Metro - File #: 2017-0091

• File #: 2017-0091
• Type: Motion / Motion Response
• Status: Passed
• File created: 2/10/2017
• In control: Construction Committee
• On agenda: 2/16/2017
• Final action: 2/23/2017
• Title: APPROVE Motion by Garcetti, Hahn, Garcia and Dupont-Walker that the MTA Board direct the CEO to: A. evaluate and implement short-term Blue Line and Expo Line improvements, especially service reliability and schedule adherence improvements on at-grade sections of Washington Boulevard, Flower Street, and the downtown wye, including but not limited to signal optimization, signal priority, signal preemption, and consideration of street closures; B. study long-term Blue Line improvements, including but not limited to: 1. creating Blue Line Express service between Long Beach and Downtown Los Angeles during peak hours, including: a. provide information on current freight usage along the right-of-way, b. provide a preliminary estimate on upgrading the right-of-way to light trail transit standards, c. provide an operations plan to accommodate express service, d. quantify travel time savings for peak hour trains; 2. optimizing the Washington Boulevard wye by grade separating the Blue Lin...
• Sponsors: Board of Directors - Regular Board Meeting
• Indexes: 7th Street/Metro Center Station, Blue Line Improvement, Blue Line Initial Segment, Construction, Downtown Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, Gateway Cities (Southeast LA County) Service Sector, Gateway Cities subregion, Grade separations, Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, Janice Hahn, Light rail transit, Long Beach, Los Angeles Union Station, Metro Blue Line, Metro Exposition Line, Metro Gold Line, Metro Rail A Line, Metro Rail E Line, Motion / Motion Response, Pico Station, Project, Ridership, Robert Garcia, Station 0704, Wardlow Station

Date	Action By	Action	Result
2/23/2017	Board of Directors - Regular Board Meeting
2/16/2017	Construction Committee
2/15/2017	Planning and Programming Committee

Meeting_Body
REVISED
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 16, 2017

Subject
SUBJECT: MOTION BY GARCETTI, HAHN, GARCIA AND DUPONT-WALKER (BLUE LINE IMPROVEMENTS)


Preamble
Motion by:

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI, SUPERVISOR JANICE HAHN, MAYOR ROBERT GARCIA, AND DIRECTOR JACQUELYN DUPONT-WALKER

Item 37: Blue Line Improvements

With 80,000 average weekday boardings, the Blue Line is MTA's highest ridership light rail line and is the highest ridership modern light rail line in the United States. During 2016, the Blue Line saw nearly 25 million total boardings and over 186 million total passenger miles.
Currently, the Blue Line is undergoing a $1.2 billion state-of-good repair overhaul, including over $860 million in new and refurbished light rail vehicles. This project seeks to restore the Blue Line to a like-new state of operation.
However, a more comprehensive evaluation of improving service and reliability on the Blue Line is required. Customer satisfaction on the Blue Line has fallen nearly ten percent since 2013, while the Blue Line complaint rate has nearly doubled over the same time period.
There are many opportunities for improvement throughout the length of the Blue Line.
In Downtown Los Angeles, for example, a bottleneck exists at Washington Boulevard, where the Blue Line and Expo Line join in a wye. Recently, MTA increased the frequency of Expo Line trains to every six minutes during peak hours, matching the frequency of Blue Line trains. As a result, a total of 40 trains per hour are passing through the wye, approaching the limits of the wye's capacity.

Both Blue Line and Expo Line depend on this single track segment, any collision or mechanical failure within the segment could significantly delay both rail lines. Grade separating this portion of the Blue and Expo Lines could dramatically improve service reliability, increase capacity, provide better schedule adherence, and facilitate other opportunities, su...