Santa Monica, CA, awaiting the Expo Line's launch

[crabby_appleton1950]

"Each day, about 80,000 people travel to Santa Monica for work. At the same time, about 45,000 Santa Monica residents head to jobs outside the city.

Most drive solo, often on jammed freeways.

This latest stretch of track, which rolls through key tech and entertainment job centers all the way to the ocean, offers a fresh chance to lure new riders.

Santa Monica officials have been working hard to give the train a central role in the city.

Taking the train, of course, carries its own set of challenges — notably getting to a station, and from a station to a destination. But the city plans to highlight the relatively easy ways in which these hurdles can be overcome.

They can take the bus to the train. They can take a ride share from the train. They can travel all the way or part of the way to their destinations by bike share.

Commuters will be able to see right away where to pick up one of the new Breeze bike share rides or wait for an Uber or Lyft or a Santa Monica Big Blue Bus or Metro bus. There will be signs pointing out the places one might want to head on foot.

Read more at:

http://www.latimes.com/local/westside/la-me-santa-monica-expo-line-20160420-story.html

 

[afigg]

The second phase of the Expo line extending to Santa Monica opened on Friday, May 20. Significant day for expanding the reach of the LA Metro system.

Found 2 articles of interest in the LA Times:

Trains are packed as Metro's Expo Line extension to Santa Monica opens

You can finally ride the Expo Line from L.A. to Santa Monica. Here's why the trip takes 50 minutes. Interesting summary of the compromises made with the light rail line in grade crossings that reduce the average speed and increase risk of major delays due to collisions with cars. A good example of how immediate political considerations to cut upfront costs and implement value engineering efforts result in a transit line that is less useful than it could be that routinely happens in the US. LA really should focus on either heavy rail or fully grade separated light rail lines for future lines that run through the denser parts of the metro region.