About This Blog

This blog is about recurrent problems with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's public transit system. My particular crusade involves flagship line 910 (the "Silver Line") and its persistent, institutional unreliability after 9 PM.


I have been dealing directly and in good faith with Metro for some time now on this issue, but that private dialog has not resulted in any improvement in service. I started this blog in an attempt to provide another more public source of motivation for Metro to address their systemic failures.


Below I have posted my entire email exchange with Metro on this subject, and I will continue to update as the saga continues. The correspondence begins in November of 2011 only because that is when I discovered how to contact customer service. The problems with the silver line (and its transitway predecessors) started well before then. This email chain is unedited, except that I redacted my own name and contact info, and I removed redundant quotes of previous messages. Names and email addresses of Metro personnel have not been removed. I encourage you to contact them with your own thoughts. Also, feel free to leave comments here. I will probably delete anything vacuous or off topic, but if you have other complaints that aren't getting any traction, or if you have any suggestions that might improve service, please let me know.


For new visitors, the best way to read this blog is chronologically from bottom to top. The earliest entry is dated 2011-11-30. Since I can't seem to force all the posts onto one page, you'll have to start by clicking "2011" in the "Blog Archive" just below, or scroll all the way down and click "Older Posts."


Enjoy...

2012-08-25

From: fixmetro
Subject: issue with metro silver line
Date: August 25, 2012 22:16:34 PDT
To: john.fasana@gmail.com

Hello Mr. Fasana. I am writing to ask for your help with a serious reliability problem with the metro silver line (i.e., bus line 910).

In a nutshell, there is a longstanding detour due to late night construction on the harbor transitway, and it seems that the nighttime silver line drivers are not adhering to published detour start times. The result is that buses are not showing up at their proper locations and patrons are being repeatedly stranded --- either at the normal stops when the drivers detour early, or at the detour stops when the drivers fail to take the detour as scheduled.

I have been in contact with metro customer service and senior management (including Frank Alejandro) trying to get this problem fixed for the better part of a year now, with little success. Metro has investigated this issue and has implemented some changes, but the problem has only gotten worse. I have contacted Michael Antonovich's office, but their involvement does not seem to have had much effect either.

I have posted all of my correspondence related to this issue on a blog:
Please check it out if you would like more details on the situation so far. Or let me know if I can answer any questions.

I know metro is frying a lot of big fish right now, but this is a very fixable problem. Any pressure you can bring to bear would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

FixMetro

Posted by fixmetro 1 comment:

2012-08-17


Subject: Re: silver line MIA
From: fixmetro
Date: August 17, 2012 02:39:38 PDT
To: HorneT@metro.net
Cc: GALVANJ@metro.net, AlejandroF@metro.net, borja.leon@lacity.org, GreenwoodM@metro.net, CustomerRelations@metro.net, BoardSecretary@metro.net, SOTOPA@metro.net, WoodsonJ@metro.net, Hollandr@metro.net, MCano@lacbos.org, SNemer@lacbos.org, SCruz@lacbos.org, KBarger@lacbos.org, TAYLORP@metro.net, LEAHYA@metro.net

Guarded optimism will not get me home. Those of you at metro who are working this problem (if any) are doing so on the clock. When these buses do not show up, it costs me and other riders personal free time and/or sleep that we will never get back. I do not work for metro. I don't get paid to observe and report back on your reliability. Asking your customers to risk their free time to do your quality control is disrespectful and unprofessional.

When you yourself use phrases like "ongoing problems" and "guardedly optimistic," it does not inspire confidence. So I'm going to need some assurances. I would like to know if you have implemented any real, substantive measures beyond those you described on july 16th (which I, perhaps naively, assumed were preliminary in nature). In any case, I would also like to know what quality control measures YOU, METRO, have put into place to gauge the success or failure of your attempted solutions. It's been a month since you supposedly started taking this seriously. You should be able to tell me you secretly observed 40 or 50 opportunities for the 9:03, 9:33, and 10:02 pm buses to show up and how many actually did. You've got about 80 more opportunities in the coming month. Let me know what you find out. 

My EZ pass is reimbursed by my employer, so a 7 day pass is of no use to me. Assuming you're not about to offer to pay me for my lost time or hand out open-ended taxi vouchers, I don't think there is anything that you can realistically do for me besides your job: fixing the problem. Or maybe you could all provide me with your personal mobile numbers so I can call you for a ride the next time I'm left high and dry at harbor freeway station. 

Posted by fixmetro 2 comments:

2012-08-16


Subject: RE: silver line MIA
From: HorneT@metro.net
Date: August 16, 2012 16:00:58 PDT
To: fixmetro
Cc: GALVANJ@metro.net, AlejandroF@metro.net, borja.leon@lacity.org, GreenwoodM@metro.net, CustomerRelations@metro.net, BoardSecretary@metro.net, SOTOPA@metro.net, WoodsonJ@metro.net, Hollandr@metro.net, MCano@lacbos.org, SNemer@lacbos.org, SCruz@lacbos.org, KBarger@lacbos.org, TAYLORP@metro.net, LEAHYA@metro.net

Dear Mr, FixMetro:
I can definitely understand your deep concerns regarding the present reliability of the Silver Line given the number of problems you have reported.  I was even more concerned to learn that you are considering Foothill service as an alternative.  Unquestionably, staff has devoted considerable time an effort to correct the ongoing problems caused by the detour and we are guardedly optimistic that the problems have been addressed.  I ask that you give us a second chance to make a good impression and to that end if you will provide a mailing address I would like to send you a 7 DAY Pass as our gift to a most valued customer.  

Tom Horne
Manager,Customer Relations
213.922.7015
Posted by fixmetro No comments:
From: fixmetro
Subject: Re: silver line MIA
Date: August 16, 2012 01:41:48 PDT
To: HorneT@metro.net
Cc: GALVANJ@metro.net, AlejandroF@metro.net, borja.leon@lacity.org, GreenwoodM@metro.net, CustomerRelations@metro.net, BoardSecretary@metro.net, SOTOPA@metro.net, WoodsonJ@metro.net, Hollandr@metro.net, MCano@lacbos.org, SNemer@lacbos.org, SCruz@lacbos.org, KBarger@lacbos.org

So has the problem been "fixed" ... again? I have completely avoided the silver line for a month now, since the last time two consecutive buses failed to show up. I haven't exactly been holding my breath, but I was expecting to hear back eventually. 

Please tell me metro has done something substantial this time, like a leadership change, regular face to face meetings with ALL of the drivers, and frequent secret shoppers at harbor freeway station (or is that my job?). I have zero faith that leaving notes in drivers' cubbyholes and hoping for the best will accomplish anything. 

Or if metro has just given up on ever getting the silver line to run properly, let me know and I'll continue my current mix of longer routes and solo driving. 

Posted by fixmetro 3 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)