Los Angeles Metro Rail

Los Angeles County Metro Rail
Overview
Locale	Los Angeles County, California
Transit type	Rapid transit and light rail
Number of lines	5
Number of stations	16 (rapid transit) 70 (total)
Daily ridership	301,144 (August 2009) [1]
Operation
Began operation	1990 (light rail) 1993 (rapid transit)
Operator(s)	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA)
Technical
System length	Template:Mi to km (rapid transit) Template:Mi to km (total)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
System map

Los Angeles County Metro Rail is a mass transit rail system in Los Angeles County. It is run by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and is the indirect descendant of the Pacific Electric Red Car system and Los Angeles Railway "Yellow Car" lines, which operated in the area from the early to middle twentieth century. Currently, Metro Rail operates three light rail lines and two rapid transit subway lines, altogether totaling 79.1 miles (127.3 km) of rail, 70 stations, and over 300,000 daily weekday boardings as of August 2009.

System

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) runs five rail lines throughout Los Angeles County.

  The Blue Line (opened in 1990) is a light rail line running between 7th Street/Metro Center station in Downtown Los Angeles and Transit Mall station in Downtown Long Beach. It is the first of the MTA's modern rail lines since the 1961 demise of the Pacific Electric Railway's Red Car system.

  The Red Line is a subway line running between Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles and North Hollywood station in North Hollywood. The first leg opened to Westlake / MacArthur Park in 1993, to Hollywood in 1999, and to North Hollywood in 2000.

  The Green Line (opened in 1995, together with the Glenn Anderson Freeway) is a light rail line running between Marine/Redondo station in the South Bay region of Los Angeles and the Norwalk station in Norwalk. The line operates mostly in the median of the Century Freeway (Interstate 105). It offers indirect access to Los Angeles International Airport via a shuttle bus from the Aviation/LAX station. It is the region's only above-ground light rail line that is completely grade separated.

  The Gold Line is a light rail line that runs between Atlantic station in East Los Angeles and Sierra Madre Villa station in Pasadena, passing through Boyle Heights, Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles, Highland Park and South Pasadena. Portions run elevated, below ground, in city streets, and in the median of the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210). The first leg from Downtown Los Angeles to Pasadena opened in 2003; the extension from Downtown Los Angeles to East Los Angeles opened in 2009.

  The Purple Line (first leg to Westlake/MacArthur Park opened in 1993 and to Koreatown in 1996 as Red Line; renamed 2006) is a subway line running between Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles and Wilshire/Western station in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles Mid-Wilshire district. It was considered a branch of the Red Line prior to 2006.

Metro Liner services

While assigned colors and appearing on the Metro Rail system map, the lines of the Metro Liner system are not rail lines but bus rapid transit (BRT) systems.

The Metro Liner is meant to mimic the Metro Rail lines, both in the vehicle's design and in the operation of the line. Vehicles stop at all stations, tickets are sold only on platforms, passengers can board at any door, the vehicles receive priority at intersections, and vehicles are painted in Metro Rail's silver livery. However, the Metro Liner concept has not yet been implemented on the Metro Silver Line.

• Metro Orange Line (opened on October 29, 2005) traverses the southern San Fernando Valley from the Warner Center Transit Hub in Woodland Hills to the North Hollywood station where the line connects to the Metro Red Line.

• Metro Silver Line (opened on December 13, 2009) operates between the San Gabriel Valley from the El Monte Bus Station in El Monte to the Artesia Transit Center via Downtown Los Angeles. The Silver Line connects with every Metro Rail line along its route.

Subway

LA subway at Wilshire/Vermont

The Los Angeles Subway is the rapid transit system of the city of Los Angeles, California. While all Los Angeles streetcar lines were closed down by 1963 in favor of using automobiles on an extensive freeway system, the immense volume of traffic generated by the automobiles of 14 million people in the greater metropolitan area eventually led to renewed support for mass transit. In the 1980s, Los Angeles County voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase to build a network of metro and light rail lines. Since then, it has progressed in fits and starts, and not without controversy.

Although the first rail line, the Blue Line, opened in 1990, its route ran less than one mile (1.6 km) underground, the remainder on surface streets or above-ground, separated right-of-way. The first fully underground subway, the Red Line, opened in 1993 after seven years of construction. Originally designated as one line with two branches, the subway was later re-designated as two lines, the Red Line running from downtown Los Angeles northwest to Hollywood and North Hollywood after the US$1.5 billion, 3-mile (4.8 km) twin tunnel extension in 2000, and the Purple Line running west along Wilshire Boulevard to Koreatown. As of June 2008, the combined Red and Purple lines averaged a weekday ridership of 153,928, which makes it the ninth busiest rapid transit system in the United States. Taking overall track length into consideration, Metro Rail's subway system transports 8,846 passengers per route mile, making it the sixth busiest per length, still far behind the transit systems of New York City, Washington D.C., and Boston, and even the elevated system of Chicago.

All of the underground stations differ aesthetically, as 0.5% of the total construction budget of the stations was reserved for public art. Due to the city's proximity to fault lines, tunnels had to be built to resist earthquakes of up to magnitude 7.5. Both lines use an electrified third rail to provide power to the trains, making subway trains incompatible with the other three rail lines.

Light rail

A Gold Line train in Pasadena, the line's current northeast terminus

Los Angeles' first modern light rail, the LACMTA Blue Line, opened in 1990, 27 years after streetcar service ended. Of the five Metro Rail lines, three (Blue, Green, and Gold) are configured as light rail lines. These lines use overhead catenary cables to provide electric power to the trains, making light rail trains incompatible with the two subway lines. As a result, the Blue Line terminates at 7th St/Metro Center rather than continuing on to Union Station, and riders wishing to transfer between the Blue Line and the myriad of other rail services at Union Station must first transfer to the Red or Purple Line subway for an intermediate trip of a little over a mile and a half.

The Blue and Gold Lines run mostly at grade, with some street-running, elevated, and underground stretches in more densely populated areas. The Green Line is entirely grade separated, running in the median of I-105 and then turning southward along an elevated route.

Metro's light rail system is the third busiest LRT system in the United States by ridership, with 127,300 average weekday boardings during the fourth quarter of 2007. Additionally, the Blue Line is the second largest light rail line by ridership in the United States with an average weekday ridership of 72,295, after the Boston Green Line's daily ridership of 235,300, though the Boston Green Line has four outbound termini, so that its 25 miles (40 km) of track service a larger lateral area than the Blue Line's 22 miles (35 km), but a shorter length.

Hours of operation

All Metro Rail lines run regularly between 5 a.m. and midnight, seven days a week. Limited service on particular segments is provided after midnight and before 5 a.m. There is no rail service between 2 and 3:30 a.m. Exact times vary from route to route; see individual route articles for more information.

Fares

All fare collection is based on a proof of payment system. At least two fare machines are located outside each station. Fare inspectors and deputy sheriffs police the system and cite individuals without fares. The standard Metro base fare applies for all trips.

Fare	Regular	Senior/Disabled/Medicare
Base Fare	US$1.25	US$.55
Tokens	US$1.25	--
Metro Day Pass	US$5.00	US$1.80
Weekly Pass	US$17.00	--
Student Fare Card (with monthly stamp)	US$24.00	--
College/Vocational (with monthly stamp)	US$36.00	--
Monthly Pass	US$62.00	US$14.00
Metro-to-Muni Transfer	US$.30	US$.10

On Feb. 28, 2008, Metro announced the approval to install ticket barriers. It is estimated that Metro loses 5.5 million USD a year because of the honor system method. The barriers will also improve security at all the stations, provide better ridership statistics and create the ability to have zone fares. Barriers will be installed at all subway stations, select LRT stations and all future stations. The installation will take 12 to 18 months.

On Mar. 15, 2009, all paper passes are converted to Metro's new TAP (Transit Access Pass) Card.

Current projects

  The Expo Line (official name: "Metro Rail Mid-City/Exposition Transit Project") will be a light-rail line from Downtown L.A. to Santa Monica via the Exposition Boulevard corridor in northern South Los Angeles. Construction of the first phase (9.0 miles) from the 7th Street/Metro Center station in downtown to Venice Blvd and Robertson Blvd in Culver City, began in September 2006, with completion slated for Summer 2011. Metro has not yet chosen any color to officially represent the line (due to a conflict among the MTA Board members on this issue). Unofficially, Metro documents have represented the line with the color aqua, a color which had been in use informally by transit advocates for years. With the passage of Measure R in November 2008, the second phase of the project is now fully funded. Groundbreaking is expected in early 2010.

  The Orange Line will be extended from its current western terminus four miles north from the Canoga stop to the Metrolink station in Chatsworth; new stops would be added at Sherman Way, Roscoe Boulevard, and Nordhoff Street. The plan is expected to be completed in 2012. This extension continues along the old Burbank Branch railroad right-of-way. Another extension being discussed would connect the current North Hollywood station to a new stop at the Bob Hope Airport Metrolink station in Burbank; this route would approximately head north on Vineland Avenue and then east on Vanowen Street.

Expansion proposals

Official

Westside metro rail lines. Current lines and those under construction are shown in solid lines and those under consideration are shown in dashed lines with alignments and stations as published in LACMTA alternatives studies in May 2008

• Purple Line: This proposal championed by Los Angeles mayor and former MTA chair Antonio Villaraigosa would extend the Purple Line from its current terminus at Wilshire and Western Avenue in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles to the city of Santa Monica. The extension was a part of the originally planned Red Line, but Congressional Representative Henry Waxman initiated a federal ban on tunnel construction in the Miracle Mile District, due to lingering concerns over large pockets of methane gas underneath it. The ban was overturned in July 2007. Also under consideration is a spur that would link the Hollywood/Highland station of the Red Line to the Purple Line somewhere in the Fairfax District, running through West Hollywood along Santa Monica Boulevard.

• Regional Connector: Plans in the 1970s and '80s called for a light rail line from Long Beach to Pasadena along a former right-of-way. This is why the Gold Line was at one time known as the "Pasadena Blue Line." Today, the Gold Line and Blue Line do not connect. Some citizens and planners have called for a connection through Downtown Los Angeles of approximately two miles (known as the "Downtown Connector" or "Regional Connector") that would connect the 7th St/Metro Center station to the Gold Line's Little Tokyo/Arts District station. This would allow the Blue and Expo lines to reach Union Station, Pasadena and the Eastside and vice-versa. In September 2005 the MTA board publicly indicated its desire to take up this project again, a call heartily endorsed by the editorial page of the Los Angeles Times.

• Gold Line: Using former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway trackage and right-of-way in the San Gabriel Valley, The Metro Gold Line Foothill Construction Authority is working to extend the northern branch of the Gold Line eastward, from its current terminus in eastern Pasadena to the city of Montclair in San Bernardino County or even possibly to L.A./Ontario International Airport, via Upland. The 24-mile (39 km) Foothill Extension (so named because the route is just to the south of a mountain range) does enjoy popular support from all 23 cities along its route. In October of 2009, the MTA Board unanimously voted to include the Foothill Extension in its long-range plan, and approved funding for the construction and operation of its first phase to Azusa. The terminus of this extension will be at a stop just west of Azusa's eastern border. This first phase is scheduled to break ground in June of 2010, and is expected to be completed and opened in 2013. The Board also directed its staff to seek funding for the second phase of the Foothill Extension, in the hopes of completion by 2017. With the completion of the Foothill and Eastside extensions, the Gold Line would become the longest Metro line and possibly the longest light rail line in North America, surpassing the 22-mile (35 km) Blue Line with more than 50 miles (80 km) of rail.

Discussions are also under way to continue the Gold Line's recently completed Eastside extension farther east past the current terminus at Atlantic Avenue. Routes under discussion include continuing east along California 60 (the Pomona freeway) to South El Monte, or south along Garfield Avenue to Washington Boulevard, then southeast to Whittier.

• Green Line: The long-delayed reconstruction of Los Angeles International Airport may include a Green Line spur to the new terminal. Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl has called for this spur to be extended to Marina Del Rey with stops at Loyola Marymount University or even Venice along Lincoln Boulevard, citing MTA white papers indicating the feasibility of such an extension. The extension would fix the Green Line's issue of being a route that goes "from nowhere to nowhere."

The MTA has also in the past listed on its list of possible projects an extension at the Green Line's eastern end, linking the Green Line to the Metrolink station in Norwalk, possibly with a short underground segment. If both plans go through, Metrolink riders would, for the first time, have a direct connection to Los Angeles International Airport.

• Crenshaw Corridor: This funded line has no color designation, but with the 2008 long range plan it is clear that this new line is of high priority. Much like the successful Blue Line, the city views the area as one with high ridership potential. Currently its northern terminus will be located at the Crenshaw Station along the Expo Line, though once the Purple Line's extension finds funding, this line will likely begin at a Purple Line station. The southern terminus is yet to be determined, but there is strong support for it to veer southwest and end at LAX or the Aviation Station on the Green Line. In any case, this line will either be a light rail transport running mainly on the streets like the Blue Line or in a bus transitway like the Orange Line.

• The Orange County Transportation Authority hopes to work with L.A. Metro in building a bus rapid transit, light rail, or high-speed rail line along the Pacific Electric Railway's West Santa Ana Branch right-of-way from downtown Santa Ana's Metrolink station northwest to either the Metrolink station in Norwalk (if it is decided to build a BRT), the Green Line's Rosa Parks station near the intersection of the Century Freeway and the Long Beach Freeway (if a light-rail line is built), or farther north to downtown Los Angeles's Union Station (in case a high-speed rail line comes to pass). The proposed line would serve commuters moving between the two counties.

• Long Range Plans: In the 2008 LACMTA Long Range Plan, it designated the Strategic Unfunded section, outlining more possible future subway and LRT lines. This section is split into two tiers, the first being all lines that already have extensive studies completed and potential budgets laid out. The largest and most costly of these projects would be the Metro Purple Line subway extension to Santa Monica; a preliminary feasibility study by Metro has recommended several routes, including a straight alignment under Wilshire Boulevard and a two-pronged alignment extending from Hollywood and joining the Wilshire line in Beverly Hills. Other lines that have yet to gain any media coverage include an LRT line from Union Station to Burbank and the Harbor Subdivision line running from Union Station to LAX. The second tier of the Strategic Unfunded plan includes a Vermont Corridor Subway, the Silver Line, a BRT from NoHo to Pasadena, an LRT Yellow Line from NoHo to the regional connector and a Green Line extension from LAX to Santa Monica.

Citizen advocacy

Rail advocates have proposed the following lines:

• The Silver Line is another light-rail proposal which would operate from El Monte to Hollywood, passing through the western San Gabriel Valley, University of Southern California Health Sciences Campus & Los Angeles County Hospital, Union Station, Downtown L.A., Echo Park, and Silver Lake along the way. It would use existing rail between El Monte and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. (This is unrelated to the Foothill Transit "Silver Streak" bus service, which also serves the San Gabriel Valley as of March 19, 2007, and uses buses similar to those of the Metro Orange Line.) The Silver line website is no longer online. An archived version of the Silver Line website can be found from the The Transit Coalition website. Since there is no active website for this proposal, discussions about the silver line have moved to the The Transit Coalition's Discussion Board. As of March 2008, the Silver Line has appeared on the LACMTA's Draft long range transportation plan which outlines future projects for the Los Angeles County region. The Silver Line name, however, has already been used, so any such light rail would require a different name.

• The Harbor Line would serve residents of the Harbor Area, by connecting it to the rest of Los Angeles by linking it to the MTA's existing light rail system. The line would serve as a convenient way for people to visit San Pedro, which is currently undergoing a state of rapid redevelopment (with the Port's Bridge to Breakwater proposal and other condo projects). This route would use the long-abandoned right-of-way known as the Harbor Subdivision, which MTA currently owns. Part of this route would also form the basis of the proposed LAX Express.The LACMTA has since added the Harbor Subdivision to the projects and studies section of www.metro.net. Current plans for the route are bus rapid transit, light-rail, or commuter rail [most likely a Metrolink branch]. The project in can be viewed at http://www.metro.net/projects_studies/harbor_subdivision/default.htm

• The Get L.A. Moving Plan is a proposal that primarily combines already built lines, and extensions that have been thoroughly studied by the MTA and predecessor agencies to illustrate the type of rail transit system that would exist if they came to fruition. The Get L.A. Moving Plan includes cost estimates, suggested construction schedules, construction methods and financing, and cites rail construction systems around the world including Madrid, Washington D.C. and several Asian countries as precedents.

See also

• Transportation of Los Angeles
• List of rapid transit systems
• List of United States rapid transit systems by ridership

External links

• Official Metro website
• Gold Line Foothill Extension website
• Official Gold Line Eastside Extension website
• History of the Metro Rail System
• Citizens For A Harbor Line website
• The Transit Coalition
• Network map (to-scale)
• Los Angeles Metro System on Google Maps
• Google map of Metro Rail Stations