Trying the Red Line

The new blogger at Red Line Diary has made the switch: he's commuting from home in Burbank to the downtown civic center via subway. Not that the MTA makes it easy for him. In his first post, he describes the frustration of arriving at the platform at 11:30 pm to discover his train not there and a rumor that nothing was getting to the Valley due to police activity at the 7th Street/Metro Center station:

In my short time riding the underground rails, I've noticed several things which have made me wish I had an MTA official sitting next to me, so I could grab their lapels and say, "Why are you doing it this way??" This blog will be my attempt to grab a few lapels, but also hand our some bouquets as I see fit. If the MTA folks are paying attention, who knows, maybe I can affect some small change....

I sat there in ignorance for about 10 minutes, figuring the "police action" (it turned out to be a suspicious package left at the station, which they warn us to report on those marvelous electronic bulletin boards!) would work itself out.

Suddenly, the public address system crackled into action. An earsplitting announcement was being made, whose every other word I thought I could make out. I divined that maybe what they were saying was that North Hollywood bound trains would continue past the 7th St./Metro station without stopping, but I could not be sure....

Great news for me, disastrous for those who were headed for that station, which links up with the Blue Line! There were several people in my car who quite distressed about this, but were given no options by the PA system guy. They were left with the only option of getting off one station before, or one station after, and then trying to figure out how to get home on a bus, I suppose!

Nonetheless, he posts that the blog will help "spread the gospel of public transportation in my own small way. These daily trips are filled with far more satisfaction than frustration. I'm saving tons of money, I'm feeling better about myself as a self-described environmentalist, and arrive at work each day in a much better frame of mind: no freeway stress."