Have you ever noticed that Google Maps displays Metro Subway and Light Rail stations but not Orange Line ones, even though the buway pretty much acts like train on rubber wheels (yeah, cheesy description). We posed that question to Google and a spokesperson quickly responded saying those stations would be marked on the map if Metro joined the Google Transit program. "The icons you're seeing for LA Metro stations are actually from a separate source......

This morning at 9:15 a.m., power at 12 Metro Red and Purple Line train stations between Wilshire/Western and North Hollywood went out for 55 minutes, according to a Metro Spokesperson. No one was hurt or injured, and operations slowed down but never fully stopped. However, patrons riding in elevators at two stations, Wilshire/Normandie and Vermont/Sunset, were stuck for at least fifteen minutes before fire department crews could rescue them. While the Dept. of Water &......

Photo by Open Air Control Testing Ground via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr At today's Metro board meeting, the group unanimously approved a pilot program that would extend Red Line hours until 3:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays from November through January 3rd. Yes, Los Angeles will finally have a subway that operates until 3:00 a.m... well, at least for a short period of time. The approved motion allows for the program to begin......

Now that the LA City Council approved pilot late night Metro Red Line subway service for Fridays and Saturdays, it's up to Metro to take up the issue. It's on their board agenda for tomorrow, but the plan is even more slim than before. Instead of beginning November 1st and going through January 3rd, Metro's written motion has it starting on November 14th (that cut is 25% of the project's length). Likewise, the original idea......

Photo by Open Air Control Testing Ground via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr Without much discussion, the LA City Council approved the late-night subway motion which would expand service on the weekends to 3:00 a.m. between November 1st and January 3rd. But this doesn't mean everything is said and done. The City doesn't run Metro--they are two separate government agencies. Now that the City officially wants it, the issue will need to be approved......

Photo by GarySe7en via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr After passing out of the transportation committee last week, the motion to extend Metro Red Line service to 3:00 a.m. Thursday through Saturday nights from November 1st to January 3rd will be considered by City Council today. Because Metro doesn't have the funding for the expanded service, the "service would be supported in part by private sponsorhips," the motion states. If passed, the city will......

No mention of Friday's Metrolink crash in this Bottleneck Blog piece, but definitely not the news people want to hear about the Red and Purple Lines: "[Yesterday] morning, a Purple Line train departing from the Wilshire/Vermont station at 9:14 a.m. was supposed to head next to the Wilshire/Normandie station. But instead, the train ended up at the Vermont/Beverly station, serviced by the Red Line, Metro spokesman Rick Jager confirmed..."......

Blogdowntown has been following a city council motion that would extend the Red Line subway hours to 3:00 a.m during the holiday season on weekend nights. At Wednesday's Transportation Committee meeting, the group pushed it another step forward when they endorsed the idea. Since there is little funding for this on Metro's end, it's the business community that's committing funds in hopes to prove that the late-night service can sustain itself. The city council will......

For about a year Metro has been meeting with the public over the Westside Extension Project (they have a Facebook group too), usually dubbed as the "Subway to the Sea." In the Fall of 2007 Metro met with the public to talk about initial conceptual designs. Metro planners came back to the public in the Winter with 17 options (or alternatives as they call them) which included light rail, aerial rail, bus rapid transit and......

A closeup of Metro's new transit map Metro introduced their new transit map this morning. It's quite a large file (.pdf), but extremely detailed. This time around, instead of perfecting the geography, they focused more on the routes so they would "stand out better," as they put it. "It’s also more compact. It includes details on all Metro bus and rail services as well as those offered by municipal bus carriers [marked by the......

As of last May, these were the 4 remaining rail options (View Larger Image) | Provided by Metro Here's one of the maps that will be seen at the upcoming Westside Extension meetings that Metro will be holding in September. Metro won't say what routes/alternatives have made the cut, but we do know this: the above map shows all four remaining subway possibilities from last May and all four might remain as possibilities. As......

Metro began with these options, but will likely recommend only one or two of these routes | Image provided by Metro The time is nearing for Metro to announce what they recommend should be the mode of transit for the Westside Extension. Will it be a subway down Wilshire Blvd.? Down Santa Monica Blvd. to Wilshire? Both? Just buses? Metro is keeping a tight lid on what these recommendations are until further notice. Until......

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'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......

A man at a station in downtown Los Angeles has died after being hit by a Metro Subway train in an apparent suicide this evening. At 8:36 p.m., Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics were called to the 7th Metro Station where the Red, Purple and Blue lines serve passengers. When rescuers arrived, they found a man of around 35 years of age wedged under a North Hollywood bound Red line train 100 ft. from the......

The next step in moving on from the honor system to the gated system in LA's subways and some light rails was announced today. $16.1 million in transit security funding was awarded to Metro by the state towards implementation of the gating system. 379 fare gates will be installed within the next 18 to 24 months. "The gates are expected to reduce the need for civilian fare inspectors and sworn law enforcement will also be......

Think LA's relationship with underground rail transit began with the first tunnels blasted out to make way for the Red Line? Think again! LA's first subterranean transit system was a short stretch of tunneling dubbed the "Hollywood Subway," which moved its first passengers under the city in 1925 via electric interurban rail cars. Opening Day in Toluca Yard (end of the Hollywood Subway at 1st and Glendale); original source unkonwn, via California Trolleys The idea......

Photo by Simon Shek via Flickr On Tuesday night at 5:23 p.m., a train heading towards the Valley got stuck between Hollywood and Universal City. For 80 minutes, one half of the tracks was out of service while Metro engineers tried to figure out what stopped the rush-hour train with around 400 passengers aboard. Metro officials called the situation "extremely rare," but reports from frequent riders say a 40-minute delay happened on Monday evening......

Taken Friday night at the Universal City Red Line Station | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Finally. After being delightfully teased for months on end by Metro with their new LCD screens hanging in subway stations with blank "next train arrival" info, the moment has finally come. Late last week, Metro began to "phase in" the arrival info starting in the Valley and Hollywood. Metro says expect to see this operating system wide within the......

Metrolink's ridership got a shot of adrenaline yesterday as ridership jumped to an all time high of 50,232 passengers -- a 15.6% increase since Tuesday for the regional commuter train service. Metro Rail has jumped 6% since last month (especially the gold line) and freeway traffic has dipped 1.5% since last year ("91.7 million miles traveled in March to 91.4 million in May"), reports the LA Times. For the last week, average gas prices in......

In Santa Clarita, transit officials will roll out a plan within the next nine to twelve months that will make bus commuting less frustrating. GPS tracking on all buses will fill up interactive maps on the city's website as well as ones placed at the city's 35 busiest bus stops, reports The Signal. Additionally, when busses are running late, the system will automatically notify authorities and text message or call commuter's cell phones. Over the......

Earlier this afternoon, boingboing highlighted an incident that occurred involving Keith Garsee last night at a Metro Red Line station. He was taking photos when he was stopped by a Metro employee: "Hey! It's against the 9-11 Law to take pictures down here man!" It led to a little back and forth, then the loudspeaker came on: "Attention to the gentleman in the plaid shirt: You are not allowed to take photographs in the Subway.......

It looks very smooth in real life, doesn't transfer to video well If you weren't sleeping on the northbound Metro Red Line between Hollywood/Highland and Universal last week, then you may have noticed a Speed Racer movie trailer all of the sudden playing inside the tunnel. Officially announced today, the high-tech subway tunnel advertising tool is a first in North America for this type of digital advertising. It is "an LED system composed of......

Update, 8:37 a.m.: The person was a male who apparently jumped or fell in front of a train. He was transported to USC Medical and police are investigating the incident.Update, 7:38 a.m.: The good news as of right now is that the person has been found awake and alert and is being assessed. At this point, the type of injuries are unknown and if they were actually hit by a train or not.If the Red......

UPDATE!!! The event has moved to in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater. Check Facebook for updated details.Coming on the heels of the announcement for Los Angeles' participation in World Pillow Fight Day scheduled for Saturday March 22 downtown, there's yet another spectacle of an event planned for the night before at Hollywood and Highland, sans bouncers and lines to wait in (h/t again to Bored-LA). According to the Facebook page, at 10:00 p.m. on Friday......

Photo by Lush.i.ous via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Speaking of that 14-car pile-up this morning on the 101 freeway, how about this fact via the Daily Breeze? There's a near $11-billion price "cost to society" due to car crashes according to a study called "Crashes: What's the Cost to Society?" According to the study -- conducted on behalf of the American Automobile Association by the transportation policy firm Cambridge Systematics --......

Now here's the quote of the day via the Daily News: ""I think if there were laws that required mayors to take transit, you'd see transit systems improve remarkably." That's Ted Balaker, a policy analyst for the Reason Foundation who spoke to transit beat writer Sue Doyle, who wrote a piece on Mayors across the country and their public transit use. Locally, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vowed to take public transit once a week last month......

Alternative 9 combines a Wilshire and Santa Monica alignment for two subways Update*: Metro called to strongly emphasize that the projected 10-year-period (three for environmental studies, seven for construction) is the reality under the most ideal circumstances (that circumstance is if we had the funding today). Metro confirms this is the timeline and the 5-year hypothetical may have been misheard or said. At the meeting, the freakily fast timeline was mentioned in the context......

'Santa Monica Subway: Alternative 4' is one of the 17 routes presented by Metro Last night, a packed room of community members at LACMA listened attentively to Metro present nineteen options to serve the Westside. This first in a series of three public input meetings (two more meetings next week) was exciting -- wheels are in motion to get Los Angeles moving, even if that reality be around ten years from now. One of......

17 potential route alternatives consolidated on this map will be presented starting tomorrow at Westside Transit Corridor meetings with the public | View larger image In an ideal world, one of the routes in solid black, pictured above, could be a reality in nine and a half years -- that would be the year 2017. Generally speaking, a project the size of a major public transportation extension to the Westside, towards the sea, could......