From Ciclavia.org
On Sunday, December 3, we’re opening up streets connecting Leimert Park and Historic South Central so you can jog, ride, bike, skate, run, walk, skateboard, spectate, and enjoy the route however you want. Our routes are welcoming to people of all ages and abilities! This CicLAvia is presented by Metro.
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From LA.Streetsblog.org
Prioritizing true first mile/last mile infrastructure isn’t somehow optional; it’s how your customers get to and from the transit stations.
Like many people around Los Angeles, I was excited about the opening of the Regional Connector. Like those of us who still drive sometimes (this is L.A., after all), but look for opportunities to do it less, the prospect of a better transit experience is an enticing one. I was driving one day from the Arts District to Union Station and noticed something odd. Construction was wrapping up around the new Little Tokyo Station, and with the barriers removed the basic geometry of the streets around it seemed the same as it was years ago. Remembering the walk across Alameda from the old station to Little Tokyo, I couldn’t understand why nothing was done in anticipation of the many new Metro riders who will surely be walking, biking, or connecting to buses at the new station.
In fact, things were supposed to be done: the $30 million Eastside Access Improvement Project, a package of bicycle and pedestrian improvements around Little Tokyo. At the 2021 groundbreaking ceremony, Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins promised that the project would provide “more access, more connectivity, and a safer pedestrian environment than when we started Regional Connector construction so many years ago.”
Soon after I saw Streetsblog L.A. coverage that the bike lanes and other improvements that were promised, approved, and funded were severely cut back or not built at all, without any justification or apology. Think about all the steps that go into a typical public construction project: years of planning, approvals by various agencies, scoping, public outreach, bidding on construction contracts, procurement, clearances, construction, inspections, and final project acceptance. How can half of a $30 million project just vanish?
Photo by Jamshed Khedri on Unsplash
From LA.Streetsblog.org
A couple of blocks of new plastic bollards might not look like much, but it just might mean that Metro and LADOT are planning to make good on missing bike/walk connections to Metro’s new subway stations
By Joe Linton
It looks like Metro is beginning to make good on improving first/last mile bike facilities that were supposed to link Metro riders with new Regional Connector stations. In the last few weeks, Metro added new plastic bollard protection to the eastbound bike lane on First Street between Alameda Street and Vignes Street, just east of Metro’s new Little Tokyo Station.
Streetsblog and LADOT (L.A. City Department of Transportation) noted the installation of the unprotected bike lane after Metro installed it in late 2022. After the Regional Connector subway opened in May, Streetsblog reported that Metro omitted and downgraded several planned station bike/walk connections, while Metro Connector project construction widened roads and added new car lanesand new parking for drivers. Advocates urged Metro and the city to fix the missing first/last mile facilities, including several places where bikeway protection had been omitted.
Could the new bollard protection on First Street be an early step in Metro and LADOT making good on planned Regional Connector first/last mile safety improvements? Time will tell.
Photo by Jasper Garratt on Unsplash
From SGVTribune.com
LA Metro laid out a plan on Tuesday to create a chain of paths, regional bikeways and pedestrian crossings to connect passengers who are walking, rolling or bicycling to and from the transit agency’s train lines, bus stops and depots.
The release of the agency’s Active Transportation Strategic Plan is the first update in seven years to a plan from 2016, but it comes with a hefty price tag, no concrete funding sources and plenty of pushback.
Metro, during a virtual public meeting Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 29, outlined three areas for improvement, identifying 602 “first and last mile” areas located near transit, 81 pedestrian districts and 1,433 miles of regional bikeways.
Just completing the list of regional bikeways, which would connect to existing ones, would cost about $36 billion, which is four times the entire LA Metro annual budget.
Metro narrowed down the ambitious plan by prioritizing all the projects by need. For example, many projects would be in areas where many people do not own cars, including mostly Black and Latino neighborhoods in L.A. County, in an effort to give potential passengers a driverless way to reach transit.
Completing just 2.5% of the projects would cost about $1.86 billion, and breaks down as follows, Metro reported:
Our new A and E light rail lines make their debut this Friday, June 16, at noon when the Regional Connector and its three new underground stations in downtown Los Angeles open to our riders.
The opening will make riding our system more convenient and will provide you with faster light rail trips to and through downtown L.A.
As part of our celebration of this milestone project, we’re offering free rides from 3 a.m. Friday through 3 a.m. Monday on all Metro buses, trains, Metro Bike and Metro Micro. Please come out and ride as much as you like and enjoy the many destinations you can reach via Metro across L.A. County.
As many of you know, the Regional Connector is a highly anticipated project that has been under construction for much of the last decade. We know many of you have questions. Let’s go…
What will the new light rail system look like?
The Connector ties together the A, E and L Lines. As a result, those three lines will become two lines:
•The new A Line will run between Azusa and Long Beach. On maps, the A Line will retain the color blue.
•The new E Line will run between East Los Angeles and Santa Monica. On maps, the E Line will use the color gold.
•It will be easy to transfer between the A and E Lines at any of the five DTLA stations they’ll share: Pico, 7th/Metro, Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill (at 2nd and Hope), Historic Broadway (at 2nd and Broadway) and Little Tokyo/Arts District (at 1st and Alameda). Just step off one train and get on the next. No need to walk to a different platform.
How frequent will trains run?
Here’s the new A Line schedule and here’s the new E Line schedule.
The basics: trains on both lines will run every 10 minutes at weekday peak hours, every 12 minutes the rest of the day and during weekend daytime hours and every 20 minutes in early mornings and later in the evenings.
From LA.Streetsblog.org
Tonight, Metro will host a construction update on the 5.5-mile Rail-to-Rail walk/bike path that will run along the neglected Slauson corridor right-of-way (ROW) between the Fairview Heights and Slauson Metro rail stations. The agency has posted a number of photos touting the work being done on the path ahead of the 6 p.m. meeting (join in via Zoom).
Tangible progress has been a long time coming.
The “Rail-to-River”project was first proposed in 2012 by then-Metro boardmembers Mark Ridley-Thomas and the late Gloria Molina with the goal of converting a blighted ROW into a community asset. They believed a nearly 10-mile-long “green ribbon” could be transformative in such an intensely park-poor section of South Central and Southeast Los Angeles.
Metro had originally expected to break ground on the western segment back in 2018. After a number of delays, the project quietly broke ground last July. Construction began in October, at 67th St. and 11th Ave. [The Southeast segment that runs from the Blue Line to the river will be constructed separately; it is still in the planning stages.]
The dedicated bike/walk path (where users are safely separated from motor vehicles) will feature shade trees, drought-tolerant landscaping, lighting, improvements at bus stops, and improved crossings at intersections.
May is National Bike Month — which is right around the corner! Join Metro to learn more about the many benefits of cycling as we embrace this sustainable and healthy way to get to work – or anywhere you need to go.
Bike Week is May 15-19 and Bike Day is Thursday, May 18. There are lots of special promotions, contests and events to encourage people to bike to work—or even just to their nearby transit stop.
Did you know? All Metro buses include front loading bike racks, and that you can bring your bicycle on board Metro Rail? Even better, Metro will commemorate Bike Month by offering free rides to all commuters on Bike Day, Thursday, May 18, on all Metro buses and trains – no tapping required!
You Can Win Prizes! Employees that commute by bicycle have a chance to win some great prizes! Throughout the entire month of May, commuters simply log onto ridematch.info, set up a profile, and then track your bicycle trips on the Commute Calendar. The more often you bike, the more chances you have to win. Special thanks to our Bike Month sponsors: Around the Cycle, Electric Bike Company, and Unchained Bicycle Garage for their prizes, including helmets, bicycle locks, gift cards and more! Another sponsor, Kali Protectives, is offering a 30% discount to all bicycle commuters during May – use promo code SHAREDMOBILITY30 at checkout.
May is National Bike Month — which is right around the corner! Join Metro to learn more about the many benefits of cycling as we embrace this sustainable and healthy way to get to work – or anywhere you need to go.
Bike Week is May 15-19 and Bike Day is Thursday, May 18. There are lots of special promotions, contests and events to encourage people to bike to work—or even just to their nearby transit stop.
Did you know? All Metro buses include front loading bike racks, and that you can bring your bicycle on board Metro Rail? Even better, Metro will commemorate Bike Month by offering free rides to all commuters on Bike Day, Thursday, May 18, on all Metro buses and trains – no tapping required!
From MyNewsLA.com
Metro will offer free bus and train rides Tuesday to encourage Angelenos to vote in the primary election.
Metro’s bike share program will also offer free 30-minute rides Tuesday with the promo code 060722. Rides cost $1.75 for each additional half hour.
The free rides will last from midnight to 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. Metro’s Board of Directors voted in 2019 to permanently offer free rides on federal and state election days.
People can download the Transit app to see information on how to ride Metro to vote centers or vote-by-mail drop boxes.
Voters can also drop their ballots off at drop boxes at Union Station, El Monte Bus Station, Harbor Freeway Station C and J Lines, Harbor Gateway Transit Center, Hollywood/Western Station B Line, North Hollywood Station B Line, Norwalk Station C Line and the Wilshire/Vermont Station B and D Lines.
In-person voting began last week across Los Angeles County, with more vote center locations opened Saturday ahead of election day on Tuesday.
Ride Metro Bike Share to work for Bike to Work Day! Stop by our booth next to the Metro Bike Share Station at Union Station West Portal for free coffee, pastries, and 1-ride FREE on Thursday (5/19) from 8 am- 12 pm.
