Dear Metrolink:

I've been a daily, faithful rider on the Antelope Valley line for nearly two years now. I love me the public transportation. It saves me the grief that I know all those dead-stopped drivers along the 5 freeway are going through each morning.

But here's the deal. You raised my train fare this month. The monthly cost for my pass from Newhall to Union Station went from $187.50 to $193.25. Fortunately, my company subsidizes some of my transportation costs. But in return for the hike, shouldn't your passengers be offered good reliable service? In fact, your chief Roger Snobel said in an LAT op-ed that hikes were the only way to save MTA from a huge operating deficit and that "We simply can't continue business as usual and still provide quality service to our customers."*

On Wednesday and Thursday, the morning rush hour trains along the Antelope Valley line were delayed because of train breakdowns. A key train on Wednesday was cancelled. The others were really late. (I heard from other riders of the same troubles on Tuesday, but I was off early in the week.) This morning, a Ventura line train broke down in Burbank and we were delayed. Again. (Plus, can you do something about that funky, mildewy smell in this morning's train car for my ride home?) Once in awhile, I can see these things happening, but every day? C'mon now.

My boss is understanding, but how many times can I keep giving the excuse my train broke down? So, can I have some money back on my monthly pass that went up this month?

If not, then how about a note for my boss excusing my lateness -- for next week.

Thanks,
Metrolink Rider

*Mea Culpa: Metrolink and Metro (which Roger Snobel heads) are two separate entities. David R. Solow is
Chief Executive Officer of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority. My beef still remains though: For the prices we pay, we should at least get decent service.

If you live in LA, you're probably familiar with the on-ramp traffic lights that limit the number of cars entering a freeway at any given time—usually allowing one or two cars per green depending on the number of lanes. But some people don't notice these bright lights. In fact, twice in the last two months, I've nearly been hit by drivers who apparently failed to see the traffic signal. The first person was in an SUV, and the second was driving a truck.

In the latter instance, which happened today, I knew that the traffic light was on because there was a sign stating as much near the entrance of the on-ramp. There was no one in front of me, but the light was bright red and did not change to green as I drove the length of the ramp. So I began to slow down, and as I was doing so, noticed a big white truck driving up behind me. As I looked in my rear view mirror, I realized that he was actually increasing his speed as I was slowing down for the light.

Once it was clear that he wasn't going to stop, I hit the gas (thus running the red light) and narrowly avoided a collision. Two drivers who had pulled up behind us yelled and honked at him, but it wasn't apparent that he even realized what he'd done despite the cars stopped behind the light.

Ever feel like you're cramped in a bus of 100 people? Imagine a bus where 100 could fit comfortably.

As reported last week, the Orange Line in the Valley got a new bus to play with today. The gigantic 65-foot bus that will be in service for a one year pilot began taking passengers back and forth between the NoHo Arts District and Woodland Hills late this morning.

To alleviate the high usage of the 2-year old transit way (they just recorded their 10 millionth boarding), Metro decided to try out the NABI 65-foot articulated bus specially made for the Metro Orange Line. "The vehicle is the first-of-its-kind, designed exclusively to operate on the Orange Line, and will be the highest capacity articulated compressed natural gas bus now in operation in North America," says Metro.

The extra 5-feet over the usual high capacity buses increases the seated passenger load to 66, a 16 percent increase. Add in standing passengers and you're look at a capacity of 100 people total. Happy riding!

More pictures after the jump.

Today in Column One of the LA Times, Mitchell Landsberg along with Cao Jun examine Shanghai's subway system of five lines and 95 stations that serve 2 million people a day (with six lines scheduled to open in a couple of years). Juxtaposing it to Los Angeles with that fact that construction in Shanghai began four years after LA's Red Line, it makes our city look a bureaucratic embarrassment hung up in NIMBYism and funding issues:

At the risk of only slight oversimplification, the [Shanghai] system works like this: Planners draw subway lines on a map. Party officials approve them. Construction begins. If anything is in the way, it is moved. If they need to, Chinese planners "just move 10,000 people out of the way," said Lee Schipper, a transport planner who has worked with several Chinese cities in his role as director of research for EMBARQ, a Washington-based transportation think tank. "They don't have hearings."

The enjoyable and well-written article sounds like a fantasy for transportation planners and advocates alike and a homeowner's worst nightmare. But in China where the government will openly ban opposition, how much of a fantasy is it?

In an e-mail conversation with LAist's sister site in China, Shanghaiist, contributing writer Micah Sittig, gave some local perspective.

Today brought on two major changes for Sherman Oaks. Some are cheering, some are jeering.

The first is the opening of the 405 on-ramp just south of Valley's busiest intersection of Ventura/Sepulveda at Greenleaf Street. This means no more traveling a couple miles to Burbank Blvd. to get on the 405 North and possibly a tiny bit less congestion.

The second and controversial neighborhood newbie (to some) is the grand opening of Best Buy on Van Nuys Blvd. near the 101 Freeway. Immediate neighbors of the Library Square neighborhood and the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association (SOHA) fought long and hard to keep the big box retailer from causing further gridlock to the already locked up boulevard. They lost and Best Buy is here starting today. At a SOHA meeting last week, Gail Goldberg, the city's Planning Department head, said she was scared after hearing that major traffic mitigations (left turn signals, etc) were not going to be completed by today.

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist

Q: What does an extra 5-feet in length do for bus capacity?
A: 66 seated passengers, a 16 percent increase from the current 60-foot buses giving a total capacity of 100 seated and standing passengers.

This morning, Metro announced via a press release that on Monday, a new demonstration bus will go into service in response to greater than anticipated customer demand. "The vehicle is the first-of-its-kind, designed exclusively to operate on the Orange Line, and will be the highest capacity articulated compressed natural gas bus now in operation in North America." If all goes well after the one-year demonstration period, expect to see these gigantoids popping up more frequently.

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist

This totally made my our last Thursday night. If it were only legal to busk on subways. Or at least in stations. Too bad it's not. He made some handsome pay in the 15 minutes we were with him and the guy "booing" offered to sell us drugs. Then there was the guy who busted out "only in LA" as he danced.

Rock on...

Previous Videos on the Red Line:

- Slice of Life LA: Subway Pole Swinging
- Has the MTA tainted your love of public transit?

If you'll be renting a car anytime soon, take heed: You'll want to keep your final gas receipt or it could end up costing you an extra $10.50.

While waiting for a flight at LAX yesterday, I chatted up an Avis employee who told me that, as of this week, the company is implementing a new gas policy. They now require a receipt upon the return of a rental car as proof that the tank is, indeed, full. She said that they're trying to prevent people from filling up, using up a couple gallons of gas, then returning it with a gas gauge that still reads full even though that's not really the case. According to her, this practice has “cost Avis millions of dollars a year.”

It appears that Avis is following in the footsteps of other rental car companies such as Budget, which implemented a similar policy in 2006. Both Avis and Budget (and others, I'm sure) will charge you a minimum of $10 or so if you don't use their “prepaid gas option” and fail to produce a receipt when you return the car—even if it has a full gas tank.

Selected quotes from another Wilshire gridlocked story in the LA Times ("Signal fixes get the green light" by Ron Gong-Lin II):

Last month, [Councilman Jack] Weiss asked the city Department of Transportation for its master plan and list of top needs, and found out there were none.

"It's municipal malpractice," Weiss said. "We have a strategic plan for other important aspects for our city, but the one most vexing issue, traffic. . . there's no vision statement."

Traffic is real bad folks.

MTA research shows that it can take as long as 19 minutes to drive just one mile of Wilshire near the San Diego Freeway during evening rush hour. MTA analysis has identified numerous Westside intersections where traffic is worsening. Among those at the top of the list: Venice Boulevard and Overland Avenue, Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, and Sunset Boulevard and Chautauqua Boulevard, where traffic has increased 38% since 1999.

Will rush hour bus only lanes on Wilshire Blvd help? Apparently not if you earn a handsome salary.

"You can't take a third of the drivable lanes from people who are already stuck in traffic for 45 minutes," said Jay Handal, chairman of the Greater West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce board. "Take a guy who earns a half-million dollars a year. He's going to drive to a parking lot and get on a bus? I don't think so."

Photo by Korean Resource Center 민족학교 via Flickr

No, this is not "Go Metro" to a Hollywood venue, only for the concert to get out after Red Line service ends, leaving you to the streets and cabs. This is go Metro to Union Station's Old Ticket Room for a free CANON concert next month on September 8th at 8 p.m.. The catch, your entrance is your metro pass, metro rail ticket or proof of Metrolink fare.

Seemingly geared towards transit optional green beans with the concert tag line of "in support of protecting and safeguarding the environment," Metro could be trying to reach a new demographic of young savvy enviro-conscious late-nighters who all yelp over 2 a.m. 50/50 shakes at the 101 Coffee Shop about the lack of late-night transit options.

So the question is: if we pack the venue on September 8th, do we get later night service starting the weekend after?

In a Metro press release from yesterday, lead singer Jason Turbin said, “We are honored to have been chosen by Metro to help raise awareness on alternative, more efficient ways to protect our environment through our music. About 5.7 billion gallons of fuel are wasted due to congestion in the United States’ largest cities. More and more commuters are realizing that Metro is the way to go not only to save time and money but to protect our planet.” At the concert the band will debut “The Hourglass,” a song dedicated to raising environmental awareness.

Check out CANON's music on their MySpace.

Begging the question of "how much does gasoline cost in Riverside", a man was discovered carrying 125 gallons of gasoline in his van when witnesses saw vapors rising from his parked love machine.

The fumes were occurring because the gentleman had placed the fuel in bottles like what once contained laundry detergent and other containers not designed to carry gasoline in vans.

"It was just unbelievable," Battalion Chief Jeff Dredla told the Riverside Press Enterprise yesterday about the petroleum baking in the van (not pictured) in the hot Riverside sun.

Despite the danger and obvious fears of possible terrorism, the owner of the van was not cited by police. Firefighters monitored the man as he transfered the gas to safe containers.

Gas Van Man is probably the only So Cal resident who is cursing the fact that oil prices have been going down lately.

photo entitled "Mystery Machine" by Monochrome via flickr

Earlier this summer, LAist wrote about the dangerous intersection between Trader Joe's and Gelson's in Silver Lake. After numerous accidents involving pedestrians including the tragic death of Silver Lake resident Bill Winguard, progress to make the area safer is apparently underway with the installation of a new traffic signal. We spotted the stoplights in place at the Hyperion Blvd. and Monon St. crosswalk, but they had not been activated yet. The project was slated for completion in July and it looks like the signals will be up and running any day now.

Despite the heavy foot traffic in this area, cars travel very fast on Hyperion between Rowena and Fountain. With the recent addition of a Pinkberry near this strip, it's becoming even more hectic. From 2000 to 2006, 14 car collisions with pedestrians were recorded by the city and five were fatalities. A Trader Joe's employee told us, "A lot of times it's so busy at the store, there isn't parking for employees so we have to park across the street. I can't wait for that light to start working. People are always speeding in their cars, talking on their phones and not paying attention."

We all know what it's like to run late, but please, please slow down out there. Everyone deserves to get home safely and drink some two-buck Chuck.

photo by An Tran for LAist

Kermit the Frog was so right -- "It's not easy being green." Yesterday I tried buying my first Monthly Metro Pass ever.

I failed.

I thought it would be easy to spend 62-bucks in this town. But apparently a Metro bus pass for the month is a hot item in the Valley. My local liquor store was sold out. Same story for Ralphs. Pavilions too. Then I called a different Ralphs, this time the highfalutin Fresh Fare at Ventura and Coldwater Canyon Boulevards where the paparazzi stalk Britney Spears and other celebulocals. "No, we don't sell them here." Well, okay then. Thanks though.

Then finally at 6:45 in the evening, I rang over to the Ralphs at Coldwater Canyon and Magnolia to hear the magical green words of "yes, but..." Yes, of course, there has to be a catch. No one wants me to take the bus or train. They all want me to drive. The gas companies must have known I wanted to buy my first monthly pass ever. "I've had issue with Ralphs not selling them after 7 p.m." Fred Camino of MetroRiderLA told me when I asked him what was up with that. The explanation from Ralphs seemed suspect: the manager has to count them before he goes home. What? Does he count the Doritos too?!!? How about avacados? Can I buy those after 7 p.m.?

Luckily, there's always today. Unfortunately for Camino, the new Ralphs in Downtown Los Angeles, the most commuter friendly neighborhood in the city, has one drawback: "The downtown Ralphs says they don't carry them yet!"

Photo from Metro.net