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Link: Metro's new Gold Line now in business - 11/16/09 - Los Angeles-Southern California-LA Breaking News, Weather, Traffic, Sports - abc7.com
Metro's new Gold Line now in businessLink: Los Angeles Gold Line Eastside Extension off to impressive start and to be part of something bigger
Monday, November 16, 2009
By Melissa MacBride
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The commute gets easier for thousands of people in L.A. County, as Metro's new Gold Line extension is now in business.
The new six-mile route is expected to carry some 13,000 commuters every day. The extension runs from Atlantic boulevard in East Los Angeles to Union Station in downtown L.A., where it now connects to the rest of the line all the way to Pasadena.
"This is the most transit-dependent community in L.A. County. It will give them access to jobs, schools, medical care and other opportunities. There's going to be development here, there's going to be housing and business opportunities," said MTA spokesperson Marc Littman.
For $1.25, the train will take you from East L.A. to downtown L.A. in about 17 minutes. The eastside extension of the Gold Line will run every 8 minutes during the morning commute, then every 12 minutes during the day.
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Los Angeles Gold Line Eastside Extension off to impressive start and to be part of something biggerLow ridership tarnishes Gold Line extension's luster - latimes.com
November 16, 11:06 AMFresno Green Transportation ExaminerAlan Kandel
n., Nov. 15th, 50,000-plus people enjoyed a free ride on the Los Angeles Gold Line Eastside Extension light rail transit system, as reported in the Los Angeles Wave in the story “50,000 take a free ride on the Gold Line, no major problems reported,” first published Nov. 15th and updated today. And on top of this, no major glitches were reported either. The line is expected to transport 13,000 people daily.
Construction of the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension began in 2004. Six miles in length and costing $898 million, “the extension runs between Union Station and East Los Angeles, with stops at eight new stations, two of them underground,” information in the article revealed, bringing the total track mileage to 79; all since 1989. Stations holding community celebrations were: “East L.A. Civic Center, Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, Little Tokyo/Arts District and Union Station.” Connection to the original Gold Line is at L.A. Union Station. The 1.7 subsurface miles are through Boyle Heights. The remaining 4.3 miles are at or above ground.
“Officials are selecting a possible route for a light rail link from the Gold Line on downtown's east side to the Blue Line stub on Figueroa Street on downtown's west side,” information in the article stressed. “This would allow through Blue Line trains from Long Beach to Pasadena, or from East L.A. to Culver City via the new Expo Line, which is scheduled for completion in two years.” However, a funding source or construction timetable for this link has not yet been established.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was quoted in the article saying that “‘…this not the end of the ride … Thanks to the passage of Measure R, there will be local funding for half a dozen new rail projects in the next decade, which will give Angelenos even greater transit access to jobs and other opportunities throughout the county.’”Article 3
latimes.com
Low ridership tarnishes Gold Line extension's luster
Only 13,000 riders daily are expected to use the new extension, which began its normal operations Monday, by the end of its first year.
By Ari B. Bloomekatz
November 17, 2009
Behind the hoopla and celebration of the Gold Line Eastside extension opening this week, there are some sobering numbers.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority projects that the extension between Union Station and East L.A. will serve 13,000 riders each day by the end of the first year -- a paltry number compared to other sections of L.A. County's rail system.
The Eastside link expands a Gold Line that has struggled to attract riders since it opened in 2003.
The original section of the Gold Line, from Union Station to Pasadena, serves an average of 21,322 riders each weekday, far below original estimates of 38,000 daily boardings.
Even when the new Eastside riders are added, MTA projections suggest that the Gold Line will remain at the bottom of the ridership rankings.
Moving the Gold Line farther east will clearly draw new riders. But some of the problems that have long hampered the Gold Line remain: The trains are slow, and there are limits on where passengers can go when transferring to another rail line or a bus.
"The biggest problem with the Pasadena Gold Line, which will be shared by the Eastside line, is that it really doesn't go anywhere that people want to go," said transit consultant Tom Rubin. "It serves Union Station, but it doesn't serve downtown; as a result it's just not a very fast way of getting people to their ultimate destinations."
The Gold Line covers territory once served by a bustling streetcar network in Los Angeles through the early 1960s.
But today, only a fraction of those lines used by the Pacific Electric Red Cars and L.A. Railway Yellow Cars remain.
As a result, getting around on rail remains a big challenge.
For example, the new Eastside extension goes through the heart of Boyle Heights.
But instead of pushing west into the heart of downtown L.A., the line veers sharply to the north just outside downtown, going through Little Tokyo to Union Station. Riders who want to get into downtown then need to transfer onto the Red Line subway and go west and then south again -- or take a bus.
Bart Reed, executive director of the regional nonprofit group the Transit Coalition, said it's important to see L.A.'s rail system as a work in progress. Further improvements could significantly improve ridership.
The MTA is seeking federal funding for the so-called "regional connector," a rail line that would run directly through downtown L.A.
This line would allow riders on the Eastside Gold Line to switch trains as the Gold Line turns north, making for a much more convenient trip into downtown.
Reed also believes that the Gold Line could pick up more riders simply because people would favor rail over bus service.
Today, the MTA has two star lines that rise well above the rest: The Red Line, which runs underground from Union Station to North Hollywood, and the Blue Line, which runs above ground from downtown L.A. to Long Beach.
The Red Line (combined with the much smaller parallel Purple Line) has an average of 141,302 riders each weekday, according to MTA's statistics for October.
The Blue Line averages 74,311 riders.
The Norwalk-to-Redondo Beach Green Line averages 36,453 commuters. The Green Line was supposed to connect to Los Angeles International Airport, but the MTA stopped it just outside the airport, a decision that many blame for the relatively low ridership numbers on that line. There is now a plan to extend the line into LAX.
It is much too early to tell how the Gold Line Eastside extension will fare.
Its public opening Sunday drew about 75,000 riders, many of whom waited in hourlong lines to try the new rail line for free.
The lines were much shorter Monday as paying customers boarded.
Marc Littman, an MTA spokesman, said Gold Line ridership would probably increase significantly in the coming years if development occurs around some of the line's stations and if the pattern of the Eastside opening follows that of the Blue Line's opening nearly two decades ago.
"The Metro Blue Line ridership has quadrupled since 1990 to become one of the busiest light rail lines in the country," Littman said. "We will continue marketing the new extension so the ridership will steadily build."
Reed agreed that the Gold Line's ridership could improve, noting that the Eastside has many residents who can't afford cars and who rely on mass transit to get around.
"There's new habits to be built, but quite frankly that particular route, it was the old corridor for one of the heaviest used streetcars in the system," Reed said. "It'll maybe take a year or two."
ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com
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