.
After fighting the car-only culture for years, it's not appropriate to be those who demonize automobiles and their taxpaying, commuting, hard-working drivers.
It would be doggone nice for all of us to be able to avoid using a car to get to work, but that doesn't always work out. Ditto for groceries, dropping the kids off to soccer practice, etc. I hardly could have gone backpacking last weekend in the San Gabriel Mountains via a bus, could I?
So be kind--some of the things I hear freak me out, and have no business in a civilized conversation with your neighbors. If you have a problem with white people, black people, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, etc. then put a sock in it...especially if you want a favorable vote come this November for a half-cent sales tax to finish the job of a 21st Century transit system for L.A. County.
The Expo Line was meant to bring us all together. Be FOR something. Let's DO this!
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.) Photo credit: LA Times.
-cw
Here’s How to Drive Up Transit Line Ridership … EXPOnentially
