Blue Line Is Fast Becoming a Victim of Its Success

Blue Line trains shuttling standing-room crowds of rush-hour passengers between Long Beach and Los Angeles don’t need the “packers” that Japan uses to cram its commuters into the subway.

Not yet.

But the county’s first modern-day rail line, celebrating its seventh anniversary this month, has become a victim of its own success, speeding toward capacity faster than anyone expected.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is scrambling to find ways to solve an unusual Los Angeles problem: a demand for public transit from commuters who choose to use it.

Unlike the crowded bus system, used mainly by riders with no other choice, about 45% of Blue Line riders own cars, according to a recent MTA survey.

In response to the crowding, the MTA is considering extending station platforms to accommodate longer trains.

The agency could run trains more often, but that could clog intersections, possibly increase collisions between cars and trains and draw neighborhood opposition because of the added noise. The 22-mile line was built mostly at street level to save money.

Ridership averages 46,000 boardings on a weekday--about double the number who rode the trolley-like line after it opened in July 1990 as a reincarnation of the old Red Cars.

Capacity is 55,000. The MTA last year reported “maximum load problems during peak periods,” causing it to implement short-term measures to ease the crowding.

Transit officials expect ridership to grow as additional spokes of the county’s rail system open up, including subway extensions to Hollywood in late 1998 and North Hollywood in 2000.

On a recent morning, seats on an L.A.-bound Blue Line train were already scarce at the Willow station in Long Beach. By the time the train reached the Imperial station, it was standing room only. When it got to the Slauson station, a chorus of “excuse me, excuse me” could be heard from passengers boarding the train.

“I’ve been pleasantly shocked to see how full the trains are, even on the weekend,” said Ellen Levine, MTA executive officer for operations.

The rush-hour trip has become so crowded that some L.A.-bound commuters drive farther to stations near the start of the route to be assured of a seat. Some riders report that when trains are jammed, those already aboard shout to passengers trying to get on to stay off and wait for the next train.

The MTA staff, faced with a tight budget, says the problem is not likely to reach a crisis point for a few years.

Officials say the train still has more elbow room than the “crush loads” on some buses and, unlike those jampacked buses, no trains are passing waiting commuters without stopping.

But County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, whose district is served by the Blue Line, said crowding on the rail line is a problem now. She noted that some riders who can’t get on the Blue Line end up taking the bus, adding to crowding there.

“We do have a problem,” said Burke. “The people in my district have a problem because they’re the ones forced to stand continually.”

Levine said, “We have a lot of standees on our buses. We have only so much resources. Although it’s a longer trip, standing conceivably for a longer time, there’s fewer people who are doing it than people on the bus.”

The crowding problem comes at a time when the MTA is struggling to find money to implement court-ordered bus improvements and keep its rail projects on schedule.

The cost of extending the platforms is estimated at $10 million to $15 million.

MTA board member Nick Patsaouras, noting that the MTA is considering allowing advertising at stations and on trains, has suggested using the ad revenues to speed up the Blue Line improvements.

The MTA needs to extend station platforms because Blue Line riders cannot move between cars as they can on San Francisco’s BART or New York’s subway. Transit planners bought Blue Line cars with drivers’ control booths at each end in order to save the cost of building a turnaround at the Los Angeles end of the line.

Longer trains cannot be used at the end of the line in Long Beach without sticking out into the intersection. So, the agency will run three-car trains only between Los Angeles and the Willow station and two-car trains the rest of the way to downtown Long Beach.

Other improvements are coming to the Blue Line.

Construction will begin next spring on a bridge to take Imperial Highway over the Blue Line tracks and Wilmington Avenue. The $19-million project, expected to take years, is designed to prevent automobile traffic from backing up on the tracks.

MTA critics say the Blue Line’s success has come at a huge price. The line cost $871 million to build.

When taxpayer subsidies for building and operating the line are measured against the drivers it took off the road, it would have been cheaper to offer free cab rides to the public transit converts, said James E. Moore II, a USC associate professor of urban and regional planning who favors buses over rail. He said the majority of Blue Line riders were already using the bus system.

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Moore contends that the Blue Line subsidy could have funded bus lines that would carry 16 times as many passengers.

Dana Woodbury, MTA deputy executive officer for operations planning and scheduling, said critics “overlook the economic benefits” of rail lines.

“A fixed-rail facility over time attracts significant investment in the vicinity of its stations,” he said.

Another MTA staffer said the train also is more comfortable and faster than buses.

“If I was cleaning offices and a single mother, which would I prefer: more buses to take me an hour and a half to work, or a billion-dollar train that got me there in 25 minutes?”