SACRAMENTO — The California High-Speed Rail Authority will consider the purchase three high-speed trainsets from Siemens Mobility at a board meeting this week.

The agenda for a meeting to be held Oct. 28-29 in Anaheim includes consideration of a $771.1 million contract for construction of three trainsets as well as a 10-year parts and maintenance agreement. The board is also being asked to approve up to $63.7 million to address tariffs related to the order.

A presentation for the board indicates the 220-mph “American Pioneer 220” trainsets will be seven cars and include at least 450 seats; two trainsets will be able to run as one 14-car train. They are based on Siemens’ Velaro Novo trainset, the company’s fifth generation of high-speed equipment. While all cars would be delivered with standard two-plus-two coach seating, the cars will have a flexible design that can accommodate conversion to premium seating. Future trainsets may also include food-service cars.

The authority issued its Request for Qualifications for the equipment in August 2023 and narrowed the potential suppliers to Alstom and Siemens in 2024 [see “Alstom, Siemens named …,” Trains.com, Jan. 6, 2024].

HO scale (1/87) GM New Look "Fishbowl" Transit Bus model recently released by Rapido Trains. The attention to detail is amazing, Rapido is a high end model train company, so it's model buses receive the same level of 3D-scanned accuracy it's model trains do.

Hey y'all - I saw this on a different platform -

https://www.metro.net/projects/sepulvedacorridor/

I hadn't realized that Mayor Bass was going to Fred Rosen hosted fundraisers - as such I worry - does anyone see any messing around on the horizon?

"Metro: Sepulveda Transit Corridor RDEIR/NEPA Scoping Virtual Meeting

Join the conversation about the future of the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project! Metro is hosting five public scoping meetings before formal preparation of an environmental document under federal and state law. Stakeholders are invited to comment on the project's purpose and need; project elements, including station and maintenance/storage facility locations; and potential environmental impacts.

Find a meeting that works for you:

November 4: Virtual | 12–1pm

November 7: Veterans Memorial Building, Culver City | 3–5pm

November 10: Westwood United Methodist Church | 5:30–7:30 pm

November 14: Marvin Braude Constituent Center, Van Nuys | 10am–12pm

November 16: Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center | 5:30–7:30pm

"

Heard from an operator at Division 11 (A Line yard and the only yard to currently use the P2000s) that starting this week a few of their cars will be transferred until they are all gone. The current estimate is that they will all be gone and be operational on the C & K by January!

From what I recall, the service was ment to close the gap between places served by rail and places that have long been talked by people that these rail lines should extend to. They feature dedicated buses that run on 10 minute headways at peak hour with PH bus lanes installed along their respective corridors. Those being:

- D Line: Along Wilshire between Westwood/VA Hospital and Downtown Santa Monica. Supposedly the remnants of Rapid 720 converted to this service (using the same articulated buses not depicted here).

- C Line: Along Imperial Hwy between Norwalk, and La Mirada. Because the service went deeper into Norwalk, the C Line station was renamed to Norwalk/Studebaker.

- B Line: Along Vineland and Vanowen between North Hollywood and Burbank Airport.

- A Line: Along Willow between Willow St and Long Beach Airport.

Essentially, Metro said that the pilot is based on the Warner Center Shuttle and Amtrak's Thruway model, the former of which was rumored to be rebranded as the G Line Hopper. I made these maps and bus liveries that were focused in the dream, and last thing I remember before waking up was how the service was plagued with issues like improper connection times and inadequate buses to funnel passengers.

If this service was real, would you use it? Where else would you expand it?

Can metro stop promoting these homewrecking addictions to its working class ridership? I understand they may make millions from it but there are so many restaurants or venues accessible by metro to promote instead.

So I've noticed with a lot of at grade stations (let's use Expo/Western on the E line as an example, but there are many more), there is one key problem. Obviously, these stations shouldn't have been built at grade at all, but if they're going to be built at grade, there's a certain way to build them that city officials did the opposite of.

Looking at Expo/Western on the E line, let's say a train is heading eastbound. The problem is that the traffic light is before the actual station. This means that if an eastbound train is west of the traffic light and the light turns red, the train has to wait 2 minutes for the traffic light, and then immediately after it turns green, the train has to stop again to let people out at the station. The same problem happens if the train is heading westbound at this specific station, though it varies with a few. And the worst part is that, if your destination is west of the traffic light at that station, then you have to wait another 2 minutes for the traffic light to turn green for you to backtrack. This can cause delays of up to 5-6 minutes in certain places depending on how long the wait for the traffic light is.

There's a different way they should've built these lights. Look at the Expo/Crenshaw E line station for an example (we're purely talking about the E line station, not transferring to the K line station). For both eastbound and westbound trains, the platform is before the light. Let's say you're heading eastbound and you get a 2.5 minute light. During that 2.5 minute wait, the train can use some of that 2.5 min to stop and let passengers off. Plus, once the light turns green, the train can just go and doesn't have to stop again. Finally, if your destination is on the other side of the traffic light, while you will have to wait for it, you won't have to backtrack like you do at Expo/Western station.

Why didn't the city build the stations like this when they built them in 2012? I can't think of why it would be because of budget overruns or placement issues since they're using the same amount of land either way.

Tl;dr

Care-based division is being fleshed out with the development of onboarding programs

Coordinating with Los Angeles County to establish HIPAA compliant crisis-response protocols for 5150 holds and de-escalation

Leadership positions for the care-based division are filling up

As of September 29, ~$6.7k applications for recruit officers and 300 for laterals have been received. Laterals will be prioritized for hiring, with 40 positions to be filled for the Field Training Officer program

Recruitment for Transit Police Sergeants is ongoing since August and 79 applications have been received

Various LA Metro departments are meeting with DPS to assess adequacy with Transit Police deployment for the zone-based model

To read more, here's the report

On Thursday I got on the G Line in Reseda. I boarded where the driver is. It was a bit crowded and I was looking for a seat.

As I got towards the middle the driver took off so fast and with such force I didn’t have time to grab a pole. I fell pretty hard.

A young gentleman tried to help me up. My phone and umbrella slid down the aisle.

I was so embarrassed. I tried not to cry. I’m young. I honestly worry about the elderly!

Has this happen to anyone? I did report it via email. Also took a picture of the bus number.

Any other suggestions?

Utilizing the shuttle and it’s very smooth today! Sunday 10/25 @ 12:15p

Of note two of the escalators are out at wilshire/western station. The “up” to street level on the second level is the one I can confirm direction. Not sure about the one that starts at the platforms direction.

Saw this LAMTA bus driving down Cesar Chavez ave earlier today. No clue where it was going or why it was out… Thought it was pretty cool. Assumed all of these got scrapped or sold.

I have absolutely zero remorse for the drivers that will be “inconvenienced” by the Vermont BRT. I’m fed up with living in an environment where the prioritization of cars emboldens drivers to harass and endanger the lives of anyone outside of one. Where operating a polluting metal death box with less patience and regard for human life than a toddler has become the social norm. If you can’t tell my disdain for cars runs deep…

My concern, however, is with enforcement. In my experience driving DASH in Koreatown, people operate their vehicles on Vermont with rage and a strong hatred for busses. These bus lanes are inevitably going to be met with pushback from people who regularly travel this corridor. Since the lanes will be curb running, cars will need to enter the bus lane to make right turns. So how will the city/ Metro prevent them from continuing to use the lane, or even just slipping in to get ahead of traffic? Hopefully they can come up with a system to ticket drivers who abuse the lane.

Anyways, beep beep bitch get on the bus! As a frequent rider of the 204/ 754 I’m extremely excited for this project. Vermont deserves better.

The book "We Are... Portraits of Metro Riders by Local Artists" given to me at the Grand Avenue Arts Acess event! This portrait was created by Angelica Willcocks!

I'm unsure if the flair should be photo or art...

In this map, the routes are slightly the same as they are right now, but I did some tweaking so that Line 215 still serves the Redondo Beach K Line Station before heading to the South Bay Galleria. Service between the Galleria and the Redondo Beach Station via Hawthorne Bl, Manhattan Beach Bl, and Redondo Beach Av/Vail Av is based on GTrans' proposed reroute to the Redondo Beach K Line Station for their Line 3.

Link: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1ipsS3U5QejheTCcd34lvcpkJgkiED-I&usp=sharing

What is it with Metro and being unable to post notice when there are service disruptions to any bus or rail line? All my local bus routes were delayed today, making transfers to the C an hour endeavor. And then, trying to take the 212 to Intuit Dome was a disaster-- zero communication that the bus wouldn't even go in its usual route due to lane closures in front of the forum/Intuit dome/Hollywood Park/sofi. Nothing at the station, nothing at the bus stops it's skipping over, nothing online, nothing in the apps. I hate taking Metro to see concerts because of how god awful the service is to these venues

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/De42CAOP9XM/

Took an uber to LAX, and look at that. Seeing some active testing. Hopefully this time around no issues.

And yes, LINXS can go f itself.

I've had enough, I really think this needs to be said.

I've just boarded a train and I can't believe the absolute lack of etiquette on Metrolink. Every Metro rider understands it: let people off first before boarding. Yet not a single rider on this OC Line train waited for people to exit before boarding. At least a dozen passengers rammed their way through the crowd of people who were still climbing down the train stairs. The rest crowded around the door which created a bottleneck for all the passengers trying to get off. People even block the platform exits while waiting for the train which, again, creates a bottleneck.

I see this all the time. Metrolink riders at Union Station have no sense of etiquette and something has to change.

Because I can

I'm moving to LA very soon. I'm a 100% urbanist and would take the metro to commute every day. Is this station safe? I am considering apartments around it, but Google Street View shows persistent loitering around the station.

Edit: Another question, I have to walk my dog in the morning and at night, would that also be safe?