Metro announced today that they have finished installing twin tracks for the six-mile Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension from downtown to East LA. To that, Metro bragged that "the $899 million project is ahead of schedule, under budget, and has logged 3.4 million hours of construction without a lost time injury, an unprecedented safety record for a major public works project." But don't get too excited just because the project is 87% completed. You'll still......

Photo by KingoftheHill via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr As the gas prices fell last month, so did ridership on public transit. Metro documents show that people are riding less on a daily basis, but numbers are still a lot higher than usual when compared to 12 months ago or even earlier this year. The Red Line, which averaged almost 150,000 weekday boardings, suffered a near 10,000 boardings less than last in July with......

Speaking to poor planning and development, an opinion piece from last week in the St. Petersburg Times talks of bloggers moving from idea maker to action taker. "Many of us are angry about the impoverished environment we've inherited... Because of this brutal lack of place and community in our real world, those who Richard Florida calls 'the creative class' have been agitating for positive change by using the Internet to exchange ideas... it's just a......

'Metro bus variety pack, Koreatown/Wilshire' | Photo by LA Wad via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Metro released July's ridership numbers this morning. It's up even while gas prices in July plateaued and then began to drop towards the current $4.090/gallon average. Here's how it breaks down via their statement: The Metro Red and Purple subway lines and the Metro Gold, Blue, Green and Orange Lines all set weekday ridership records in July 2008......

Photo by Adan Garcia via Flickr The half-cent sales tax increase that is projected to bring in $30 to $40 billion over the next 30 years and has been a focus for Metro in getting the proposal on November's ballot has been an long and stressful journey. Today did not help. In an unexpected move that was a 3-2 vote, the LA County Board of Supervisors rejected putting the sales tax increase on November's......

Photo by KingoftheHill via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Today, the Metro Board meets for their monthly meeting, but today is especially important because they will be voting on whether or not to ask voters in November to raise the sales tax a half-cent to 8.75%. Despite opposition, namely from the San Gabriel Valley over the Gold Line Extension, it is expected to pass. However, the politicians in Sacramento have to pass a bill......

An empty Metro station is a thing of the past | Photo by Simon Shek via Flickr Yesterday, all the buzz was about the Orange Line's record ridership last month. Today, Metro released the June 2008 numbers for all their rail lines, which had an increase in daily ridership, up 12.8 percent. Around 309,000 people rode the rails, most of them, 153,928, on the subway system. Steve Hymon at the LA Times broke down......

The idea is already in Metro's long range plan, but it's not a priority. The Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. says it's only 3-miles and if connected to Burbank Airport and the Burbank Metrolink station (therefore, downtown Burbank), ridership would surely increase. Road Sage Steve Hymon questions what if the Green Line went all the way to the Norwalk Metrolink station (we'll add in, "how about LAX?").......

Gold Line Photo by Fred Camino/MetroRiderLA and Metro Subway photo by Kwasi B. Next week, the Metro board will vote on two very important issues. One will put a half-cent sales tax increase, that would raise funds for public transit, on November's ballot. The other is the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), a document guiding public transit in Los Angeles County for years to come. Gold Line advocates, who wish to see the line......

It's not going to stop, Los Angeles. The price to drive your horseless carriage will continue to rise as we approach the summer and demand increases. You might want to rethink that weekend trip to Vegas. The tank may take more out of your pocket than the craps table. The real loss is in the day-to-day hump otherwise known as your commute. You may have noticed a slight decrease in the amount of traffic on......

Now that the average price for regular unleaded gas in L.A. is nearing $4.07 a gallon, Metro's Gold Line is surging with customers. A record 22,231 boardings was reported for the month of March says the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Not only that, Metro's rail ridership has increased 5%. Still, the Gold Line beats all the other lines and is beginning to look like the San Fernando Valley Red Line station parking lots, which fill......

Today, Metro announced that the Gold Line East Extension is 80% completed. But don't think that means you'll be riding into Little Tokyo and out to East LA by the end of this summer. Metro has always conceded that project will by done by the end of 2009, yet construction is now almost six months ahead of time. That means it could open in the summer of '09 if all goes well with the remaining......

Metro is looking into connecting the three light rail lines that hit downtown -- Gold, Blue and the soon-to-be Expo -- so that one day, a commuter may be able to travel from Long Beach to Pasadena or from East LA to Culver City -- all without transferring. Eric Richardon from blogdowntown reports that the two alternatives that Metro is currently looking into differ in cost by only $150 million. That's surprising considering one is......

Photo by tobo via Flickr Which side of the Gold Line tracks do you live on? Southsiders (below the 10) better be representing because Northsiders are fighting hard for their piece of the cake too. Metro's Gold Line currently goes from Union Station in downtown to Sierra Madre, east of Pasadena. Metro is currently extending the Gold Line from Union Station southeast through Little Tokyo into East LA and is slated to open in......

Students these days are so lazy...Instead of taking it to the streets like their parents' generation and brandishing signs and making noise they're opting to stay inside, chained to their computers. Except sometimes they discover that the medium is what makes the message, and in the SGV right now students who want the Gold Line extended to Montclair have found that their campaign is positively viral. Students have created a website called I Will Ride......

HISTORY It's happening right now until 4 p.m. today, so check out some of the over 200 Los Angeles area focused historical organizations over at Heritage Sqaure (right off the Gold Line). More info at an earlier LAist post. 12-4:00 p.m. // Heritage Square // 3800 Homer Street, LA, California 90031 // $10 FILM Walk Cheerfully screens tonight in the Cinefamily Asian Sunday series. Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, the 1930 film blends multiple genres and......

Don't try this at home -- or at the Civic Center Metro Station. / Photo by puck90 via LAist's flickr pool. TRANSIT TALK Metro is studying alternatives for connecting the Gold, Blue and Expo lines through downtown Los Angeles. This study will examine linking the future Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension (near the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station) and the 7th Street/Metro Center Station. Tonight Metro will update the public on the project and allow......

Averaging more than one incident a week so far in 2008, there have been nine incidents between people/cars, or in one case, a fire hydrant, and mainly Metro busses, except for one incident involving a Big Blue Bus, Santa Monica's transit agency and another with an unknown transit agency at this time. According to Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) records, there have been a total of forty-three injuries, ranging from minor to critical (some......

It could be a better day for Metro. The second Metro incident within the city limits of Los Angeles of the day occurred at 8:50 p.m. tonight when a Gold Line train crashed into a vehicle near the Highland Park station. The motorist, a 30-year-old male, was transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries, reported Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Two Gold Line vs. car crashes occurred in September......

A lawsuit filed yesterday by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) against multiple contractors, including Kiewit, Washington Infrastructure Services, Inc., Parsons Corp., and more, who worked on the design and building of the Gold Line alleges that the work done was substandard and did not meet the obligations stipulated in their contracts. According to KNBC.com, the lawsuit asks for "at least $25 million in damages and a court order requiring the contractors to fix the......

Photo by Salaam Allah West Coast Transitphotography KING! via the LAist Featured Photos pool It sounds really boring: California Health and Safety Code Sections 43845. However, within that state code is a something pretty neat: if your place of work has 50 persons or more employed for them and subsidizes leased parking for your and your fellow employees, then they must participate in the Parking Cash-Out program offering you a cash allowance in lieu......

If it's a day with the folks tomorrow, you might want to head out to Heritage Square Museum as anyone over 65 gets in free ($10 if your a youngin'). And if they know something about Los Angeles in the 1940s or before, they may participate in an oral history project too. "Old-Timers" Day aims to bring together true Los Angeles veterans from 12 to 4:00 p.m. at the museum located in Highland Park (if......

The Metro's Gold Line Expansion project is causing the First Street Bridge near Downtown to close down for about a month while construction on the light-rail line moves forward. The bridge will be closed to all vehicle traffic starting at around 7:00 Sunday night, but will be open to pedestrian traffic on the south side. The First Street Bridge is between Mission Road and Vignes Street. KTLA reports the detours as follows:Westbound traffic on First......

Pasadena ARTS Bus/Gold Line Map We are not all drivers, we are not all cyclists, we are not all transit riders, but we are all pedestrians. Every trip we take starts and ends with a walking trip. And no matter what part of the Los Angeles area you're in, walking can be, well, no walk in the park. There's always something: a bad sidewalk, ditzy drivers, driveways, the lack of a sidewalk, zero street......

The BBQ & Hibachi Marching Grill Team are taking part in the mischief of the Doo Dah Parade, as they did above in '05 Forget the pageantry and regal demeanor of the Rose Parade, the 31st Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade is the ultimate antidote. Billed as being the loud and irreverent twister sister of the aforementioned annual march down Colorado Boulevard, the parade promises to "send up a woolly range of mischiefs, grounded superheroes,......

Last week, four men targeted a house on Avenue 54 in in Highland Park near the Gold Line. It was early evening - 8, 8:30 - and the team of robbers broke into the house, only to find its resident inside. The home's occupant was pissed. And had a gun. One of the four -- a 21-year-old -- was shot multiple times. By the time his buddies got him to Glendale Memorial Hospital, he......

As reported earlier this week, on New Year's Eve, there will be all night Metro rail service. As one commenter pointed out, the news was actually broken in a press release where it was buried with not much detail given:“The Tournament of Roses parade and game is the biggest venue for Metro Gold Line service all year, with upwards of 60,000 train boardings on a single day,” said Pam O’Connor, Santa Monica City Council member......

Last week Monday, Metro released a series of service enhancements and additions including the new Gold Line schedule. In the additions bucket came two new Metro Rapid lines, both starting in Downtown. The 728 runs between Downtown and Century City, mostly along Olympic Blvd. A ride review by Wad at MetroRiderLA finds that the busy thoroughfare "has a cross-cultural crosstown aspect" as it runs through Central American community of Pico-Union, Koreatown, Little Ethiopia, South Carthay......

Earlier this month, Metro announced the usual free rides on Christmas and New Year's Eve special that they do every year. Tonight, we received a short and brief, but extremely exciting e-mail: "On New Year's Eve Monday, December 31 (into Tuesday, January 1), all Metro Rail lines will run all night, every 20 minutes." Yes, that's all it said. No further details were mentioned (we're sure they are forthcoming, we are curious what "all night"......

Starting Sunday, Metro is changing up the Gold Line schedule a little. No, unfortunately, there will not be trains running later at night. No, no earlier trains in the morning either. This change affects those who travel during peak hours giving those commuters 7-8 minute headways instead of 10 minute ones. But there is a trade for this few minute increase in waiting time between trains and that comes in form of the discontinuation......