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September 1, 2008
Orange Line Sours for Some
San Fernando Business Journal writer Jason Schaff is a fan of the Orange Line, but with the gas prices and higher ridership, the "Valley's Shortcut" is no longer that desirable he says. "At the end of summer 2008 the buses are crowded all hours of the day. I will go to the office sometimes at 7 a.m. – they’re crowded. I’ll come home sometimes at 8 p.m. or later – they’re crowded. I stand up half the time. And the buses seem to be getting slower. It’s supposed to take 45 minutes to cross the Valley on the Orange Line. It’s five minutes longer than that many times. That may not seem like much, but if I’m spending 50 minutes traveling I might as well be in my car and in control." Metro told him that they are in "catch-up mode" since they weren't expecting this "balloon" in ridership.
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Wow, so conditions are just like most cities where people actually use public transit. Shocking.
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Yeah in most metropolitan areas where the general population takes advantage of public transit it's most always standing room only. Get used to it or learn to swipe a seat as soon as it becomes available. It's an art really.
But taking 50 minutes to cross the valley from Woodland Hills to Noho does seem like too much. I bet most of these delays are due to new riders having fumbling around when they have to pay the driver their fare for the first time. BTW 7 am isn't early at all and 8 pm isn't late either.
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The problem with BRT is that it doesn't have the capacity. They'll be able to add busses, but unless they sacrifice the flow of vehicular traffic at the crossings, they're going to end up running slower.
Any at-grade mass transit system has a similar problem, but it's especially bad with BRT.
You get what you pay for, but hey, it's overall GOOD news.
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Nope, no delays to collect fares. I don't believe the Orange Line buses have fareboxes.
The reason the buses are so slow, is that the North-South streets have priority and the buses must stop every 1/4 to 1/2 mile for Red Lights and even when Green, they go through intersections at 10 miles per hour, as motorists are unable to understand the concept of Red Lights and frequently blow through the Red Lights and for a while, would hit the buses many times per week.
Fares are collected preboarding, just like a rail line. If you get off the Orange Line and don't have proof of payment, you can get a huge fine.
If the Orange Line was Light Rail, it would run 29 minutes end-to-end, but buses are much slower and the Orange Line buses are somewhat underpowered. Zero to 50 is almost impossible as you always have to slow for a red light.
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Jeez, Jason is a big whiner. How long will take people in California to change their car mindset?
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time for plans for a subway?