Late night hours coming for subway

The red line subway is going to be operating later than usual on weekend nights in the holiday season, reports Blogdowntown, which has all the details. The private sector was able to cough up money needed for service and the subway will run until 3 a.m. as a result. On weekend nights, the subway currently makes its last stop at most stations between 12:30 a.m. and 1 a.m.

Having longer hours, particularly for club goers, certainly couldn't hurt. On a related note, I hope that the folks who pursued this effort also work toward improving the frequency that the subway runs at night every day of the week. If you've waited around for a train for 20 minutes after a Hollywood Bowl concert, then you know what I'm talking about. --Steve Hymon

Press release from Metro after the jump, including names of some of the businesses that kicked in money for more subway service.
 

The press release from Metro:

L.A. AREA VENUES RAISE MORE THAN $54,000 TO SPONSOR LATE NIGHT WEEKEND SERVICE ON METRO RED LINE DURING HOLIDAY SEASON

A group of prominent Los Angeles area businesses have anteed up $54,250 to extend late-night weekend subway service on the Metro Red Line from North Hollywood to Union Station this holiday season, allowing thousands working at or enjoying shops, restaurants and entertainment venues to stay out a little later on Friday and Saturday nights or use public transportation on their way to and from late night shifts.

Beginning Friday night (Saturday morning), November 21, and continuing each Friday and Saturday night until December 27, Metro Red Line service will be extended to run approximately every 20 minutes until 3 a.m.
“Convenient regular nighttime service is a key component in making Los Angeles a transit-oriented city,” said Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Antonio Villaraigosa.  “Extending Red Line hours will help improve business conditions, increase employment opportunities and will complement existing night owl services.”

The service enhancement is a pilot project proposed by Los Angeles City Councilmember José Huizar, Council President Eric Garcetti and Councilmembers Wendy Greuel and Jan Perry.

“I want to thank Metro and all the businesses who stepped up to the plate to make this program happen,” said Councilmember José Huizar, who first brought the idea to the city council. “Holiday festivities don’t end at midnight and neither should service between our city’s main entertainment and holiday employment destinations – Downtown, Hollywood and Universal City.  Now workers and customers alike can use the Metro Red Line subway to celebrate the season without worrying they won’t have a way to get back home late at night.”

“With these extended hours, holiday shoppers and party-goers can enjoy Hollywood, Downtown, and other Red Line destinations without traffic or parking hassles,” said Council President Eric Garcetti.
More…

Extending the hours of Red Line Metro service for the holiday pilot project will cost $4,500 a night and is being paid for by private-sector sponsorships made by numerous entertainment venues and businesses large and small.  All funds for the six-weekend pilot program were received by Metro by the Friday, October 17 deadline set at the Metro Board of Directors meeting in September.

“The holiday season is a time when people make additional trips to shop, celebrate and socialize,” said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel.  “Providing a safe and convenient alternative to these destinations is a great way to reduce congestion on the roads.  People from the San Fernando Valley can easily enjoy a late night in Hollywood or Downtown and be able to return safely, without the hassle of the road.”

Sponsors include: Staples Center; LA Live; Bringing Back Broadway; 213 Ventures - Broadway Bar, Casey's Irish Bar & Grill, Cole's Original French Dip, Golden Gopher & Seven Grand; The Orpheum Theatre; The Los Angeles Theatre; Club Nokia; NBC Universal; Historic Downtown Business Improvement District; Millennium Partners/Argent Ventures; Redwood Bar & Grill; La Cita; Selma Hotel; Deluxe Restaurant - Adolfo Suaya; Newport Capital Advisors; Fox Theater and The Ivar - 6506 Hollywood Associates; L.T. Properties - Dr. Alan Konce and Vytas Juskys; District 13; and the Pantages Theatre.

“By extending Metro hours from the Valley to Downtown during the holiday season, thousands of visitors to LA will have the opportunity to enjoy the city from opening to closing,” said Mark Liberman, president and CEO of LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. “LA INC.’s Visitor Information Centers are conveniently located across from or adjacent to Metro Red Line stations in Hollywood and Downtown, and our multilingual staff have all the tools necessary to provide visitors with self-guided day and evening tours citywide.”

Metro will operate two-car trains with 20-minute service Friday and Saturday nights on the Metro Red Line only.  Operating hours for other Metro lines, including the Metro Purple Line will not change.
Metro’s in-kind contribution includes helping promote late night subway service as part of its current “Problem/Solution” advertising campaign.
For additional service alert information, visit WWW.METRO.NET.  For transit trip planning assistance over the phone, call 1-800-COMMUTE.

Comments

[Brian]

If my math is correct then the MTA only needs 900 riders per night to pay for the $4500 a night additional cost. This of course is assuming that all 900 people buy a metro day pass. Let's make a change and give the MTA the numbers they need. Spread the word and let's prove to the MTA that we do need 24/7 public transportation in Los Angeles. If there is demand for the Red Line the others rail will follow. I will be attending the 3rd Metro Pub Crawl (an event I planned now in its 3rd run) on November 21, 2008. We will be bar hopping and riding the subway. Let's try to get 900 people or more. Do you think we can do it? Thanks

[calwatch]

Kym, remember that the Red Line owl will still connect to all of the owl bus lines, of which there are many. Yes, some bus connections to the rail system will not happen, but a lot of lines stop running at 10 or 11 pm anyway, not midnight or 1 am, even now. So you can't take the Orange Line back, but you could transfer to the 656, which covers about half of the route. And it makes park and riding a lot more convenient, and there are always empty spots after 5 pm and on weekends at your Valley Metro Rail stations.

One of the things that Metro should consider doing with their Measure R money, should it exist, is to run "rail emulators" during the overnight hours, similar to what BART and the Bay Area transit agencies do with the All Nighter network that puts buses near virtually all BART stations. You would not have to run them more than once or twice an hour, and they could make all local stops, but they would travel down the rail lines so that people feel comfortable with getting on a bus and traveling the route of a rail line, without making odd transfers at scary corners like Santa Monica and Highland.

[forgotten citizen]

Kymberleigh Richards

that is exactlly the major problem on our rail problem in additional to poor public transit problem. Late night service is bad, Even early evening is bad. i stilll remember that i had to wait in dark night after 7pm for bus to get back in Walnut at Union station (the bus run less freq at night, and metr link cease to operate) after I left universal studo around 6pm (and my friend and I missed at 3 or 4 rides). To better utilize the rail transit and rail, a good connection service must be provided in day time, evening time, and night time. Otherwise, it is just waste of the money. Without good bus connections, car drivers still drive. Bus riders simply don't do unneeded activities. I'd better stop here. This talks abt late night service not public transit in general. There is a good place to vent this

[Kymberleigh Richards]

Well, Morris, you still won't be happy, because the funding from the business owners didn't include extending the service on connecting lines.

This will not be as successful as it could have been, precisely because of people such as yourself who will find late hours on the Red Line essentially useless if you cannot complete your trip home.

The business owners who came up with this aren't transit professionals (or not even transit users, most likely) so they pushed this half-baked proposal through and will probably be the most surprised when the results are disappointing.

Maybe next time they'll get some advice from someone who knows about public transit before they run amok.

[Morris Jones]

My wife and I love to take transit to our favorite jazz club in Hollywood, near Sunset and Highland. It hit hard one night when we stayed for the second set, and got back to Union Station to find that we'd missed the last Gold Line train back to Pasadena. That's an expensive taxi ride!

[Tony Fernandez]

So I guess now you take the shuttles from the Hollywood Bowl instead of the subway?

Anyway, this is great news for Hollywood and great news for the subway. With this, I hope that the businesses along the subway route promote taking the subway more and in doing so maybe we'll gain more regular riders.