Mass Transit 2 the Disneyland Resort

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

See also:

Measure M#

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

LAX's FlyAway bus service coming to Irvine -- a first for Orange County

It would be great to have a line from ARTIC Center, too.

[sediment]

I wonder why Irvine was chosen? only place they could get enough parking spots, perhaps? Maybe it's a center of employee residence? I know plenty of employees take the Van Nuys Flyaway to work every day.

One commenter said it would cost $25. That is not the right price to incent people to not drive or to not ask a friend to take them or to use the OC airport instead.

[SCUBAbe]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaAdventurer

We all get on the trams to take us back to our car at the end of the night.

But what if you could board a monorail in the esplanade instead, and get dropped off at the train station where you make a connection on the high speed rail. You could be back in LA faster than some people even get to their car. The ride to LA from Anaheim Station will be 15 or 20 min, and it will take about 10 min to get from Disneyland resort to ARTIC.

Nice for CM's who work in Anaheim and live in LA, they won't have to motor down the freeway, just park and ride from Union Station.

I don't know. If it was indeed faster maybe and it would depend on the cost. I priced using public transportation to get to Disneyland before. It was going to cost more than a full tank of gas for my car and take twice as long to get there. yeah, I will drive.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Originally Posted by sediment

One commenter said it would cost $25. That is not the right price to incent people to not drive or to not ask a friend to take them or to use the OC airport instead.

???

Westwood to LAX is $5, Union Station or Van Nuys to LAX is $7, each way.

http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LA...%2008-2009.pdf

Originally Posted by SCUBAbe

I don't know. If it was indeed faster maybe and it would depend on the cost. I priced using public transportation to get to Disneyland before. It was going to cost more than a full tank of gas for my car and take twice as long to get there. yeah, I will drive.

That's now. Via bus and Metrolink that don't really operate efficiently. We're talking about travelling via High Speed Train with Monorail transfer to the parks.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Governor vetoes freeway tunneling bill

October 11, 2009

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have eliminated the possibility of constructing a surface route for Interstate 710 to complete the "missing link" of L.A.'s highway system. If he had signed it, a tunnel route would have been the only way to finish that controversial freeway.

Interstate 710 ends at Valley Boulevard at the edge of Alhambra. It doesn't connect to the interchange of the 134 and 210 freeways.
Construction on the 710 began in 1951 but stopped short of completion in 1965 because of South Pasadena residents' assertions that the freeway would divide their community.

As a compromise, transportation officials in recent years introduced the idea of a tunnel -- at least 4 1/2 miles long -- to connect the route. The tunnel bill, SB 545, was written by state Sen. Gil Cedillo (D -Los Angeles).
But in his veto letter, the governor called the bill unnecessary and said Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority should be allowed to study various ideas without the restrictions in the bill.

"There is absolutely no need to enact statutory restrictions that would mandate certain project design options or remove others from potential consideration," he said. "In addition, several properties belonging to the state would be subject to sale for less than fair market value as a result of this bill, resulting in the loss to the state of hundreds of millions of dollars."

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

State applies for federal funds for high-speed rail line

October 2, 2009

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was joined by several state and local officials today at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to announce California's application for $4.7 billion in federal money to fund a high-speed rail line.

California voters approved a nearly $10-billion bond last November to begin building a high-speed rail network connecting Southern California to the Bay Area and Sacramento.

The governor said Californians would match the federal grant "dollar for dollar" with state and local funds, including money from a high-speed rail bond.

"It's disgraceful for America to be so far behind in terms of infrastructure," Schwarzenegger said, referring to international high-speed rail projects. "America must catch up.... We need to now have Washington's help" with this project, he said.



Officials including state Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D- Los Angeles), Los Angeles City Council members Eric Garcetti and Janice Hahn, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle and Dale Bonner, state secretary of business, transportation and housing, were among those who stood alongside the governor to show "unity" in the application for federal funds and praised the project because they said it could create some 130,000 jobs.

"High-speed rail is going to be a big engine for California's economy," Bass said.

Also in attendance were California Public Interest Research Group members from UCLA, USC and Santa Monica College, who chanted slogans in favor of high-speed rail. One member held a sign that read "fast trains are cool" and "high-speed rail now."

Although many of those at the news conference spoke of "unity" in moving forward with the project, at least one official who did not attend released a statement that showed not everyone is full speed ahead.
"I support the concept of high-speed rail, but believe there should be more than one alternative studied in downtown Los Angeles. Any EIR should include more than one option," said Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Reyes. "That's why I introduced a resolution last month urging the High Speed Rail Authority to study other possible locations for a downtown rail station."

"I have some serious concerns about how the proposed rail route will impact our neighborhoods, including those along the Los Angeles River, especially since we have invested more than $80 million to provide new parks at the Cornfield and Taylor Yard."

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Villaraigosa says local governments should unite in effort to finish Westside subway [Updated]

August 20, 2009

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called today for speeding up construction of the $6.1-billion Westside subway extension, currently scheduled for completion in 2036 -- when he will be 78. [Updated at 3:10 p.m.: The subway would only reach Westwood by 2036, and the mayor would be 83. The cost at that point would be $4.1-billion. The entire $6.1-billon project would extend the line to Santa Monica, and no timetable has been set for that.]

As the most outspoken advocate for the so-called Subway to the Sea, the mayor has long been frustrated by that timetable and it was evident again when he and other officials gathered for a news conference in a UCLA parking lot. There, final soil samples had been drawn for a line that would follow Wilshire Boulevard from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.

"I’m 56 now,” the mayor said. “We are here today to make sure that it gets built before I am 66.”


The key, Villaraigosa and the others said, is for local governments to put aside their differences over planned transportation projects and create a coordinated effort to secure enough federal money to expedite the subway extension as well as other key projects called for in Measure R, the county’s half-cent sales tax for transportation projects passed in November.

“We need a unified approach to get federal money," said Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian, who chairs the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors. "We need to bring the MTA board together. If it all comes together, we will be a force to be reckoned with. We will be able to advance all our projects.”

[sediment]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaAdventurer

Governor vetoes freeway tunneling bill

October 11, 2009

Wow, what a misleading title!
I think a tunnel is the only way to get it done, otherwise the citizens will howl as they have for over 50 years.
But there's no reason to make it the only option, only to have no money to build it.
Toll tunnel. That might do it, though there are optional and free routes currently available. I just got back from New Jersey, and we used my friend's EZPass for bridges, toll roads, tunnels, etc. Good stuff.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Totally agreed, and good suggestion sediment.

Are you still coasting down hills to save gas or did you wipe out your brakes doing that?

[sediment]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaAdventurer

Totally agreed, and good suggestion sediment.

Are you still coasting down hills to save gas or did you wipe out your brakes doing that?

No problem with the brakes, though the "power" part goes away and forces me to apply more force. (The "power" in steering goes away immediately.)
Problem now is I need to replace my battery. Thinking of getting a higher-quality one that can hold a charge while my headlights are on for a mile (yes, I can coast a whole mile to my house from the freeway!).
Current one is just at its warranty expiration, three years.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Your thoughts on subway and High speed rail?

Imagine waking up at the beach in Santa Monica, taking the subway to Union Station, transfering to the High Speed Rail for a 15 min connection to Anaheim, followed by another 15 min connection on the DL Monorail II from ARTIC to the front gates.

That would be a fun way to start your day at Disneyland! No driving.

[sediment]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaAdventurer

Your thoughts on subway and High speed rail?

Imagine waking up at the beach in Santa Monica, taking the subway to Union Station, transfering to the High Speed Rail for a 15 min connection to Anaheim, followed by another 15 min connection on the DL Monorail II from ARTIC to the front gates.

That would be a fun way to start your day at Disneyland! No driving.

No on "Subway to the Sea." If I were waking up on the beach in Santa Monica (or any beach), it would be because that's where I'd want to be the whole day. you want to ruin it by teking me away??
I'd rather spend money, time, and effort on connecting LAX to the existing light-rail grid. THEN, maybe, a subway to the sea. Heck, I bet Westsiders would rather see a subway to LAX from Santa Monica than one to downtown. Right down Lincoln Blvd.

HSR: you know my thoughts on this. I prefer the rail to Vegas, as it would get a lot more traffic with two specific destinations in mind. It would free up The 15, and it would free up Southwest's gates at the various airports around town. HSR North-South might result in more visits here than elsewhere in the state. There are things to do here, and the weather is usually nicer. Wouldn't be a commuter train, though.
And there is still the question of route. Too many choices, and Sacramento will get the nod over San Francisco.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

You will be able to get on it in Palmdale, Burbank, Union Station to Anaheim.

So although it's not intended as a commuter rail, it can be used as one.

How often do we think about people who are just driving through town when we are on the SoCal Freeways? We think they're there for locals to get around locally and forget they're also the way through town for out of towners just passing through our area.

[sediment]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaAdventurer

You will be able to get on it in Palmdale, Burbank, Union Station to Anaheim.

So although it's not intended as a commuter rail, it can be used as one.

How often do we think about people who are just driving through town when we are on the SoCal Freeways? We think they're there for locals to get around locally and forget they're also the way through town for out of towners just passing through our area.

I think working on getting a BART-like system, where people can get on a train every five minutes or so during rush hour (Red/Blue/Green/Gold), is probably more important. But a lot of BART is above-ground. That's cheaper than tunneling, but the aesthetics cause citizen blowback.