alex davis

Since 2014, when LA Metro last increased the fare, LA Metro's farebox recovery has plummeted from 25% to under 8%.

That's really interesting. When did the League float that?

A lot of this stems from the fact that LA has a very organized coalition of anti-fare activists and with essentially no organized opposition, they can just run roughshod over the LA Metro Board. The results have been pretty predictable.

Totally, this definitely proves that it's possible to have too much PR training. Any response beginning with, "Yes, we've decided fare compliance isn't a priority right now and here's why..." would have worked a lot better than whatever the heck that was.

So if you spot something in any of our materials that is inaccurate, skip the anggy tweet storm and send your corrections straight to ametroworthpayingfor@gmail.com.

This is our 4th factual correction in the correction log since publication, displayed transparently as part of our radical commitment to factual accuracy. Unlike most other activists, we don't double down on unsupported claims. We welcome conflicting evidence to continuously sharpen our evidence.

Yesterday, I and the other fare enforcement report authors added a correction clarifying that if LA Metro adjusts fares with inflation, they should also adjust the fare caps so they don't errode the revenue gains. Big thanks to @flanl3.bsky.social for pointing out this issue.

bit.ly/enforcethefares

💯

DM me if you are interested in helping join the effort to bring fare enforcement back to Los Angeles. We need all the help we can get!

bsky.app/profile/alex...

You're not the only Angeleno who supports bringing fare enforcement back to LA. DM me if you want to join the effort!

bsky.app/profile/alex...

If they were willing to just say "Yeah, we stopped enforcing fares because we don't care anymore but we still keep the TAP system running anyway because half the riders seem to have kept paying without enforcement.", it could save you, me, the other authors and SAJE/ACT-LA a whooole lot of time.

Two Surfliner trains parked side by side across the platform at Santa Fe Depot in San Diego.

bell yeah

Friends, acquaintances and low-effort assassins, come meet me on this train on December 21st!

Remembering Frank Gehry, LA Metro enforcement fare, and more

Here's the Spotify link to my on-air debate with LA Metro's Deputy Chief of System Security for those who prefer a more podcastical experience.

open.spotify.com/episode/56Ef...

Over the segment, he claimed that fare inspections were already happening and also that they "would not be fiscally responsible or feasible". Pick a lane, my guy!

The fact is, Mr Gummer, I and the other report authors all want a Metro where rules are respected. Let's work together to get there. 🚌🤝

This morning, I was invited on the LAist's AirTalk with Larry Mantle where I debated Robert Gummer (Deputy Chief of Metro Security) about LA Metro's unauthorized 5-year suspension of fare enforcement.

You can listen to the full segment here (segment 5):

laist.com/news/remembe...

Unless they do an emergency bus-substitution on the race day. Then you'll never be able to keep up.

You were made for this. That stupid obama-streetcar lookin, development district circulator type donkey cart won't even know what just zoomed past.

So this is why you've been hitting the gym so much this year.

But don't worry! They've come up with a genius strategy to tell the two apart. They've put yellow backing on the ones for traffic and black backing on the ones for trains. And this will work until

*checks notes*

nighttime.

It will be interesting to see if Caltrain's operating cost per rider goes down, which would be the real victory. You can always increase ridership by doubling frequency, but if that doesn't at least double the ridership, you might have invested that operating funding in the wrong place.

Toronto making their new light rail signals look identical to traffic signals is deranged, and it's not even universally a Canadian thing. Check out these very MUTCD-lookin' signals in Edmonton (left) compared to the standard variety on SEPTA (right).

yes

That's amazing that you know the manufacturers! I just think the indent is less necessary when you have more cushion.

Big Blue Bus seats that are soft and easily cleaned

Big Blue is in the S-tier for sure. They have the cushy yet easy to clean material. But there are two features that make GTrans simply a cut above. First, we've got the little hole in the bottom so spilled liquid doesn't pool and sink in. Second, there's definitely a bit more puff in the stuff.

G-Trans Bus Seats

I'm gonna speak truth to power: GTrans has the best designed bus seats in all of LA County, and there are a LOT of competitors on the field. Here's my logic.

Rug seats like on Culver and Torrance are gross. Auto-disqualified.

Metro is the opposite extreme: easy to clean but no cush for the tush.

Huge thanks to everyone who came out. Together, we can win this and bring equitable fare enforcement to Los Angeles with labor-efficient randomized fare checks, small civil punishments and Metro's generous existing low-income fare discount program: LIFE.

The tough part of working in the post-pandemic transit sector is that for us, everything really did always used to be better 10 years ago. It's not in our heads!

I fucking hate this stupid blue line and how every time it goes down, it's a herculean task to get it even halfway back to where it was.

What would you move on to after transit?

That's so perfect. They really hired the right guy. Congratulations.

And also only hourly and extremely circuitous. Yes, this is insane.

You rang?