Crash between bus, tractor-trailer on Highway 395 injures seven

This happened yesterday in the Victor Valley area of San Bernardino County. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bus that mangled before. Story from the Victorville Daily Press

 

 

A Victor Valley Transit Authority Bus and a tractor-trailer were involved in a traffic collision at the intersection of Highway 395 and Bartlett Avenue in Adelanto on Wednesday afternoon. The cause is under investigation. David Pardo, Daily Press

Paola Baker, Daily Press
Posted Jul. 13, 2016 at 2:35 PM

Updated Jul 13, 2016 at 5:25 PM

ADELANTO — A collision involving a transit bus and a tractor-trailer on Highway 395 left seven people injured Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

The crash was first reported just after 1:30 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 395 and Bartlett Avenue and involved a Victor Valley Transit bus and a Kenworth tractor-trailer, authorities said. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department personnel on scene said the bus was headed west on Bartlett Avenue while the tractor-trailer was headed north on Highway 395 when the collision occurred, but further details were not available.

A total of seven people on the bus, including the driver, were reported to be injured. Six were taken to local hospitals and firefighters had to use the “Jaws of Life” to extricate the bus driver, San Bernardino County Fire Department personnel said. She was then transported to a trauma center, but the severity of her injuries was not known.

Victor Valley Station Cpl. Robbie DeBois said it appeared that the driver of the tractor-trailer did not suffer any injuries.

County Fire Capt. Dan Nelson said five County Fire units responded. The northbound lanes of Highway 395 were initially shut down between Bartlett Avenue and Air Expressway while southbound traffic was diverted to Bartlett Avenue.

Caltrans said on its official Twitter account just before 3:30 p.m. that both northbound and southbound lanes of Highway 395 between Chamberlaine Way and Air Expressway were closed. It was not known when the lanes would reopen.

The cause of the crash remains unknown, DeBois said, and Victor Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies are investigating.

Paola Baker may be reached at 760-955-5332 or PBaker@VVDailyPress.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DP_PaolaBaker.

Where is the Metro Service?

I’ve said it before and I will keep saying it until it happens, THE PEOPLE WHO RUN TRANSIT SYSTEMS SHOULD HAVE TO USE THOSE SYSTEMS ON A DAILY BASIS!!! If they had to rely on the bus, subway, light-rail, train, etc to get to work on time or run an errand that should be simple but takes an hour, I honestly believe public transit could run so much smoother and more efficiently.

These people are so detached from who their customer base actually is. I don;t understand why everything stops running so early on Sundays, do they really think the poor only work M-F? No! We’re the ones who work two jobs and usually go straight from one to the next. We also work 7 days a week. I usually end up having to walk two miles on Sundays after woke because my connection stops running at 7pm. That’s insane!

While I do think expanding lines into all areas is important (especially the beach, get people in and out more efficiently), ignoring the people who actually NEED transit is pure BS. It’s just like how in my city we don’t have sidewalks and streetlights on a main fucking road, city leaders don’t see us as deserving these basic safety services because we’re poor, which means we don’t equal tax revenue.

From the Los Angeles Times, posted June 21, 2016

Opinion

Metro’s transit plan gives short shrift to L.A. County’s working-class cities. A state bill can fix that

Passengers ride the Metro Gold Line train from APU/Citrus station to Los Angeles Union station on March 5. (Los Angeles Times)

Karina Macias

Imagine there are several Los Angeles County cities that make up one of the densest urban areas in the country, where much of the young, transit-dependent, ethnically mixed population commutes daily to jobs in other parts of the county. This would be one of the first areas to get a new rail line to the regionwide transit hub at L.A. Union Station, right?

Not if it’s the board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authoritycalling the shots.

This sums up the situation for residents of the Gateway Cities of southeast L.A. County, a collection of dense (my city, Huntington Park, has about 60,000 people packed into three square miles), mostly working-class communities conspicuously absent from Metro’s plans to build out its rail system over the coming decades. In fact, Metro’s board recently delayed its projected completion date of the long-sought Eco-Rapid light-rail line 20 years to 2047. This line would span from Artesia to Bob Hope Airport and connect the points in between to L.A. Union Station; by one estimate, Eco Rapid would be the second-most-traveled line in Metro’s network.

Meanwhile, Metro is spending billions of dollars chasing so-called choice riders in West L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley, opening the Expo Line to Santa Monica, the Gold Line to Azusa and slowly (and expensively) tunneling under Wilshire Boulevard to extend the Purple Line subway. Although it’s important to entice more drivers out their cars and into trains or buses, these areas can’t be described as economically transit dependent — and they’re getting rail decades before communities that are, including Huntington Park, Cudahy, Bell, Bell Gardens and other cities.

Metro’s plan for L.A. transit would be transformative… with one small fix

This is why those of us pushing to restructure Metro’s leadership believe that the agency’s governing board needs to be balanced with more voices.

In their June 1 op-ed article, Zev Yaroslavsky and Richard Katz accuse state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia), who has written a bill to expand Metro’s board, as “meddling” in the agency, which they describe as “on a roll.” Those of us who live in the ill-served Gateway Cities don’t feel Metro is on much of a roll; Yaroslavsky’s and Katz’s insistence otherwise shows just how important it is for the agency’s board to gain new perspectives.

The Metro board currently has 13 voting members. Five are L.A. County supervisors and four are members of the Los Angeles City Council. The remaining four voting members directly represent the residents of the 87 cities in Los Angeles County that account for 51% of the population. This imbalance is reflected in Metro’s decision-making and priority-setting, such as its two-decade delay of the Eco-Rapid line. Mendoza’s bill (SB 1472) would, among other things, add five more members to the Metro board from those 87 cities. This is not a local issue, and it’s certainly not a power play, but rather an update to the original state legislation that created Metro in 1992 that will provide better representation for those who live in smaller, under-served cities.

For residents of the Gateway Cities, representation on Metro’s board and better transit service is about more than just fairness and social and environmental justice; it matters to our everyday lives. As a young woman growing up in Huntington Park, I thought of owning a vehicle as a luxury; this is still the case for many families in the Gateway Cities. I didn’t own my first car until I graduated from college in 2010, so bus and rail were the only transportation options available to me throughout my middle school, high school and college days. Yes, Los Angeles County has “progressed a long way toward developing a regional transit system,” as Yaroslavsky and Katz believe. However, that progress is still an elusive concept in my community.

The lack of progress isn’t for a lack of effort on the part of the communities in southeast L.A. County and elsewhere. These communities have worked tirelessly to make projects such as Eco-Rapid a reality, and yet they barely register on Metro’s radar. Sen. Mendoza’s bill to bring more voices onto Metro’s board will go a long way toward changing that and bringing rail transit to the residents of Los Angeles County who need it most.

Smells like Omnitrans

Dude in front of me on the bus. First off, stop using the seat as an arm rest, there is not enough space in between the seats. Second, take a shower and put on some deodorant. You smell like last nights alcohol and a lot of bad decisions. The bus is a public space, we’ve all gotta deal with each other, let’s at least try to make it tolerable

Metro Gold Line Extension

This is awesome, I really hope it keeps coming further east.

http://www.sbsun.com/opinion/20160303/gold-line-extension-is-all-about-regions-transit-future

Having another transportation option is so important, especially as California deals with budget problems for road repairs/maintenance. With more fuel efficient vehicles, the state isn’t collecting as much from gas taxes and now they have a serious problem.

Also, damn Omnitrans can’t seem to run on time anymore, so bring some competition into the area so people can get to work on time =)

From the Daily Press

This was published in the Victorville Daily Press today. I don’t even know where to begin, the stupidity of not funding public transportation and what that would do to the economy (especially in lower income areas) or the continued warped mindset of California and our obsession with cars.

What do you think?

COMMENTARY

‘I take public transit, but I hate it’

By George Runner

“I take public transit, but I hate it.”

Says a student intern who works in my downtown Sacramento office.

In a perfect world, there would be nothing wrong with investing in public transportation. We’re told by government that infrastructure projects like high speed rail will make travel cheaper, more accessible and better for the environment. It’s supposed to be a win-win for everyone.

But we don’t live in a perfect world. And you probably know a few people who have a nightmare story to tell about their time catching the bus or train. The reality is most people don’t have positive opinions about public transit. That raises the question: In our ever-changingmillennial-driven economy, does it make sense to continue diverting billions of dollars to underutilized mass transit systems?

Many people have given up on public transportation because of the long delays and wait times and, in some cases, unclean and unsafe conditions. In Sacramento, the latest number from Regional Transit show total ridership is down nearly 7 percent compared to last fiscal year, and the number of reported crimes is back on the rise.

In Los Angeles, nearly one in five Metro riders had experienced some form of harassment, including being fondled and indecent exposure. The numbers were even higher prior to a public awareness campaign called “It’s Off Limits.”

There’s another reason people are giving up on public transit: technology.

With the rise of ridesharing networks such as Uber and Lyft, most people don’t see the need to deal with the problems that come with public transportation. These ride-sharing services have made transportation quick, reliable and affordable. Best of all, these companies will pick you up at your front door.

Government can’t compete.

Take for example what’s going on in Southern California. Another Los Angeles Times report shows that despite a $9 billion investment in new light rail and subway lines, Metro now has fewer boardings than it did three decades ago, when buses were the county’s only transit option. As a matter of fact, transit ridership in the region has been on the decline for roughly a decade.

The same is happening with other mass transit agencies. Bus ridership in Orange County has dropped 30 percent in the last seven years alone. A recent Metro study found that 16 transit providers in Los Angeles County have seen quarterly drops in ridership of 4 to 5 percent.

Yes, ridership can be cyclical. But many experts believe this change in travel behavior could be a permanent shift. One thing is clear: people prefer to be in cars and choose private sector transportation solutions if they can afford it.

Ride-sharing services could be better for the environment as well. The big ride-sharing companies are currently building out their carpool services. This could lead to fewer cars on the streets — and less demand for costly parking lots and garages. As automotive technology continues to improve, we’ll see more environmentally friendly vehicles on the road. In future years, self-driving vehicles could also be an option.

Government needs to get with the times and recognize consumer trends. We need roads, and we need to start investing in them again. So let’s stop wasting public dollars trying to get people to do things they’re just not interested in. Instead, we should wisely invest California’s tax dollars in ways that bolster safe, affordable and environmentally- friendly transportation options of the future. —George Runner represents more than nine million Californians as a taxpayer advocate and elected member of the State Board of Equalization.

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Copyright (c)2016 High Desert Media Group, Edition 2/28/2016

Mobile Web – News – Southern California doesn’t have the money to fix its transportation problems

Score one more for public transportation! While Caltrans is billions of dollars short to fund road repairs, Metro (LA County), SANBAG (SB County), and metrolink.

How long will it take for people to see that public transportation works!?

http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-news/20151015/southern-california-doesnt-have-the-money-to-fix-its-transportation-problems

Stranger Danger

While running to catch my bus the strap on my bag tore and of course I dropped it, and tripped over it, and ended up missing my bus.

While at the stop I called my mom, because who better to grumble at about bad luck. During that conversation some creep pulled up and tried to “offer me a ride.” Here a how that convo went down.

Me- *grumble grumble on phone*
Creep- pulls up
Me- No, go away
Creep- I just want to offer you a ride
Me- I don’t fucking know you! Why would I get in a car with you!? I said no, now fuck off!
Creep- *after having his pride wounded* bitch
My mom on phone- What. The fuck. Was that?
Me- the at least once a week oc

currence of some creep trying to k co me up like a prostitute.
Mom- muy mace and a rape whistle. I will give you the money.

Stranger danger. #masculinitysofragile

Accurate

My general reaction when people start creepin on the bus

Sniff sniff

Well that didn’t take long. On my way home today from the library I hear someone sniff right behind me when I’m swiping my pass. Didn’t think much of it, my allergies go nuts out here during the summer (lots of air pollution).

Then the old dude who boarded after me tried to get me to sit with him. On an empty bus.

I think he was sniffing me. So creepy.
I need a shower

Who knew that was there

Along with the crazy, another thing that comes with getting places on the closer cruiser is walking. Sometimes a lot of walking. But that’s fine by me, it’s healthier and you see shit you didn’t know was there. Like pretty things in SB. I had no idea there was pretty in that city.

Old buildings with cool architecture

Pretty trees

But in true SB form, there is weird

If I was a dude,  don’t think I’d get a shave here. Why are they advertising with blood drops!?

Anybody need a new toilet?

Nothing to see here folks, just a melted bus stop, move along now

Before the Santa Ana’s blew it down, it said “4SAEL.” I’m guessing it’s supposed to be “For Sale”