Up to 45 buses an hour will soon fill the contra-flow lane

•

•Busway readied for RTD

RTD drivers will begin training onthe final four miles of the El Monte-LosAngeles Express Busway this week,and the bus-only lanes may be openedfor passenger service as early as nextweek. The original target date was setfor May 26.

The State Department of Transpor-tation (CALTRANS) turned over theremaining portion of the Busway toRTD last week when it completed theinstallation of a bus-priority signal atthe Mission Street Busway exit.Busway Flyers will now be able toenter downtown Los Angeles traffic

without having to stop at the bottom ofthe exit ramp.

"Commuting time was cut in halfwhen we operated on just the firstseven miles of the Busway," said JohnWilkens, assistant manager ofoperations. "By traveling the full 11miles from El Monte to Los Angeles,we ought to be able to cut Buswaytravel time to less than 15 minutes. Ittakes a car nearly 28 minutes to makethe freeway trip during rush hour."

Ridership on the Busway has risensteadily since it began operation 10months ago. RTD topped the 10,000passenger-per-day mark late in April.

2 additional Parkand Ride plantsset to open today

Two more Park and Ride facilitiesopen for business today serving com-muters traveling to Los Angeles fromthe San Fernando Valley. Line 121-Ewill serve the Van Nuys Drive-in, andLine 24-E will serve the San Val Drive-in in Burbank, providing point-to-pointcommuter service to residents of boththe central and east portions of the SanFernando Valley.

Another Park and Ride lot is currentlybeing considered for possible use by theDistrict in the South Bay area.

(continued on page two)

* Further reductionin fares grantedto senior citizens

Beginning today, senior citizens maypurchase a riding pass good for the re-mainder of May for $4. When Junepasses go on sale at the end of themonth, seniors will be able to buy themfor just the $4 charge. In action takenat the May 3 meeting of RTD's Board ofDirectors, the District agreed to providethe blind with free riding privileges im-mediately, and lower the seniors' pass forthe remainder of May and the month ofJune. No change was made in the cashfares or transfer charges.

RTD's Subscription Service is holding its own during the 25-cent fare program

4

V . . , RTD IS GOING PLACES

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Southern California Rapid Transit District

Volume 1

Number 10

May 15, 1974

Spring St. contra-flow lane goes 'right' wayThe June 3 target date for the opening

of the Spring Street bus-only contra-flowlane may be moved up to May 19 if theCity Traffic Department meets RTD'sspecifications for safety before then.

"Safety is our primary concern in theimplementation and operation of thecontra-flow service," said GeneralManager Jack Gilstrap. "We are workingwith the Traffic Department to insure thesafety of everyone concerned —pedestrians, street traffic, bus riders andoperators."

Since the legislation enabling the con-version of Spring Street was not passeduntil late March by the Los Angeles CityCouncil, the June 3 date allowed two fullmonths for all necessary preparations.

The contra-flow lane will run north onSpring between 9th and Macy Streetsagainst the normal southbound one-wayflow. Buses which normally run north onMain Street will be rerouted onto Springto travel the 12-block stretch through thedowntown area.

Rules of the road for two-way streetsapply for autos turning onto Spring fromintersecting streets, and for autos turningacross the bus lane onto streets and intoparking lots.

The safety of the contra-flow concept iswell borne out by its successful operationin such cities as Chicago, Honolulu, In-dianapolis, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

RTD lines that will use the lane are the24, 52, 56, 60, 63, 67/68, 69, 70/71, 401,402, 403, 404 and 405. The contra-flowlane will be restricted to buses 24 hours aday.

The Spring Street experiment will bestudied to determine its effectiveness andpotential applicability as a means ofproviding expedited bus service on otherdowntown surface streets. The contra-flow lanes are part of RTD's immediatebus improvement program which alsocalls for preferential lanes on freewaysfor buses, as well as other innovationswhich will bring Los Angeles closer to thegoal of establishing a balanced transpor-tation system for the Basin.

• Subscription program expandsWhile RTD's flat fare program con-

tinues to dominate the headlines, one ofthe District's most successful commuter• services is flourishing in the background.

By popular demand, RTD's Subscrip-tion Bus Service is being expanded to ac-commodate Los Angeles civic centeremployes. In an intensive marketing ef-fort, state, county and municipalemployes are receiving brochures detail-ing 14 subscription services the District isprepared to operate as the demandwarrants.

Reservation forms in the brochures arenow being processed in the Transporta-tion Department, and a tentative date ofJune 3 has been set for the first day of theexpanded service.

"We are currently carrying over 700passengers on 17 subscription buses,"said Johnny Johnston, superintendent oftransportation. "Only two percent of oursubscription ridership has fallen off since

the implementation of the 25-cent flatfare program, and considering the $45monthly fare for the service, that's a greatendorsement."

Johnston added that subscriptionbuses often compete with parallel 25-centlocal service within Los Angeles County;yet the demand for subscription servicecontinues to grow.

To reserve a subscription bus, aminimum of 35 people must request theservice. The lines described in the civiccenter employe brochure serve WoodlandHills-Reseda-Van Nuys (Line 531);Northridge-Granada Hills-Pacoima-NorthHollywood (Line 532); Altadena-Pasadena (line 533); Hacienda Heights-La Puente (line 534); La Mirada-Santa FeSprings-Norwalk (Line 535); Cerritos-Artesia (line 536); San Pedro-HarborCity-Wilmington (Line 537); Westchester-West Los Angeles (Line 538); and SantaMonica-West Los Angeles (Line 539).

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4111 • ---•-,

DIRECTOR Hugh Carter presents Operator of the Month awards to Division 2's FredHappel (left) and Division 11's Robert Heaton (right) during ceremonies preceedingthe April 23 meeting of the Board of Directors. Happel operates on Line 111 fromHuntington Park to Bellflower, and Heaton operates on Line 58 from Santa Ana to LosAngeles.

Energy conservationA. F. Begg, Division 7, Transportation

"There has been good compliancewith the request to conserve energy;in fact, we've been able to cut ourconsumption by about 20 percent. Wehave lowered the thermostat and wekeep the lights off whenever possi-ble in the transfer room and the trainroom."

Rollin Johnston, Division 7, Mainte-nance & Equipment

"Cooperation has been very good hereduring the energy conservation pro-gram. We're keeping off all powerwhen we can, but we maintain safeworking conditions at all times. Lightsare turned off in the storage areaswhen not in use, as well as in the unitrooms. Mechanics even turn off thelights on the buses while they arebeing serviced."

Bill Kendall, Transit Building, 6th Floor

"Employes have confronted theenergy crisis and have greeted theDistrict's conservation effort with avery positive attitude. They have beenvery conscientious about turning offlights, adding machines and type-writers whenever they are not in use.It seems that the energy crisis hasbrought employes together in a com-mon cause - we're all pulling to-gether to conserve our energy supply."

page two

Conservation effort boomsRTD continues among the leaders in industry as it announced the results of last

month's energy conservation efforts. In the period monitored, the District registereda healthy 29 percent reduction in electricity consumption over the same month lastyear.

LOCATIONS ORDERED TO CUT BACK 10% BYDEPARTMENT OF WATER & POWER

Days Base Consumption % ofDivision Monitored 1973 1974 Reduction1, 11 29 65,600 kwh 48,000 kwh 26.82 29 108,000 68,400 36.73, 10 29 71,230 57,825 18.84, 5 29 83,600 62,400 25.36 29 26,075 14,600 44.08 29 25,280 19,160 24.214 27 89,006 69,200 22.2Transit Building 28 127,332 76,580 39.8Macy St. 28 31,051 18,120 41.6

627,174 kwh 434,285 kwh 30.7

LOCATIONS URGED TO CUT BACK 15% BYSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON CO.

DivisionDays

MonitoredBase1973

Consumption1974

% ofReduction

7 29 35,840 kwh 26,240 kwh 26.89 29 31,504 29,120 7.612 29 41,040 33,520 18.313 30 15,680 9,280 40.8

124,064 kwh 98,160 kwh 20.9

% of Reduction - Department of Water & Power

30.7% of Reduction - Edison

20.9

% of Reduction - RTD Systemwide

29.1

2 District operators honoredby RTD Board of Directors

RTD's Board of Directors has honoredtwo veteran drivers with the Operator ofthe Month award. February's award waspresented to Fred Happel of Division 2,and March's to Robert Heaton of Division11. Both men represent 74 years ofpublic transit experience in SouthernCalifornia.

Happel, a South Gate resident, haswon several other driving honors includ-ing the 1957 "Operator of the Year"award, and a 28-year safety award. Hap-

The Urban Mass Transportation Ad-ministration has awarded $7.4 million forthree District federal grant projects.

First, $5.5 million has been added tothe District's Capital ImprovementProgram. The funds will provide for 20 ad-ditional mini-buses, bringing the numberpurchased by the grant to 40, and thenumber in the mini-bus fleet to 59. Fundsalso allow for the construction of newmaintenance facilities at Division 3 andthe addition of new instructional facilitiesadjacent to the Transportation building.The funds will also provide for the decen-tralization of RTD's brake shop work.

Secondly, $1.5 million has been addedto the San Bernardino Busway grant tohelp meet the escalating construction

Park and Ride(continued from page one)

Each facility has 500 parking spacesavailable to RTD patrons for a monthlycharge of just $2. The daily parking feeis just 25-cents.

The La Mirada Drive-in and the SanGabriel Drive-in, which began operationMay 1 as Park and Ride lots, have en-joyed growing success during the firsttwo weeks of the program. Eight buseshave been assigned to each facility anddepart for Los Angeles every 15 minutesduring the one hour and 45 minute peakhour period. Stops have been designated

pel drives on RTD's Line 111 fromHuntington Park to Bellflower. He hasworked for RTD and its predecessoragencies since 1934. An electronicsbuff, Happel builds and operates hamradio equipment as a hobby.

Division 11's Heaton has driven Line58 for the last five years. He has alsoworked out of Divisions 12, 9 and 2 in his34-year driving career, and has earneda 26-year safety award. Heaton lives inSan Clemente.

costs for the entire project, including thecompletion of facilities at Division 9.

The District has also announced thatUMTA has awarded a new grant in theamount of $240,000 for the acquisitionand implementation of a computerizedprogram for run cutting and schedulingcommonly known as RUCUS. TheRUCUS Program places RTD among theleaders in the transportation industry inthe use of computerized schedulingtechniques.

The District awarded contracts April 23for 200 standard-sized transit buses,bringing the total number of busescurrently on order to 320 (including the20 additional mini-buses). The first 100coaches, which were ordered April 2 willbegin to arrive this fall.

downtown as pick up points for outboundpassengers during the afternoon rushhour period. Line 58-E serves the LaMirada Drive-in, and Line 53-F servesthe San Gabriel Drive-in located nearthe Del Mar ramp to the El Monte-LosAngeles Express Busway.

Except for the present low fare andparking fee, the Park and Ride program isindependent of the 25-cent flat fare ex-periment and will continue its commuterservice even if the current subsidy iswithdrawn by the County of Los Angeles.

$7.4 million UMTA grantawarded for RTD projects

••

••

`Sou!father' John Legans gets rubbed out in a remote parking lot .. .

AMIE

. . . George Anderson (center) and Clarence Adams (right) do the dirty work.

page three

•

• Lights, camera,and plenty of action!

Have you seen the movie about the busdriver who comes to work, realizes hehas forgotten his punch at home, andreturns to his house only to find his wife inthe arms of another man?

Jessie Davis has.In fact Davis, who works the extra

board at Division 7 in West Hollywood,wrote it, directed it, produced it, andeven held the camera. That's how it allbegan in 1970 when he bought his firsthome movie camera. Since then, Davishas become immersed in a hobby that in-volves his family, many of his friends, andlots of his money.

" 'Till Death Do Us Part' was my firstmovie," Davis smiled, tipping off themovie's ending. "It was a silent moviethat had no script. I wrote it as I filmed it• and worked from a story line in my head.Harvey Parnell, another Division 7operator was the star."

Division 7 operators have starred inmany of Davis' films. In his latest movie,

Davis behind the scenes

Davis cast 10 drivers in a take-off on "TheGodfather" called "The Soulfather."

John Legans (now at Division 2) playedthe title role; Dobie Gillis played "Junior,"the Soulfather's son who eventually takesover the mob; Ralph Washington played"Little Eddie," the Soulfather's ganglandrival; and Dan Wilson, Clarence Adams,George Anderson, Ken Austin, AubreyEchols, Loyd Bluford, and Pervies Ary(now at Division 12) starred as assortedhenchmen. Deborah Evins, playedJunior's wife.

Davis' films have come a long waytechnically since "Till Death Do Us Part.""My first Super 8 camera was stolen acouple of years ago, and when I replacedit I bought a little better camera. Then Iwas able to zoom in on the action andfade in and out of scenes," he recalled. "Ishot The Soulfather' with an even newercamera, a sound camera."

Davis explained that now he not onlyhas to edit the film, but also the audio."I'm splicing in machine gun fire from asound effects record in place of the rat-tat-tat of the toy guns we used in 'TheSoulfather.'

"It's a lot harder to shoot, too," he add-ed. "Everyone has to rehearse andmemorize their lines, and you can't startshooting until it is quiet."

Davis' "home" movies take him all overLos Angeles on location to parks, hishome, his friends' homes, and parkinglots. All his movies feature actors in fullcostume, and he develops the plots forhis films by combining elements of othermovies he has seen.

It is obvious that Davis would spend 24hours a day on his hobby if he could. Butsince he has to make a living, he prefersdriving a bus to almost anything. Yet headmits that he would like to work in themovie business someday. "I take classeson the weekend to become a stunt man,"he said. "I guess I just enjoy every aspectof making movies."

Davis has displayed a lot of talent in hismovie making. His second move, "JustMy Imagination," starred pretty DellWright who appeared and disappearedmysteriously on the screen, thanks toDavis' special effects film techniques.The magic of "West Hollywood" markedMiss Wright's screen debut — the starletfell head-over-heels in love with theproducer-director-writer-camera man,and they were married soon after.

"Dell works behind the camera now,"Davis grinned. "She's helping me preparethe script (his first formal script) for 'thebig one' — 'The Black Connection.' "

So, if you see a couple of black detec-tives in full costume staked out in front ofDivision 7 in the near future, just walk byand act naturally. You might be oncamera.

•

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page four

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Makingheadway...

❑ A reminder to all employes — sug-gestions and complaints can be com-municated directly to District man-agement over Extension 310, RTD'sEmploye Hotline. The District's latestnews and plans are recorded weeklyon Extensions 485 and 486, RTD'sNewsline, where news is revealed toemployes often before it is releasedto the media.

❑ Division 6 proudly announces theelection of its acting manager EugeneSchaffer to president of the LongBeach Advisory Board for CatholicService for the year 1974. Congratu-lations!

❑ RTD's Rapid Transit team hasscheduled an additional communitymeeting. It will be held May 16 at theLa Mirada City Hall at 7:30 p.m.,13700 La Mirada Blvd. District em-ployes and friends are invited to at-tend and get a better understandingof RTD's MRT program.

JACK WALSH, director of safety, discusses operators' suggestions with (from left to right) Ed McLaughlin-, A. J. Finlay, Jay Mat-thews, and Ken Whisner during the Division 12 management-employe meeting.

--HERO (*WRYVolume 1 Number 10Published by and for the em-ployes of the Southern CaliforniaRapid Transit District. Send stories,photos, or just the facts to PatrickBarry, Editor, Public InformationDepartment. .1060 S. Broadway.Los Angeles. California, 90015.

Southern California Rapid Transit District1060 South Broadway, Los Angeles 90015 Bulk Rate

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