Lancaster, California
Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. As of 2013, Lancaster was the 31st largest city in California. Lancaster is part of a twin city complex with its southern neighbor Palmdale and together they are the principal cities within the Antelope Valley region. Lancaster is located 61 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, near the Kern County line, it is separated from the Los Angeles Basin by the San Gabriel Mountains to the south, from Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley by the Tehachapi Mountains to the north. The population of Lancaster grew from 37,000 at the time of its incorporation in 1977 to over 156,000 in 2010. According to the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance report of 2015, Lancaster has a population of 168,049; the area where Lancaster is now located, known as the Antelope Valley, was home to the Paiute Indians. Lancaster's origins as a settlement start with the Southern Pacific Railroad, believed to first use the name Lancaster, where a station house, locomotive watering facilities and section gang housing were built when the railroad laid track through the town's future location.
In 1876 the Southern Pacific completed the line through the Antelope Valley, linking San Francisco and Los Angeles. The origin of Lancaster's name is unclear, attributed variously to the surname of a railroad station clerk, the moniker given by railroad officials, or the former Pennsylvania home of unknown settlers. Train service brought passengers through the water-stop-turned-community, with the help of promotional literature, attracted new settlers; the person credited with formally developing the town is Moses Langley Wicks, who in 1884 bought property from the railroad for $2.50 per acre, mapped out a town with streets and lots, by September was advertising 160-acre tracts of land for $6 an acre. The following year, the Lancaster News started publication, making it the first weekly newspaper in the Antelope Valley. By 1890, Lancaster was bustling and booming, thanks to adequate rainfall, farmers planted and sold thousands of acres of wheat and barley; the town was devastated by the decade-long drought that began in 1894, killing businesses and driving cattle north, though fortunes improved somewhat in 1898 following the nearby discoveries of gold and borax, the latter to become a widespread industrial chemical and household cleaner.
Thanks to the five-year construction of the 233-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct starting in 1908, Lancaster became a boom town by housing aqueduct workers. The 1912 completion of Antelope Valley Union High School allowed students from the growing region to study locally instead of moving to distant cities, the school boasted the state's first dormitory system to accommodate students from outlying districts; the community began a steady growth spurt in the 1930s, starting with construction of Muroc Air Force Base, site of frequent flight tests, including the "breaking" of the sound barrier by Chuck Yeager in a Bell X-1A in 1947. In the 1980s through the end of the program, Edwards Air Force Base, by renamed, hosted a limited number of landings of the Space Shuttle; the development of Air Force Plant 42 in 1958, augmented in the 1960s by construction of Lockheed Aircraft's Plant 10, created tens of thousands of jobs. High-wage employment hit its peak in the 1970s during the Lockheed L-1011 commercial wide body jetliner project, for which all assembly and some engineering and parts production were performed.
250 L-1011 aircraft were airfield. Lancaster was an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County until 1977, when it was incorporated as a city, with Arnold Rodio serving as its first mayor. Lancaster State Prison opened in 1993 and before that Los Angeles County hosted no prisons but accounted for forty percent of California's state-prison inmates. "Most of Lancaster's civic leaders and residents" opposed the building of the prison, four inmates escaped from LAC in its first year of operation. By 2000 a proposal to increase the proportion of maximum-security inmates received little criticism. In 2005, Hyundai Motor Co. announced the grand opening of a 4,300-acre, $60 million "Proving Ground," a state-of-the-art testing facility for cars and sports utility vehicles in nearby California City. Lancaster is now home to major defense contractors such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, BAE, government agencies, such as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, which are all active in design and manufacturing of a variety of military and commercial equipment.
Notable projects assembled and/or designed there include the Space Shuttle orbiters, B-1 Lancer bomber, B-2 Spirit bomber, F-117 Nighthawk fighter, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, a wide body passenger jet aircraft. The region is proximate to the Mojave Air & Space Port, famous as the base of operations for Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites, the company that designed SpaceShipOne and won the X-Prize. In 2010, the city opened The BLVD, a one-mile revitalized stretch of Lancaster Boulevard between 10th Street West and Sierra Highway. City leaders have set the ambitious goal of becoming the nation's first Net-Zero municipality, wherein they will produce more clean energy than they consume. Much of the city's infrastructure including City Hall, local schools, their minor league baseball stadium are solar powered. In March 2013, Lancaster became the first city in the US to require solar panels on all new homes in an effort to make the community more carbon neutral; the rule took effect in January, 2014.
War Eagle Field is a former airfield located in the Mojave Desert, about 5 m
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak, is a passenger railroad service that provides medium- and long-distance intercity service in the contiguous United States and to nine Canadian cities. Founded in 1971 as a quasi-public corporation to operate many U. S. passenger rail services, it receives a combination of state and federal subsidies but is managed as a for-profit organization. Amtrak's headquarters is located one block west of Union Station in Washington, D. C. Amtrak serves more than 500 destinations in 46 states and three Canadian provinces, operating more than 300 trains daily over 21,400 miles of track. Amtrak owns 623 miles of this track and operates an additional 132 miles of track; some track sections allow trains to run as fast as 150 mph. In fiscal year 2018, Amtrak served 31.7 million passengers and had $3.4 billion in revenue, while employing more than 20,000 people. Nearly 87,000 passengers ride more than 300 Amtrak trains on a daily basis. Nearly two-thirds of passengers come from the 10 largest metropolitan areas.
The name Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and trak, the latter itself a sensational spelling of track. In 1916, 98% of all commercial intercity travelers in the United States moved by rail, the remaining 2% moved by inland waterways. Nearly 42 million passengers used railways as primary transportation. Passenger trains were owned and operated by the same owned companies that operated freight trains; as the 20th century progressed, patronage declined in the face of competition from buses, air travel, the automobile. New streamlined diesel-powered trains such as the Pioneer Zephyr were popular with the traveling public but could not reverse the trend. By 1940, railroads held just 67 percent of commercial passenger-miles in the United States. In real terms, passenger-miles had fallen by 40 % from 42 billion to 25 billion. Traffic surged during World War II, aided by troop movement and gasoline rationing; the railroad's market share surged with a massive 94 billion passenger-miles. After the war, railroads rejuvenated their overworked and neglected passenger fleets with fast and luxurious streamliners.
These new trains brought only temporary relief to the overall decline. As postwar travel exploded, passenger travel percentages of the overall market share fell to 46% by 1950, 32% by 1957; the railroads had lost money on passenger service since the Great Depression, but deficits reached $723 million in 1957. For many railroads, these losses threatened financial viability; the causes of this decline were debated. The National Highway System and airports, both funded by the government, competed directly with the railroads, who paid for their own infrastructure. Progressive Era rate regulation limited the railroad's ability to turn a profit. Railroads faced antiquated work rules and inflexible relationships with trade unions. To take one example, workers continued to receive a day's pay for 100-to-150-mile work days. Streamliners covered that in two hours. Matters approached a crisis in the 1960s. Passenger service route-miles fell from 107,000 miles in 1958 to 49,000 miles in 1970, the last full year of private operation.
The diversion of most U. S. Postal Service mail from passenger trains to trucks and freight trains in late 1967 deprived those trains of badly needed revenue. In direct response, the Atchison and Santa Fe Railway filed to discontinue 33 of its remaining 39 trains, ending all passenger service on one of the largest railroads in the country; the equipment the railroads had ordered after World War II was now 20 years old, worn out, in need of replacement. As passenger service declined various proposals were brought forward to rescue it; the 1961 Doyle Report proposed. Similar proposals failed to attract support; the federal government passed the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965 to fund pilot programs in the Northeast Corridor, but this did nothing to address passenger deficits. In late 1969 multiple proposals emerged in the United States Congress, including equipment subsidies, route subsidies, lastly, a "quasi-public corporation" to take over the operation of intercity passenger trains.
Matters were brought to a head on March 5, 1970, when the Penn Central, the largest railroad in the Northeast United States and teetering on bankruptcy, filed to discontinue 34 of its passenger trains. In October 1970, Congress passed, President Richard Nixon signed into law, the Rail Passenger Service Act. Proponents of the bill, led by the National Association of Railroad Passengers, sought government funding to ensure the continuation of passenger trains, they conceived the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, a private entity that would receive taxpayer funding and assume operation of intercity passenger trains. The original working brand name for NRPC was Railpax, but shortly before the company started operating it was changed to Amtrak. There were several key provisions: Any railroad operating intercity passenger service could contract with the NRPC, thereby joining the national system. Participating railroads bought into the NRPC using a formula based on their recent intercity passenger losses.
The purchase price could be satisfied either by cash or rolling stock. Any participating railroad was freed of the obligation to operate intercity passenger service after May 1, 1971, except for those services chosen by the Department of Transportation as part of a "basic system" of servic
San Joaquin (train)
The San Joaquin is a passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's Central Valley. Seven round-trip trains a day run between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton, where the route splits to Oakland or Sacramento; the route has an extensive network of dedicated Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach buses that are critical to the performance of the service. In 2016, over 55% of passengers used an Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach on at least one end of their trip. Buses are timed to meet trains and offer connections to points in Southern California, the city of San Francisco, the Central Coast, the North Coast, the High Desert, Redding and the Yosemite Valley; the San Joaquin is Amtrak's sixth-busiest service in the nation and the railroad's third-busiest in the state of California. During fiscal year 2016, the service carried 1,122,301 passengers, a 4.7% decrease from FY2015. Total revenue during FY2016 was US$35,585,570, a 4.8% decrease over FY2015. Like all regional trains in California, the San Joaquin is operated by a joint powers authority.
The San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority is governed by a board that includes two elected representatives from each of eight counties the train travels through. The SJJPA contracts with the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission to provide day-to-day management of the service and with contracts with Amtrak to operate the service and maintain the rolling stock; the California Department of Transportation provides the funding to operate the service and owns the rolling stock. The San Joaquin runs over lines; the top trains were the Golden Gate on the Atchison and Santa Fe Railway, the San Joaquin Daylight on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Prior to 1960s service cutbacks passenger service continued south of Bakersfield, to Glendale and Los Angeles. In April 1965 as ridership on passenger trains continued to drop, the Santa Fe Railway received permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission to curtail Golden Gate operations, with service abandoned three years later; the San Joaquin Daylight was discontinued with the start-up of Amtrak in May 1971.
Other passenger trains that ran through the Central Valley included Southern Pacific's Owl and Santa Fe's San Francisco Chief and Valley Flyer. Amtrak routed all Los Angeles-San Francisco service over the Southern Pacific's Coast Line in its initial 1971 route structure, leaving the San Joaquin Valley without service. Both the Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Daylight and the Santa Fe's San Francisco Chief had served the region. Beginning in 1972 Amtrak revisited the decision at the urging of area congressmen, notably Bernice F. Sisk, who favored service between Oakland and Barstow or, failing that and Sacramento. Service began on March 5, 1974 with one round-trip per day between Bakersfield and Oakland and a bus connection from Bakersfield to Los Angeles; the San Joaquin could not continue south of Bakersfield due to capacity limits over the Tehachapi Loop, the only line between Bakersfield and points south and one of the world's busiest single-track freight rail lines. Amtrak chose the Santa Fe route over the Southern Pacific, citing the higher speed of the Santa Fe–79 miles per hour vs. 70 miles per hour –and freight congestion on the Southern Pacific.
The decision was not without controversy, with Sisk alleging that the Southern Pacific lobbied the Nixon Administration to influence the decision. In 1979 Amtrak proposed discontinuing the San Joaquin as part of system-wide reductions ordered by the Carter Administration; the state of California stepped in to provide a yearly subsidy of $700,000 to cover the train's operating losses, it was retained. At the time the state asked Amtrak to add a second round trip between Oakland and Bakersfield, to extend the service south over the Tehachapi Pass to Los Angeles. Amtrak added the second train in February 1980, but attempts to extend the train over the Tehachapi Loop failed due to Southern Pacific's opposition. A third round trip was added on December 17, 1989, followed by a fourth on October 25, 1992. On May 16, 1999, Amtrak added a Sacramento–Bakersfield round trip - the fifth daily San Joaquin round trip. A second Sacramento–Bakersfield round trip was added on March 18, 2002, with a fifth Oakland–Bakersfield round trip added on June 20, 2016.
On May 7, 2018, the last southbound train was cut to Fresno, allowing it to become an early-morning "Morning Express Service" northbound trip to Sacramento. This change, which allowed same-day trips to Sacramento for the first time, was expected to result in increased ridership from business travelers. However, it was criticized by Bakersfield-area officials because it reduced daily service to Bakersfield by one daily round trip; the SJJPA plans to evaluate a proposal from those officials to instead originate the train in Bakersfield, but skip many intermediate stops to allow arrival in Sacramento for business hours. The service is expected to be suspended and reverted to its previous time slot on May 6. Counts indicated ridership at 50 people compared to 130 with the old timetable; the SJJPA plans to convert an existing morning trip to Oakland to a Fresno-originating "Morning Express" trip in mid-2019, with a southbound train cut back to Fresno. In June 2020, a third Sacramento–Bakersfield round trip will be added, with one existing Oakland–Bakersfield round trip converted
Antelope Valley Line
The Antelope Valley Line is a commuter rail line that serves the Northern Los Angeles County area as part of the Metrolink system. The line is rural in character because it travels through the sparsely populated Soledad Canyon between Santa Clarita and Palmdale, serving the small community of Acton along the way. Other portions of its route parallel the former US Route 6, now San Fernando Road and Sierra Highway; the line began service on October 26, 1992, was called the Santa Clarita Line at the time. It was one of three original lines in the Metrolink system along with Ventura County and San Bernardino lines; the route ran from Los Angeles Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles to the Santa Clarita station making stops only at Glendale and Downtown Burbank stations. Since the beginning of service, Metrolink had plans to extend the line north to the Antelope Valley but these plans were expedited by 10 years following the 1994 Northridge earthquake; the earthquake caused the collapse of the freeway connector of State Route 14 onto Interstate 5 at the Newhall Pass interchange, forcing all traffic to use the parallel 2 lane truck bypass, unaffected by the quake.
With funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency the Southern California Regional Rail Authority constructed an emergency extension of the line to Lancaster to help relieve the traffic bottleneck. The U. S. Navy Seabees construction battalion and crews from the L. A. County Public Works Department were able to construct the stations in just a few days, compared to the normal three to six months. Emergency stations in Lancaster and Palmdale were both built in just three days and Metrolink started operating trains one week after the earthquake struck. Over the next five weeks additional emergency stations were added in Sylmar/San Fernando, Vincent Grade/Acton and Santa Clarita. While most of the emergency stations have since been replaced with permanent stations, the Via Princessa station still uses the same platform built after the earthquake. Saturday service on the Antelope Valley Line has been operating since 1999, Sunday service was added in September 2007; as of August 2013, weekend service has expanded to 6 trains on Sundays.
Arrivals at LA Union Station are timed allow passengers to connect with Amtrak trains and trains on Metrolink's Orange County and San Bernardino lines. Express service was added to the line in May 2011. Two express trains operate in the peak commute direction between Los Angeles. Express trains are about 18 minutes faster than trains. On April 30, 2015, Metrolink announced it will be offering discounted fares to riders on the Antelope Valley Line beginning July 1, 2015 as part of a pilot program; the fare pilot program, which will be in place for six months following the program's launch, will include several new ticket pricing options for riders on the Antelope Valley Line. There will be a 25 percent reduction in fares on all ticket types for trips along the corridor from Los Angeles to Lancaster, with the exception of the Weekend Day Pass, which will remain at its current $10 fare. In addition, a new "station-to-station" fare will be introduced in which riders traveling during off-peak hours will be able to purchase a one-way ticket to travel between stations for $2 per station.
This fare is designed to encourage local trips using Metrolink as an additional mobility option complementing local bus service. The Antelope Valley Line has 19 trains en route to Union Station and 19 trains en route to Lancaster on weekdays and six trains each way on weekends; as a commuter rail service, most weekday trains on the Antelope Valley line run during the peak morning and evening hours with the majority of trains operating southbound toward Los Angeles in the morning and northbound away from Los Angeles in the evening. There is limited reverse commute service. Weekend service is more evenly spaced throughout the day; as of the June 2016 timetable, only eight trains operate the full route from Lancaster to Los Angeles on weekdays and nine trains operate the full route from Los Angeles to Lancaster. Four southbound trains on weekdays end in Newhall; the next available train with service to Los Angeles arrives in Newhall within 45 minutes. Most of the short turn trains have connecting North County TRANSporter bus service that takes passengers to or from the Palmdale station.
All weekend trains operate the full route. Two trains on weekdays operate on an express schedule in the peak commute direction between Palmdale and Los Angeles making stops only at the Santa Clarita, Sylmar/San Fernando and Downtown Burbank stations. A new Burbank Airport–North station opened in 2018 to serve Antelope Valley Line passengers traveling to Hollywood Burbank Airport; the station is located near the intersection of San Fernando Boulevard and Hollywood Way, with a free shuttle bus for passengers to the airport terminal located one mile away from the station site. Expansion to Kern County has been discussed in a 2012 Kern County Council of Governments report. Rosamond Mojave Metrolink Schedules http://www.openstreetmap.org/?relation=1172222 – Route on OpenStreetMap
Train station
A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot is a railway facility or area where trains stop to load or unload passengers or freight. It consists of at least one track-side platform and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales and waiting rooms. If a station is on a single-track line, it has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements; the smallest stations are most referred to as "stops" or, in some parts of the world, as "halts". Stations elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses, trams or other rapid transit systems. In British English, traditional usage favours railway station or station though train station, perceived as an Americanism, is now about as common as railway station in writing. In British usage, the word station is understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified. In American English, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station. In North America, the term depot is sometimes used as an alternative name for station, along with the compound forms train depot, railway depot, railroad depot, but applicable for goods, the term depot is not used in reference to vehicle maintenance facilities in American English.
The world's first recorded railway station was The Mount on the Oystermouth Railway in Swansea, which began passenger service in 1807, although the trains were horsedrawn rather than by locomotives. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore, which survives as a museum, first saw passenger service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on 22 May 1830; the oldest terminal station in the world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, built in 1830, on the locomotive hauled Liverpool to Manchester line. As the first train on the Liverpool-Manchester line left Liverpool, the station is older than the Manchester terminal at Liverpool Road; the station was the first to incorporate a train shed. The station was demolished in 1836 as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station. Crown Street station was converted to a goods station terminal; the first stations had little in the way of amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830.
Manchester's Liverpool Road Station, the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses. Early stations were sometimes built with both passenger and goods facilities, though some railway lines were goods-only or passenger-only, if a line was dual-purpose there would be a goods depot apart from the passenger station. Dual-purpose stations can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, passengers wanting to board the train had to flag the train down in order for it to stop; such stations were known as "flag stops" or "flag stations". Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the grandiose architecture of the time, lending prestige to the city as well as to railway operations. Countries where railways arrived may still have such architecture, as stations imitated 19th-century styles.
Various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of stations, from those boasting grand, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles. Stations in Europe tended to follow British designs and were in some countries, like Italy, financed by British railway companies. Stations built more often have a similar feel to airports, with a simple, abstract style. Examples of modern stations include those on newer high-speed rail networks, such as the Shinkansen in Japan, THSR in Taiwan, TGV lines in France and ICE lines in Germany. Stations have staffed ticket sales offices, automated ticket machines, or both, although on some lines tickets are sold on board the trains. Many stations include a convenience store. Larger stations have fast-food or restaurant facilities. In some countries, stations may have a bar or pub. Other station facilities may include: toilets, left-luggage, lost-and-found and arrivals boards, luggage carts, waiting rooms, taxi ranks, bus bays and car parks.
Larger or manned stations tend to have a greater range of facilities including a station security office. These are open for travellers when there is sufficient traffic over a long enough period of time to warrant the cost. In large cities this may mean facilities available around the clock. A basic station might only have platforms, though it may still be distinguished from a halt, a stopping or halting place that may not have platforms. Many stations, either larger or smaller, offer interchange with local transportation. In many African, South American countries, Asian countries, stations are used as a place for public markets and other informal businesses; this is true on tourist routes or stations near tourist destinations. As well as providing services for passengers and loading facilities for goods, stations can sometimes have locomotive and rolling stock depots (usually with facilities for storing and refuelling rolling stock an
Agua Dulce, California
Agua Dulce is a census-designated place located in Los Angeles County, California. It lies at an elevation of 2,526 feet. Agua Dulce is located northeast of Santa Clarita; the town covers a geographic area of about 25 square miles. The ZIP code is 91390 and area code 661. Agua Dulce is located about 25 miles Southwest of Palmdale, 44 miles North of Los Angeles, in the Sierra Pelona Valley region of Southern California; the 2010 United States Census reported that Agua Dulce had a population of 3,342. The population density was 146.3 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Agua Dulce was 2,854 White, 59 Black, 24 Native American, 78 Asian, 3 Pacific Islander, 223 from other races, 101 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 611 persons; the Census reported that 3,314 people lived in households, 28 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, 0 were institutionalized. There were 1,201 households, out of which 355 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 795 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 72 had a female householder with no husband present, 58 had a male householder with no wife present.
There were 64 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, 10 same-sex couples or partnerships. 200 households were made up of individuals and 73 had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76. There were 925 families; the population was spread out with 645 people under the age of 18, 310 people aged 18 to 24, 588 people aged 25 to 44, 1,336 people aged 45 to 64, 463 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males. There were 1,277 housing units at an average density of 55.9 per square mile, of which 1,058 were owner-occupied, 143 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%. 2,929 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 385 people lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, Agua Dulce had a median household income of $103,333, with 2.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line.
Vasquez Rocks has long been used as a popular filming location by the Hollywood movie industry, most notably The Flintstones movie, Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, the Star Trek episode "Arena." The 1971 movie Duel filmed extensively in the area. Other films shot in the area are Rat Race, 127 Hours and Ted's Bogus Journey and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle; the History channel shoots the popular reality TV show "Top Shot" in the hills and canyons on the north side of the valley. Reno 911 has filmed in locations off of Soledad Canyon Road; the Agua Dulce area has played host to music video shoots, including those for the Bloodhound Gang's "Your Only Friends Are Make-Believe" and Weird Al Yankovic's "I Love Rocky Road", various Nike commercials. Vasquez Rocks got its name from the famous bandit Tiburcio Vásquez; the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from Mexico to Canada, goes through Agua Dulce. Agua Dulce has a general aviation airport known as Agua Dulce Airpark; the Airpark and surrounding area was the location for the ABC game show 101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow which premiered on June 21, 2011.
Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District: Vasquez High School, Acton High Desert Middle School, Acton Meadowlark School, Acton Agua Dulce Elementary School, Agua Dulce The Agua Dulce Town Council Township of Agua Dulce Acton/Agua Dulce News - Local newspaper "Agua Dulce and Vasquez Rocks History". Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 2004-07-04. Agua Dulce Vineyards Vanguard News Agua Dulce and Acton news online Weather information for Agua Dulce and Acton
Coaster (commuter rail)
Coaster is a commuter rail service that operates in the central and northern coastal regions of San Diego County, United States. The service is operated by Bombardier Transportation on contract with North County Transit District; the service has eight stops and operates during weekday peak periods, with additional weekend and holiday service. The North San Diego County Transit Development Board was created in 1975 to consolidate and improve transit in northern San Diego County. Planning began for a San Diego–Oceanside commuter rail line - called Coast Express Rail - in 1982. Funding for right-of-way acquisition and construction costs came from TransNet, a 1987 measure that imposed a 0.5% sales tax on San Diego County residents for transportation projects. The Board established the San Diego Northern Railway Corporation - a nonprofit operating subsidiary - in 1994. SDNR purchased 41 miles of the Surf Line plus the 22-mile Escondido Branch from the Santa Fe Railway that year. COASTER service began on February 27, 1995.
NCTD contracted Amtrak to provide personnel for Coaster trains. In July 2006, TransitAmerica Services took over the day-to-day operation of the commuter train, based on a five-year, $45 million contract with NCTD. In 2016, Bombardier Transportation replaced TransitAmerica as COASTER's operator. San Diego County voters extended the TransNet sales tax through 2038, which includes funding for rail track upgrades. By the early 2010s, numerous improvements such as added double track and bridge replacements were in various stages of construction and design; as part of the broader North Coast Corridor project $1 billion is planned to be spent on new segments of double track between San Diego and Orange County. NCTD plans to extend COASTER service north to Camp Pendleton The agency plans to build limited-use stations at the Convention Center and the Del Mar Racetrack for use during major events. More than 20 COASTER trains run on weekdays, with additional service on the weekends; as of the April 3, 2017 schedule, COASTER added Friday Night service with trains running until a quarter after midnight.
More weekend services operate during summer months and when there are special events The COASTER connects with Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner at Oceanside, Solana Beach, Old Town Transit Center, Santa Fe Depot in San Diego. The COASTER connects with the Metrolink rail system at Oceanside, providing connecting service to Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, it connects to the San Diego MTS buses at the Old Town Transit Center. The COASTER connects with BREEZE buses at all North San Diego County station stops; the cost of COASTER tickets is based upon the number of zones traveled. Fare collection is based on a proof-of-payment system: tickets must be purchased before boarding and are checked by roving fare inspectors. Monthly passes are available. All tickets and passes include transfer agreements with NCTD BREEZE buses and monthly passes include transfer with the Metropolitan Transit System buses and Trolleys. On January 20, 2011, the NCTD implemented a fare reduction – the fare reduction led to increased ridership on the COASTER and so was made a permanent fare reduction in September 2011.
As of January 2012, regular one-way fares are as follows: Within one zone: $4 Within two zones: $5 Within three zones: $5.50With proof of eligibility, senior citizens, people with disabilities, Medicare cardholders receive a 50% discount on the above fares. Riding the COASTER without a valid ticket may result in a penalty fare of up to $250. Riders cannot purchase tickets on board the train. In September 2008, SANDAG introduced a new contactless "Compass Card", made possible by Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc; the "Compass Card" allows passengers from MTS and NCTD to store regional transit passes and cash value on a rewritable RFID card. Customers can add cash value on the Internet or at any ticket vending machine. Prior to boarding a train, customers tap their Compass Cards on the ticket validator located on the train platform; the LED display on the validator lights up with lights resembling that of a stoplight, the LCD display shows text regarding the passenger's fare account. The COASTER carried about 514,450 passengers during its first year of operation, ridership rose in the years that followed.
In 2012, COASTER ridership was 1.6 million people, with an average number of 5,600 weekday boardings. 40% of weekday commuters detrain at Sorrento Valley. In June 2018, the North County Transit District Board of Directors approved the purchase of five Siemens Charger locomotives to replace their existing five F40PHM-2C locomotives that were remanufactured by Morrison-Knudsen. Deliveries are expected in the first half of 2021, with $10.5 million of the estimated $53.9 million cost earmarked from statewide gas tax and vehicle registration fees. In August 2018, NCTD announced that they were seeking public opinions and input on a re-brand of the agency; this included two new paint scheme ideas for COASTER, along with the existing scheme being used as a third option. The new COASTER livery will be decided upon by agency officials depending on the public input and will be painted on the new Siemens Chargers and passenger cars in 2021. NCTD maintains two rail storage yards for the COASTER; the main
7.6% (Metrolink)
