Starting to Look at Downtown DASH
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Last night LADOT came to DLANC's Transportation & Public Works Committee meeting to give an update on the Downtown DASH restructuring study they're about to set out on. Last month this study was mentioned in the Downtown News, and way back in January I posted some interesting numbers from the separate Community DASH study.
Downtown DASH carries about 8.5 million riders per year, according to DOT's 2004 numbers. The bulk of this ridership comes from the major employment centers, and historically that's where all the Downtown attention has centered. That won't really be changing, but the question to be answered this go round is how do you add service for the residential population that will actually be effective and well-utilized.
Nightime DASH, always a popular subject with residents, was discussed at the meeting but not with any sort of conclusiveness. It's a great idea, but there really needs to be strong evidence that there are defined places people are coming from and going to before a possible routing could be studied.
Soon DOT should have a website set up to survey potential riders and ask them where it is they go Downtown that they would take a DASH to were one available. I'll be sure to make note of that when it becomes available. In the meantime, be thinking: what are trips I would take DASH for if I could create service Downtown?
Dana Gabbard on December 08, 2005, at 09:25AM – #1
DASH is the great unknown L.A. transit success story. Some major U.S. cities have a downtown shopper shuttle but none that I know of have the extensive network of DASH community circulators that we have.
Laurie Krusinski on April 24, 2008, at 09:12AM – #2
I live in Portland, Oregon. We have a terrific transportation system there. A great thing about our system is that you can go to the website and type in where you want to go and what time you want to arrive, and it will tell you exactly how to get there by bus, train and/or streetcar, with step by step instructions to print out. I can get to the airport from my home (about 25 miles) for 85 cents (senior rate).
Anyway, I think your DASH system is good, but I don't see any place in your website that asks me where I want to go, and then tells me where to catch a bus, which bus to take, or where to transfer and where to get off. This would be very helpful to out-of-towners.
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on April 24, 2008, at 11:51AM – #3
Laurie: I was just part of a big trip to Portland this past week to ride streetcars. What you're looking for is Metro's Trip Planner, but it's not exactly the most useful or correct tool for planning transit. Supposedly they'll be rolling something better out "soon."