California Transportation Commission
Day 8 - Thursday, July 8, 1999
Well, I'm in San Diego with three other CTC Commissioners and Caltrans officials to inspect the various California-Mexico border crossings. Actually, our tour which is sponsored by State Senator David Kelley doesn't begin until 8:00 AM tomorrow. We arrived this evening to make sure that we get started on time and to meet with Caltrans personnel on other issues.
Commissioner Roger Kozberg and I took the Amtrak train from Los Angeles Union Station to San Diego. It was scheduled to leave at 4:15 P.M. and, according to Commissioner Kozberg's wristwatch, it departed right on time. We arrived in San Diego exactly 2 1/12 hours later. Again, right on time.
Caltrans spends about $60 million each year subsidizing the operation of Amtrak inter-city trains such as the one we took this afternoon. In addition, California taxpayers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars purchasing right of way and improving tracks, signals and stations. In his latest ITIP, Governor Davis has recommended even more improvements.
Next year, Amtrak will replace all the cars and locomotives presently serving the Santa Barbara to San Diego route. The total cost to Amtrak is in excess of $100 million. The bottom line is that a lot of money is being spent upgrading inter-city rail in California.
For inter-city rail to be an effective alternative to driving a private automobile, people need to be able to get to and from the train station. In San Diego, their efficient and successful light rail lines stop right at the Amtrak station. In Los Angeles, not only does the Red Line ( both of them) begin at Union Station, but a number of MTA's busses begin or end their trips from there as well. The Capitol Corridor route between San Jose and Placer County interfaces with BART. And in Bakersfield, busses to Southern California meet every train.
It may not be perfect, but transportation officials are trying. I urge everyone to use your inter-city rail system. You pay for it and most of the time it works!
Speaking of trying, I received an e-mail from David Yale of the MTA informing me that his organization would not be providing any extra busses to accommodate the 100,000 or so people heading to Pasadena for this weekend's soccer extravaganza. He stated, understandably, that priorities must be set and, unfortunately, the World Cup Soccer Finals just didn't make the cut. While I can disagree with the conclusion, can't disagree with the rational. It is true that priorities must be set.
For as long as I can remember, however, the MTA and its predecessor the Southern California Rapid Transit District have provided nightly service to the Hollywood Bowl from a dozen or so staging areas located throughout Southern California. It's a wonderful public service and the people who use it are very grateful not to have to drive their cars. My question is, if the MTA can provide service every night to classical music fans going to the HOLLYWOOD BOWL, why can't they provide a one-day service to Soccer fans going to the ROSE BOWL? It would be interesting to see exactly how MTA sets its priorities and which events make their cut and which ones don't.
At our meeting in San Diego this evening, the contingent from Sacramento arrived late. Their Southwest Airline flight left 1 and 1/2 hours after its scheduled departure and try as he might, the pilot just couldn't make up that much time. Travel delays, whether on the freeway, on rails or in the air, are frustrating. If anyone can figure out how to eliminate them, please e-mail me right away.
More tomorrow...
Day 9 - Friday, July 9, 1999
Tonight we are in Holtville, California. If you don't know where Holtville is, don't feel bad. I had never heard of this place before today either.
Holtville is in Imperial County, about 100 miles due East of San Diego. The weather is a little different here. When we arrived it was 110 degrees in the shade. In addition, a thunderstorm rolled in from the Gulf of California and the resulting humidity is quite impressive. Needless to say, I'm in my motel room with the air conditioner cranked up as high as it will go.
Anyway, CTC Commissioners Roger Kozberg, Robert Wolf, Esteban Torres and I are here with Caltrans Director Jose Medina to look at the need for better border crossings between California and Baja California. We have been on a charter bus all day, having left San Diego shortly after our 8:00 A.M. briefing. Tonight we saw the border crossing between Mexicali and Calexico. Earlier today we saw Otay Mesa and Tecate. To answer your question, yes, Tecate is where the famous beer of the same name is brewed and bottled. This is the second installment of a tour first coordinated by State Senator David Kelley in 1996. He and members of his staff are on the bus with us and he invited three of his legislative collogues to join him. Senator Betty Karnette is here as are Assemblymembers Patricia Bates and Charlene Zettel. Sarah Catz of the Business, Transportation & Housing Agency went on part of the tour as well.
It is amazing how important efficient border crossings with Mexico are to the economy of California. The cross border economic development between the two states is truly outstanding. The Maquiladora factories hum around the clock. I had no idea how many jobs are at stake.
Obviously transportation is a big issue down here which is why the CTC was invited to see the situation first hand. My only disappointment so far is that we weren't able to sample the most famous local product from Tecate while we were there.
Today's report will be short because there isn't much public transit in Holtville. In fact, there isn't much of anything here excepts lush farmland for as far as the eye can see.
I head back to Los Angeles in the morning.
More tomorrow...
Day 10 - Saturday, July 10, 1999
When America's Brandi Chastain made her winning penalty kick at the Women's World Cup this afternoon, the 90,185 spectators in Pasadena's Rose Bowl went nuts. The roar was deafening. Few would disagree with President Clinton when he said afterwards, "It was the most exciting sports event I believe I've ever seen."
I don't know if Yvonne Burke was at the Rose Bowl today, but I'm certain that a very large number of her constituents were. Ms. Burke is the Chair of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and when she is not setting policy for one of the country's largest public transportation agencies, she doubles as one of only five LA County Supervisors.
While 90,185 spectators showed up at the Rose Bowl together with another 4 or 5 thousand support personnel, Yvonne Burke's MTA was AWOL. The MTA has priorities, you see, and serving soccer fans wanting to go to the Rose Bowl on a Saturday afternoon to cheer for the United States of America just isn't one of them. The MTA did offer soccer fans "regular Saturday service" to Pasadena but they refused to employ any extra busses to handle the extra visitors. They left that task to others.
Seeing the void left by the MTA, Foothill Transit stepped up to the plate and immediately commissioned 50 commuter busses to transport fans from downtown Pasadena to the Rose Bowl. According to Dave Johnson, Foothill Transit's Operations Manager, they carried 28,000 passenger trips in or out of the arroyo where the Rose Bowl is located. In the transit business, each time you get on a bus or train, it's a "trip" and you are counted. If, like most people, you take a round trip, then you are counted twice. If you have to transfer once each way, then you are counted FOUR times.
Anyway, 28,000 trips computes to about 14,000 people and that's not shabby. 14,000 soccer fans, including my wife and me, took public transportation to and from the Rose Bowl today. I'm impressed with the numbers and mad at the MTA for abandoning us.
It's ironic that at the same time I was seething at the MTA for ignoring soccer fans, members of the Bus Riders Union were railing on it for proposing to raise fares by 5 cents. Right now, if you don't want to buy a monthly or weekly pass, you can buy 10 MTA tokens for $9.00. For those of you who didn't major in math, that works out to 90 cents per ride. The MTA held a public hearing this morning because it wants to raise its fares to a point where those 10 tokens will soon cost $9.50, or 95 cents per ride. The Bus Riders Union is opposed to just about everything the MTA does and it saw this as a perfect opportunity to air its views in public.
Taxpayers heavily subsidize public transit to the tune of about 100% of the capital costs and 70% of the operating costs. The actual transit user, therefore, pays only about 30% of the operating costs and NONE of the capital costs. For MTA to try to capture an extra nickel from the user doesn't seem unreasonable at all. Some people have suggested that the taxpayers pick up 100% of all costs and that the rider should be charged nothing. It's an interesting concept but one which would surely overwhelm transit providers in very short order. A 95 cent "co-payment" (to use a Medicare analogy) gives everyone a stake in making sure the system works.
More tomorrow...
Day 11 - Sunday, July 11, 1999
I rode an Amtrak inter-city train tonight for the third time this week. On Sundays, the train is scheduled to leave Santa Ana at 7:19 P.M. and arrive in Los Angeles at 8:15. We left Santa Ana about 5 minutes late and for some reason the engineer just couldn't make up any of the time. In fact, when the doors opened up at Los Angeles' Union Station it was 8:22 P.M., about 7 minutes late.
I had previously decided to try a new way to get from Union Station to my apartment on Bunker Hill. I usually take the Red Line to the Civic Center station and walk about four blocks up First Street. Both Red Lines are the same through downtown Los Angeles so it wouldn't matter whether I took the Hollywood Red Line or the Wilshire Red Line. But tonight, I decided to take MTA bus route 60 which, according to the schedule, was to depart from Union Station at 8:30 P.M. Less than 10 minutes later, it would drop me off a half block from my apartment.
When the train finally arrived in the station I still had 8 minutes to get the bus. Since I didn't need to buy a ticket, 8 minutes was enough time even if I didn't run. Up the escalator I went thinking I had a few minutes to spare when, to my surprise, the number 60 bus pulled up, and started to immediately pull out. I flagged the driver down, climbed on the bus and off we went. My watch (which I later determined to be accurate) said it was 8:27 P.M.
Now I understand why a bus would be late. Traffic conditions, too many passengers or too many stops, mechanical problems, etc. Anything can happen. But why would a bus ever leave early? I am told that this is a common problem although tonight was the first time that I ever experienced it for myself. Apparently some of the drivers either don't look at their watches or they just don't care. Regardless of the reason, it can cause monumental frustration for riders who arrive at their stop on time only to have to wait for the next bus.
Generally speaking, bus drivers have a very tough job. It's amazing how rude some people can be to them. Some riders scream and yell at the driver while others treat them like bartenders, but without the tips. Ride a bus very long and you will eventually see someone sitting in the front row talking incessantly to the driver about all their problems.
People outside the bus can be real jerks as well. Some motorists honk their horn and shake their fist when busses try to merge back into traffic after dropping off a passenger. And some otherwise normal human beings think nothing of parking their car or truck in a bus zone.
With regard to blocking bus stops, I've noticed that armored car drivers appear to be among the worst offenders. It sometimes seems like they go out of their way to park right where the busses should be. I wonder if they have special dispensation to inconvenience entire busloads of passengers or if they are just on a power trip. I'll have to check my Vehicle Code tomorrow when I get to the office.
As I said above, bus drivers have a tough, frustrating job. Notwithstanding that, as professionals, they really shouldn't depart ahead of their published schedule.
More tomorrow...
Day 12 - Monday, July 12, 1999
Two nights a week, after class, I take the MTA Route # 2 from UCLA to downtown Los Angeles. The MTA # 2 traverses Sunset Boulevard through residential Beverly Hills, the Sunset Strip, Hollywood and the predominantly Hispanic area near Dodger Stadium. The people getting on and off Route 2 change dramatically as the bus heads East.
As you might suspect, at 9:30 P.M., relatively few people get on or off in Beverly Hills. Most nights we don't even have to stop once. The scene changes dramatically, however, the minute we hit the Strip.
There are probably more eclectic individuals wandering the Sunset Strip after dark than at any other locale West of Times Square. Unless you consider Hollywood!
For the fifty or so blocks between the Strip and Hollywood, young men and women with body piercing, tattoos and iridescent hair seem to outnumber all the rest of us. And as the old maxim goes, "he who prowlith the street will eventually jump on the bus."
By and large, these kids are fairly well behaved. I have yet to see any overt drug use and, at 9:30 P.M. at least, nobody appears to be intoxicated. While they dress in a provocative fashion, I have never seen them cause any trouble.
For those who enjoy the full urban experience, the MTA # 2 after dark is a must. I really doubt that there is anything like it.
Yesterday I wrote about obnoxious people who angrily honk their horns when a bus re-enters the flow of traffic after picking up or dropping off a passenger. What jerks they can be. As best I can tell, however, most bus drives simply ignore them.
Maybe there ought to be a law requiring motorists to yield the right-of-way to busses. Why shouldn't a bus have the right to get back into the traffic flow after pulling over to pick up or discharge a passenger? And why shouldn't a motorist get a ticket for refusing to let them in?
By the way, I thumbed through my Vehicle Code and could find no special dispensation for armored cars. If you get a chance, just follow one around for a few minutes in any downtown area. You will see that they seem to do everything possible to get in the way of public transportation from double-parking to outright appropriation of bus stops.
More tomorrow...
Day 13 - Tuesday, July 13, 1999
Last weekend, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) held a public hearing regarding their proposal to raise bus and rail fares. Press reports indicated that the proposed fare increase would be 5 cents per ride for those who purchase 10 tokens at a time. In my journal for Saturday, I stated that I didn't think an extra nickel was that hard to swallow given the fact that the taxpayers currently subsidize 100% of the capital costs and about 70% of MTA's operating costs.
Today I received an e-mail from David Yale of the MTA who said that for the average rider (including those who purchase a monthly or weekly pass), the fare increase will not be 5 cents, but only 1 cent. According to Mr. Yale the average rider today pays only 59 cents per ride. With MTA's new fare structure, that same average ride will cost 60 cents.
Mr. Yale's e-mail went on to point out that MTA has raised its fares only once in the past 11 years and that the last hike was in early 1995. He further stated that under their proposal, the base fare (which I would suspect few people, except tourists, actually pay) will be $1.45. This compares to a base fare of $1.60 for Philadelphia and $1.50 for New York, Chicago and Atlanta.
Numerous members of The Bus Riders Union turned up at the public hearing to loudly protest this fare increase. I wish I could have been there to hear their arguments for myself. Given the fact that the bus rider pays such a small percentage of the actual cost of providing public transit, I can't comprehend why a one penny increase would create such controversy.
Tomorrow I fly to Sacramento for a regular CTC meeting. My plan is to take a bus to Union Station and Metrolink to the Burbank Airport.
In the spirit of full disclosure, let me admit that I have a strong bias in favor of Metrolink. I served as one of its founding Directors and was Vice Chairman when I left the Board. It's a great public service available to the residents of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties. It even serves the City of Oceanside which is in the Northern part of San Diego County.
For the long haul commuter, Metrolink is a superior form of mobility. But in some areas, Metrolink suffers from the same fate as Amtrak. You can't get to the station in the morning without driving your car. And if you CAN get to the station in the morning, you can't get home at night. That needs to change!
More tomorrow...
Day 14 - Wednesday, July 14, 1999
Some day I would like to meet the people who write the transit brochures, timetables and signs. If I could meet them I would let them know that there is something wrong with their work product. And, unfortunately, while I think they provide an excellent service, Metrolink is not exempt from this particular malady.
As I described in yesterday's journal, I am in Sacramento today for a regular meeting of the California Transportation Commission. I decided to get to my flight to Sacramento by taking a MTA bus to Los Angeles' Union Station and then a Metrolink train to the Burbank Airport. I carefully studied my timetables including one issued by Metrolink entitled "Burbank Airport to Los Angles Timetable." The document clearly stated that there were thirty round trips a day between Los Angeles Union Station and Burbank. One of them left LA at 6:45 A.M. and was scheduled to arrive at the airport at 7:05. That was the train I decided to take.
Upon arriving at Union Station (my bus was right on time), I had exactly 12 minutes to get on the train. I bought my ticket from the machine and proceeded to the track area where I saw numerous trains marked "Burbank Airport". The problem was, none of them was scheduled to leave at 6:45 A.M. and based upon the times that they were leaving LA, none of them would get me to the airport before my airplane left. I could not find the 6:45 A.M. train to the Burbank Airport to save my life.
After going from track to track and not being able to find my train, I finally decided that I must have misread the timetable last night. I ran into the station with all of my luggage and finally found a Metrolink employee who told me to go back to the tracks and get on the train marked "Moorpark" which would be leaving at 6:45 A.M. and would stop at the Burbank Airport. I made the train with only seconds to spare before the scheduled departure time.
I'm sorry, but how would anyone know that the 6:45 A.M. train to Burbank Airport would be marked "Moorpark?" Especially when many of the other trains were clearly marked "Burbank Airport?" I don't think I have ever been to Moorpark and I really don't even know where Moorpark is. Oh well, I made the train and it took me right to the airport. The total cost was $4.50. Pretty nifty!
Metrolink is a commuter service with a fabulous outreach program. They encourage use of their equipment on weekends by running special trains to the beach and to big sporting events such as the automobile races in San Bernardino County. They even run special trains on New Years Day for people going to the Rose Bowl.
When the earthquake hit the San Fernando Valley a few years ago making automobile travel a nightmare, Metrolink dramatically increased its service. And many of the customers they gained as a result of that catastrophe have stuck with them. They transport over 13,000 people, round trip, each day. That pencils out to over 26,000 "trips" a day.
According to Arthur Bauer, a consultant to the California High Speed Rail Authority, more people go in and out of LA's Union Station today then did during World War II.
More tomorrow...
Email your comments and questions to: danareed@politicallaw.com
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