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The 24-Hour City: 104 Years Of Owl Transit Service In Los Angeles

-- By Matt Barrett

Los Angeles has been a 24-hour city for much longer that most would imagine, and transit service has played an important role in keeping the city moving overnight for over 100 years.

(LAMTA Car 3022 trundles down the R Line tracks on owl service in 1963. Photo courtesy of Alan Weeks)


According to the September 11, 1906 edition of the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper, in a brief article entitled “Owl Cars Are Run on Principal Lines”:

The “owl” car service began last night. Cars on the principal lines left First and Spring streets at 1 and 2 o’clock. They were well patronized. The lines included are Boyle Heights, Grand Avenue, Vernon Avenue, University, Main Street, and Pico Heights.

At the time service began, these lines linked Downtown with what were then LA’s most populated neighborhoods around 6th and Rampart, Central and Slauson, Boyle Heights, 46th and Wesley, Vermont and 54th, and Pico and Wilton.

Owl service continued in operation as the fledgling network of streetcar lines, buses and interurban rail lines was purchased in 1911 and organized into two main transit companies: Pacific Electric, for long-distance interurban service, and Los Angeles Railway serving urban inner-city Los Angeles.

As Los Angeles grew outward, so did the length of the lines offering owl service. Special owl service guides were published and system maps included extensive owl service information for passengers.

Even as streetcar service slowly began the conversion to bus service, beginning as early as 1925 and continuing until the last rail line was shut down in 1963, owl service remained a part of the transit system – as it does today.

(This 1947 brochure advertised LAMTA's Owl Service)


Currently, Metro has 59 buses running on 26 lines during its overnight owl service, roughly midnight to 5 a.m., connecting Downtown to points north to the San Fernando Valley, south to Long Beach, east to El Monte and west to Santa Monica and Venice.






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Research Roundup: Spawl Crawl And Rethinking Peak Hour Commutes, The New Sharing Economy & Smart Mobility For The 21st Century

The organization CEOs For Cities released a widely-cited report last month titled Measuring Urban Transportation Performance: A Critique Of Mobility Measures And Synthesis (71p. PDF). Their research finds that the secret to reducing the amount of time Americans spend in peak hour traffic has more to do with how we build our cities than how we build our roads.

The report explains how the cities studied have managed to achieve shorter travel times and actually reduce the peak hour travel times. Some metropolitan areas have land use patterns and transportation systems that enable their residents to take shorter trips and minimize the burden of peak hour travel.

This runs counter to the conclusions of the Texas Transportation Institute's Urban Mobility Report year after year. The CEO For Cities document explains that the UMR approach has completely overlooked the role that variations in travel distances play in driving urban transportation problems.

In the best performing cities -- those that have achieved the shortest peak hour travel distances -- such as Chicago, Portland and Sacramento, the typical traveler spends 40 fewer hours per year in peak hour travel than the average American. Because of smart land use planning and investment in alternative transportation, Portland has seen its average trip lengths decline by 20%.

In contrast, in the most sprawling metropolitan areas, such as Nashville, Indianapolis and Raleigh, the average resident spends as much as 240 hours per year in peak period travel because travel distances are so much greater. The report's 20-page Executive Summary is titled Driven Apart: How Sprawl Is Lengthening Our Commutes And Why Misleading Mobility Measures Are Making Things Worse.

In The New Sharing Economy, a study by Latitude in collaboration with Shareable Magazine, the authors look at new opportunities for sharing.

An interesting graph (click to enlarge) plots various endeavors on a market saturation and latent demand scale. The resulting plot points fall into four quandrants, labeled:

Low Interest and Low Prior Success (e.g. bike, outdoor sporting goods)

Done Well Already (e.g. work space, storage space, food co-op)

Opportunities Still Remain (e.g. physical media, digital media)

Best New Opportunities (automobile, time/responsibilities, money lending/borrowing)

This last category, Best New Opportunities, provides the launch point for discussion of car sharing. The report notes that there's still a large amount of unfulfilled demand for car-sharing. More than half of all participants surveyed either shared vehicles casually or weren't sharing currently but expressed interest in doing so. For people who share in an organized fashion, cars and bikes were popular for sharing amongst family and close friends but weren't commonly shared outside this immediate network, relative to other categories of goods.

This intriguing and visually appealing report goes on to point out the new sharing takeaways for non-sharing businesses, including "we-based brands," the value in social and alternative currencies, and the "contagiousness" of sharing.

Finally, Transportation For America recently released a White Paper titled Smart Mobility For A 21st Century America: Strategies For Maximizing Technology To Minimize Congestion, Reduce Emissions And Increase Efficiency (39p. PDF).

It proposes that improving transportation efficiency through operational innovation is critical as our population grows and ages, budgets tighten and consumer preferences shift.

As Congress prepares to review and reauthorize the nation’s transportation program, an array of innovations that were either overlooked or did not exist at the time of previous authorizations can be incentivized.

Just as the Internet, smart phones and social media changed they way we acquire news, listen to music or connect with friends and family, these same innovations have implications for how we move around. While high-tech gadgets can be a problem when they distract motorists from driving, they open up a whole new world for people using other modes.

But what if we could manage traffic to help drivers avoid congestion before they get stuck in it? What if you always knew when the next bus was going to arrive, the closest parking space or which train car had a seat available for you? The innovative technologies and strategies outlined in the White Paper include:

Making transportation systems more efficient (e.g. ramp meters, highway advisory radio)
Providing more travel options (e.g. online databases to match up vanpool riders, car-sharing services)
Providing travelers with better, more accurate, and more connected information (e.g. computerized vehicle tracking)
Making pricing and payments more convenient and efficient (e.g. EZ passes, electronic benefits)
Reducing trips and traffic (flex-time, consolidating services online)
The report goes on to discuss changes in demographics and make recommendations for federal transportation policy, as well as highlight several intriguing "smart mobility case studies."




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2010 Transportation Ballot Measures: An Examination Of Key Trends And Results

Election Day has come and gone. Yesterday, our daily Transportation Headlines highlighted the Center For Transportation Excellence's state-by-state results of all transportation ballot measures in 2010.

43 of 56 measures passed: a 77% success rate.


But what does it mean for local and national transportation issues? The pundits, planners, pollsters and prognosticators have only just begun reading the tea leaves as well as the writing on the wall.

This Friday, CFTE will host a webinar recapping the outcomes of this year's transportation measures across the country and take a look at key trends from other recent elections.

This is a great opportunity to learn how communities are using ballot measures to improve their transportation systems, so we wanted to share more information about it:
Free Webinar: Trends And Results From 2010 Transportation Ballot Measures (Register Here)
Hosted by the Center for Transportation Excellence, NAPTA and APTA State Transit Association Leaders

Fri, Nov 5, 2010 10:00 AM - 11:00 PM PST
In advance of the webinar, the following resources might be worth reviewing:



In other post-election news, Jim Oberstar (D-MN), Chair of the House Transportation And Infrastructure Committee, was defeated after 18 terms in the House of Representatives. John Mica (R-FL), the Committee's Republican leader, said in a statement today:

“Among my top legislative priorities will be passing a long-term federal highways and transit reauthorization, a long-overdue Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, a new water resources measure, and a long-term Coast Guard reauthorization.

“I will also focus on major initiatives to find ways within the Committee’s jurisdiction to save taxpayer dollars. That includes better management and utilization of federal assets, including real property, and more efficient, cost effective passenger rail transportation, including a better directed high-speed rail program.”


We also wanted to share more information about CFTE, which does an excellent job rounding up information about transportation measures and election results. They also serve as a "clearinghouse for information in support of quality transportation choices. "

CFTE is committed to two main objectives: (1) responding to transit’s critics and (2) equipping local leaders with the information they need to be successful with their public transportation initiatives and ballot measures.

How does CFTE accomplish its mission? Their goal is to deliver the message of sensible transportation choice by:
  • Creating case studies that illustrate the power of effective public transportation
  • Developing “tool kits” that aid local leaders in communicating the benefits of their programs
  • Maintaining an interactive website that provides clear information on effective public transportation development
  • Reaching out to media sources with the arguments in support of sensible transportation choice
  • Mobilizing in response to media coverage of the opposition with Letters to the Editor, Op/Ed submissions, editorial board meetings, etc.
  • Tracking legislative efforts and ballot measures and reporting on the outcomes and trendsTracking research outcomes and publicizing research results to the media, stakeholders, and local leaders

Now more than ever, as state governments struggle with massive budget deficits, and communities suffer under burgeoning traffic, support for sensible transportation solutions is in peril. Opponents using erroneous arguments and fomenting fear are eroding the great strides made over the past decade.

Supporters of balanced, practical transportation development look to CFTE for assistance with:
  • Distributing information that proves the effectiveness of public transportation
  • Engaging the opposition wherever and whenever they appear
  • Coaching community leaders in techniques for engaging the opposition in their own communities
  • Promoting transportation victories at the local, state, and national levels
Image courtesy of Flickr




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Wishing you and your family a lovely 2020 Nima!

Wishing you and your family a lovely 2020 Nima!




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Menu Plan Monday ~ April 13/20 Weekly Dinner Inspiration


Welcome to Menu Plan Monday! Affiliate links are included in this post. This means I make a small commission should you purchase product using these links. This is at no extra cost to you. Hi friends! I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend and made the best of the circumstances. We had a […]

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  • Menu Plan Monday

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Menu Plan Monday ~ April 20/20 Weekly Dinner Inspiration


Welcome to Menu Plan Monday! Affiliate links are included in this post. This means I make a small commission should you purchase product using these links. This is at no extra cost to you. Hi friends! How many of you are still menu planning while in isolation? I am but it’s a pretty flexible plan […]

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2

Menu Plan Monday ~ April 27/20 Weekly Dinner Inspiration


Welcome to Menu Plan Monday! Affiliate links are included in this post. This means I make a small commission should you purchase product using these links. This is at no extra cost to you. Hi friends! How are you? We are still doing okay here. The good news is our snow melted away so fast. […]

If you're seeing Menu Plan Monday ~ April 27/20 Weekly Dinner Inspiration anywhere other than on I'm an Organizing Junkie (or via my email list or a feed reader) it is being used by someone else without my permission. Please let me know, thank you!



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2

Menu Plan Monday ~ May 4/20 Weekly Dinner Inspiration


Welcome to Menu Plan Monday! Affiliate links are included in this post. This means I make a small commission should you purchase product using these links. This is at no extra cost to you. Hey there menu planners. Hope you are still staying safe and healthy. We are doing okay here. In fact a few […]

If you're seeing Menu Plan Monday ~ May 4/20 Weekly Dinner Inspiration anywhere other than on I'm an Organizing Junkie (or via my email list or a feed reader) it is being used by someone else without my permission. Please let me know, thank you!



  • Menu Plan Monday

2

Ackerman & Co. Brokers Achieve Top Honors at the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtor's 2020 Million Dollar Club Awards

Top 10 Producer Honors Are Awarded to Brian Lefkoff and Courtney Brumbelow of Ackerman Retail and John Speros of the Land Group




2

Call For Entries – Global Banking And Finance Awards 2020

Financial organizations and corporate entities are invited to participate in the 10th annual Global Banking & Finance Awards




2

Estate Planning Trends in 2020

At the new year, many people resolve to make changes. Attorney Paul Black recommends adding a few estate planning items to your new year's resolution list.




2

Angel Partners Reveals 'Fantastic' Year for Startups and Angel Investors in 2019 as Interest for Early Stage Startup Increases

Online angel investment platform, Angels Partners, announced this year had been exceptional in connecting entrepreneurs and investors across different locations (India, USA & EU) and industries.




2

Chad Larson Selected as Finalist for Discretionary Manager of the Year in the WP Awards 2020

MLD Wealth Management announced that it had been selected as a Finalist for Discretionary Manager of the Year and Multi-Service Advisory Team of the Year in the 6th annual Wealth Professional Awards.




2

B+E lists the Codale Electric Distribution property in Price, Utah for $4.2 million

B+E, the first brokerage and technology platform for net lease real estate, announced the listing of the Codale Electric Distribution property located at 50 East 1300, Price, Utah for $4,200,000.




2

CBD Sparkling Water Company Infuzed Brands Intends to Raise $28M in Reg A+ Launch

New funding round follows a successful Reg D round




2

Xbox E3 Recap Part 2 (Avengers, 12 Minutes and More!)

We continue our Xbox E3 recap by discussing most of the rest of Xbox's press conference announcements, including Bleeding Edge, Ori 2, Minecraft Dungeons, Gears 5, Blair Witch, Battletoads, and Avengers (even though that last one wasn't in the Xbox conference).




2

The One About The Outer Worlds, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and the Elite Series 2 Controller

#ad #TacoBellPartner First we show off Taco Bell's new Eclipse Xbox One X giveaway bundle (with the new Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller!), and then we discuss Obsidian's new RPG The Outer Worlds with reviewer Dan Stapleton. Plus: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order impressions & more!




2

Cyberpunk 2077 on Xbox Scarlett Will Have to Wait

Lots of Scarlett next-gen talk this week! Hear why Cyberpunk 2077 won't be coming to Scarlett as soon as we think - and neither will VR. Plus: leaked concept art gives us our first glimpse of Playground's next-gen Fable reboot (allegedly...), Resident Evil 3 might be getting remade, Saints Row will return, and more!




2

This is How Xbox Could Win E3 2020 - Unlocked 431

This week Parris joins us to discuss the latest interview with Phil Spencer about E3 2020, his plans for the Xbox Series X, and where he sees Microsoft in the competition against Sony. In addition to talking about Xbox strategy for 2020 and Beyond, we discuss the GamerTag radio interview and our perception of Xbox's placement in the upcoming console face-off.




2

Cyberpunk 2077 Will Be Around for a Long Time

Our Xbox team deep-dives on CD Projekt Red's big post-release DLC expansion plans for Cyberpunk 2077, the value of the ESRB's new loot box descriptor, a rumor about Mafia 2 and 3 remasters and the cyclical nature of remasters, and more!




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KDnuggets™ News 20:n16, Apr 22: Scaling Pandas with Dask for Big Data; Dive Into Deep Learning: The Free eBook

4 Steps to ensure your AI/Machine Learning system survives COVID-19; State of the Machine Learning and AI Industry; A Key Missing Part of the Machine Learning Stack; 5 Papers on CNNs Every Data Scientist Should Read




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Top KDnuggets tweets, Apr 15-21: 21 Techniques to Write Better #Python Code with #PyCharm examples

Also: Math for Programmers!; If #Programming languages had honest slogans #humor; 5 Papers on CNNs Every Data Scientist Should Read; Why Understanding CVEs Is Critical for Data Scientists




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Top Stories, Apr 20-26: The Super Duper NLP Repo; Free High-Quality Machine Learning & Data Science Books & Courses

Also: Should Data Scientists Model COVID19 and other Biological Events; 5 Papers on CNNs Every Data Scientist Should Read; 24 Best (and Free) Books To Understand Machine Learning; Mathematics for Machine Learning: The Free eBook; Find Your Perfect Fit: A Quick Guide for Job Roles in the Data World




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KDnuggets™ News 20:n17, Apr 29: The Super Duper NLP Repo; Free Machine Learning & Data Science Books & Courses for Quarantine

Also: Should Data Scientists Model COVID19 and other Biological Events; Learning during a crisis (Data Science 90-day learning challenge); Data Transformation: Standardization vs Normalization; DBSCAN Clustering Algorithm in Machine Learning; Find Your Perfect Fit: A Quick Guide for Job Roles in the Data World




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Top KDnuggets tweets, Apr 22-28: 24 Best (and Free) Books To Understand Machine Learning

Also: A Concise Course in Statistical Inference: The Free eBook; ML Ops: Machine Learning as an Engineering Discipline; Learning during a crisis (#DataScience 90-day learning challenge) ; Free High-Quality Machine Learning & Data Science Books & Courses: Quarantine Edition




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KDD 2020 Invites Top Data Scientists To Compete in 24th Annual KDD Cup

This year's KDD Cup features four distinct tracks that welcome participants to tackle challenges in e-commerce, generative adversarial networks, automatic graph representation learning (AutoGraph) and mobility-on-demand (MoD) platforms. Winners will be recognized at KDD 2020, the leading interdisciplinary conference in data science, in San Diego on August 23-27, 2020.




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Top Stories, Apr 27 – May 3: Five Cool Python Libraries for Data Science; Natural Language Processing Recipes: Best Practices and Examples

Also: Coronavirus COVID-19 Genome Analysis using Biopython; LSTM for time series prediction; A Concise Course in Statistical Inference: The Free eBook; Exploring the Impact of Geographic Information Systems




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KDnuggets™ News 20:n18, May 6: Five Cool Python Libraries for Data Science; NLP Recipes: Best Practices

5 cool Python libraries for Data Science; NLP Recipes: Best Practices and Examples; Deep Learning: The Free eBook; Demystifying the AI Infrastructure Stack; and more.




2

Were 21% of New York City residents really infected with the novel coronavirus?

Understanding the types of statistical bias that pop up in popular media and reporting is especially important during this pandemic where the data -- and our global response to the data -- directly impact peoples' lives.




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Top KDnuggets tweets, Apr 29 – May 5: 24 Best (and Free) Books To Understand Machine Learning

What are Some 'Advanced ' #AI and #MachineLearning Online Courses?; 24 Best (and Free) Books To Understand Machine Learning; Top 5 must-have #DataScience skills for 2020




2

Next 2 quarters challenging for Indian cotton yarn sector




2

Dhaka slashes GDP to 11-year low of 5.2% for 2019-20




2

Google removed 2.7 billion bad ads, nearly 1 million ad accounts in 2019

This year,the company says it has removed “tens of millions” of COVID-19 related ads.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.




2

Attend SMX June 23-24… for free!

Join us online for SMX Next, a free virtual event designed to equip you with actionable SEO and SEM tactics that can drive more traffic, leads, and sales.

Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.




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Community update from CEO Dale Dickson - 1 April 2020

The City of Gold Coast continues to take action in line with the advice being provided at a State and Federal level to minimise the spread of the Novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Our staff are part of a larger front line team including health workers and police, keeping the city running and the community safe in these difficult times.

They are working around the clock to ensure essential services such as water and waste services and traffic management continue.

We are implementing necessary changes to protect the health and safety of the public with our cleaning and maintenance teams increasing their level of service in public spaces.

We thank you for your patience in allowing our staff to go about their daily work with respect, while practising social distancing.

There will be no tolerance for abuse, aggression or violence against our staff, who, like you, are undergoing personal stress at this difficult time.

Please remember we are all in this together.

Additionally, the City is asking everyone to change the way you do business with us.

I urge everyone to access our services online – you can do the following on-line at you own convenience:

 

  • register your dog
  • apply for a licence, permit or development application
  • make service requests and track their progress
  • perform property searches
  • lodge and track licence and permit applications

 

Register for MyAccount on our website – a secure one-stop shop for all our services.

 

Visit cityofgoldcoast.com.au/myaccount

 

You can also access MyAccount from your mobile device through your internet browser, save it as a website shortcut for quick access.

 

For urgent enquiries you can phone our customer service staff 1300 GOLDCOAST

Feature video: 
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My Hair Diary – May 2019

Wash Hair when Needed. This is something I often fail at. You have to and must wash your hair as soon as you find your scalp getting greasy, products being too heavy for your hair or even when it is too exposed to environmental factors like sun and pollution. I do not do it and I do find my hair falling a lot more consequently. Where as, if I am regularly washing it, the hair fall is considerably less and even non-existent. Also, use shampoo and conditioner mentioned for your hair type. Improper usage also leads to greasy scalp and stringy looking hair.

The post My Hair Diary – May 2019 appeared first on Perfect Skin Care for you.




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France says total death toll from coronavirus rises by 80 to 26,310

PARIS (Reuters) - The number of people who have died from coronavirus infections in France rose by 80 to 26,310 on Saturday, the health ministry said, a much smaller daily increase than the previous day when it was 243. The ministry said the number of people in intensive care units - a key measure of a health system's ability to deal with the epidemic - fell by 56, or about 2%, to 2,812. That is less than half the peak of 7,148 seen on April 8

The post France says total death toll from coronavirus rises by 80 to 26,310 appeared first on Firstpost.




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India’s COVID-19 tally reaches 59,662, deaths near 2,000; fresh cases among repatriated Indians, paramilitary forces emerges as a major concern

The nationwide tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 59,662 on Saturday and the death toll rose to 1,981 with the country registering an increase of 95 deaths and 3,320 cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning, the Union Health Ministry said

The post India’s COVID-19 tally reaches 59,662, deaths near 2,000; fresh cases among repatriated Indians, paramilitary forces emerges as a major concern appeared first on Firstpost.




2

Holiday Shopping Season 2006

Darrell Rigby, Bain & Company partner and head of the firm's global retail practice. Also: Leon Gorman, chairman of L.L.Bean.




2

Notable Business Books of 2006

John Landry, HBR book reviewer.




2

Breakthrough Ideas for 2007

Paul Hemp, HBR senior editor, discusses the magazine's annual survey of ideas and trends that will make an impact on business.




2

Get in the Right Mindset for 2009

Annie McKee, founder of the Teleos Leadership Institute and coauthor of "Becoming a Resonant Leader."




2

In a Recession, Provoke Your B2B Customers

Philip Lay and Todd Hewlin, managing directors at TCG Advisors and coauthors of the HBR article "In a Downturn, Provoke Your Customers."




2

How Enterprise 2.0 Will Reshape Your Business

Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist at MIT's Center for Digital Business and author of "Enterprise 2.0."




2

HBR’s 2011 Agenda

With insights from A.G. Lafley, Dan Ariely, Bob Sutton, Daniel Pink, and more.




2

HBR’s 2012 List of Audacious Ideas

Scott Berinato, HBR senior editor, featuring the ideas of Yale economist Robert Shiller, journalist Gregg Easterbrook, and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman.




2

The Condensed January-February 2014 Magazine

Amy Bernstein, editor of HBR, offers executive summaries of the major features.




2

The Condensed July-August 2014 Issue

Amy Bernstein, editor of HBR, offers executive summaries of the major features.




2

The Condensed September 2014 Issue

Amy Bernstein, editor of HBR, offers executive summaries of the major features.




2

The Condensed October 2014 Issue

Amy Bernstein, editor of HBR, offers executive summaries of the major features.