Meeting_Body
SYSTEM SAFETY, SECURITY & OPERATIONS COMITTEE
JULY 20, 2017
Subject
SUBJECT: METRO
BLUE LINE SHORT AND LONG
TERM IMPROVEMENTS
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE MOTION RESPONSE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE response to Motion 37 (February 2017) on
Blue Line Improvements.
Issue
ISSUE
At the February 2017 Planning and Programming and Construction Committee Meetings, Metro's CEO was asked to provide an update in July 2017 in response to Motion 37 regarding the evaluation of short-term and long-term Metro
Blue Line (MBL) improvements, graffiti deterrence program, last MBL stop re-imagination efforts, and the MBL Express concept.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Improving the speed and reliability of the
Blue Line requires a multi-pronged approach. Currently, travel time through the Flower Street and Washington Boulevard corridors are governed by traffic signals at intersections that are synchronized to allow trains to operate non-stop between stations. However, this is only achievable if the trains can maintain the design speeds along each corridor and an even spacing based on the scheduled headway (6 minute on both the
Blue and Expo
Lines). At the Washington/Flower junction (Wye), the
Blue Line speed is also restricted by the tight curvature of the track which limits operating to no more than 10 miles/hour southbound and 5 miles/hour northbound. In addition, with a combined headway of 3 minutes between the
Blue and Expo
Lines, the terminal operations at 7th/Metro Center requires that arriving trains alight customers, reposition to the departing track, load passengers, and depart within three minutes of the preceding train.
In an ideal operating environment, trains would consistently run at the maximum designed speed, evenly spaced, without delay. However, operating issues (e.g. operational delays and vehicle reliability), and at-grade street issues (e.g. illegal left turns by motorists in front of trains and
pedestrians violatin...
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