3010 Wilshire Blvd. #362, Los Angeles, CA 90010
213.388.2364

Southern California Transit Advocates is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, development and improvement of public transportation in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Statement by Dana Gabbard, Recording Secretary-Southern California Transit Advocates To Feb. 1, 2011 All Regions Public Hearing on Metro Service Change Proposal for June 2011 (or later)

.



Theories are fine but transit service is not a simple game of numbers and causing disruption in people’s mobility out of dire desires to squeeze larger loads onto buses and save relatively little seems a poor idea. In sum far too many proposals are theory driven and thus divorced from reality, impractical and disruptive for passengers.

Three proposals we oppose, in line with these concerns, as examples of the structural issues impacting Metro users we see in many of the proposals:

  • The termination of line 96 at Burbank Metrolink Station would eliminate direct transit access to Griffith Park, The LA Zoo, and the Autry Museum, from the southeast San Fernando Valley.
  • Short lining Rapid 704 at Alvarado will be disruptive and achieve little cost savings.
  • Forcing people needing to reach Disneyland from downtown L.A. to ride multiple rail lines to reach Line 460 in Norwalk will confuse tourists and frustrate local patrons.

This meeting should have been held on a Saturday, as past all region meetings were. Also we object to the decision to hold many of the hearings at inconvenient days and times for people with 9 to 5 jobs. Also the level of information provided regarding the proposals (including maps and additional details) has fallen short of what should have reasonably been provided in a timely fashion and easily accessible.