Roads & Rails

Let's Discuss the Late Night DASH

By Eric Richardson — January 01, 2009 — 11 Comments

Eric Richardson

The six-week Late Night DASH Holiday Pilot took its last runs early this morning, ending up service at 3am on New Year's Day. The privately funded, $23,000 program connected L.A. Live, the Historic Core and the Music Center to the 7th / Metro subway station, offering a free ride to those visiting Downtown's nightlife.

Now that the buses have stopped, it's time to take a little stock of how things went. There will be official reports written, ridership studied and sponsors canvassed, but I wanted to start things off by asking blogdowntown readers what they thought of the Late Night Pilot. — Continued Inside...

Catching Up With... The Downtown Streetcar

By Eric Richardson — December 27, 2008 — 3 Comments

Eric Richardson

As we go through the last few days of 2008, we thought it useful to take a look at some of the important Downtown projects working their way through the system.

The Project: Though an old idea, 2008 was a year of sudden activity for the project to bring a streetcar back to Downtown Los Angeles. With the announcement of the Bringing Back Broadway project in January, the project got a political wave to ride, and successfully navigated its way to the creation of a non-profit, the earmark of $5 million in redevelopment funds and successful public forums. Though a final route has not been decided, the basic plan would have ends at the Convention Center and Music Center, with a north-south leg on Broadway.

Latest Status: The non-profit Los Angeles Streetcar, Inc., is officially up and running via the Community Partners incubator program (blogdowntown's parent, verbdowntown, is set up through the same program). The project is preparing to name an Executive Director for the organization, who would manage the engineering and outreach work necessary to more forward. — Continued Inside...

Catching Up With... The Regional Connector

By Eric Richardson — December 26, 2008 — 29 Comments

Metro

As we go through the last few days of 2008, we thought it useful to take a look at some of the important Downtown projects working their way through the system.

The Project: The Regional Connector is a $700 to $900 million project to link Los Angeles' light rail lines, connecting the Blue and Expo lines (which terminate at 7th / Metro) to the Gold Line and the Eastside Extension (via 1st / Alameda). The project's main goal is to create a coherent system out of Metro's existing rail lines, opening up a variety of operational possibilities including trains from Long Beach to Pasadena and Culver City to East L.A..

Latest Status: After three rounds of public meetings, the project is preparing to send an Alternatives Analysis to Metro's Board of Directors. This document will lay out two possibilities for the project, one underground and one above. — Continued Inside...

Halfway Through Pilot Phase, Central City East DASH Lacking Riders

By Eric Richardson — December 18, 2008 — 11 Comments

Ed Fuentes

Service on the Central City East DASH kicked off in September, with officials touting the route as filling a hole on Downtown's east side. The six-month pilot program was made possible when a bus was freed up by the elimination of the City Hall Shuttle.

Three months later, ridership has yet to materialize. The route is currently averaging only six passengers per hour. Boosters are hoping that increased awareness of what's along the route will bring more riders in the new year. — Continued Inside...

Five Months In, the Hail-A-Taxi Program Looks For a Jump Start

By Samantha Page — December 08, 2008 — 15 Comments

Samantha Page

The Hail-a-Taxi pilot launched July 31, but there hasn't been a lot of hailing going on Downtown. Five months in, most cabs still end up sitting at taxi stands waiting for airport fares.

This morning, Councilmembers Jan Perry and Wendy Greuel joined the Downtown Center BID and AEG in giving cabbies a free meal and a pitch to start cruising around Downtown. The event was the kickoff to "Taxicab Appreciation Week," a campaign focused on both the drivers and their potential riders. — Continued Inside...

Late Night DASH and Red Line Start Tonight

By Eric Richardson — November 21, 2008 — 10 Comments

Eric Richardson

In just over an hour, the Late Night DASH Holiday pilot makes its first runs around Downtown. The service connects the Historic Core, 7th / Metro Red Line station, LA Live and the Music Center, offering 10-minute service from 6:30pm to 3am.

Add in extended hours on the Red Line, which also kick off tonight, and Downtown's getting quite the temporary transit boost. — Continued Inside...

Get Ready to Ride: Holiday Late Night DASH Coming Friday!

By Eric Richardson — November 19, 2008 — 23 Comments

LADOT

|Photo Gallery| How's this for instant gratification? Late Night DASH for the Holidays is getting announced today, and the first buses will be rolling around Downtown on Friday evening.

The six-week pilot program, to be formally announced at a press conference tomorrow afternoon, will allow riders to travel between L.A. Live, the Music Center, the Historic Core and the edge of the Fashion District from 6:30pm to 3am on Friday and Saturday nights.

Even better? The ride is free. — Continued Inside...

With Meter Rates Up, City Needs New Facilities to Count the Coins

By Eric Richardson — November 18, 2008

Eric Richardson