On 4/29/06, calwatch <> wrote: calwatch has left a new comment on your post " "WHY" L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION #1 ":
Actually, your idea is already being implemented. In the June 2006 service change, all Rapid buses will continue to Santa Monica. The facts aren't correct, as an examination of a Rapid Bus schedule or field observation (which I have done several times despite being on the complete opposite side of town for me) will show, that "most" buses end at Westwood. Only 50% of them do. You're angry, and you think you aren't being idealistic (but you are). But the problem is that traffic is much, much more complex than you think. I'm a licensed civil engineer and I can't understand half of it.
italianesco replies:
Thank you for you comment, Chris.
You are right: I am--well, actually, WAS--angry, but not quite as angry as I was sometimes there on that corner of Wilshire and Westwood waiting for a bus, ANY bus, to take me down Wislhire and having to decide WHICH bus to take: the 720 Red Rapid, the MTA #20 or the Big Blue Bus #2. They all have DIFFERENT stops at DIFFERENT locations around that corner. I had to keep running from one corner to the other to get on one of those buses!
And yes, of course, I am being a tad idealistic. Perhaps this whole discussion of L.A. traffic is completely "academic." I have always said that there are TWO things in life that have NO solution: death and the Middle East. Now after living in L.A. for three years, I really feel tempted to add a third: L.A. traffic!
Everything is a matter of perception, Chris. I am interested in film making, especially documentary film making, and I would have just loved to shoot a documentary on the bus strike of 2003 and on the whole state of traffic in L.A. I wish I could have stood on that corner filming those buses.
My perception was accurate: "most" 720 Red Rapid buses do seem to end their route there. My observation was only half-accurate: way too many buses seem to end their route there AND--here's what I forgot to mention--MOST (and I stand by this one) of the buses that do continue to Santa Monica are FULL. I hated getting on a FULL bus. And when they were not FULL, the other 720's that had just unloaded their passengers to end their route would make sure that they got FULL with those passengers. It was incredibly frustrating. It is THIS experience what compounded my perception: you stand there and bus after bus end their route there and those that don't are FULL to the brim (and somebody on a wheelchair is getting on! Try that one sometime!). There might as well be no bus at all going to Santa Monica that you can get on. Sometimes that's the perception you get. The mathematical reality ("Only 50% of them do") may be one thing, the field observation may be quite another, but the perception may be the most important one. Because it is this PERCEPTION of a flawed and incomplete system, what makes most people give up on public transportation in America (I did!) or keeps them from even trying it.
You don't need to take a poll to know that most L.A. drivers would never give up their cars in favor of public transportation if they can help it. Some people might suggest that the high price of gas might be the thing to do the trick. I doubt it. There'd be a revolution in American before gas reaches $5/gallon! It's not in the interests of the oil and car companies that people give up on their cars. They'd do ANYTHING to make sure they don't.
oh, and speaking of bus schedules, did I mention that those Red Rapid buses would usually come ALL together in bunches of three and four and then there would be NO bus for what felt (in MY perception) like hours?!?
See, this is the thing: it is precisely urban planners and civil engineers (no offense to you) and technocrats who probably created this mess. You can see their mistakes, the bad planning and design, everywhere in L.A.I think that some of the solution to all of these problems should come from actual users of the system. If I can't get from A to B because of C, we have to do something about C. Sometimes it is that simple. It is the technocrats who make it complex and sometimes make a mess of it in the process. I may be "idealistic" but I'd like to suggest solutions that are simple, very simple and "do-able" without a lot of politics and money.
As to the "June 2006 service change, all Rapid buses will continue to Santa Monica," I can only say, "Hooray! It's about time!!" Not that it matters anymore to me personally (I'd never take one of those buses again if I can help it), but I think it'd be very good for all bus riders.
Thanks again.
--------------------------
Make it viral. Make it vital...
---------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment