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."
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.
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.
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.
Why bother to park correctly in one space when you really need that long-awaited Slurpee? Just whip that oversized van into the 7-11 parking lot and to hell with everyone else. They don't like it, they can Go Metro!
(LA Bus) Metro Trip Planner. This would include directions on how to get anywhere using any bus or rail line in LA Country.
Big Blue BusWestside!!
Montebello Bus Eastside!!
Gardena Muni Southside!!
Foothills Transit The SGV!!
Santa Clarita TransitNorthside!! I would do the Valley, but they are part of Metro.
LA Biked. Cycling directions in LA and the OC
Did you know there was an official where to go and how to do fun stuff in L.A.? Well now you do: Experience L.A.
L.A. is a special place, so we have lots of events. Your public transit ride could be impacted check here. Special Events Street Closures.
The Bus Bench’s roots are in Social Ecology.
The Bus Bench takes a satirical and editorial approach to dealing with the issue of mobility in Los Angeles. The emphasis of The Bus Bench is public transportation, but we also discuss the environment, class, race, gender and Los Angeles.
In commenting on The Bus Bench we do not mind if your opinion differs than that of an opinion of a writer on a particular post. We welcome discourse. We only ask that you be respectful. Do not be violent with your words.
Contact us at: browne@shametrainla.com
RANDALL (BusTard) FLEMING has spent two decades working in most every facet of publishing. A former magazine publisher (Angry Thoreauan, 1987-2001), he has also contributed to a great many books, periodicals and newspapers in Los Angeles and New York: New York Post, Brooklyn Spectator, Discover Hollywood!, Ben Is Dead, Flipside, Los Feliz Ledger, Sabotage in The American Workplace (Pressure Drop Press), Notes From the Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture (Verso), and several of the Unreinforced Masonry Studio books about Los Angeles.
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