Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Tales about riding Metro Rail and buses make up a growing subset of the L.A. blogosphere. Doc on the Train is written by a resident at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center who carries a skateboard on his daily travels and who discovered a missing patient at a bus stop. Yesterday he offered a 12-step primer to would-be MTA riders:
"Me, ride the metro?" You may ask. "Isn't that just for homeless people who don't own cars?"Well, I admit that if you read my blog, you may get the false impression that all of the riders are homeless people with poor hygeine. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. Most of my rides, I am disappointed that there is very little out of the ordinary to report for you all. I see respectable people in business suits, bankers, lawyers, nurses, and workers of all kinds. Most people read the paper and keep to themselves. It's just that this doesn't make for a very interesting story and gets under-reported....
9. Can I use the train instead of a designated driver?
Yes! However, all trains and most buses stop running around 1am in LA. Therefore, you can always arrive early and drink yourself to an early stupor, stumble to the bus stop, and get out before the last call rush. If you find an afterparty, the trains start running again at 4am and you can get home in time for breakfast.10. Is it faster than driving?
That depends on your commute and parking situation. For me, it adds time to my daily commute. However, I can sleep, listen to my ipod, call people, and read the paper, all while someone else drives me there. I arrive home well rested and ready for action.
Dan Evans, who works for the city Ethics Commission, has a less rosy view of his bus commute. Riding with a racist driver and a bad odor can do that to you. If seeing the f-word on LA Observed troubles you, don't read on.
Bus travel in Los Angeles is similar to the Hobbesian musing about the human condition: nasty, brutish and short. Well, except the short part.
The bus was packed, standing room only. I jimmied my way into the only spot left, eight feet behind the driver. The man seated at first base, the spot closest to the front and opposite the driver, wore a fake fur coat, a ball cap covering his balding hair and several layers of flannel. As it was all of 85 degrees this evening, I thought this odd. He spoke passionately in monologue to the driver, ranting about the poor state of the world as it related to (in order): women, Asians, Jews, gays, bisexuals, lesbians and Dick Cheney. He might taken on blacks, Islam and Al Gore, but I was only going to Glendale. I hardly feel bad about the piling on of our current vice-president, who is STILL being pilloried for shooting an old man in the face. But the man’s tirade was filled with such amazing ignorance and hate I began to feel queasy. And remember, I lived in New York. I began to feel a bit bad for the driver, as the poor man couldn’t exactly change his seat. And then the driver spoke. “Yup. You’re completely on it, man. Fuck them. Fuck them all.” Huh.When I first got my driver’s license, my mother told me to “never drive angry.” This ironic advice, mind you, since whenever she got angry, she would go for a drive. It calmed her down.
The Sylmar 92 driver, on the other hand, grew angrier at each mile. And, oh dear God, he suddenly had a reason: a man in a parked car opened his door in front of the bus, causing the driver to screech to a halt.
Separately, reader (and rider) Matthew Horne emailed to take exception to Lydia Kennard's argument that connecting the Green Line into LAX would be a waste of money.
I just wanted to help fuel the debate on mass transit access to LAX. I am a dedicated transit supporter and living in Koreatown am fortunate to enjoy usage of the limited heavy/light rail our city offers. Unfortunately the Westside of Los Angeles does not yet know the joys a flaneur like myself takes in effortlessly navigating our wonderful city, transferring from red to gold lines via Union Station en route to a lunch date in Pasadena. When it comes to providing increased travel times and alternate, less environmentally damaging routes to LAX there is just no reason for waiting any longer to upgrade at least the transit element of the long beleaguered Hahn, now Villaraigosa expansion master plan. It's great to hear that the Union Station Flyaway is experiencing high ridership, which may aid in the MTA moving forward on the 100+mph LAX Express train from LAX to Union Station via the old Harbor Subdivision ROW.Secondly, I wanted to mention that if the green line were extended 2.5 miles east to the Norwalk Metrolink station this would open up LAX to the entire Metrolink system. The MTA has so many great new projects both in the works or in planning. We'll see which way the influence of advocacy groups leads the future of Los Angeles transportation. Take a look at the attached documents for more.
Meanwhile, it looks like the Red Line Diary blogger has shut down.