The Blue Line: Its Real Test Begins Today

The $877-million Los Angeles-Long Beach Light Rail Line today faces its biggest challenge yet, when commuters decide whether to park their cars and ride the shiny high-tech trolleys on the so-called Blue Line.

Buoyed by a weekend of inaugural hoopla that lured standing-room-only crowds onto the quiet-running electric trains, transit officials said the public seems to be convinced that the trains are safe, efficient and fun to ride. But the real test, they said, comes this morning when commuter runs start.

“It’s important that we don’t set our expectations too high,” said Neil Peterson, executive director of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, the agency that built the line. “People won’t change their habits in a day or a week or a month. We have to be patient for this new alternative to take hold.”

The weekend ridership total approached an estimated 80,000, and transit officials said the trains were performing almost flawlessly.

“I think it will be wonderful for commuters,” said Joyce Cox of Long Beach, who was riding the train Sunday with her husband and daughter. “It beats gridlock.”

Although the weekend operation went smoothly, transit officials were cautious about predicting the future of the Blue Line--the first step Los Angeles has taken into rail transit since the Big Red Car trolleys went out of business in 1961.

Attracting big crowds to see and ride the big trolleys for the first time is one thing, officials said. But getting thousands of loyal, paying customers to use the train daily is another matter. To develop a loyal ridership, the Blue Line must prove that it can offer safe and reliable train service, officials said.

Commuter trains begin running today at 10-minute intervals along the 19-mile route. Service each day is scheduled to begin at 5:30 a.m. and end at 8 p.m. Each two-car train can carry up to 450 passengers and the ride from end to end is expected to take 55 minutes.

The stakes are high. The Blue Line is the initial link in the county’s plan for a $5-billion, 150-mile rail network connecting suburbs to downtown Los Angeles. If the line fails to attract enough riders or becomes too costly, officials say, the county might scale back its ambitious rail transit plans in the coming decades.

Initially, transit authorities projected that 30,000 commuters a day would ride the Blue Line once it started and that ridership would rise to 54,000 within a decade. But they have scaled back those predictions for the start-up period. They said they will be happy with an initial ridership of 5,000 a day.

For the first two weeks, rides will be free to encourage passengers. Then, officials said, a basic one-way fare of $1.10 will be charged, with special 65-cent discount fares for the elderly and handicapped.

Tickets will be dispensed by automatic vending machines that display operating instructions in English and Spanish on bullet-proof video display terminals. There are no ticket collectors, so passengers will ride on the honor system. Cheaters will be cited and fined $80.

The basic fare is about half the price charged by the Southern California Rapid Transit District for express bus service between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach. In addition, RTD bus transfers will be honored, transit officials said. The RTD is operating the Blue Line for the Transportation Commission.

Special shuttle buses will be operating at ends of the line because the last stations are still under construction. For the next year, the last stop in Los Angeles will be the Pico Station at Pico Boulevard and Flower Street downtown. In Long Beach, the line will end at the Anaheim Station, pending completion of the four-station Long Beach Loop this fall.

One of the biggest worries on opening day is that the trains, which can travel up to 55 m.p.h., will be slowed by traffic congestion, RTD officials said.

In downtown Los Angeles, where the Blue Line travels down Washington Boulevard, the trains must stop for traffic lights at 20 intersections.

“Our trains are getting caught at the red lights . . . and it’s really slowing us down,” said Arthur Leahy, RTD assistant general manager for operations. He has asked the Los Angeles Department of Transportation to adjust the computer-synchronized traffic signals to give the trains longer green lights, but city officials have been reluctant to give the train preference over motorists, he said.

The safety of having trains running down the middle of streets in Los Angeles and Long Beach has been questioned by the union that represents RTD bus and train operators.

Earl Clark, United Transportation Union general chairman, has told the state Public Utilities Commission that the 20 intersections without crossing gates are “a major threat to life and limb.”

County Transportation Commission officials disagreed, contending that the line is safe.

Because the Blue Line runs through high crime areas of the city, the commission hired the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to protect the line and is spending more than a third of the line’s $33-million-a-year budget for security.

The heavy emphasis on security appeared to pay off over the weekend, officials said. Deputies reported only two arrests--one for disturbing the peace, the other for tearing down a “no trespassing” sign and possession of narcotics paraphernalia--and officers broke up one fistfight. There were no reports of gang activity or vandalism.

“We are surprised at how quiet the weekend has been,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Frank Vadurro, head of the newly formed Transit Services Bureau. The unit deployed 200 deputies who rode the trains, walked the station platforms and patrolled the tracks.

Many of last weekend’s riders came from poor and working-class neighborhoods, such as Watts, and officials said they expect the Blue Line to remain popular with many of the diverse neighborhoods along the route.

“The Blue Line was located where it is expressly to serve the widest range of ridership possible,” said Peterson. “Who better needs transit service than the people in low-income neighborhoods?”

Peterson expects that 80% of the train riders will be from blue-collar neighborhoods.

“Most of the trips will not be end-to-end white commuters,” he said. “Most will be generated in midline, people riding from Compton to Watts, from Washington Boulevard in the garment district to Artesia.”

The weekend excursion runs, with fully loaded trains running every 10 minutes, provided a shakedown for the coming weeks, the RTD’s Leahy said.

“This weekend went great, it was picture-perfect,” said Leahy, who started as an RTD bus driver 19 years ago.

Along the way, there were only two minor glitches, officials said. One car lost its brakes and had to be taken out of service; another was sidetracked briefly because doors would not close for about five minutes.

The next test comes today, when RTD will integrate the train operations with the RTD bus lines and start shuttle service at the ends of the train line. The RTD has set up 60 bus lines to feed passengers into the Blue Line.

Leahy is cautious about saying how long it would take before commuters accept rail transit in Los Angeles.

“The real value of Blue Line won’t become apparent until it links to (the Metro Rail subway) Red Line and Green Line (down the Century Freeway),” he said. “The more rail we have, the more we can adjust the bus lines to feed into the system. Then we’ll get some idea of how successful we’ve been.”

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Blue Line Traffic Signals The “T” signals indicate to the train operator when safe movement is permissible but are not visible to automobile traffic. The “arrow” signals control automobile traffic making left-hand turns. It is extremely important automobiles make a left-hand turn only when a green arrow is visible. Rall vehicle Warning Sign Lets you know that you are approaching an intersection where the Blue Line crosses. Make left-hand turn only when arrow permits you to. Safety suggestions for drivers crossing Blue Line tracks: Do not take shortcuts across the tracks by going around or under the railroad crossing gate. Do not ignore train signals. Stop when the railroad crossing signals sound. Do not cross track intersections without looking both ways. Warning signs are posted on streets approaching train crossings. Flashing red lights at rail intersection are a warning to stop. Stop at least 15 feet from the nearest rail when a train is coming. Never get trapped on a crossing. When traffic is heavy, wait off the tracks until you are sure you can clear them. Do not go ahead until you can see clearly in both directions. There may be a second train coming from the other street. Source: Southern California Rapid Transit District Compiled by Times researcher Cecilia Rasussen