The Bus Bench

No pants in NYC Metro

It has been a looooooong time since we last posted. Unlike Metro, The Source and all that Sacramento cash that is sucked out of every Angelino's pocket via Metro, we have new pursuits, limited resources and constant travel.

Nevertheless, here is what happened recently in a real city, one where despite all the inconveniences of having a significant subway system, there is the convenience of having a significant subway system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJjEcVl6PqY

And stay tuned for our new focus on coverage out of Inglewood, CA, where far more about Metro—which Metro, as usual, does not want you to know—is already occurring.

For starters, here is this recent CityWatch story, one which will be updated next week after Metro allows the City of Inglewood to misappropriate Metro's logo so that Inglewood city officials can pretend to "be" Metro and Metro can continue to claim it cannot stop other corporate entities from illegally using its copyrighted logo.

http://citywatchla.com/archive/4231-inglewood-metro-tod-city-hall-meetings-could-be-cut-paste

Metro to call train barriers "Cuthbert Catchers"

Earlier this year, Metro implemented a campaign intended to put commuters at ease.

Red Line subway station wall wraps announced the erection of train barriers meant to help prevent many of Metro's "poor and transit dependent passengers" from getting injured or killed have been put in place over the last year. In belated commemoration of the untimely death of Cameron Cuthbertson, Metro has elected to name the yellow paddles on station platforms "Cuthbertson Catchers."

L.A.County Sheriff's Court Services Specialist runs red light, collides with cab

It is a scene that happens perhaps hundreds of times a day every day: a county or city employee blows through a red light, sometimes on a cell phone with one hand on the wheel, sometimes as other vehicles as well as bicyclists and pedestrians are already in motion, and almost always with no emergency to attend. Occasionally, there will be a collision; sometimes that collision will result in considerable property damage. And even less frequently, it will all be captured on video. In any case, The Bus Bench will wager that delivering a subpoena is certainly not an emergency.

One year later, Metro "ethics" remains a pipe dream.

 
With Metro, it's always "Do as I say, not as I do."

In March of 2010, The Bus Bench disclosed the unethical behavior of Metro employees. Metro was made aware of the problem.

Now, a year later, Metro CEO Art Leahy has obviously continued to allow Metro employees on Metro computers to make comments on blogs critical of Metro. (Does it also continue to be on Metro time that these employees are reading The Bus Bench and making comments such as the few reproduced below?) Moreover, said employees—and there have been a LOT of them doing this—continue to not disclose the fact that they are employed by Metro even as they have a particular perspective and noticeably uncivil attitude regarding the documentation of their agency's wrongdoings and incompetence.

Fortunately, IP addresses do not lie.

Is Metro silently canceling the occasion bus to end-run bus cancellation procedure?

Yeah, it's about time...

Yesterday, while awaiting an eastbound Metro line 76, I stood for over half an hour. During that period, two busses should have arrived. When the third one DID arrive, there were more people waiting for it than may be found during rush hour at the respective stop. The bus was already packed and there were many more "customers" to board over the course of the next few stops. As I were unable to make my way rearward (as well as was only going a mile), it gave me time to speak with the operator.