1922: Pacific Electric Railway begins a weekly card pass plan for Pasadena local passengers at the cost of $1.00 per week.
The card is transferable to any member of the purchaser’s family or other person. The plan follows those in place for Riverside and Pomona since September, and begin each Monday through Sunday evening.
More information can be found in the December, 1922 issue of Pacific Electric Magazine.
2001: The project to extend the platforms on the Metro Blue Line is completed and three-car train service commences to accommodate ever-expanding ridership.
Los Angeles County Supervisors and LACTMA Board members Don Knabe and Yvonne Braithwaite Burke with LACMTA CEO Roger Snoble, center. (Click for more information)
The third cars allow up to 145 additional seated and standing passengers to help ease crowding on the rail line which has been carrying 69,400 average weekday boardings.
Just one decade after its debut in 1990, the Metro Blue Line had reached passenger capacity. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors Chair John Fasana is joined at a news conference by Los Angeles County Supervisor and Board Member Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and LACMTA CEO Roger Snoble to ride one of the first three-car trains.
The Authority had spent approximately $11 million during the 16-month project to extend platforms at 19 stations along the 22-mile route.
Board Chair Fasana notes that:
“The Metro Blue Line is a transit lifeline that gives tens of thousands of riders — largely minorities and low-income people — access to jobs, schools, medical care, shopping, recreation and other opportunities. This upgrade will allow us ot keep pace with demand today and grow with the future.”
Supervisor Burke, the immediate past Board Chair, had introduced the motion calling for expanding Metro Blue Line platforms in 1999, and was in the forefront of the Board’s search for funding.
She stated at the time that:
“We worked a long time to get this. The Metro Blue Line carries more passengers than any other light-rail line in the nation except Boston, so this is very important to help eliminate crowding.”
More information can be found in the November 27, 2001 issue of MyMetro employee news digest.
