LAPassenger

The goal with the Passenger-to-Passenger (P2P) addition to the website is to give LAPassenger users the ability to post immediate delay information right on our homepage. A large number of our users carry Internet enabled cell phones and more consumers will switch to a smart phone for their next model.

There are two ways to use the P2P module, via the main homepage or via our mobile site. Depending on what type of phone you have, it may be difficult to view the regular homepage in your mobile web browser. If this is the case, I suggest you go to the mobile P2P page accessible at http://www.lapassenger.com/mobile.

If you would like to post a P2P alert from a regular desktop or laptop, use the P2P module on the homepage.

P2P messages do not automatically get emailed and distributed via text message to subscribers. P2P messages just get posted on the mobile and regular LAPassenger homepage. So please continue to call or email in your alerts to me for any delay greater than 15 minutes, so I can send out the information to your fellow passengers.

When posting a P2P alert, remember to include important information. This includes
1) Train line
2) Train number or numbers
3) Delay information including: Where is the train currently located relative to stations? Is it moving, stopped, or running slow? Length of delay in minutes?

Here are a few examples of good alert postings:
-Ventura train 104 just arrived at Moorpark 20 min late. Train now en route to Simi Valley.
-Ant. Valley 215 stopped between Glendale and Burbank Downtown. Mechanical issue. Will update when we start moving again.
-OC 606 just departed Union Station 9 min late.
-San Bern. 311 just struck debris between Upland and Montclair, train stopped, expect big delay. Will update when conductor gives us more information.

The LAPassenger.com website only provides the means for passengers to send and receive information. Its up to all our members to participate by posting alerts with P2P, emailing LAPassenger with updates, or by calling our toll free alert reporting phone number.

Enjoy!
Brian

Labels: cell phone, Metrolink delay alerts, P2P

Below is a letter from Carter Spohn, a LAPassenger member and daily passenger for ten years. I am posting this information for our members' benefit and I hope it will help those passengers and victim's families who are healing and grieving after the Metrolink Chatsworth accident.


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I reside in Claremont, California and commute to Century City where my office is located. I have been riding Metrolink, San Bernardino line for nearly ten years. The law firm I work for, Magana, Cathcart & McCarthy is located in Century City.

I have stated many times in church, that I have my church family, my office family and my train (Metrolink) family. Like church, we seem to be a creature of habit; we sit in the same seat, and become disappointed when it is not available. We learn about each other’s lives and come to appreciate our relationships of the people we spend one hour a day with, five days, a week, and fifty weeks a year.

We feel safe in our commuting environment and when that is threatened it tends to work on us. Much like 911 we go on with our lives, however, in the back of each one of our minds we have concerns. My boys asked me “why I was not going to discontinue riding Metrolink after the accident?” I explained, it is still safer than driving. I have noticed many riders no longer riding in the first car. And there are those that have an expression on their face of fear as they lift there leg to get on one more time praying that nothing will happen to them.

So our world, our sacred commute, has been interrupted.

I have been involved with lawyers and the legal profession for over twenty-five years. During that entire time I have never, nor has any member of my firm ever chased a case, advertised for business or pursued an accident victim. My law firm is one of the oldest plaintiff law firms in the state. And for over sixty years we have allowed the grieving process to go on and wait for a prospective client to contact us with their requests.

Please know that in my opinion, there is no reason to act quickly. Now is the time to grieve and spend time with family members and begin putting the pieces back together in your life. You do not and should not be making any decisions regarding your legal representation at this time.
To be clear; Metrolink is a Governmental entity, a formal claim must be presented within six months of the accident date.

Governmental Code section 945.5 provides “that no lawsuit for money or damages may be maintained against the governmental entity unless a formal claim has been presented to that entity and has been rejected either by action on the part of the entity or by the passage of time. The governmental entity has only 45 days within which to either accept or reject the claim. If it failed to act within the 45-day period, the claim is deemed rejected by operation of law. Once rejected, the claimant must file a lawsuit within six months after delivery or mailing of the notice of rejection."

Therefore, you have time to spend with loved ones as long as you file a claim within six months of the accident date. It is doubtful that Metrolink will honor any claims and offer settlements in short order.

I know many attorneys and law firms chasing your business would like you to believe that there is a need to sign up with them as soon as possible in order to protect your rights. However, you have time and there is no immediate hurry.

My firm has been handling mass transportation cases around the world for well over 45 years and we have chosen to wait until the client contacts us rather than come knocking on their door. In fact, years ago a federal judge instituted a rule prohibiting attorneys from contacting family members or of anyone injured in an aviation disaster until thirty days after the accident. Sounds like good advice to me.

I appreciate you contacting me and asking my opinions on this matter.

Carter P. Spohn
BUSINESS DIRECTOR
MAGANA, CATHCART & MCCARTHY
310.553.6630

Labels: legal information, Metrolink

Greetings to all LAPassenger.com members, both existing and the over 20% of you new members who have joined the largest online community of Metrolink passengers since September 1.

October Topics:
- LAPassenger celebrates a new membership milestone on our first anniversary
- LAPassenger welcomes our first sponsor
- Our community comes together during the Chatsworth tragedy
- Legal information for our members from a fellow passenger and transportation attorney

LAPassenger Celebrates Membership Milestone on our 1 Year Anniversary
LAPassenger welcomed its 1000th member in late September. Thanks to each of our members letting other passengers know about our free service, our membership continues to grow each day. For those of you who are new to our community, welcome! Add our toll free number to your cell phone contacts and our email address to your smartphones. When a train is 15 min late or more, all it takes is ONE phone call or email from you to alert hundreds down the line.

It was one year ago in October 2007 when my sister, Laurie, and I stood in the tunnels of Union Station handing out Emetrolink.com cards to morning passengers. 60 people signed up that day and soon after we received a letter from Metrolink expressing concern about the similarity in the name EMetrolink.com and Metrolink. So I changed our name to LAPassenger.com, and one year later, 60 members has grown to over 1000. LAPassenger.com is now the largest community of Metrolink passengers online. Thank you to all our members who continue to phone/email us alerts and let their fellow passengers know about LAPassenger.com

LAPassenger Welcomes Our First Sponsor, Luminary Photo
Luminary Photo, run by Dave Alton and his wife, offer special event photography. Dave is a daily passenger on the Ventura County line and a regular contributor to LAPassenger information network. I invite you to visit LuminaryPhoto.com and contact Dave for your photography needs. In order to keep LAPassenger a free service to our members, I have been seeking sponsors for our website and our emails. If you would like to sponsor LAPassenger, or know someone who would, please click on the Sponsor link on our homepage menu.

The LAPassenger.com Community Comes Together During Chatsworth Metrolink Tragedy
At 4:32 on September 12, I received a phone call alert about the terrible accident in Chatsworth. I was riding on the Ventura 113 train and my hands were shaking so much that my alert that went out to Ventura trains 113, 115, 117, 119 that night was short: "Serious Metrolink accident in Chatsworth. Seek alternative transport immediately."

I set up a chat room on our website by 6pm and many members logged on to share their thoughts, prayers, frustrations, and disbelief as they saw the horrific scene reported on over the weekend.

On Monday morning, those Ventura line passengers who chose to ride, reunited at the Chatsworth Depot. There were hugs as "train friends" reunited with each other and tears as some realized their friends were among the victims. Hundreds of passengers signed the two get well cards for our conductor Bob Hildebrand (see earlier blog posting for pictures of the cards). As the media cameras focused on these get well wishes, the message was clear, Metrolink passengers are a community, deeply saddened by the events of September 12th.

On Friday September 19th, many LAPassenger members and hundreds of others from the Chatsworth community joined in a candlelight vigil at the Chatsworth station, held at sunset. The event was organized by two Chatsworth teens and sponsored by the Chatsworth Chamber. Large candles with the names of each victim and 130 other votive candles were lit to wish the injured a speedy recovery. It was a time to remember the victims and also thank the First Responders who were also present for their service.



Legal Information for Passengers Involved in the Chatsworth Incident
Recently there has been an onslaught of legal ads targeting the victims and those injured on train 111. It is not my place to comment if litigation is appropriate, however our LAPassenger community benefits from the membership of experts in many fields, including legal. A daily passenger, Carter Spohn, agreed to give some tips and advice to those passengers and family who are coping with loss and injuries, while being assaulted by lawyers who may not be experienced in these matters. You can read Carter's informative letter to LAPassenger members on our blog. Go to our homepage and click the Blog/Discussion link.

Have a great October everyone. Welcome again to our many new members. Remember, LAPassenger alerts come from you! When you become aware of a late, stopped, or cancelled train, call our toll free number or send us an alert email. Its that simple!

Labels: 111, accident, candle light vigil, Chatsworth, legal information, LuminaryPhoto.com, Metrolink, One year anniversary, sponsor

Labels: Bob Hildebrand, Chatsworth, Mayor Villaraigosa, media, Metrolink

September 12, 2008 - Chatsworth, CA - LAPassenger.com is the largest online community of Metrolink passengers. Each morning and afternoon we look forward to the familiar faces of our fellow passengers and Metrolink crewmembers, as we share our lives with each other on the trains. We are a community who rides, works, and socializes together for hours each day. We support Metrolink, as each day its hard working team gets us to the jobs that provide for our lives.

We have built a community on the trains and also online. We plan to come together as a community to help the victims and their families of Metrolink 111. But for tonight, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of 111, Metrolink staff, and the emergency crews on the ground and in the air who will work through the night.

Brian Buss, Founder of LAPassenger.com
Ventura County Line rider, train 113

Labels: accident, Chatsworth, community unity, Metrolink

Hello everyone, its a somber night here in Los Angeles. Metrolink Train 111 en-route outbound from Los Angeles toward Ventura collided with a frieght train in the Santa Susana pass tunnel area. I was on the 113 train which is less than 1 hour behind the 111. I received a call from a non-passenger friend just as I boarded on the train at Glendale. I quietly borrowed a laptop from a fellow passenger as mine had not booted yet, and sent an alert. I kept my voice low as to not alarm others, but soon the cell phones started buzzing with my alert and friends and family calling passengers on the train.

Finally at Van Nuys, the conductor mentioned the incident. First we held at Van Nuys, then we went to Northridge, where the train 113 finally stopped. My wife picked me up and I took a fellow passenger with us back to Moorpark.

I've set up a chat for people to check in with fellow passengers at:

http://www.lapassenger.com/chat/chat.html

Labels: accident, chat, Chatsworth, Metrolink, passengers

Labels: 104, accident, Metrolink, Northridge