Late Night DASH and Red Line Start Tonight

Tried it out on the first night. The bus came after about 15 minutes of waiting.

The driver was unaware of the 6th and Main stop and told me he wasn't going to stop for me except I was waiving him down.

When I pointed to the map and showed him the stop at 6th and Main he said "I guess they're taking down the signs."

"Who is?"

"The homeless. They use them to write on the back."

I took the service to(ward) Little Tokyo. It was great and totally free, though I really wouldn't mind if it cost a quarter like other DASH service.

so why is the official website still not giving the info? LAME! Thank you blogging culture to give us real and timely info!!!

http://www.ladottransit.com/dash/routes/downtown_wkend/downtown_we.html

There is a link from the LADOT home page:

http://www.ladottransit.com/dash/routes/latenightdash/latenightdash.html

I rode it tonight. I got on board at 7th & Metro and rode to the convention center area and LA Live. We were the only people at first, but once we got to LA Live eight people got on.

I rode it later to the historic core, and there were four people, then one got off at 7th, but then two got on when we got to Main Street. I did notice the buses passed a lot of stops (didn't slow down at all) if they didn't immediately see anyone standing there. And st one stop, I saw someone standing there but the driver apparently didn't, and the bus went past. It could be that the route is so new the drivers don't know where the stops are, and signs are easy to miss. Maybe they should have to stop at every stop whether they see someone or not. That would help.

Overall, it seemed like something that will actually work, and people were using it - I thought it was a good turnout considering there's been little but word of mouth and internet info out there about it.

Also on the later bus there were cards by door of the Dash bus with the late night Dash graphic on one side and a route map on the other. One lady saw them and then everybody else on the bus wanted one too. I think making the map more visible, or maybe having the driver point out the card holder by the door so people pick them up and become more familiar with it would help.

Anyway good job, it does work. Some kinks to be worked out and maybe two routes next year, but hey it's working, and small issues are to be expected.

Day two: Waited nearly 25 minutes for the bus to arrive at Main... then the driver scolded me for not being at the right stop (though it's marked on the map...)

Then as the driver was telling us the nearest stop was at 5th Street, he passed a man flagging him down at that same 5th Street stop.

The driver saw the guy flagging him down, shrugged an "Oops!" at the poor guy and kept going.

There's some serious issues to work out before this can be a viable option for people.

I haven't had a chance to take it, but was totally pleased they decided to do this. Too bad the problems that plagued the Dash when I was taking it daily still occur.

I'm not surprised by Rich's observations. Yes, the drivers will be the weak link in the system. Some are fine and some are just terrible. Even worse, they appear to be without any effective training or management control. My wife has many years of experience and encountered a lot of unbelievably bad drivers who seemingly gloried in being unfriendly to customers.

Also, if this is an evening service, some distinctive lighting for the signage at the stops might be helpful to the drivers and passengers. Good design can really improve an experience. Alas, based upon the sign pictured above, the effort appears to be done on the cheap and in a slap-dash fashion.

Great to see downtown la is getting more attention and that the city is mofifying the transportation system to accomodate the new tren of a downtown nightlife.