FIXABLE - Repairs are currently underway at Terminal 13 inRiverside to defects in the Grumman Flxible 870 buses. The

manufacturer is making the repairs and District officialshope to have all 230 back in service by the end of March.

Southern California Rapid Transit District

Volume 8, Number 2

February 1981

Grumman begins repairs on FlxiblesThe Grumman Flxible Corpora-

tion (GFC) has begun repairingiggiefects in its mode) 870 buses,%Mut District officials say it will still

be several months before all 230of the vehicles are back in reve-nue service.

The $130,000 buses, which rep-resent more than 10 per cent ofthe District's peak-hour fleet, were

pulled out of service December 13due to an increasing number ofcracks which had developed inthe A-frame on the undercarriageof 131 of the buses.

According to Acting GeneralManager Richard Powers, Grum-man has leased an unused main-tenance facility at RTD's Terminal13 in Riverside and will do the re-

pair and replacement work thereand at a nearby facility in Tulare.

Plans call for GFC personnel toreplace damaged A-frames andreinforce the remainder. At thesame time, Powers said, GFC hasalso agreed to reinforce enginecradles and forward suspensions,which had begun to show signs ofweakness when the A-frame de-

fects were detected.All of the work on the buses,

bought and placed in service lastMay, is being done under war-ranty and Grumman officials havesaid the company will extend thewarranty on the A-frames and theretrofit parts from three years to sixyears or 300,000 miles.

"The District will have inspec-tors at both repair sites monitoringthe repair and retrofit programs,"explained Powers. "Furthermore,UMTA has designated Chicago'sRTA to inspect the repairs. We aredoing everything in our power toinsure these buses are properlyrepaired and that the safety of ouroperators and passengers is as-sured. We will not put them backinto service until they are fully in-spected and safe."

The nature of the repairs wasdescribed by Robert G. Landon,president of the bus manufactur-ing firm, at an APTA-sponsoredmeeting between Grumman offi-cials and transit operators whohave had trouble with their 870s.

Landon said that 13 speciallydesigned reinforcing memberswill be welded to the structure toincrease the strength of theA-frame "at least 10 times." Headded that the company intendsto add the reinforcements onevery bus in the field as well as onthose now in production or onorder.

Landon blamed the cracks on avariety of factors, including oper-ating stresses greater than antic-ipated, welding procedures inmanufacture that could haveweakened the structural membersand metal fatigue.

(Please turn to page 2)

Undercover cops on buses arrest nearly 7RTD transit police have made

681 arrests in the first threemonths of intensified undercoverpolice work aboard District buses,according to Transit Police ChiefJim Burgess.

Burgess said that 94 of the ar-rests were for felony violations,545 for misdemeanors and 42were warrant arrests for amountstotalling $40,000. Of those ar-rested, 604 were adults and 77were juveniles.

The concentration of under-cover officers aboard Districtbuses began October 13, fi-nanced by a $150,000 grant fromLos Angeles County. The grant isbeing used to pay salaries of parttime officers from local law en-forcement agencies working un-dercover shifts with the District'stransit police.

Burgess said he has expendedabout half the county grant, andobtained approval from the Dis-trict's Board of Directors to financethe operation with salary fundsfrom unfilled fulltime transit officerpositions.

"I am recruiting for 30 transit po-lice officers now," Burgess ex-plains, "but with local policeagencies also recruiting, I amstruggling to fill the positions."

Burgess said he has plans for ahigher level of visibility for his in-uniform officers.

As of January 1, RTD transit offi-cers began wearing navy blue po-lice uniforms with RTD Transit Po-lice shoulder patches. Later thisspring they will begin patrollingbus routes in specially markedradio cars bearing the District'snew color scheme and logo.

"We are getting a tremendousfavorable response from the busriding public," Burgess said."They like seeing transit policecome aboard their buses. Byswitching our uniforms to tradition-al Blues and putting our officers inspecially marked cars, we thinkthey will be more readily identifi-able as police officers."

RTD Transit Police carry Califor-nia Peace Officer status and aregraduates of the Police Academyat Rio Hondo.

NEW LOOK — Transit police have new uniforms for the new year as seen on OfficerMichael Hendrix (left) and Sgt. Floyd Shaw.

Page 2

Headway

I " nNew Year brings new baby

RTD's family has its first new ar-rival of the new year. In fact, 1981was less than one day old whenAndrew Paul Zaragosa checkedinto the world.

The proud parents are both em-ployees of the District. FatherManuel Ismael Zaragosa, Jr. is amechanic-C at Division 2 and a re-cent graduate of the District's Me-chanic Training Program. Themother is Rose Zaragosa, whoworks as a keypunch operator inthe Data Processing Center atRTD headquarters.

Born January 1, Andrew tippedthe scales at a hefty nine (9)pounds, 6 1/2 ounces and was 22inches long. The couples first son,he joins sister Suzie, now six.The right track

Those who enjoy betting on theponies or just Ilke to watch the ex-citing sport of thoroughbred horse

racing can once again relax andfigure the odds at ease aboard anRTD bus as they travel to SantaAnita or Los Alamitos via the Dis-trict's popular Line 57.

Service to Santa Anita is beingprovided from the RTD bus stationat 6th and Los Angeles streetsand from Hollywood and La Breathrough the close of the wintermeet on April 22. You can takeLine 57 to Los Alamitos throughthe end of this month from thedowntown bus station.

For those who are subject tostreaks of bad luck, it might be ad-visable to hide a couple bucks inyour shoe. The one-way faresaboard the "Gambler's Special"are $1.75 to Santa Anita and $2.25to Los Alamitos. Or, better still, usea bus pass.In training

There are still a few employeesat RTD who remember CharlesDitlefsen, a transportation plannerfor the District in the early seven-ties. Today, Ditlefsen is pursuingan artistic career and lives in MillValley, just north of San Francisco.But, he hasn't lost his interest intransportation.

He is currently producing an artcalendar based on rail-roading.Called "Those MagnificentTrains," the calendar features 12full-color photos of current andnot-so-current railroading. Sold instores for $5.95 plus tax, Ditlefsenis making the calendars availableto District employees for only $5,which includes sales tax and post-age.

If you are interested, you canorder your calendar by sending acheck or money order to CharlesDitlefsen, 81 California Avenue,Mill Valley, CA 94911.

Thosc Maggi ficc,

Trains

19 81Ditlefsen's calendar

This is a recordingAs part of its communications

improvement program, the Districthas announced it will install so-phisticated electronic recordingequipment in the Central DispatchCenter downtown. The new equip-ment, purchased on a federalgrant, will tape record all tele-phone and radio communicationsbetween bus drivers and dis-patchers.

The 20-channel recordingequipment, manufactured byMagnasync/Moviola, cost$20,000, of which 80 per cent wasfunded by UMTA. The grant appli-cation was filed more than 18months ago.

Acting General Manager Rich-ard Powers explained that the Dis-111>trict decided to add the recordingequipment because of the size ofthe RTD service area and theneed to document and provideafter-the-fact data on incidentsthat occur on buses and the timesthey occur to assist local policeagencies in law enforcement ac-tivities.

GFC agrees to repair cracks, extends warranty(Continued from page 1)

What all that meant for RTDpatrons was an abnormally highnumber of service cancellationsthe Monday after the 230 GFCbuses were grounded.

The worst situation occurred onMonday, December 15, when 72bus assignments from the normaltotal of 1,929 were held due to alack of equipment. Those cancel-lations represented less than fourper cent of the scheduled servicefor an A.M. pull-out, but affectedan estimated 40,000 riders.

During each succeeding day,the total number of A.M. and P.M.cancellations dropped dramatic-ally from a Monday high of 148 toa return to normal service levelson Monday, December 22.

"Through the efforts of the

Schedules and Operations De-partments, we were able to greatlyminimize the negative impact onour passengers," said Powers."The number of complaints re-ceived was minimal under the cir-cumstances and is a credit tothose who worked so hard toserve the riding public."

One way in which major delayswere avoided was by the use ofnew GMC RTS-II buses whichwere pressed into service as fastas they arrived and by transferringreserve buses to the affected divi-sions.

"We think well be able to contin-ue without the Grumman Flxiblesat normal service levels," saidRich Davis, General Superintend-ent of Maintenance and Equip-ment, "but we're anxious to get theolder buses back into storage."

Davis said he is hopeful all 230Grummans will be back on thestreets by the end of March.

Meanwhile, the District can takesome small consolation in the factthat RTD is not alone in its 870 di-lemma. There are reportedly some2,600 model 870 buses in servicein 23 cities around the country.

In addition to Los Angeles,cracked frame problems have sur-faced in New York (where theygrounded more than 630 Grum-man 8 7 Os), Kansas City,Louisville, Norfolk, Santa Monicaand Chicago.

In Chicago, transit officialspressed school buses and othervehicles into service for thousandsof suburban commuters aftersidelining their fleet of 205 GFC870s.

New York's Metropolitan Transit

Authority rented 99 buses fromWashington, D.C.'s mothball fleetat a cost of $20 per day per bus tohelp fill the gap. MTA spent$100,000 to convoy the aged vehi-cles to New York with a NationalGuard escort and two dumptrucks carrying spare parts.

According to Grumman offi-cials, the worst that can happenwhen an A-frame completelycracks while a bus is in service isthat the weight of the engine and •air conditioning, which do not reston the A-frame but are hung fromthe Body, pull the rear of the busdown about six inches. Braking,electrical, steering and fuel sys-tems retain their integrity.

Nationwide, about 12 of the870s now in service have failed inthis manner, according to reportsin Passenger Transport.

Rapid Transit selects three for key assignmentsSelection of three executives for

major assignments in the designof the rail rapid transit system forLos Angeles has been announcedby Richard Gallagher, managerand chief engineer in the District'sRapid Transit Department.

They are James E. Crawley,deputy chief engineer for waysand structures; Russell K.McFarland, acting manager ofsystems engineering analysts;and Jeffrey C. Christiansen, man-ager of program control.

All three have extensive man-agement experience on large pro-jects, Gallagher said.

Crawley and McFarland willbring to the SCRTD Metro Rail pro-ject their knowledge and experi-ence gained in design and con-struction of America's newest railrapid transit systems in cities suchas Washington D.C., Atlanta andBaltimore. Christiansen has con-siderable experience in imple-menting and managing cost andschedule control systems for pro-jects in the multi-million dollarrange for the Air Force and privatefirms.

Before joining the District, Craw-ley was a principal engineer in thePasadena offices of De Leuw,Cather and Company, an interna-tional engineering and design firm

specializing in large transportationprojects. His most recent projectat De Leuw, Cather was as deputyproject manager for the design ofthe $100 million second levelroadway for Los Angeles Interna-tional Airport.

McFarland has been loaned tothe District by the Urban MassTransportation Administration(UMTA), an arm of the U.S. De-

Crawley

partment of Transportation, for atwo-year period. At UMTA, McFar-land was chief of the project re-view division and director of theoffice of rail technology. He wasactively involved in the develop-ment of new construction technol-ogy utilizing segmented concretetunnel liners, instead of more ex-pensive steel, for subway tunnels.McFarland administered the appli-

cation of this new technology inthe Baltimore subway system.

Christiansen previously wasmanager of project planning withWED Enterprises, Burbank, wherehe directed the staff which devel-oped the project schedule andbudget control plan for the WaltDisney organization's massiveEPCOT Center, now under con-struction in Orlando, Florida.

Christiansen

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CORE SAMPLE — Board President Thomas Neusom, at mi-crophone, opens a press briefing on the first physical stages

of preliminary engineering for the SCRTD Metro Rail project.A soll and bedrock core sample was extracted at the site .

Headway

Page 3

RTD METRO RAILCore Sampling

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Two trucks will be required at each hole for drilling operationso Rall tunnel alignment One will carry the motortzed drill rig and

The second carrles extra drill rode and pipe casings, along weh• operations. This waten e needed for the "drilling mixt 7 a blickti) the drill bit and keep the sidee of the drilled boring from

thernselves will range in dee from 100 to 200 feet below thend.

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Preliminary engineering gets off drawing boardWhile it has been in the planning

stages for years, the physical startof preliminary engineering on theSCRTD Metro Rail Project gotunderway in late December withthe taking of the first core samplesalong the tunnel alignment.

Local public officials and mem-bers of the RTD Board of Directorsofficiated at the event at First andBroadway in downtown Los Ange-les, site of the first of what willeventually be 60 sample borings.

"This soll testing marks a greatday for Los Angeles because it isa preview of our future," com-mented RTD Board PresidentThomas Neusom the day of theevent. "We stand here together,anticipating the day that SCRTDMetro Rail will serve the transitneeds of Los Angeles."

The 18-mile starter line will runbetween downtown Los Angelesand North Hollywood via theheavily-traveled Wilshire Corridorand Fairfax Avenue. Present planscall for Metro Rail to open for pas-senger service in 1990.

"Although we cannot foresee

What's in a name?410 That which we call a rose by any

other name would smell as sweet,Shakespeare teils us, but a sub-way is another matter. That's whythe RTD Board of Directors con-sidered several alternatives be-fore deciding on an official namefor the planned 18-mile WilshireCorridor rail rapid transit starterline project.

Henceforth and from now on theproject and, eventually, the sys-tem itself, will be referred to asSCRTD Metro Rail. Some of the al-ternatives considered and castaside included Los Angeles Re-gional Metro Rail System, the RailRapid Transit System, the Subwayand the Underground.

So, the next time someone askshow things are going with theWilshire Corridor subway, teilthem "You mean the SCRTD MetroRail project."

every obstacle, we are intent onadhering to this schedule to thebest of our ability," said CarlMeseck, chairman of the Board'sRapid Transit Committee and aGlendale City councilman.

Core sampling is part of the Dis-trict's three-year program of pre-liminary engineering for theSCRTD Metro Rail starter line. Thisphase has been funded by a $12million grant from the Urban MassTransportation Administration, anarm of the U.S. Department ofTransportation, and $3 million inlocal matching funds. Once thepreliminary engineering phase iscomplete, the District will applyforadditional funds for final designand construction of the starter line.

As part of the comprehensivegeological analysis of the tunnelalignment, core sampling todepths of from 100 to 200 feet willbe conducted at 38 locationsalong the route. Soll and bedrocksamples obtained at these loca-tions will be tested to define

subsurface soil and rock condi-tions.

"Soil samples will be tested formoisture content, compressibilityand other engineering properties,"explains Richard Gallagher,SCRTD Metro Rail project mana-ger and chief engineer. "Selectedrock samples are tested for hard-ness and strength. These evalua-tions will aid District engineersand consultants in anticipatingtunneling conditions and refiningthe design of the subway tunnel."

RTD's general geotechnicalconsultants, Converse Ward DavisDixon of Pasadena, are primecontractors for the geologicalanalysis along the subway route.Also involved in the project areEarth Sciences Associates of PaloAlto and Geo-Resources Consult-ants of San Francisco. The drillingcontractor, a minority business en-terprise, is Pitcher Drilling Compa-ny of Palo Alto.

The total geotechnical drillingand testing contract was bid andawarded at $950,000.

While a total of 60 borings willbe made along the subway route,only 38 are classified as "geologyholes" from which dirt and rocksamples will be taken for labora-tory testing.

The remaining holes are "sup-plemental borings" for on-sitetesting only. Drilling and boringtechniques are identical for bothtypes of holes.

Working with its board of spe-cial geotechnical consultants,Lidvall-Richter and Associates ofPasadena, the SCRTD Metro Railproject staff has planned the bor-ing locations and drilling sched-ules to minimize traffic and pedes-trian inconvenience as much aspossible.

Drilling equipment and crew op-erations will occupy about 50 feetof street, curb or sidewalk forabout one week at each location.For safety, each site will be cor-doned off or barricaded duringactual drilling, which should becompleted by March 31, 1981.

NEWS CREW — Keeping up with the frantic pace in the NewsBureau are (from left) manager Mike Barnes, Raul Garcia, Bill

NFF 1F

Reason, Jim Smart and Kathleen McCoy surrounding secre-tary Lorene Kelley.

Page 4

Headway

No news may mean good news

for some, but not when you

work for .

The News BureauIt's getting to the point where

you can't pick up a newspaper ortune in your favorite televisionnews program these days withoutbeing confronted by an articledealing with some facet of RTDoperations.

This publicity ranges from suchunpleasant topics as fare in-creases or cracks in new busframes to brighter items aboutprogress on the SCRTD Metro RailProject or preventative measuresthe District is using to successfullycombat crime on buses.

All of this increased attention onpublic transportation by the South-ern California news media hascreated a tremendous work loadfor the six members of the RTDNews Bureau, a major arm of theDistrict's Marketing and Commu-nications Department.

"Our basic goal is really quitesimple," explains Mike Barnes,News Bureau Manager since 1978and a District employee since

1973. "We generate and covernews items about the District andmake these available to the massmedia."

Barnes is the first to admit that isan oversimplification of the overalltask facing the News Bureau.

During the course of a year,Barnes and his staff — whichconsists of News Bureau Repre-sentatives Kathleen McCoy andJim Smart, Communications Rep-resentatives Raul Garcia and BillReason and secretary LoreneKelley — deal with a wide varietyof activities. These include:

— Generating up to 250 pressreleases that are often mailed tomore than 200 newspapers withinthe District's service area on suchtopics as new bus stop sign pro-grams, feature stories on interest-ing operators and other employ-ees, presentation of a free buspass to a 100-year-old passengeron his birthday, proposed fare in-creases, cancelled fare increases,new pass procedures for seniorcitizens and students or the birthof a baby on the back seat of abus on the El Monte Busway.

— Answering as many as 200telephone calls each month re-questing information about Districtservices or problems, asking forinterviews with management orwanting to do special features onDistrict operations. (Each memberof the News Bureau is authorizedto act as a spokesman for the Dis-trict. When you see a newspaperstory refer to an RTD spokesman,that's a member of the News Bu-reau who is passing along infor-mation).

— Arranging for press events orpress conferences for items ofspecial interest, such as the es-tablishment of a No-Dollar Bill poli-cy on buses or the District joiningWe-Tip to help fight crime onbuses.

The News Bureau is most visible— and most vulnerable to lack ofmedia coverage — when they setup press conferences. However,the increased attention focusedon public transportation by themedia has resulted in a greatersuccess rate for press confer-ences, says Barnes.

"For example, during a six-dayperiod just prior to Christmas, weheld three press conferences andeach was well attended," Barnessays. "On a Sunday, we met withmembers of the media to explainthe circumstances behind ourpulling the 230 Grumman Flxible870 buses out of service. The nextday we held a press conference inDowney, detailing how the newGeneral Motors buses were beingprocessed and placed into ser-vice. Then, late Friday, we held apress event built around the coresampling being done along theroute of the subway.

"While that is not a typical week

in the News Bureau, it is not all thata typical," says Barnes, who addsthat the News Bureau has neverreally experienced a lack of activi-ty.

"1980 was a banner year for theNews Bureau," says Tony Fortuno,director of marketing and commu-nications. "The District receivedmore media coverage than in anyprevious year without a work-stoppage. And, I don't think thingsare going to subside in 1981."

Major news stories involving the

District this year will focus onProposition A, new fares, Districtrevenues, accessible service, newbuses and the Metro Rail Project,Fortuno says.

Barnes is quick to point out thatmajor news stories dealing withfare hikes or cracked bus frameswill always attract heavy media at-tention. However, the District alsoreceives a great deal of positivepress that improves its identity asa service organization in the com-munity, while publicizing RTDservices and programs.

And, that's the kind of publicitythat money can't buy.

"Anytime you see a positivestory about the RTD, whether it isdealing with bike racks on theback of buses or putting new ser-vice where a bus has never runbefore, that type of story wouldgenerally not get coverage by themedia unless we sent them the in-formation, provided photo cover-age or set up a press event tomake their job a little easier," ex-plains Barnes.

The News Bureau Managersays he trys to maximize televisioncoverage of District events be-cause, "TV coverage is immediateand more people watch TV newsthan read newspapers."

lmmediacy is also a key word inwhy the News Bureau regularlyfaces tight deadlines.

For example, if a fare increase isplanned the Marketing Depart-ment normally publishes rider Bul-letins, car cards and brochures toinform the riding public of thechanges.

But, when a judge overrules theproposed fare increase two daysbefore it is to take effect, only theNews Bureau, through the media,can inform the people in time.

"As public transportation growsin importance, news coverage willincrease on a regular basis,"Barnes predicts. "Newspapersand radio and TV news depart-ments are assigning reporters tocover public transit more frequent-ly and those reporters are becom-ahing knowledgeable of transit oper-wations and the problems faced bythe District."

When the News Bureau staff arenot working directly with themedia, they get involved in a vari-ety of related projects, includingpreparation of the annual report,updating the informative "Facts ata glance" brochure, maintainingan audio-visual section which pro-vides films and slides outliningDistrict service and programs, orworking with other departments inthe development of such specialprojects as a brochure about theEl Monte Busway.

Barnes and his staff are con-stantly on the lookout for areasthat offer an opportunity to getpositive media coverage, also.

For example, last year the Bu-reau began a series of feature arti-cies about RTD employees whodo unusual or interesting thingswhen they were off-duty. These ar- Asticles were geared for the commu-•nity newspapers where those em-ployees live.

Famed humorist Will Rogersonce observed that he only knewwhat he read in the newspapers.RTD's News Bureau is doing ev-erything it can to make sure thepeople of Southern Californiaknow what is happening at theSouthern California Rapid TransitDistrict. And, the busier they are,the better they are doing that job.

1980 was a banner year for the News Bureau,

and I don' t think things are going to subside

----------------------------------------------------------

Name

"LOS ANGELES TRANSIT: YESTERDAY AND TODAY"

Order coupon

Work location•

Home address:

Home telephone•

Please send me the transit prints I have indicated below:

1925 Scene: at $4 each (tax included).

1950 Scene at $4 each (tax included).

1980 Scene at $4 each (tax included).

I have enclosed a check or money order (payable to RTD) for $

to cover my purchase.

(Send this coupon to RTD Recreation Department, location 32, 425 S.Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Prints will be returned to employeesvia company mail and to retirees via postal service).

J

Headway Page 5

Rec Department announces travel plans for '81

Ventura County Railway No. 2 (above, left) is all steamed up for the Third AnnualRail Festival at the Orange Empire Railway Museum. The old-time passenger trainwill run Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26, at the museum, located at 2201 SouthA Street, Perris. No. 2 and Pacific Electric interurban number 498 are two of themore than 150 trolleys, locomotives and railroad cars on display at the museum.The Full-day of family fun, including movies, music and unlimited train rides, is only$4 for adults, $2.50 for children 6-11. Tickets, available at the museum, cannot bepurchased through the Recreation Department.

The Recreation Department hasannounced what it thinks is an ex-citing year of trips and activitiesfor District employees and re-tirees. But, Betty Sconce, Tempo-rary Employee Activities Coordi-nator, wants to encourage every-one to add to the events with theirfavorites.

If you have some activity aplay, a trip or whatever — that youwould like to see added to the listof Rec events, call the departmentat extension 6580. Sconce cau-tions, however, that you shouldallow at least six weeks for arrang-ing tickets and promoting theevent.Athletics

Once again, professional sportsaction highlights the coming recevent calendar with several datesset aside at Lakers basketball andKings hockey matches for Districtemployees to purchase discounttickets.

Laker games on the scheduleinclude Wednesday, February 11,against the Boston Celtics; Tues-day, February 17, against the NewYork Knickerbockers; Friday,March 13, against the Kansas CityKings and Sunday, March 29,against the Denver Nuggets. Allgames start at 7:30 p.m. in theForum with the exception of theNugget game which tips off at 7p.m. All seats are $5.50 and, asusual, children's tickets are avail-able for $3.50.

Only one chance is available foryou to see the Kings this month.That's when they take on the Phila-delphia Flyers on Saturday, Febru-ary 21, at 7 p.m. at the Forum. The$8 seats are available for only $6.• The stage . .

By popular request, the Recrea-tion Department has obtainedmore tickets to see "The Best LittleWhorehouse in Texas," starringAlexis Smith. This makes the thirdtime the District has gone to seethe smash musical hit at theWilshire Theatre, 8440 WilshireBoulevard in Beverly Hills. Tickets,available on a first come, firstserved basis, are priced at $14 forthe $16 seats in the front half of theOrchestra section. The date: Sun-day, February 15 at 2:30 p.m.

The legendary Kathryn Hepburnwill be starring in the "WestsideWaltz" at the Ahmanson Theatreand you can see her perform onSaturday, March 14, at 8:30 p.m.The $17 seats are available foronly $15.

"I'm Getting My Act Togetherand Taking lt On the Road," whichhas been drawing rave reviewsfrom the critics and starringGretchen Cryer, can be seen byDistrict theatregoers at the Hunt-ington Hartford Theatre on Friday,

Keep on

trackin'February 27. The $17.50 ticketsare going for $16.

RTD Basketball LeagueDistrict cagers are in full gear

again with this season's roundballtussles being contested on thecourt at Ford Park, 800 Scout Ave-nue in Bell Gardens.

Wednesday, February 4: Divi-sion 1 vs. Headquarters at 8 p.m.,Division 2 vs. Division 5 at 9 p.m.Thursday, February 5: Division 9vs. Division 3 at 9 p.m. Wednes-day, February 11: Division 3 vs.Division 2 at 8 p.m., Division 5 vs.Division 1 at 9 p.m. Thursday,February 12: Headquarters vs. Di-vision 8 at 9 p.m. Wednesday,February 18: Division 5 vs. Divi-sion 3 at 8 p.m., Division 8 vs. Divi-sion 2 at 9 p.m. Thursday, March5: Headquarters vs. Division 9 at 9p.m.

Travel ...Well, here it is. The list you've all

been waiting for to make your va-cation plans. Just remember, thisis a tentative list only. If enoughpeople don't sign up by the reser-vation deadline, the trip iscancelled.

And, don't wait until the reserva-tion deadline to get your depositdown. Several people missed tripslast year because they waited untilthe last minute and the trip wasfully booked by then.

Las Vegas: February 27 toMarch 1, $59 per person doubleoccupancy at the Bali Hai MotorHotel.

Las Vegas: (Again!) March20-22. $75 per person. Deluxebuffet on bus and open bar. Manyextras, Royal Americana Hotel.Reservation deadline is February23.

La Paz: Eight days and sevennights at the El Presidente Hotel.Departs May 10, price of $279 in-cludes roundtrip airfare and hotelaccommodations. Deadline for

To celebrate the Los AngelesBicentennial, the RTD commis-sioned local artist Stan Cline toproduce three nostalgic paintingshighlighting the history of publictransportation in Los Angeles.

Titled "Los Angeles Transit:Yesterday and Today," the printsdepict public transportation ve-hicles from the early trolley cars tothe popular Pacific Electric RedCars to modern-day equipmentlike the doubledeck and articu-lated buses.

The earliest scene is a 1925setting looking across PershingSquare toward the Biltmore Hotel,which was just built. lt shows turn-of-the-century transit vehicles

reservations is February 26.Caribbean Cruise: Eight days

aboard the Carnavale. Trip de-parts August 23 and the price of$1,043 includes roundtrip airfareto Miami and the cost of thecruise. Reservation deadline isMay 23.

Fall Coastal Cruise: DepartsSeptember 21 for five day, fournight cruise up the west coast toVancouver, B.C. aboard theOdessa. lncludes one-day stop inSan Francisco. $695 price in-cludes airfare, cruise and extras.Deadline for reservations is June21.

Hawaii: Eight days, two islands(Oahu and Maui), departing Octo-ber 6. $545 per person includesall air fares, hotels plus rauchmore. Signup by July 6 or be leftbehind.

For more information about thetrips, or any recreation events,please call the Recreation Depart-ment at (213) 972-6580.

operating in the downtown area.The second print is a 1950

scene at the intersection of Firstand Main Streets with City Hall inthe Background and transit ve-hicles of the era — such as thetrackless trolley — plying thestreets in the foreground.

The last scene is a 1980 render-ing of the modern buses whichtoday transport commuters todowntown Los Angeles. Thescene is set at 18th Street andGrand Avenue, looking east to-ward the central City skyline.

So, order your prints today! Justfill in the coupon below and send itvia company mail to RTD Recrea-tion Department Location 32.

Transit prints oller peek at past

The true spirit of giving

CHRISTMAS 1980 already seems like a long time ago, but for Op-erator Danny Riveras of Division 9 the spirit of this last Christmas willbe with him every step he takes. Disease resulted in Riveras losinghis left leg from the knee down. His medical insurance handled all thehospital and doctor bills, but did not provide coverage for the pay-ment of artificial limbs. Unknown to Riveras, Division 9 operator JimSantos organized a committee that began collecting donations tocover the $900 cost of the artificial leg. In addition to employees atDivision 9, personnel from Division 1, Terminal 13 and South Parkcontributed. A surprised Riveras (second from right) was presentedthe check during the El Monte division's Christmas Party by UTULocal Chairman John Cockburn as Transportation Manager JohnAdams and Santos looked on. Since it was his left leg, Riveras hopesto return to operating, or could transfer to scheduling or some otherrelated department.

CHRISTMAS CAROLING, pitting the men against the women(which isn't much of a contest), highlighted the annual employeeChristmas Party at Division 9 in El Monte, but the children politely ap-plauded while they awaited the arrival of Santa.

DIVISION 18 capped a good year, which saw their companysoftbal league team win the District championship and plans for apermanent home for them advance, with a bang-up celebration.Built on a former landfill, the leased facility is slowly sinking, butthe spirits were high.

Page 6 Headway

Holiday spirit pervades DistrictChristmas Parties unite employees and families

Headway Page 7

AT DIVISION 3, as at most divisional parties, the two most popularattractions were Santa Claus, the little gifts he had for each chiid andthe abundance of food, cakes, cookies and drinks. lt was enough tobring smiles to everyone's face.

DIVISION 15's Christmas party was hosted by clerk Jan Green and Operator Dale Sholley, who again playedSanta and posed for pictures with each youngster. The pictures were then given to the kids,. Entertainment wasprovided by operator Dave Bogenberger and friends, who put on "The Extravaganza," an entertaining combina-tion of song and dance. Featured performers included Larry New, (at left) formerly with the Glenn Miller Orches-tra; and operator George Coatsworth on guitar. Also in the show were Reho Blair, Bobbi Tremain, Roy Lomis andactor Dale Lungaro.

SOME 300 employees and friends from the maintenance andtransportation departments at Division 12 in Long Beach enjoyeda Christmas dinner of baked ham, turkey, baked beans, macaronisalad, cold slaw, rolls, coffee, cakes and jello with whip cream.Then they were entertained by a program consisting of skit andrecitations by operator Tom Weihert's daughter and her schoolfriend. The evening culminated with Santa arriving and distributinggifts to the children and door prizes to the adults.

RTD Board honors trioThree more District employees were honored by the Board of Di-

rectors last month for doing more than their fair share in helping tocreate a favorable public opinion towards the RTD by providingquality service to patrons or by helping to keep things runningsmoothly behind the scenes. They were Phillis King from South ParkShops, Information Operator Raymond Gomez and Division 5 Oper-ator Robert Foreman.

King, an employee with the District for nine years, has been a vitallink in South Park's Automotive Section for the past year. Her typicalworkday includes processing 200 time cards; keeping track ofeveryone's days off, holidays, vacations, sick pay, military leave, be-reavement, jury duty and so an and all of the accompanyingpaperwork that entails; typing purchase requisitions and main-taining a variety of records, rosters and logs while answering threetelephones and channeling calls from 11 divisions to the proper Par-ties.

"To perform her job effectively, she must not only be aware ofwhat is happening, but where it is happening and who is making ithappen," explains Bob Falvey, Superintendent of South Park Shops."She manages to do this in a most effective manner and usuallytosses in a smile for good measure."

In the 15 months that Gomez has been a part of the Telephone In-formation Department he has consistently proven to be a valuableasset to the department and the District. He has a perfect attend-ance record and his work exceeds the standards set for the informa-tion clerk's job performance. He has a thorough knowledge of all theDistrict's routes, fares and schedules. Ray, whose hobbies includehiking in the mountains and reading the bible, says he would some-day like to work in the District's public relations department.

Operator Foreman's record speaks for itself. He has never taken asick day. Whenever there is extra work, he readily volunteers. Headheres to rules, drives safely and his attendance is exceptional. Heis always cooperative and pleasant with his co-workers. He main-tains a positive and cheerful attitude while operating his bus and, asa result, receives numerous commendations from the passengershe serves.

Foreman has worked for the District 11 years. Married and the fa-ther of a little girl, he spends his spare time tinkering with and re-pairing old autos. When he wants to get away from it all, he enjoyshunting and fishing.

Through the Marketing Department the Operator of the Monthcontinues to be featured once a month in a full page advertisementin TV Guide.

MERIT — Board member David Hayward (left) presents certificates to Employ-ees of the Month Phillis King, Raymond Gomez and Robert Foreman.Participating in the ceremony are Bob Falvey, Bob Williams and HarryMcGuire.

Open houseOne of the District's oldest operating facilities has a new look and an open house

will be held Sunday, February 15, from noon to 5 p.m. to celebrate the fact. The oldtrain room at Division 1, located at Sixth Street and Central Avenue in Los Angeles,is gone, replaced by a modern new structure. The Open House will officially dedi-cate the new building. District employees and their family are urged to attend.

Page 8

Headway

1/ 1.4Jacob L. Sanders, Line 488: I

had been admiring the courteousway in which this young man hadhandled the passengers, an-swering the many and sometimesmonotonous questions, and theway he drove the bus. At 4th andOlive, the driver opened the backdoor to let passengers off when ayoung man grabbed a woman'ssuitcase and ran out of the bus.Realizing the woman could notchase the man, the driver put thebus in park, threw off his sun-glasses and gave chase himself.Everyone on the bus was con-cerned for the driver and won-dered whether or not he would getthe suitcase back or get back atall. However, soon he and the

woman passenger came walkingback down 4th street. Theywalked on the bus and we all gavea cheer and applauded him for hisconcern and bravery for we couldsee he had retrieved the bag. All Ican say is please leave this manon my line. He made me feel goodand safe riding the bus. Thesethings probably happen every dayto you people, but it's a first for meand Um happy to have experi-enced knowing someone whogoes beyond the call of duty andgets involved.

Roger Jackson, Division 6: Iaccidentally left my briefcase anthe bus. lt contained my airlineticket back to Baltimore, check-book and other personal papers. I

despaired of ever finding mybriefcase or any of its contents. Iwas thus very happy when I learn-ed that Mr. Jackson had turned inthe briefcase. I received it with allits contents intact. His actions cer-tainly reflect great credit an yourcompany and an him.

E.V. Santos, Traffic Loader: Iwould like to take a few minutes tolet you know about my opinion ofone of your employees. He isdoing a very good job as a trafficloader at 7th and Maple, Los An-geles. He assists in the loading ofthe 83 line and keeps the busesmoving out. He is also a very goodpublic relations man.

Mike Nunn, Line 44: As the busMr. Nunn was driving pulled up infront of me, I was juggling a largeChristmas present while trying toextract my RTD pass from mypurse. As the doors opened, thewind blew the pass out of myhands and into a storm drainunder the bus stop. I'm afraid Istarted to cry. My bus pass is aregular monthly expense and soclose to Christmas, with presentsstill left to buy, all I could think of atthat moment was 'VVhere will I getanother bus pass now?' Mr. Nunnsaw what had happened, parkedthe bus and came back to the busstop. He got down an his handsand knees in the dusty street andpulled the bus pass out of themuck in that storm drain. I couldn'tbelieve that a stranger would go toso much trouble for me. I offeredMr. Nunn a reward but he politelyrefused. You've got a good manworking for you.

James Shorters, Division 7:He is an exceptionally good driv-er, always calls out the streets andgreets every guest who boards hisbus and bids them farewell whenthey leave. lt is nice to have some-one like him greeting the public insuch a manner and a delightfulchange from some drivers whonever speak.

Doris Y. Glover, Division 3:The ride on the Minibus from Cityhall to the Broadway Plaza todaywas smooth, safe and within thespeed limit, while her helpful, calmmanner with customers gave meconfidence in the RTD. Her drivingand attitude, I might add, are un-fortunately in sharp contrast to themajority of minibus drivers. IfRTD's goal is to serve the public,employees like her definitely con-tribute to that goal.

O.P. McRiley, Line 485: I un-derstand our regular driver is

being transferred to another routeand want you to know how muchhe is appreciated. Not only is hean excellent driver, he is a courte-ous and considerate personwhose relationship to passengersdoes much to upgrade RTD'simage. I, for one, am sorry to seehim leave our line, but I am certainthat he will be equally effectivewherever else he may be in con-tact with passengers.

Alfred J. Wilson, Line 92: He isalways gracious to assist and an-swer questions about destinationsor transfer points, and is alsoaware of passengers trying totransfer to his bus from other lines.I ride with him to work most morn-ings and each Sunday morning itis his bus which takes me tochurch. I have heard many favora-ble comments from other passen-gers and want you to know he isan outstanding driver and anasset to your company.

Eugene Keyes, Division 2: Onfrequent occasions I have had theopportunity to ride an this driver'sbus going to work. Each time Ihave noticed that he calls outevery stop an his limited run. Thisis important because when thebus is crowded, one has a tenden-cy to miss the stop. His manner-ism sticks out above most driversand he is courteous and pleasant.

S.R. McCullough, Line 91: Hewas very polite and kind to every-one and I do mean everyone. Noexceptions. He'd hold up forsomeone that was running for thebus, wait until older people got totheir seats before starting up sothat they wouldn't lose their Bal-ance and stumble. He had the pa-tience of a saint on several occa-sions, when I honestly don't think Icould have kept mine. Some of thepeople he was dealing with! Hedidn't sacrifice any necessary au-thority, but maintained a touch ofhumanness that made him verylikeable and pleasant. It's nice toknow you do hire some peoplethat are as motivated and consci-entious as this man.

Clem Williams, Division 2: 1ride your buses a lot and I mustsay he is a rare experience. Hewas so positive and happy that hemade the ride enjoyable for every-one. He never passed people upat the bus stop the way so many ofthem do. In fact, he made everyeffort to accommodate passen-gers and be helpful with direc-tions. He should train new driversin how to treat passengers.

•

Headway

Page 9

UNE;TUMB TUP:1 RUN TUENRY

Imagine a computer system thatwould, at the touch of a button, teilyou the day and time that any oneof 2,800 buses last had fuel put init.

Or, at the touch of another but-ton, could teil you what bus everymechanic at a division was work-ing on, what he was doing, whenhe expected to be finished.

Or, it could teil you when a buslast had its brakes religned and, ifit needed a brake job, order abrake kit to be assembled at SouthPark and delivered to your divisionvirtually overnight.

Well, the future is here today .. •at least at Division 3.

That is where the District's Main-tenance Department has spentthe last several months testingand evaluating an automated Ve-hicle Maintenance System (VMS)that does all of the above andmore.

Based on the preliminary resultsof the pilot project at Division 3, itmay not be long before such asystem is installed and in serviceDistrictwide, according to VMSProject Coordinator Omar Hinkle.

"The ability to effectively man-age our large, growing and in-creasingly complex Maintenanceand Equipment Department haslong been recognized as a majorchallenge facing the District," ex-plains Hinkle.

Chicago Transit Authority, thesecond largest transit Operation inthe nation, developed a VMS to

• help its maintenance departmentface similar problems. CTA offer-ed to give RTD its VMS software(computer programs) and thatproved to be an offer we couldn'trefuse.

Test funds were obtainedthrough the Urban Mass Transpor-tation Administration and the pilotprogram was put "on-line" usingIBM computers at the McDonnelDouglas Automation Center inLong Beach on a time-sharingbasis.

The equipment required at eachdivision will be relatively simple,consisting of two computer termin-als linked to the McDonnelDouglas computers, a series of"badge-readers" located through-out the division and a printer forgetting printouts of informationthat is displayed an the screens.

Information is entered into thesystem through the badge read-ers or directly through the termin-als.

For example, a maintenance su-pervisor can request data on allbuses at the division requiringbrake jobs, then call a list of em-ployees scheduled to be on dutythat day. The list of employeesteils what time they signed on,what job (if any) they have beenassigned and when they expect tofinish that job. The supervisor canthen assign someone to do theneeded brake job.

When a mechanic receives awork assignment, he "jobs-on" byinserting a special ID badge intothe badge reader. He then keypunches the bus number and jobcode (obtained from a list near thebadge reader). When the job isfinished he again inserts his IDbadge and keys-in a code numberthat indicates the job is finished.

The system is also designed tokeep a detailed maintenance re-cord stored in the computer foreach of the District's 2,800 buses.VMS updates reports and pro-vides supervisors with up-to-the-minute status reports on all busesand personnel.

Presently, at least at the Dis-trict's 10 other maintenance facili-ties, such information is compiledmanually and produces moun-tains of paperwork daily. As theDistrict's operations have expand-ed and become more complex,this hand-recorded method ofkeeping records has becomemore time-consuming and error-prone.

"The results of the first fourmonths of testing at Division 3 in-dicate a significant improvementin the availability of timely man-agement information, excellentworker acceptance and a tremen-dous increase in our ability tomanage an operating facility,"says Hinkle.

"The mechanics, all of whommust participate in the pilot pro-ject, particularly like the featuresof reducing paperwork whilegetting the record-keeping donealmost automatically," he adds.

While there are still some minorbugs to be worked out of the sys-tem, the District Board of Directorswas sufficiently impressed with

the initial test results to approveexpanded testing of the system atDivision 2.

The Board is expected to de-cide on further implementation ofthe VMS project sometime inMarch or April, when more resultswill be available.

"Basically, about 60 per cent ofthe total system is now up," Hinklesays. "There are relatively fewissues left to resolve, and most ofthese involve tailoring some of theCTA programs to fit our Opera-tions."

As example, Hinkle cites thefact that the Chicago propertyhandles road calls differently thanwe do, has a much different main-tenance schedule because of themuch harsher climate and doesnot replace brakes as frequentlyas we do.

During the next three years,Hinkle hopes to see the VMS pro-gram expand throughout the Dis-trict. Eventually, plans call for it to

tie into the computerized inventorycontrol system being developedat South Park and, also, be hook-ed into the payroll system.

Then, ideally, the badge readerwould replace the time clock andkeep tabs an what jobs a mechan-ic performs, since some jobs arepaid at different hourly rates thanothers. Furthermore, if a bus wasscheduled for a major mainte-nance inspection, the divisioncomputer could "talk" to the inven-tory computer and request a "kit"containing everything the me-chanics would need to performthe work.

"VMS will not only help us deter-mine and plan our maintenanceand manpower needs," Hinklepredicts, "but, it will also teil man-agement how many times a cer-tain bus has been out of service.Now we can pick out repetitiveproblems that even the most ob-servant foreman might miss."

[11:1 LiNEComputers are being used in an effort to more effectively

manage the increasingly complex maintenance of a 2,800-busfleet in a pilot project at Division 3. The VMS, which can teil su-pervisors everything from who has a day off to when a bus lasthad its seat covers replaced, is designed to provide manage-ment with more accurate information faster. At top, Mechan-

ic-C Oscar Tostado inserts a special ID card into a BadgeReader and punches in code for work he will do. Info is relayedto computer. VMS Project Coordinator Omar Hinkle (above,left) uses a light wand to request detailed information off a ter-minal screen. That info is then printed and collected by secre-tary Eve Scott.

Page 10

Headway

Now andthen . . .

The Pacific Electric Building on the corner of Sixth and Mainstreets in downtown Los Angeles was the hub of the localtransit industry in the mid-forties when the picture at right wasshot. Trolley cars and trolley buses made their way throughthe crowded street, picking up passengers at safety islands inthe middle of the road. Today, Sixth and Main is the gateway to

L.A.'s skidrow, but the street is still a busy one. The PE build-ing still stands, remarkably unchanged when you considerthat many other buildings - like the Central Bldg and All-American Buslines depot - are now parking lots. Major transitservice on Main Street is now provided by RTD lines 2, 39, 49and 92.

MOVING UPVincent Amico, from mechanic Cto mechanic Bat 3315.Joginder Bhui, from mechanic Cto mechanic B at 3315.Michael Bottone, from eq. maint.sup. I to equip. specialist.Frank T. Boyer, from mechanic Cto mechanic B at 3308.Jules Brown, from mechanic C tomechanic B at 3314.Walter Buncom, from mechanicC to mechanic B at 3305.Elston Burnley, from trans. policyinvest. to act. trans. police sgt.Juan Castro, from mechanic A toeq. maint. instructor.Gregory Childers, from mechanicC to mechanic B at 3307.Romulo Climaco, from mechanicC to mechanic Bat 3314.Michael A. Cohen, from pass,svc. rep to inst. tele info.Joyce E. Cooper, from info clerkto info clerk/ex. supv. tel. info.Leroy Crawford, from trans. Po-lice invest. to act. trans. police sgt.Sergio Diaz, from mechanic B tomechanic A at 3314.Melvin Domaloan, from mechan-ic B to mechanic A at 3308.Lora L. Downer, from reg. re .mopper/waxer to typist clerk.Raul A. Estrada, from jr. stockclerk to stock clerk.Phillip Fleisman, from mechanicB to mechanic A at 3308.Ines Flores, svc. attendant to svc.attendant lead.Dennis Flowers, from trans. Po-lice inv. to act. trans. police sgt.Eddie M. Flynn, from mechanic Bto mechanic A at 3308.Roger Flynn, from eq. maint. sup.

1 to act. equip. maint. sup. II.Joe Garcia, Jr., from jr. stockclerk to stock clerk.Jose E. Gonzalez, from mechanicB to mechanic A at 3301.Ruben Goytia, from mechanic Aleadman to eq. maint. instr.Paula Grigsby, from info clerk toinfo clerk/ex. supv. tel. info.Drucila Hernandez, from ticketclerk to ticket office and reportsclerk.Louis Hernandez, from mechanicC to mechanic B at 3314.Sarbdyal Hundal, from utility A toutility A leadman at 3315.Richard L. Isaacs, from trans. po-lice inv. to act. trans. police sgt.Karl Klee, from mechanic B tomechanic A at 3308.Richard Kovach, from prop.maint. A to prop. maint. A lead-man.Sherman Lair, from mechanic Cto mechanic B at 3305.Nancy J. Leon, from manage-ment assistant to operations ana-lyst.Yvonne Lewis, from divisionsteno rel. to secretary.Rolando D. Munoz, from me-chanic C to mechanic B at 3301.Alvis T. Nonska, from mechanicB to mechanic A at 3308.Richard Ortiz, from mechanic Cto mechanic B at 3308.George Perez, from mechanic Cto mechanic B at 3307.Yolanda M. Perez, from typistclerk to pension and insuranceclerk.Melvin Purkeypile, from eq.maint. supervisor II to mainte-nance manager at 3318.Deborah Pitchford, from tele.

info. clerk to act. inst. tele clerk.Harry A. Pitford, from mechanicB to mechanic A at 3301.Johnny R. Pruitt, from electricianto electrician leadman.Charles Regalado, from stockclerk to shipping clerk.Robert Rose, from mechanic C tomechanic B at 3314.Timothy Rushing, from mechanicC to mechanic B at 3308.Agustin Salazar, from mechanicB to mechanic A at 3301.Floyd D. Shaw, from trans. policeinv. to act. trans. police sgt.Elizabeth Silva, from secretary IIto senior secretary.Samuel J. Singer, from equip.maint. sup. II to superintendent ofmaintenance division.Thomas Styles, from mechanic Cto mechanic B at 3315.Ambrosia Suma, from scheduleanalyst to staff assistant I.Hillary Tervalon, from mechanicC to mechanic B at 3305.Raymond V. Thomas, from trans.police inv. to act. trans. police sgt.Nadine E. Triche, from info. clerkto info clerk/ex. supv. tel. info.Charles White, from instructor ofVO to senior inst. of VO.

Shifting GearsJames M. Banks, 10 years. Me-

chanic A at Division 7.Berlie W. Cantrell, 34 years.

Operator at Division 9.Legustus A. Downing, 38

years. Road Janitor Leadman inproperty maintenance.

Fred R. Sweeney, 19 years.Radio Dispatcher.

Ralph E. Ward, Jr., 21years.Operator at Division 9.

In MemoriamLoren L. Atwood, former Me-

chanic A Leadman at Division 2,passed away December 6. Mr.

Atwood joined the company inFebruary, 1946, and retired after32 years of service in July, 1978.

William K. Bright, former Oper-ator at Division 9, passed awayNovember 22. Mr. Bright joinedthe company in September, 1946,and retired after 33 years of serv-ice in January, 1979.

Francis J. Maloney, formerTrafficman at Terminal 21, passedaway December 21. Mr. Maloneyjoined the company in December,1945, and retired after 31 years ofservice in October, 1976.

Richard B. Mouton, an Opera-tor at Division 5, passed away De-cember 22. Mr. Mouton joined thecompany in September, 1951.

Joseph Stock, former Mechan-ic A at Division 3, passed awayNovember 27. Mr. Stock joined thecompany in April, 1945, and re-tired after 21 years of service inJune, 1966.

Employees and retirees of RTD may usethis column free of charge. Ads will be limit-ed to one per person each month and willnot be held over for repeat. Ads should besubmitted either typed or printed before the14th of each month for inclusion in the fol-lowing month's issue. Include your name,work location, extension and home tele-phone number.

District policy prohibits ads for commer-cial ventures and such will not be publishedor returned. Send ads to Headway, Location32 if you use company mail, or Headway Edi-tor, 425 South Main Street, Los Angeles, CA90013 via U.S. Postal Service.

• Ski sale. One pair of woodenskis with "bear trap" bindings,suitable for a beginner, plus polesand Reiker brand ski boots (size 7- ladies) that lace up inside andbuckle up outside. Skis and poles,$50; boots, $50. Call eveningsafter 6 p.m. (213) 355-2485.

Answer: A professionally-trained bus Operator must anticipateand avoid these hazardous situations. The Operator should havenoted the presence of the oncoming car and should have slowed toa stop, if necessary, to allow the car to pass. Clearly, the driver ofthe passing car was "of fault," yet, this was a preventable accident.lt is the responsibility of the defensive driver to "see and avoid" theunsafe actions of others, as well as hazardous conditions encoun -

tered an the road.

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DOME HOME — The Fuller "Flys-eye" Bicentennial Dome in Pershing Square ishome for the newest RTD information outlet.

Published monthly for the employeesand retirees of the Southern CaliforniaRapid Transit District.

Editorial input and suggestionswelcome. Deadline for receipt ofeditorial copy is the 14th of each month.

Send black-and-white photographs on-4y, please. Requests for photographiccoverage of District events must bepreceded by 72 hours notice.

Mailing address: Headway, 6th Floor,425 South Main Street, Los Angeles,CA 90013. Telephone: 213-972-6680.

David Himmel, Editor

Page 12

Headway

Mechanical problems curtail accessible serviceRTD bus service for persons re-

stricted to wheelchairs has beentemporarily reduced from 21 to 10lines because of mechanicalproblems with lifts in many of the200 AM General buses used forwheelchair patrons, according toRichard Powers, Acting GeneralManager.

Powers said that if the numberof buses with mechanical prob-lems increases before a repairprogram is established, the Dis-trict may be forced to suspend allaccessible service.

The lines chosen for continuedservice were selected becausethey are used the most. Currently,however, the District averagesonly five daily wheelchair board-ings on all of its accessible lines.

"Despite the lass of some

wheelchair service, there will beno disruption of regular RTD serv-ices," Powers said. "All AM Gener-al Buses will remain in servicesince the lift problems have no af-fect on providing safe operations."

A total of 240,000 of the Dis-trict's 1.3 million daily boardingsare logged on there lines.

Manager of Operations SamBlack said the reduced level ofwheelchair service will continueuntil repair procedures are estab-lished and completed. Meanwhile,the steps, which extend into aplatform that allows a rider in awheelchair to board, will be keptlocked in a normal step configura-tion.

Before the District accepted thebuses and lifts, AM General wasrequired to test a prototype of the

lift more than 6,000 times undersimulated operating conditions.The tests showed the lift shouldhave been a reliable piece ofequipment.

Black said inspections of thebuses in early January revealed59 with total fractures in the sup-port plates of the mechanism. Hesaid a special lift inspection pro-gram has been undertaken for thebalance of AM General buses,many of which have been noted tohave minor fractures, to detectand prevent a failure of a lift inservice.

"We will not jeopardize the safe-ty of any of our patrons," Blacksaid, adding that the cost of therepairs will be borne by the liftmanufacturer.

In addition to the AM Generalbuses, the District has two othertypes of accessible equipment,the General Motors RTS-04s andthe Grumman Flxible 870s.

The latter are currently inopera-ble pending repairs by the manu-facturer to their undercarriages.The lifts an the General Motorsbuses are not scheduled to be putinto service until summer, pendingapproval of their use by the RTDBoard of Directors and the hiringof mechanics to maintain them.

Lines which will continue to pro-vide accessible service to wheel-chair patrons include Lines 44, 83,88, 93, 204, 423, 440, 456, 480 •and 841. The District is dissemina-ting information to those impactedof alternative accessible service inthe area.

District services keep things moving New Year's DayAs it has for the past several

years, RTD's special New Year'sDay service to the Tournament ofRoses Parade and Rose Bowlfootball game in Pasadena at-tracted more passengers thanever.

Travel to and from the eventsand activities in Pasadena in-creased an average of 12 per centfrom the previous year, accordingto Jeff Diehl, superintendent,transportation services.

Passenger counts, compiled bysupervisor reports and schedulechecker reports, showed some8,097 passengers rode 160 buseson 248 trips to the various activi-ties, an increase of 844 over theprevious year. RTD carried 7,339passengers away from the area on143 buses, an increase of 832over 1980's figures.

"For the first time, the Districtwas provided with an off-streetbus staging area on Rose Bowlproperty," explained Diehl. "Thisfacility expedited the loading ofpassengers through specialgates.

"In 52 minutes nearly 3,000 pas-sengers boarded our buses. In1980 it took 70 minutes to load1,828 passengers at on-street lo-cations under hazardous condi-tions that were eliminated thisyear."

The Operations Departmentbeefed up service on 10 of its reg-ular lines into Pasadena fromaround Los Angeles Couunty, de-signed to get parade and gamespectators to their events on time.An estimated 1.5 million personssaw the parade, while 104,000 at-tended the Rose Bowl game be-tween Michigan and Washington.

Included among the specialservices added for New Year'sDay was a shuttle bus service be-tween the parade route and theRose Bowl, and three expresslines between Pasadena, the San

Fernando Valley and downtownLos Angeles.

Diehl said that all scheduledheadways were maintained on alllines due in part to minimal trafficcongestion. There was a signifi-cant reduction in vehicles enteringand leaving the area for the pa-'rade compared with last year, de-spite ideal weather conditions.

Visitors to the Los Angeles Bi-centennial Information and Exhibi-tion Center can not only find out allabout how L.A. came to be "theplace," they can obtain free infor-mation an how to take an RTD busto anywhere in Los Angeles theymight care to go.

The District is operating a spe-cial information booth in the Bicen-tennial Dome structure, located inthe center of Pershing Square at5th and Olive streets. After monthsof delays, the $400,000 structureopened December 16.

The RTD information booth willoffer free bus information, sched-ules and brochures. RTD TouristPasses, which offer unlimited rid-ing on all District lines for only $1per day, and the new "CompleteRTD Bus System Map and Guidefor Los Angeles," available for $1,will be an sale.

Also available at the booth willbe the three historical lithographscreated by Los Angeles artist StanCline depicting the history of pub-lic transit in Los Angeles over thepast 80 years. They seil to thepublic for $5 plus tax per print, butare available to District employeesfor only $4 (tax included) throughthe Recreation Department.

The booth will keep the samehours as the information center,8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondaythrough Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3

"Pasadena police provided ex-cellent cooperation in citing andimpounding vehicles illegallyparked in bus storage areas," saidDiehl. "In addition, members of mystaff, who worked many langhours in preparation for and inpersonally overseeing the opera-tions are to be complimented.Through their efforts problemswere held to a bare minimum,"

p.m. Saturday and Sunday. lt willbe closed holidays.

Designed by famed architect R.Buckminster Fuller, the geodesicdome — which Fuller calls his"fly's eye dome" — houses the in-formation booth in addition to ex-hibit facilities containing a graphicand audio/visual presentationillustrating significant events inLos Angeles since its founding.

Diehl says.

He added that the entire trans-portation services staff wanted toextend its thanks to the schedulecheckers who helped make theOperation a success. Those de-serving special mention includedV. Barta, A. Wilson, B. Harvey, D.Hamilton, G. Sage, A. Kauffman,L. Schimmel and H. Ritch.

The fiberglas and foam domestructure, which is 36 feet highand 42 feet in diameter at its base,is erected nine feet off the groundan an X-shaped support structurean which is displayed the Los An-geles historical timeline exhibit. 45round windows in the dome, eachmeasuring 71/2 feet in diameter,transmit light into the exhibitspace.

Bicentennial dome shelters RTD information booth

Southern California Rapid Transit District425 So. Main St., 6th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013 BULK RATE

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