LA Metro cracks down on subway freeloaders

A crackdown begins Wednesday on freeloaders who don't pay to ride Metro trains in Los Angeles. Subway riders will need a plastic TAP card to get through locked turnstile gates. Previously, passengers traveling through Union Station could slip past the gates without paying. 

But entrances leading to the Red and Purple lines will be latched this week. Commuters must buy a transit access pass - better known as a TAP card - to unlock them. It looks like a credit card and contains a smart chip. 

"You tap it on the sensor which is right on the turnstile, and then it unlatches the gate and you walk through," explained Paul Gonzales who works with the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He said the agency has tested the gates over the past few months. 

"We found in most cases that we're seeing fewer riders during the testing period but more revenue," adds Gonzales. "So what does that tell us? It tells us that there are a number of free riders - people who are not tapping their cards or not buying fares." 

Metro expects to increase annual revenue by about $7 million with the new enforcement system. Officials report sales at ticket vending machines increased significantly during the testing phase with several thousand more commuters paying than before. 

"You will literally be able to go from San Bernardino to Santa Monica, from Lancaster to Long Beach using the same fare card," said Gonzales. "You won't have to fumble in your pocket for change." 

To wit, witness Kerry Mansfields Expired, a series whose substance is the physicality of discarded and withdrawn library books. She brings the lens in close, showing worn edges and torn covers and photographing the ephemera of the library experience: the check-out cards and the paper pockets they went into, for example. She includes beloved titles like Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird and Dr. Seusss Hop on Pop, but also obscure ones like Evelyn Sibley Lampmans The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek. 

Ms. Mansfield is not a big reader herself, she confessed. But the nostalgic tug of the old cards and the books theyre glued to compelled her to photograph, as she characterized it, obsessively. 

This relationship with books is textural the dog-eared corners or the imprints left by scrawls in the margins are what appeal to Ms. Mansfields eye. There is one book from the Hadley Library with mold damage on it, and thats beautiful to me, she said. 

Before this project, Ms. Mansfield confronted a Job-like series of challenges, first battling breast cancer (the subject of her photo series Aftermath) and then sustaining a wrist injury at work that required scores of surgeries. But she was able to find a bright spot in those troubles with her newfound free time, she was able to pursue personal and fine art projects. 

Expired began with Ms. Mansfields idea of photographing classics of teen and childrens literature, but as she started to collect specimens, some titles wowed her books popular in decades past, unbeknownst to Ms. Mansfield, like Tabitha Dingle by Elsie M.Virtual iphoneheadset logo Verano Place logo. Alexander.Whether a mechanical endofleasecleaningsydney makes sense in your existing homes depends on the house. She contacted her local elementary school to suggest exchanging 20 new books for 20 old, but it was against school policy to accept new donations. As a compromise, they sent her the slips, cards and other pieces from the old books. 

Since then, she has scoured the Internet and garage sales,Cheap cleaningservicesydney dolls from your photos. her eyes always open for a book that bears a Withdrawn or Discarded stamp. Its a bit of treasure hunt, she said. Her partner is involved, too, taking to eBay to such an extent that she worries hell bankrupt her.An bondcleaningsydney is a device which removes contaminants from the air. She has made nearly 1,300 images and has giant plastic tubs in her home filled with books, waiting to have their portraits taken. 

With Ms. Mansfields treatment, these books become more like artifacts than bundles of knowledge or diversion. They summon a time when the librarian was a formidable figure and an overdue book portended Armageddon. Penalties of two cents, raised to five cents. All injuries to books beyond reasonable wear and all losses shall be made good to the satisfaction of the Librarian, one card reads. 

Looking for a way to increase residential waste recycling and reduce recycling litter in neighborhoods, the city wants to begin a two-year pilot program in which selected households would be asked to place their recyclables in clear plastic bags instead of bins. 

To carry out the pilot program,Our industry leading consumer and business rtls products offer competitive pricing combined. public works officials are recommending that the city's current recycling collection contract with Casella Waste Systems be extended for two years, from July 1 through June 30, 2015. 

Robert L. Moylan Jr., commissioner of public works and parks, said Casella Waste Systems is singularly qualified to run the pilot program because it has been collecting curbside recyclables in the city since 2008. 

The company also owns and operates the material recovery facility where all Worcester's recycling collection materials are taken and processed. 

There is no other recycling collection contractor within the collection area with the experience and the ability to collect and accept for processing, recycling materials brought in a plastic bagged format, Mr. Moylan wrote in a report that goes before the City Council Tuesday night. 

Mr. Moylan said the pilot program will take place in five different areas in the city to determine if clear bags should be considered for citywide recycling. 

Each area will consist of 250 to 300 housing units and will include single-family and multi-family dwellings. The commissioner said each pilot study will last for about three months and be done during various seasons to determine if weather affects the results. 

Meanwhile, each household in the pilot areas will also receive informational materials and a survey developed by the city and Casella, as well as a roll of 25 clear bags for recycling about 40,000 clear bags will be needed for the pilot program, he said.