LACMTA looks back on rail initiatives of past year

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

As the third largest transportation agency in the nation, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) is responsible for transporting millions of passengers safely and efficiently to their destinations every day. Additionally, the agency manages one of the largest public works projects in the nation with three major rail lines currently being constructed and another two rail extensions near opening.

 

LACMTA said that it has made substantial progress this year with some of its major milestone including:

• Metro Rail celebrated 25 years of service. The Metro Rail system began operation in July 1990 with the opening of the Blue Line and has since expanded to six rail lines spanning 87 miles with approximately 103 million rail passenger boardings annually.
• Initiated the process for regional collaboration in the development of a potential ballot measure and secured passage of Senate Bill 767 that would allow LACMTA to seek an additional sales tax via ballot measure to potentially fund projects in LACMTA’s Traffic Solutions Plan.
• Published the first annual report to the community in an easily digestible format to increase public awareness of the many programs overseen or underway at LACMTA.
• Secured funding for the Purple Line Extension and the Regional Connector and advanced the construction of Crenshaw/LAX, Purple Line Extension and Regional Connector.
• The Gold Line Foothill Extension to Azusa reached construction substantial completion and an opening date of March 5, 2016, was announced. Meanwhile, the first train cars in more than 60 years passed through West L.A. and downtown Santa Monica as testing for the Metro Expo Line Phase 2 to Santa Monica began.
• Launched a trio of campaigns to enhance safety and security on the Metro system, including the “It’s Off Limits” anti-sexual harassment campaign, a campaign to increase awareness of human trafficking, and invested in new security kiosks and state-of-the-art mobile security towers.
• The Metro Board appointed Phillip Washington, the former chief executive officer of Denver’s RTD transit agency, as LACMTA’s new CEO.
• Launched the Business Solution Center and Business Interruption Fund programs to assist businesses in areas impacted by construction. The first businesses to receive assistance were located near the Crenshaw/LAX project.
• All 26 regional transportation agencies in L.A. County joined the TAP system. The milestone signified that all municipal transit agencies in L.A. County accept TAP as universal media and passengers are able to transfer to bus or train from any transit provider.

In addition to these accomplishments, LACMTA also developed a $5.6-billion budget with no fare increases or any cuts to bus service hours for the fiscal year 2016. And to help improve the rider experience, LACMTA worked with Google to provide real-time bus and train information in the company’s Google Maps application.

LACMTA, with safety on its mind, installed protective barriers, passenger-facing video monitors. The agency also secured a $38.4-million state grant to make safety and other enhancements at the Blue and Green Line Willowbrook/Rosa Park Station.

Carrying forward on the progress of 2015, anticipation is extraordinarily high for 2016, notes LACMTA. There will be two new rail extension openings resulting in 18 more miles of rail, construction on LACMTA’s three major rail projects are expected to continue and intensify and the agency will potentially seek out funding for additional projects from multiple sources.

Milestones the agency is looking forward to in 2016 include:

• The Gold Line Foothill Extension to Azusa is set to open on March 5, 2016. The extension will add an additional 11.5 miles and six new stations to the existing Gold Line that currently runs from East L.A. to Pasadena. The opening will coincide with the launch of express bus service that will connect the Gold Line in Pasadena to the Metro Red and Orange Lines in North Hollywood.
• The Expo Line Phase 2 to Santa Monica is also expected to open in the first half of the year. The extension will add seven stations and 6.6 miles to the existing Expo Line that currently runs from downtown L.A. to Culver City, extending the line to downtown Santa Monica and only steps away from the Santa Monica Pier.
• Construction will continue for LACMTA’s three major rail projects. The Crenshaw/LAX project is expected to reach 50 percent construction completion. Both the Crenshaw/LAX and Regional Connector projects anticipate the beginning of tunneling that will be performed by multi-million dollar tunnel boring machines.
• The Purple Line Extension Segment 2 will seek a full funding grant agreement from the federal government to provide critical funding to pave the way for major construction on the 2.6-mile segment of the new line between La Cienega and Century City along Wilshire Boulevard.
• LACMTA will continue to educate the public on how the agency can further ease traffic sooner rather than later through a potential ballot measure for the November 2016 election. LACMTA may seek an additional half-cent sales tax and look to extend the Measure R half-cent sales tax until 2057 to fund more projects sooner rather than later. The LACMTA Board will decide in late spring/early summer whether to put the measure before voters in November.
• The agency will hold the first ever “Industry Forum” on February 11 to garner industry participation and potentially forge financial partnerships on LACMTA projects from Fortune 500 executives and companies.

 

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