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ChineseMetro Introducing 24-Hour Rail Service On Weekends Starting in May
Good news for the clubbers and MetroRiders in general, according to this press release[PDF] I received from Metro, starting in May the Red Line will run nonstop Thursday night through Sunday morning thanks to a program Metro is calling “Metro L8Nite”.
Yes, that’s right, L8Nite. As in, “late night,” get it?
The copy in the colorful press release is just as ridiculous as the name. Using words like “party peeps” and “hipsterific”, Metro is obviously targeting a very specific demographic with this campaign, skewing towards the young and trendy members of Generation Y. According to the press release, starting Thursday nights at midnight, Red Line trains will run every half hour, until, one can assume, the regular schedule starts up again. Apparently this will be the case Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The catch is you have to buy a “Metro L8Nite Pass” which will be available at the ticket vending machines for $8. Another innovation Metro seems to be pulling with this campaign is having “Metro Bouncers”, which I think is just a “kewl” way of saying fare checkers, in place after midnight to make sure the club goers aren’t cheating.
The best part of this all? It’s coming in just over a month. It seems Metro is timing the start of this program with a big party weekend, Cinco de Mayo. I imagine if they promote this right, things are going to get really wild on the Red Line that first weekend of May.
Obviously, this is pretty astounding news, and something many of us MetroRiders have been dreaming of for quite a while. While I’m not sure about the name – L8Nite is just a bit cheesy – the limited information provided does seem pretty great, and surprisingly innovative for Metro. I’d be more than willing to pay a premium, in this case $8, to hit up the Hollywood bars, save money on parking/valets/taxis etc., and be able to stay out all night long. It’s not clear what happens to those with day passes or monthly passes, but my guess is that this is a premium service and those passes won’t apply. Also, will connecting transit match the increased hours of the Red Line? Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find any mention of this on Metro’s website, but I guess that’s not big surprise. No matter, it’s nice to see Metro finally growing up and allowing the Red Line to really integrate into what is obviously a 24/7 city. Next stop, all night service, every night!
Discussion
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Whoo hoo party time!!! Wait, i’m married now, have to go to bed by 9 p.m. Darn!
Nice April Fool’s one, Fred.
Maybe the 8 in l8Nite stands for the 8 bucks you have to fork over to ride the train. However, is it much of a deal if you are with three of your peeps? Let me see 8 x 4 = $32.00, parking $20.00 not getting a DUI, priceless. But wait I still have to drive from NoHo home? Hopefully the buzz will ware off by the time I get to NoHo.
[...] Metro Introduces 24 Hour Rail Service? (Metro Rider) [...]
Yay. April 1st, the day my dreams were crushed.
I knew it was to good to be true. Ha Ha. Send this to the MTA.
Tough week Ubrayj?
Won’t do me any good until the Antonovich extension to the San Fernando Monorail resumes late nite service. you Angelenos get all the good stuff.
Rob Dawg:
LOL
manu:
You know what, I didn’t even think about that (the $8 thing and L8Nite)! I’m a genius!
This was officially the first April Fool’s gag that got me. I guess if you want something bad enough, you’ll believe anything.
The first thing I did when I read this was check the calender.
But I want to believe…
Spokker:
What are you implying Cinco de Mayo doesn’t land on a Thursday this year?
You, sir, are mean. I second Ubrayj’s comment.
You are also very, very good. I’m going to go sob quietly to myself now.
This is the worst april fools day joke so far. Only because I want it to be true.
YES WE CAN!!!!
I suspect Kym “threw up in her mouth a little bit” at my comment.
Any word on the Beach Cities Loop Light Rail inauguration of the “Cruise to Nowhere” party trains?
I have to be honest, I did a real double take when I read this. The mock up of the press release was really good too…all I could think for a second was, “How the hell did I miss this.”
A couple of nice touches, the almost-cool-but-not-quite name “L8night” and the casual mention that Metro didn’t address how service cuts on buses would effect this plan…
Fred, I think this qualifies as intentional infliction of emotional distress.
To wit: an intentional or outrageous act, containing extreme and outrageous conduct, and the plaintiff is damaged as a result of the act.
I think you’re liable to all of your readers.
Good thing you’ve canceled your ZipFlexCar membership because you’re going to need that extra cash flow. 
aaron:
This statement from Metro is my only defense.
to make it perfect for metro marketing you should have quoted a pink song. “Iiiiiiiimmmm comin’ up so you better this party started – Go Metro!”
You want to know the difference between New York and Los Angeles? It can be found in their transit Oriented April Fools jokes. To understand what I’m talking about, check out this prank from the NYC-based Second Avenue Sagas transit blog.
Instead of saving bus lines or building a better rail system, metro has decided to heavily publicize a faux beauty contest in which participants are asked to describe in 100 words why they love metro so. The winner will be awarded with a plastic tiara and a t-shirt.
APRIL FOOLS! oh wait…
man.. the LA and NYC april fools pranks.. two different worlds
Service changes are always in June and December (by contact), not May! I so wanted to send this one around the office just to watch the finger pointing and CYA emails go flying…
and of course, I also wish it were true!
LOL, I was kinda hoping you would.
[...] have been fooled by metroRiderLA. The article on April 1st was a spoof and I fell for it. Sorry for any confusion and any false [...]
[...] reminded of the April Fool’s joke we pulled on our readers last month by announcing, with fake PDF brochure and all, the creatively named L8Nite concept. Unfortunately Enci was defenseless against my expertly [...]