The Future, My Future.

You know the phrase; “Where do you want to go today?” well right now it is to sleep! Seriously, where do I want to go? If I think about how I ended up working and finishing school in California anyway, it is because I live in an ever connected, developed, globalised society. I can pay for tuition on credit card in Kansas, Perth, or Pomona, to them it is all the same.

In a world where money and lifestyles are the same, so is most design. Streets are given a standard width, and ramps a predetermined gradient. Is this good? I suppose it is good to have a constant in life. This removes a level of fear of safety from our lives, and we can focus on other things, like the internet or a park, or staring at a new skyscraper touching the sky.

I work in an office where innovation costs too much, so the status quo is determined to be more worthwhile. Does it pay the bills so I can do things that I enjoy (Travel, read, sleep)? Of course. Will I stay at Land Concern forever? Well my 401k becomes vested in 7 years, there’s something to look forward to, or maybe the 40 years I have ahead of myself, till I can cash out on that retirement. 6 years of undergraduate work seems like a lot, but I can say (while I need a break) I want to go back to school and learn about planning. I want to have my hand in the design of new Transportation Systems, and in community design. I want to be that Andres Duany character that pushes his ego everywhere. Will I become that? No. But my goals are to become licensed in the next few years, continue learning Thai, perhaps pursue Transportation Studies at UCI’s Department of Planning and Design (http://www.seweb.uci.edu/ppd/tp.uci) Then take a job in Southeast Asia or Australia, and return to my favourite city (Perth, Western Australia).

Metrolink versus the car

Metro Link might be the last chance at Mass Transit in Southern California. As freeways expand and land prices continue to rise (Although it appears to be slowing) it has become near impossible to establish corridors that could house potential mass transit opportunities. Dedicated lanes for Bus Rapid Transit are a possibility, but how many would complain if they can’t drive in a lane that is empty 50% of the time? It would be extremely difficult to establish a new transit corridor. We have to look at what is available and how it can be used to our advantage.

I recently read in OCR and in OCTA’s newsletter that Metro link is going to connect to Orange County on the weekends! June 3, trains will run 3-6 round trips on Saturday, and service will expand to Sunday, beginning July 2. According to statements from OCTA, all service will eventually be stepped up to 30 minutes during peak hours and hourly at other times. 13 million use the service annually (Separate boardings). Hopefully as the service is increased more will see its worth. Previously, (and currently till the new trips begin) commuting has be restricted to 6am-6pm users. Anyone else has to take a car.

The number of users/boardings could soar if the accessibility were increased and price maintained or decreased. However this can not happen with trains that are costly to operate and maintain. The corridor is shared with freight lines currently.

Perhaps what should be investigated is utilizing the corridors throughout the greater Los Angeles region and establish additional tracks dedicated to an enhanced Metro Link, but one that runs more cheaply. This is a catch 22 as I understand, because what keeps Metro link low cost to tax payers and riders is the fact new rail did not need to be laid. Perhaps a secondary system that connected smaller stations could be established with the goal of matching the Metrolinks network in the future. The existing Metrolink could operate until this increase were met.

Station design and location is complete, but can we increase the trips available in a desire to increase the ridership? If you build it they will come, albeit slowly. This goes back to my thoughts on “The Car Mentality” of Last week. We will get there, it will just take time and money.

As a side note OCTA has ordered 291 Natural Gas powered buses to meet demand and replace inefficient and polluting diesel busses.