ReportWire

Tag: ridership

  • High-speed rail project slated to received $20 billion in state funding

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    California’s high-speed rail project is slated to receive $1 billion a year in funding through the state’s cap-and-trade program for the next 20 years — a relief to lawmakers who had urged the Legislature to approve the request as billions of dollars in federal funding remain in jeopardy.

    State leaders called the move, which is pending a final vote from the Legislature, a necessary step to cementing investments from the private sector — an area of focus for project officials. And the project’s chief executive, Ian Choudri, said the agreement is crucial to completing the current priority — a 171-mile portion from Merced to Bakersfield — by 2033.

    “This funding agreement resolves all identified funding gaps for the Early Operating Segment in the Central Valley and opens the door for meaningful public-private engagement with the program,” Choudri said in a statement. “And we must also work toward securing the long-term funding — beyond today’s commitment — that can bring high-speed rail to California’s population centers, where ridership and revenue growth will in turn support future expansions.”

    The project was originally proposed with a 2020 completion date, but so far, no segment of the line has been completed. It’s also about $100 billion over the original $33 billion budget that was originally proposed to voters and has received considerable pushback from Republican lawmakers and some Democrats. The Trump administration recently moved to pull $4 billion in funding that was slated for construction in the Central Valley; in turn, the state sued.

    Still, advocates of the project believe it’s crucial to the state’s economy and to the nation’s innovation in transit.

    “We applaud Governor Newsom and legislative leaders for their commitment and determination to make High-Speed Rail a success,” former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and Co-Chair of U.S. High Speed Rail Ray LaHood said in a statement. “The agreement represents the most important step forward to date for this transformational project.”

    State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), who chairs the Senate’s Transportation Committee, said the Legislature “must act quickly to pass this plan and keep California on track to deliver America’s first true high-speed rail.”

    Construction on the project has been limited to the Central Valley. Choudri has said that the project could take decades to connect the line from Los Angeles to San Francisco and it’s unclear when construction would begin elsewhere in the state. A recent report from the authority proposed next alternatives for the project that would connect the Central Valley to Gilroy and Palmdale. In those scenarios, regional transit would fill in the gaps to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

    L.A.-area lawmakers recently requested an annual $3.3-billion investment in transit from the state’s cap-and-trade fund, acknowledging that although high-speed rail is a state priority, L.A. County should not be overlooked when it comes to increasing more immediate transit investments in the state’s most populous county. Citing equity, health and climate needs, the delegation pushed for greater investment in bus, rail and regional connectors.

    According to a recent report from the Southern California Assn. of Governments, L.A. County accounts for 82% of Southern California’s bus ridership. Although public transit use is high, lawmakers and transit leaders have said that expansion and improvements are necessary.

    “Millions of Los Angeles County residents already depend on Metro bus and rail, Metrolink, and municipal operators. Yet service has not kept pace with need: transit ridership is still 25-30% below pre-pandemic levels, even as freeway traffic has nearly fully rebounded,” the delegation’s letter stated. “Without significant investment, super commuters from the Valley, South LA, and the Inland Empire remain locked into long, expensive car trips.”

    Funding commitments for L.A. County transit were maintained from the last budget, but the delegation’s request for billions in cap-and-trade funds has yet to come through.

    “The state budget deal in June 2025 restored $1.1 billion in flexible transit funding from the GGRF, which benefits transit operations statewide, including L.A. County,” Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas’ (D-Los Angeles) office said.

    Smallwood-Cuevas said the point of the request was to ensure that transit needs of the Los Angeles region aren’t lost.

    “We recognize what it means when folks in L.A. County get out of their cars and onto public transit — that is the greatest reduction that can happen,” she said. “We fully intend to see an opportunity where we can address some of that ridership and look at ways to ensure an equitable opportunity that invests in our regional transit public transit, while we also work to build what I call the spine of our transit, a high speed rail program that will run up and down the state and connect to our regional public transit arteries.”

    State Sen. Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) said that the state’s investments toward wildfire recovery in Pacific Palisades and Altadena “does not mean that you should leave the largest segment of drivers anywhere in the world languishing in traffic forever.”

    “It’s not that there’d be nothing [for transit funding],” Stern said. “It’s just that we think there should be more.”

    The Los Angeles area isn’t facing the same state funding hurdle of the Bay Area, where lawmakers have scrambled to obtain a $750-million transit loan, warning that key services like BART could be significantly affected without the funds.

    Roughly $14 billion has been spent on the high-speed rail project so far, which has created roughly 15,000 jobs in the Central Valley. Theoretically, the train will eventually boost economies statewide.

    Eli Lipmen of MoveLA believes that the investments will help transit in the Los Angeles region by expanding access, long before there’s a direct high-speed rail connection.

    “Wer’e building an incredible transit system with LA Metro, but we need that regional system to get out to Orange County, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura County,” Lipmen said.

    “So we’re making those investments even if high-speed rail doesn’t come here right away to improve those connections for constituents. That’s a good thing.”

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    Colleen Shalby

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  • Metro sees big gains in safety and ridership over past year – WTOP News

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    As Metro wraps up a yearlong review of its service, the transit agency is reporting two major wins: a sharp drop in crime and a steady rise in ridership.

    As Metro wraps up a yearlong review of its service, the transit agency is reporting two major wins: a sharp drop in crime and a steady rise in ridership.

    According to Metro’s newly released FY2025 Annual Service Excellence Report, crime across the system fell by 43% between June 2024 and June 2025. The biggest drop was in car thefts at stations, which were down nearly 60%. Larceny cases fell by 33%, while robbery and assault each dropped by more than 20%.

    This continues a downward trend that began in 2023, with overall crime now down 50% compared to two years ago.

    Metro credits the improvement to several key efforts, which include more visible police and staff on trains and platforms, expanded use of surveillance cameras to solve cases and data-driven deployment of officers. Crisis intervention teams also played a role, helping to de-escalate more than 30,000 situations involving individuals in crisis.

    Also last year, Metro introduced new fare gates aimed at preventing fare evasion on trains. Combined with stepped-up fare enforcement, including nearly 20,000 enforcement actions, these efforts are being credited for declining crime rates.

    Ridership on the upswing

    Meanwhile, ridership is on the rise, partially fueled by the return-to-office push in the D.C. area. Metro recorded 264 million trips over the past fiscal year, which is a 9% increase.

    The report also provides a look at Metrorail’s new “Tap. Ride. Go” system, which allows riders to pay a fare by tapping a credit card at the fare gate. Early numbers for the payment system, which was rolled out in May, show it was used for 7% of weekday trips and 13% of weekend trips.

    This year, Metro also implemented automatic train control on all lines, and since the switch was flipped on, the agency said the system is shaving an average of 51 seconds off each trip.

    Some of the areas Metro looks to improve include bus system reliability, with buses being twice as likely to be late than early to a stop. Metro said the afternoon rush hour played a big role in that, but so did a bus driver shortage. Metro plans to address the shortage by hiring 560 bus operators in the coming months.

    While seeing a rise in the use of the MetroAccess system for users with disabilities, the agency also saw satisfaction among users drop from 84% to 78%. Metro said the transition to a new contracting model used last year is to blame for the drop in on-time performance for MetroAccess. It has added a new provider to the mix to help meet demand.

    Metro said the number of riders dissatisfied with safety on the rail system is also going down, from 17% last year to 9% this year. On buses, that number is down from 15% to 13%.

    The report will be presented to Metro’s board during a meeting on Sept. 11.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Mike Murillo

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  • ‘Driving in traffic is stressful’: More commuters are trying public transit after fire closes 10 Freeway

    ‘Driving in traffic is stressful’: More commuters are trying public transit after fire closes 10 Freeway

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    Caprice “Kip” Harper was among those commuters who heeded the call from transit officials to take public transportation after a fire under the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles closed that vital thoroughfare.

    Harper, an archaeologist for the state, opted for a 50-minute commute on the Metro’s A line train from Pasadena to downtown L.A. Thursday morning to partake in a strike held by California state scientists calling for more pay.

    “I wanted to chill out,” she said. “Driving in traffic is stressful, and I also wanted to save energy for the protest.”

    Preliminary data from transportation officials suggest that the closure of the freeway may have prompted more motorists like Harper to jump on public transit to avoid the traffic headache created in downtown Los Angeles after a fire erupted under the 10’s overpass at Alameda Street on Saturday morning. The fire was fueled by wood pallets stored there and is being investigated as an arson.

    The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority recorded a 10% increase in ridership on the E line train that runs parallel to the 10 Freeway Monday and Tuesday, L.A. Metro Communications Director Dave Sotero said. L.A. Metro also reported a 25% increase in parked cars at outlying stations including Norwalk, Lakewood, Azusa and East L.A. on Thursday.

    “Metro usage is up and we need to continue that until we get to Tuesday,” Mayor Karen Bass said at a press conference Friday, urging commuters taking the Metro system this week to make it a habit even after the freeway opens.

    It remains unclear, however, if there has been a notable uptick in ridership on the entire regional system this week in response to the freeway closure. L.A. Metro said it does not yet have data on overall ridership for this month.

    While Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that the 10 Freeway would reopen by Tuesday — much sooner than expected — the roughly 300,000 commuters that drove that stretch of the freeway daily have been tasked with finding alternative routes or modes of transportation until then. But many commuters have chosen to continue driving, opting for side streets through neighborhoods in the city’s core.

    To help speed up the commute for those taking public transit, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation has adjusted signal times along the A and E train lines for faster service into downtown L.A. The L.A. Metro has also added buses to Line 66, which runs along Olympic Boulevard, and Line 51, which runs along Soto Street, while Metrolink increased the number of commuter trains from San Bernardino and Covina to Union Station. Bass even rode the Metro’s E line train to work Wednesday morning, encouraging commuters to take public transit while the 10 is closed.

    Although taking the Metro had a “comparable” commute time to driving, Harper’s first 15 minutes of her Thursday commute was spent getting to the nearest Metro station, Fillmore Station. It’s a reality that deters many locals from ditching their car and hopping on the train.

    For many others, mass transit wasn’t a viable option.

    Ashley Olmeda, 30, said taking public transit just does not make sense for her when the nearest Metro train station to her residence in Alhambra is an 18-minute drive to Memorial Park Station in Pasadena. She instead drove 40 minutes to downtown L.A., a drive that would have normally taken 15 minutes. But it was still the better alternative to taking public transit, she said.

    “There’s no Metro near me, so I would have to go out to Pasadena to the nearest Metro station,” she said. “But if I had access to one, I would [take public transit].”

    For others, using public transit is not feasible when they need to get around the city throughout the day.

    Tom Somers, 69, came into downtown L.A. from La Cañada Flintridge to go to court Thursday morning. As a lawyer, he needs to be able to travel freely between the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown L.A. to his office in Koreatown.

    “I’d like to [take the Metro]. I’d really like to,” he said. “But I need to get to court and the office and driving makes more sense for that.”

    He instead opted for a 65-minute commute to downtown L.A., which would normally have taken him 35 minutes, he said.

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    Ashley Ahn

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  • Metro wants riders back. Those green-shirted ‘transit ambassadors’ are part of the plan

    Metro wants riders back. Those green-shirted ‘transit ambassadors’ are part of the plan

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    Aiming to bring Angelenos back to a public transportation system that has struggled with safety concerns and declining ridership, Metro officials say they have a success story with so-called transit ambassadors, who have spent the last year riding trains and buses in bright green shirts to offer a helping hand.

    Metro’s public safety committee voted unanimously Thursday for the ambassador pilot program to become a permanent part of the transit system. The full Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors will vote on the proposal Oct. 26.

    Since Metro launched the pilot program in September 2022, about 350 transit ambassadors have had more than 500,000 interactions with riders, according to a staff report presented to a Metro committee Thursday.

    The unarmed ambassadors ride the transit system and help riders on train platforms or Metro hubs, pointing them in the right direction during major disruptions or helping elderly people navigate when an escalator is broken. They do not issue citations, but they report problems to law enforcement and document vandalism or other crimes.

    Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who chairs Metro’s Operations, Safety and Customer Experience Committee, championed the program’s success. At the committee meeting Thursday, she said the ambassadors not only provide operational help to riders but are also a means to make public transportation more personal.

    “They’re the human touch,” Mitchell said. “They are also the ambassadors of our culture, of how we want to be perceived as a transit agency and how we want people to experience riding public transit. I am glad that the statistics are bearing the fruit that we anticipated and hoped for.”

    Over the last six months, ambassadors used naloxone to reverse 52 opioid overdoses, Metro said. During that same time period, ambassadors helped 20 people by performing CPR, intervening during a suicide attempt and other events, according to the staff report.

    One of the most critical roles the ambassadors play, chief customer experience officer Jennifer Vides said, is making riders feel safer.

    Last year, a survey of more than 12,000 bus and train riders showed a decline in ridership among women compared with 2019 ridership numbers. Women made up 53% of bus riders pre-pandemic, and just 49% in 2022. Women were more likely to cite safety as the top issue on which they wanted Metro to make improvements.

    Recent attempts to increase safety on the transit system included a proposal by the Los Angeles Police Department to arm officers with lasso-like weapons to subdue citizens, but the Metro board said that plan was premature. Metro’s own attempts have focused on the ambassador program and other measures.

    Metro announced Thursday that ridership jumped 10% over the last year, marking a steady increase over the previous 10 months, climbing back to nearly 80% of its 2019 pre-pandemic level.

    In a recent rider survey, 63% of people polled felt ambassadors made their ride on a Metro train feel safer; among low income communities, women and people of color, that rate was even higher. And 61% of those surveyed said they would want to see more ambassadors on Metro.

    Some riders surveyed said they were unclear on what the ambassadors could do, and others were unsure why ambassadors often appeared to be looking down at their phones on the job. That doesn’t mean they’re distracted — using the phone is part of reporting necessary maintenance and other services needed, Vides said.

    If the ambassadors were a permanent part of Metro, they would receive better employee benefits, according to the staff report. Retention, administration, training and collaboration among other Metro departments would improve, according to the staff report.

    Los Angeles City Councilman and Metro board member Paul Krekorian asked if the Metro staff looked into any alternatives to bringing the program in-house. If approved by the full board, the ambassador program could stay under its $20 million annual budget, according to Metro staff.

    “Instinctively, I feel like it would be better, just because of command and control and efficiency,” Krekorian said at Thursday’s meeting. “This is a big program. This is a big, very expensive program that we’re making it permanent after a trial period.”

    The initial goal was to start the program as a pilot, outsource it and then bring it in-house if it proved successful, Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins said. Currently, the program is managed by third-party vendors.

    There’s also concern about a high turnover rate among those employees compared with others in the Metro transit system, Wiggins said.

    The ambassador program was first proposed as L.A. County reevaluated its approach to public safety and how Black and brown riders felt when approached by law enforcement. Integrating the program into Metro would signal to the police agencies that patrol the trains and buses that the ambassadors are not just a temporary strategy but part of a “reimagined public safety network,” Wiggins said.

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    Nathan Solis

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