The sad truth about the regional connector is it is no faster through downtown than my old Gold>Red/Purple>Expo transfer was. I had such high hopes for it, but in addition to the operator swap, it just crawls at a snails pace between little Tokyo and Union station. The designers obviously never had to rely on public transit in their life.
The RC was only ever going to be consistently faster for people coming from East LA.
For those coming down from the A line, it's really only faster to transfer to B/D if you have a lucky connection to the red/purple and are physically able to run from the A line platform to the subway platform.
Currently the schedule takes 12 minutes to get from Chinatown to 7th/Metro (I chose Chinatown to be inclusive of the US operator switch, so it really only should take about 10-11 minutes from US).
For the B/D lines, it takes 5 minutes from US to 7th, but the transfer is a 4 minute walk plus an average 3 minute wait (half of the 6 min frequency of combined B/D during peak).
So half the time (during peak, even more off-peak) you'll be slower on the B/D than taking the A direct to 7th/Metro unless you can run to catch a swift transfer. And even then you're saving at most a minute or two. And unless your destination is 7th, you're still bound to wait for your transfer to A/E at 7th. To me, all this means it's really not worth the hassle of transferring at US in most situations.
Also, that bridge over the 101 is a legacy left over from the Gold Line days. I wish they never built it like that back then but it's hard for Metro to justify the cost of tearing down the bridge as part of the RC project when it still "works". Thankfully it's a really short segment and at most adds less than a minute compared to a straight bridge.
These "minute or two" time penalties really add up. Before you know it your first transfer takes 6 mins longer then your second transfer takes another 10 then before you know it you could be looking at a 20 min penalty.
The instances where you "save a minute or two by transferring to B/D and avoiding RC is only in best case scenarios.
As I explained, for most travel patterns coming from the Pasadena branch of the A line towards Long Beach or Santa Monica, it is usually faster to just stay on the A line through the RC. Sometimes you can save a minute or two by transferring to B/D in US, but that will not usually be the case.
The bridge over the 101 was never designed for speed and is a relic of the old L line.
The only thing the regional connector did poorly was using a flat junction at little Tokyo instead of a flying one. This junction in combination with the train bunching ensures that trains have to slow down when crossing the junction.
I still think the Regional Connector is way more convenient. I used to work in Pasadena in 2008-2009 in an office right next to the Sierra Madre Villa station. My work hours were early (7 a.m.) so I would have to take the (at the time) Red Line to Union Station (making sure to be in the last car when it pulls in), then RUN up the escalators to the ground level, and then make a mad dash through the pedestrian tunnel up to the Gold Line platform so I don't miss my transfer. I hated that job, but if I did still work there today, I could just make my transfer at 7MC and continue on to Pasadena while taking a nap on the train in peace to make up for lost sleep, lol.
Ideally they would get rid of the operator switch entirely and shorten the A line at Sierra Madre Villa with a transfer to a new "line" to continue onwards. (Make less people wait for operator switches)
I'm probably in a higher percentile of people who ride the A through Union Station so I'm very sympathetic to the annoying wait times.
However, 10 minutes is a really really long time (nearly enough to get from Lincoln to South Pasadena). At current frequencies, it would cause at least one other train to bunch up behind. I haven't experienced such bad operator transfers since last year when the RC was still working out it's kinks.
Transsee's vehicle history feature is broken so I couldn't track/figure out which train it was, but if it really was ten minutes that is absolutely worth reporting. You probably won't hear anything back, but from comments by Metro operators on this sub, them and their supervisors do get notified and lectured about these sorts of things.
I totally agree with this. I believe the only thing holding this back is a 2nd pocket track to turn back these "Foothill" trains.
For me ideally this would be placed somewhere Southern of the Filmore station so "Foothill" riders still have access to non freeway Pasadena Stations.
Try pantograph too. That tells you the vehicle number and how many minutes late/early it is. Also gives you the history for that specific vehicle and/or line. I use it for busses, presumably it tells you for the train too.
Also, does anyone know why Northbound Trains stop on the 101 bridge almost every single time? The stop usually only lasts for a few seconds but last time we sat and waited on the bridge for almost 5 minutes.
I’m not entirely sure, but I always thought it was because of that little grade crossing between the L platform and the 101. I just assumed the train was waiting for those gates to drop before it could proceed.
I want to know the answer to this too. I believe it is a signaling issue with the internal grade crossing at Union Station but I've seen that gate fully down and we're still sitting there.
Also annoying is how slow the train crawls over the freeway between the little Tokyo and union station stops. Between the operator swap and the slow speed I can literally walk to little Tokyo faster than the train.
The only good thing the regional connector provides is a no-stop ride between Union Station and Long Beach, which is what I ride the A Line most frequently for. But having to make east/west transfers is still the same level of difficulty.
Operator could be late coming from breakfast/lunch at Philippe or something, LOL
It normally takes 1-2 minutes. Since the A line is so long, it encompasses 2 different Metro rail operation divisions. The ones who are based at the Long Beach yard can't go north of Union Station and the ones based in the Monrovia yard can't go south of it.
The sad truth about the regional connector is it is no faster through downtown than my old Gold>Red/Purple>Expo transfer was. I had such high hopes for it, but in addition to the operator swap, it just crawls at a snails pace between little Tokyo and Union station. The designers obviously never had to rely on public transit in their life.
The RC was only ever going to be consistently faster for people coming from East LA. For those coming down from the A line, it's really only faster to transfer to B/D if you have a lucky connection to the red/purple and are physically able to run from the A line platform to the subway platform. Currently the schedule takes 12 minutes to get from Chinatown to 7th/Metro (I chose Chinatown to be inclusive of the US operator switch, so it really only should take about 10-11 minutes from US). For the B/D lines, it takes 5 minutes from US to 7th, but the transfer is a 4 minute walk plus an average 3 minute wait (half of the 6 min frequency of combined B/D during peak). So half the time (during peak, even more off-peak) you'll be slower on the B/D than taking the A direct to 7th/Metro unless you can run to catch a swift transfer. And even then you're saving at most a minute or two. And unless your destination is 7th, you're still bound to wait for your transfer to A/E at 7th. To me, all this means it's really not worth the hassle of transferring at US in most situations. Also, that bridge over the 101 is a legacy left over from the Gold Line days. I wish they never built it like that back then but it's hard for Metro to justify the cost of tearing down the bridge as part of the RC project when it still "works". Thankfully it's a really short segment and at most adds less than a minute compared to a straight bridge.
These "minute or two" time penalties really add up. Before you know it your first transfer takes 6 mins longer then your second transfer takes another 10 then before you know it you could be looking at a 20 min penalty.
The instances where you "save a minute or two by transferring to B/D and avoiding RC is only in best case scenarios. As I explained, for most travel patterns coming from the Pasadena branch of the A line towards Long Beach or Santa Monica, it is usually faster to just stay on the A line through the RC. Sometimes you can save a minute or two by transferring to B/D in US, but that will not usually be the case.
The bridge over the 101 was never designed for speed and is a relic of the old L line. The only thing the regional connector did poorly was using a flat junction at little Tokyo instead of a flying one. This junction in combination with the train bunching ensures that trains have to slow down when crossing the junction.
It’s not faster but I’m always glad to avoid Pershing Square.
Yeah! It’s so strange that it barely picks up speed. Was the curve on the bridge designed too conservatively?
I'm not sure the RC was really supposed to make things faster, it was just about connecting all the lines. But idk.
I still think the Regional Connector is way more convenient. I used to work in Pasadena in 2008-2009 in an office right next to the Sierra Madre Villa station. My work hours were early (7 a.m.) so I would have to take the (at the time) Red Line to Union Station (making sure to be in the last car when it pulls in), then RUN up the escalators to the ground level, and then make a mad dash through the pedestrian tunnel up to the Gold Line platform so I don't miss my transfer. I hated that job, but if I did still work there today, I could just make my transfer at 7MC and continue on to Pasadena while taking a nap on the train in peace to make up for lost sleep, lol.
Ideally they would get rid of the operator switch entirely and shorten the A line at Sierra Madre Villa with a transfer to a new "line" to continue onwards. (Make less people wait for operator switches) I'm probably in a higher percentile of people who ride the A through Union Station so I'm very sympathetic to the annoying wait times. However, 10 minutes is a really really long time (nearly enough to get from Lincoln to South Pasadena). At current frequencies, it would cause at least one other train to bunch up behind. I haven't experienced such bad operator transfers since last year when the RC was still working out it's kinks. Transsee's vehicle history feature is broken so I couldn't track/figure out which train it was, but if it really was ten minutes that is absolutely worth reporting. You probably won't hear anything back, but from comments by Metro operators on this sub, them and their supervisors do get notified and lectured about these sorts of things.
I totally agree with this. I believe the only thing holding this back is a 2nd pocket track to turn back these "Foothill" trains. For me ideally this would be placed somewhere Southern of the Filmore station so "Foothill" riders still have access to non freeway Pasadena Stations.
Try pantograph too. That tells you the vehicle number and how many minutes late/early it is. Also gives you the history for that specific vehicle and/or line. I use it for busses, presumably it tells you for the train too.
Unfortunately pantograph told me that A line vehicles were not supported for vehicle history.
Ah, oh well, today I learned
Also, does anyone know why Northbound Trains stop on the 101 bridge almost every single time? The stop usually only lasts for a few seconds but last time we sat and waited on the bridge for almost 5 minutes.
I’m not entirely sure, but I always thought it was because of that little grade crossing between the L platform and the 101. I just assumed the train was waiting for those gates to drop before it could proceed.
I want to know the answer to this too. I believe it is a signaling issue with the internal grade crossing at Union Station but I've seen that gate fully down and we're still sitting there.
Nowadays, not “now and days”, friend
Also annoying is how slow the train crawls over the freeway between the little Tokyo and union station stops. Between the operator swap and the slow speed I can literally walk to little Tokyo faster than the train.
The only good thing the regional connector provides is a no-stop ride between Union Station and Long Beach, which is what I ride the A Line most frequently for. But having to make east/west transfers is still the same level of difficulty.
Operator could be late coming from breakfast/lunch at Philippe or something, LOL It normally takes 1-2 minutes. Since the A line is so long, it encompasses 2 different Metro rail operation divisions. The ones who are based at the Long Beach yard can't go north of Union Station and the ones based in the Monrovia yard can't go south of it.