High gas prices a boon for Los Angeles' Gold Line

from the Whittier Daily News:



PASADENA - As the price of regular gas broke above $4 a gallon in Los Angeles County in March, ridership on Metro's Gold Line reached a new high, climbing 10 percent compared to March 2010, transit officials said.

Not surprisingly, that's been the trend almost since the $859 million, 13.7-mile rail line from Pasadena to Union Station opened in July 2003: Each spike in gasoline prices since then has corresponded with jumps in the Gold Line's average daily ridership.

This year ridership increased from 31,544 in March 2010 to 35,544 in March 2011 - 3,000 more riders per day on average than in 2010, and 10,000 more than in March 2009, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority numbers show.

For the first time, the Gold Line has consistently surpassed its original daily ridership projections of 26,000 to 32,000. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_17970849#ixzz1LER452Xh

jobs and conservation - a twofer!

These gas prices are a crime!

Now if you want to take transit there, you go on surface buses, taking 3 hours, or light rail through downtown taking 2 1/2 hours, or the Flyaway Bus from Van Nuys to LAX taking 1-4 hours depending on freeway traffic (but mass transit won't get you to and from the Flyaway station late at night or on weekends at all).

Light rail could get us there in 30 minutes, if it existed.

A high speed train could take less than an hour to get you there.