Transit Briefs: LA Metro, SacRT, MBTA

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Authority (Metro) will offer free rides on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8. Also, the Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) will offer free rides to active and retired military service men and women on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11; and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will install an $80 million underground cable network to prevent train collisions and launches online “Find Your Polling Location” tool ahead of Election Day.

LA Metro

Metro announced on Nov. 1 that it will be offering free rides on all trains, buses, Metro Bike Share and Metro Micro on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8. The free rides will run from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.

“Voting is essential to democracy and Metro encourages all eligible county residents to exercise their constitutional right to vote,” Metro said, adding that “by offering free rides on Election Day, [the agency] is doing its part to encourage voter turnout and make it easier for people to travel to and from local polling places.”

Metro’s Bike Share Program, the agency says, will be providing free 30-minute rides on Election Day with the promo code 110822, which may be redeemed multiple times throughout the day. Electric Metro Bike fees are waived, and bike rides are an additional $1.75 for each half hour after the first 30 minutes.

Metro Bike Share has created an interactive map for users to easily locate in-person voting locations and ballot drop boxes for users to pedal to the polls on Election Day, available here.

Metro’s on-demand rideshare service Metro Micro, which provides short trips in eight zones across Los Angeles County, will also be offering free rides on Election Day with the coupon code Vote2022. This coupon code is only valid on Election Day.

A listing of local Vote Centers, including operating hours is available here.

SacRT

SacRT announced Nov. 1 that it is inviting military service men and women to ride its light rail trains, fixed-route buses and SmaRT Ride for free on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022.

The free ride offer includes veterans, active military and reservists. SacRT will also extend the offer of a free ride to military family members traveling with them to “thank all those who have sacrificed for our country.”

To ride free on Friday, Nov. 11, active military must show SacRT’s Veteran’s Day free ride flyer (print or electronic) along with their Active Military Access Card (CAC). Retired military and family members are asked to present their Uniformed Service Identification Card, a California Driver License, or Identification card with the Veteran Designation with the free ride flyer. Both the ID and flyer must be presented to the driver when boarding a bus or have available to show fare inspectors when riding light rail.

• Included: Fixed-Route Bus, Light Rail, Rancho CordoVan, and SmaRT Ride (all operating on regular weekday schedule)
• Not Included: Elk Grove Transit Services* (including SacRT e-van*), Folsom Stage Line*, SacRT GO Paratransit Services, or Causeway Connection*

*These services will NOT operate in observance of Veterans Day.

MBTA

According to a Boston Herald report, the MBTA will spend approximately $80 million to install an underground fiber cable network, which will “aim to improve safety across the commuter rail system and reduce service disruptions.”

According to the Boston Herald report, the new infrastructure will “gradually replace the aerial fiber network that the T implemented in 2020 to support the federally-mandated positive train control (PTC) system.”

The work, according to the report, will be carried out by Boston-based McCourt Construction Co., as part of a %78.81 million contract, which also includes two options, totaling $12.96 million, for the installation of additional fiber optic cable infrastructure in the same conduits on the Fitchburg and Lowell lines, approved Oct. 27 by the MBTA Board of Directors.

“We’re going to transition the communication portion of that system from the aerial network to the new buried network,” said Project Manager Jaime Garmendia, as reported by the Boston Herald.

“Buried fiber is a lot more resistant to extreme weather and the impact of third-party activities, whether that’s construction, accidents (or) treefall,” said Garmendia, who added that “the existing aerial network has experience fiber breaks at a higher rate than expected over the past couple of years,” according to the Boston Herald report.

According to the Boston Herald report, “a ‘fair amount’ of fiber was built into the system in anticipation of about five breaks per year, but more than triple that number, or 16, occurred last year,” said Garmendia, who added that, “each time a break occurs, and a new splice is introduced into the system by joining two fiber optic cables together to repair the damage, the quality of the communications infrastructure degrades and its reliability decreases. And as the network’s built-in spare fiber dwindles, more commuter rail service disruptions are needed to complete those kinds of repairs.”

“So, the intent of this project,” Garmendia added, “is to bury a new fiber optic cable network in the right of way itself to improve the system resiliency and allow for that 100% uptime.”

According to the Boston Herald report, Garmendia said the underground cable installation will start on the Fitchburg and Lowell lines, “where the most fiber breaks have occurred, and continue on future rail lines as more funding becomes available.”

According to the Boston Herald report, Garmendia added that the project will also connect the new commuter rail dispatch center at Iron Horse Park in North Billerica, part of the Lowell Line, to the existing wayside signal system.

“We’ve had buried fiber for over 20 years on the Old Colony Lines,” Garmendia said, according to the Boston Herald report, “referencing the branches that connect the South Shore to downtown Boston.” “And it’s been very easy to maintain compared to the aerial network we’ve had for only a few years,” he added.

Separately, the MBTA has launched its online “Find Your Polling Location” tool ahead of Election Day.

“Developed in-house, the ‘Find Your Polling Location’ tool is a mapping page that assists riders and the public in finding the best travel route via transit to their voting location,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak, who on Nov. 1 announced his resignation, effective Jan. 3, 2023. “We’re glad to offer this helpful online resource to the public in advance of Election Day and encourage all members of the Commonwealth to vote on November 8.”

Developed in-house by the MBTA’s Customer Technology Department (CTD), a similar online tool was first piloted in 2020 to assist Massachusetts residents in finding and accessing their polling locations during election season.

According to the MBTA, this year, CTD has delivered an updated online version that “offers residents a convenient way to find the fastest, easiest and most efficient transit option to their local polling location.” Powered by the MBTA’s Trip Planner, residents can enter their home address within the online tool and the tool will display the best travel route by MBTA transit mode to their local polling location. The “Find Your Polling Location” tool will also display information about the specific polling location associated with the residence.