Meeting_Body
OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE
OCTOBER 15, 2020
Preamble
Motion by:
DIRECTORS GARCIA, GARCETTI, SOLIS, HAHN, RIDLEY-THOMAS, AND BONIN
Related to Item 24: Regional Connector Service Plan
Regional Connector Operations
The Regional Connector, which is scheduled to open in 2022, will provide single-seat rides through downtown Los Angeles between different regions throughout the county. The connectivity it promises will be transformative for tens of thousands of Metro light rail riders who today have to transfer 1-2 times each way to complete a single trip, adding significant time and variability to their travel.
The Metro A Line (Blue), E Line (Expo), and L Line (Gold) currently serve tens of thousands of riders daily, in the midst of a pandemic that has significantly reduced overall ridership.
In response to Board Motion 37 (February 2017) Metro committed to a 10-minute end-to-end travel time reduction along the A Line, between Downtown Long Beach and 7th Street/Metro Center. Some of that commitment has been achieved through a Long Beach signal prioritization project, that has shaved 3-5 minutes off the travel time in each direction.
Further in response to Board Motion 37 (July 2017), Metro staff recognized the Washington/Flower Wye junction as a source of significant delays for both the A and E Lines. Staff identified three alternatives for further evaluation and the project was included in the 28 by ’28 initiative, although no funding sources were identified to proceed with any of them.
In 2018, Metro staff engaged in a collaboration with Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) staff in order to improve travel speeds and consistency along the E Line. Among several promising ideas, this collaboration has yielded concepts to improve reliability on the Washington Blvd segment of the A Line.
As part of the Regional Connector Operating Plan, Metro staff estimate the need for additional one-way travel delays of up to (a) one minute along the inbound L Line, (b) three minutes along the inbound E Line, and (c) five minutes along the inbound A Line. The inclusion of these delays is estimated to cost nearly $30 million in additional annual operating costs for the lines when the Regional Connector is fully operational.
Subject
SUBJECT: REGIONAL CONNECTOR OPERATIONS
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
APPROVE Motion by Directors Garcia, Garcetti, Solis, Hahn, Ridley-Thomas, and Bonin that the Chief Executive Officer direct Metro staff to do the following:
A. EVALUATE all three lines A, E, and L - for locations that most frequently cause delays and/or require schedule padding because of reliability issues; and IDENTIFY mechanisms to mitigate the identified challenges, including estimates;
B. EXPAND the work of the E Line collaboration with LADOT to include the A Line street-running segments in the City of Los Angeles to achieve at least an average of 90% intersection clearance rate;
C. FURTHER EVALUATE and provide preliminary cost estimates for the three alternatives, as discussed in the July 2017 receive and file report, to address delays at the Washington/Flower Wye;
D. IDENTIFY additional measures that can be undertaken to further reduce the travel time on the A Line between Downtown Long Beach Station and 7th Street/Metro Center, in order to achieve the 10-minute reduction commitment;
E. IDENTIFY up to $30 million in funds eligible for the proposed improvements identified in the above four items, including outreach and engineering for project development;
F. Report back on all of the above-identified items by January 2021.