Dana Gabbard
Recent Posts
TAP Coming to LADOT Bus Services
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Friday I was riding on the DASH Fairfax route when I noticed it had a message printed on a paper bag sitting on the dashboard announcing that the Transit Access Pass (TAP) is coming to L.A. Dept. of Transportation (LADOT) bus services (DASH and Commuter Express) in June. The LADOT website also has a frequently […]
Commentary: Does “Locking the Gates” and All the Associated Costs Even Make Fiscal Sense?
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(Dana Gabbard is a Board Member of the Southern California Transit Advocates and an occasional contributor to Streetsblog. When he opines, he does so on behalf of himself as a long-standing transit watcher. Gabbard has written about the fare gate issue several times since Metro first proposed putting up gates in 2008.) One justification offered […]
A Deeper Look in the Metro Budget: Goodbye $5 Day Passes?
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The Source reports at Thursday’s Board meeting the Metro Board adopted the proposed fiscal year 2013 budget. This goes into effect July 1st. Frank Shapiro, Deputy Executive Officer, Finance for the agency made an informative presentation on the budget proposal at the March 23rd meeting of Metro’s Citizens’ Advisory Council. Several key points he mentioned […]
Commentary on Metro Plan to Lock Subway Gates This Year
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(Dana Gabbard is a Board Member of the Southern California Transit Advocates and an occasional contributor to Streetsblog. When he opines, he does so on behalf of himself as a long-standing transit watcher. Gabbard has written about the fare gate issue several times since Metro first proposed putting up gates in 2008 after years of […]
Union Station Master Plan Vision Board Viewing Next Week
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I think we all are curious about what Metro’s plans are for Los Angeles Union Station. In November Metro announced six architectural firms had been selected as finalists to compete to be chosen to prepare the Master Plan for the site. April 25 there will be an opportunity to view the Vision Boards of the […]
Activists the Key in the 25 Year Journey Leading to the Expo Opening
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Oct. 24, 1990. That is the date when the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, one of the predecessor agencies to Metro, purchased the right of way from Southern Pacific that the Exposition Line is being built on. The remarkable thing is among those commenting on the item at the LACTC meeting nearly a quarter century ago […]
California Transportation Commission: $538 Billion Needed to Maintain System
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One of the things I do each year is read the California Transportation Commission Annual Report. I find it a useful snapshot of policy and operation issues for transportation in California. Intriguingly the 2011 Report’s introduction mentions a statewide transportation needs assessment the Commission released late last year. Over 10 years ago the Commission undertook […]
An Interview with the Man Responsible for L.A.’s Bus Benches
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As Damien has noted previously new bus benches are popping up around Los Angeles as new bench provider Martin Outdoor gets up to speed following the city council awarding the contract in August 2011. To find our the status of the program I contacted Lance Oishi, Contract Administrator for Streetscape Development and Coordinated Street Furniture […]
Origins of the Metro Code of Conduct
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If you have ridden a Metro bus or rail car you may have recently found in the holders for brochures and timetables (known in the industry as take-ones) a brochure for Metro’s Code of Conduct. The who/what, you may wonder? Let me share with you the circuitous story of this bit of rulemaking. If nothing […]
The True Story of Metro’s Last Diesel Bus
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You may have noticed all the hullabaloo Metro made in January 2011 about retiring the last diesel buses in its fleet. Metro even gave the final bus a new paint job before it was ceremoniously towed away at the press event. Actually this was a bit mis-leading because some of the contractors that run selected […]
Unhappiness on the Labor Front in Metro Land (Updated, 2/16)
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Dec. 12, 2011 was the day the Federal Transit Administration released its Title VI compliance review of Metro. Another important milestone for Metro happened that same day but in contrast received zero media coverage: the bus and rail operators ratified a new 3 year contract. The next step is for the agreement to go before […]
Two Metro Service Changes That Did Happen This Month…
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Although most of the service changes slated for implementation in December were suspended, two were implemented without much fanfare this month. The first is a new shuttle between East L.A. College and the Metro Gold Line Indiana Station along Atlantic Boulevard and 1st Street which began January 11th. This new line is in response to concerns […]