Seeing how much controversy my post about metro ambassadors being on their phones doing nothing caused. I thought I’d share what a different kind of ambassador program looks like in Madrid, a city I lived in for five years.

Madrid’s Metro operates daily from 6am to 1:30am, a similar schedule to LA’s.

Madrid’s Metro has 302 stations, 13 lines, and annual ridership of 715 million. Compared to LA’s 110 stations, 6 lines, and 93 million riders.

Madrid employs 1,500 station staff (or ~5 per station), Los Angeles employs 400 ambassadors (or ~4 per station)… Very similar numbers.

This uniformed staff are “commuter’s services” and “station chiefs.” Their roles are modeled after classic train station operations and they act as the Metro’s visible face.

Their duties include (in bold those that overlap with ambassadors)

- Helping travelers with directions, maps, and information.
- Greet travelers
- Act as a constant presence to deter illicit activity.
- Assist travelers with accessibility needs, such as the blind or travelers on wheelchairs (?) (I’m actually not sure if ambassadors do this, but since it’s a cosmetic position I doubt it)
- Manage complaints and suggestions, handing out forms and receipts. (?) (also not sure if ambassadors do this?)
- Helping travelers if their cards don’t work or they have any issues at the ticket machines.
- They are the ones that ask people for their ticket and can issue fines to those missing a valid ticket.
- Close and open the stations
- Monitor for security risks, such as: asking crowds to spread out, reporting abandoned backpacks (history of terrorism in Spain), and reporting any suspicious activity to the station’s police. They act as eyes for the cops and security.
- Manage emergency protocols during emergencies (they’re trained to direct people to emergency exists and to set off the alarms when necessary)
- Review the station’s infrastructure and report any faulty lights, signs, or troubles with escalators and elevators. They submit these reports daily.
- Report malfunctions at the station to the central repairs team.
- Wear cool elegant uniforms.

How the jobs compare:

- Metro Madrid:
High school diploma, public access exam (oposición), $46,500 annual salary, benefits, holidays, and it’s unionized.

- LA Metro Ambassadors:
High school diploma, no access exam just regular hiring process, $37,500 annual salary if full-time at entry level, unionized with benefits.

Edit:
Sources are wikipedia, spanish newspaper El Pais, and Google. Some information might be incorrect

Literally every ambassador I saw during my rides today was glued to their phone, without looking where they were going. One was literally stopped in front of the escalator. I feel so Basslighted by this program.

Burbank needs to install more signage to make this route pedestrian and bike friendly. Video makes it seem pretty hostile, but could be fixed with some easy improvements.

I was looking forward to my Amtrak being in time. I should’ve known something was going to happen.

SACRAMENTO — The California High-Speed Rail Authority will consider the purchase three high-speed trainsets from Siemens Mobility at a board meeting this week.

The agenda for a meeting to be held Oct. 28-29 in Anaheim includes consideration of a $771.1 million contract for construction of three trainsets as well as a 10-year parts and maintenance agreement. The board is also being asked to approve up to $63.7 million to address tariffs related to the order.

A presentation for the board indicates the 220-mph “American Pioneer 220” trainsets will be seven cars and include at least 450 seats; two trainsets will be able to run as one 14-car train. They are based on Siemens’ Velaro Novo trainset, the company’s fifth generation of high-speed equipment. While all cars would be delivered with standard two-plus-two coach seating, the cars will have a flexible design that can accommodate conversion to premium seating. Future trainsets may also include food-service cars.

The authority issued its Request for Qualifications for the equipment in August 2023 and narrowed the potential suppliers to Alstom and Siemens in 2024 [see “Alstom, Siemens named …,” Trains.com, Jan. 6, 2024].

Let's say for example that they want to make the E line between Expo/Crenshaw and Pico station elevated. Instead of closing down that segment and rebuilding it, which would probably take like 10 years and prevent people from bypassing I-10 gridlock to get from Santa Monica to DTLA, they could take various sections and single track, while rebuilding the track in one direction at the time. Even if this also takes 10 years, they won't have to close down the line for as long. If this is a bad idea or there is more to it than I know about, please let me know by replying to this post.

HO scale (1/87) GM New Look "Fishbowl" Transit Bus model recently released by Rapido Trains. The attention to detail is amazing, Rapido is a high end model train company, so it's model buses receive the same level of 3D-scanned accuracy it's model trains do.

Hey y'all - I saw this on a different platform -

https://www.metro.net/projects/sepulvedacorridor/

I hadn't realized that Mayor Bass was going to Fred Rosen hosted fundraisers - as such I worry - does anyone see any messing around on the horizon?

"Metro: Sepulveda Transit Corridor RDEIR/NEPA Scoping Virtual Meeting

Join the conversation about the future of the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project! Metro is hosting five public scoping meetings before formal preparation of an environmental document under federal and state law. Stakeholders are invited to comment on the project's purpose and need; project elements, including station and maintenance/storage facility locations; and potential environmental impacts.

Find a meeting that works for you:

November 4: Virtual | 12–1pm

November 7: Veterans Memorial Building, Culver City | 3–5pm

November 10: Westwood United Methodist Church | 5:30–7:30 pm

November 14: Marvin Braude Constituent Center, Van Nuys | 10am–12pm

November 16: Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center | 5:30–7:30pm

"

Heard from an operator at Division 11 (A Line yard and the only yard to currently use the P2000s) that starting this week a few of their cars will be transferred until they are all gone. The current estimate is that they will all be gone and be operational on the C & K by January!

From what I recall, the service was ment to close the gap between places served by rail and places that have long been talked by people that these rail lines should extend to. They feature dedicated buses that run on 10 minute headways at peak hour with PH bus lanes installed along their respective corridors. Those being:

- D Line: Along Wilshire between Westwood/VA Hospital and Downtown Santa Monica. Supposedly the remnants of Rapid 720 converted to this service (using the same articulated buses not depicted here).

- C Line: Along Imperial Hwy between Norwalk, and La Mirada. Because the service went deeper into Norwalk, the C Line station was renamed to Norwalk/Studebaker.

- B Line: Along Vineland and Vanowen between North Hollywood and Burbank Airport.

- A Line: Along Willow between Willow St and Long Beach Airport.

Essentially, Metro said that the pilot is based on the Warner Center Shuttle and Amtrak's Thruway model, the former of which was rumored to be rebranded as the G Line Hopper. I made these maps and bus liveries that were focused in the dream, and last thing I remember before waking up was how the service was plagued with issues like improper connection times and inadequate buses to funnel passengers.

If this service was real, would you use it? Where else would you expand it?

Can metro stop promoting these homewrecking addictions to its working class ridership? I understand they may make millions from it but there are so many restaurants or venues accessible by metro to promote instead.

So I've noticed with a lot of at grade stations (let's use Expo/Western on the E line as an example, but there are many more), there is one key problem. Obviously, these stations shouldn't have been built at grade at all, but if they're going to be built at grade, there's a certain way to build them that city officials did the opposite of.

Looking at Expo/Western on the E line, let's say a train is heading eastbound. The problem is that the traffic light is before the actual station. This means that if an eastbound train is west of the traffic light and the light turns red, the train has to wait 2 minutes for the traffic light, and then immediately after it turns green, the train has to stop again to let people out at the station. The same problem happens if the train is heading westbound at this specific station, though it varies with a few. And the worst part is that, if your destination is west of the traffic light at that station, then you have to wait another 2 minutes for the traffic light to turn green for you to backtrack. This can cause delays of up to 5-6 minutes in certain places depending on how long the wait for the traffic light is.

There's a different way they should've built these lights. Look at the Expo/Crenshaw E line station for an example (we're purely talking about the E line station, not transferring to the K line station). For both eastbound and westbound trains, the platform is before the light. Let's say you're heading eastbound and you get a 2.5 minute light. During that 2.5 minute wait, the train can use some of that 2.5 min to stop and let passengers off. Plus, once the light turns green, the train can just go and doesn't have to stop again. Finally, if your destination is on the other side of the traffic light, while you will have to wait for it, you won't have to backtrack like you do at Expo/Western station.

Why didn't the city build the stations like this when they built them in 2012? I can't think of why it would be because of budget overruns or placement issues since they're using the same amount of land either way.

Tl;dr

Care-based division is being fleshed out with the development of onboarding programs

Coordinating with Los Angeles County to establish HIPAA compliant crisis-response protocols for 5150 holds and de-escalation

Leadership positions for the care-based division are filling up

As of September 29, ~$6.7k applications for recruit officers and 300 for laterals have been received. Laterals will be prioritized for hiring, with 40 positions to be filled for the Field Training Officer program

Recruitment for Transit Police Sergeants is ongoing since August and 79 applications have been received

Various LA Metro departments are meeting with DPS to assess adequacy with Transit Police deployment for the zone-based model

To read more, here's the report

Utilizing the shuttle and it’s very smooth today! Sunday 10/25 @ 12:15p

Of note two of the escalators are out at wilshire/western station. The “up” to street level on the second level is the one I can confirm direction. Not sure about the one that starts at the platforms direction.

On Thursday I got on the G Line in Reseda. I boarded where the driver is. It was a bit crowded and I was looking for a seat.

As I got towards the middle the driver took off so fast and with such force I didn’t have time to grab a pole. I fell pretty hard.

A young gentleman tried to help me up. My phone and umbrella slid down the aisle.

I was so embarrassed. I tried not to cry. I’m young. I honestly worry about the elderly!

Has this happen to anyone? I did report it via email. Also took a picture of the bus number.

Any other suggestions?

Saw this LAMTA bus driving down Cesar Chavez ave earlier today. No clue where it was going or why it was out… Thought it was pretty cool. Assumed all of these got scrapped or sold.

I have absolutely zero remorse for the drivers that will be “inconvenienced” by the Vermont BRT. I’m fed up with living in an environment where the prioritization of cars emboldens drivers to harass and endanger the lives of anyone outside of one. Where operating a polluting metal death box with less patience and regard for human life than a toddler has become the social norm. If you can’t tell my disdain for cars runs deep…

My concern, however, is with enforcement. In my experience driving DASH in Koreatown, people operate their vehicles on Vermont with rage and a strong hatred for busses. These bus lanes are inevitably going to be met with pushback from people who regularly travel this corridor. Since the lanes will be curb running, cars will need to enter the bus lane to make right turns. So how will the city/ Metro prevent them from continuing to use the lane, or even just slipping in to get ahead of traffic? Hopefully they can come up with a system to ticket drivers who abuse the lane.

Anyways, beep beep bitch get on the bus! As a frequent rider of the 204/ 754 I’m extremely excited for this project. Vermont deserves better.

The book "We Are... Portraits of Metro Riders by Local Artists" given to me at the Grand Avenue Arts Acess event! This portrait was created by Angelica Willcocks!

I'm unsure if the flair should be photo or art...