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ChineseDaily Transit Links Roundup
Contributed by Fred Camino on May 22nd, 2008 at 9:35 am
- Pasadena rules when it comes to smart growth planning.
- Transit advocates storm Sacramento looking for some respect, or at least money.
- Pam chat aftermath: O’Connor wants to end the free ride for low-emission vehicles.
- Metrolink is a bit overzealous when it comes to protecting its “brand”.
- The L.A. Underground as seen from the BBC.
- Pleasure in pain, high gas prices put smiles on the faces of environmentalists
Discussion
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I wish Metrolink wouldn’t waste their time with those guys. They are only giving them more publicity. Nobody even visits those two sites anyway.
The guys who run those two web sites are a little nuts though.
On the BBC article, he does mention not being able to get to Beverly Hills or the beach by subway. This would change, of course, with a Purple Line extension. He also mentions the Burbank Studios. It does bring up that most of the studios are not all that transit friendly, yet they are major employment centers in this town. NBC/Universal is moving its operations to the Universal City Red Line station.
Actors in New York and London would have no problem riding the subway. I’d love to see Hollywood celebrities like Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt ride Metro. (Ha, Ha, Ha, I know.) Imagine if Leonardo DiCaprio had promoted his movie, The 11th Hour, by saying he will now use transit more often. If they think in terms of environmentalism and transportation at all, it’s the Ed Begley, Jr. electronic car, bicycling variety.
In other cities, mass transit is transportation for the masses. There is still a cultural stigmatism here that public transit is transportation welfare for losers, and not only does one have to have a car, one has to have the “right” car. That changes with each one of us who de-car and ride Metro with pride.
I remember a recent Los Angeles Times article where someone with the Century City Chamber of Commerce opposed the Wilshre Blvd. bus only lanes because “someone who makes $500,000 a year will not ride the bus.” That may be the fundamental symbolism of what has been wrong with public policy in the Bush area and to transportation non-planning. The welfare of those who make $500,000 come before those who make far less, which is 99% of us.
I started riding my bike to my nearest bus stop last week, and the bus driver told me that if you show up w/ a bike and helmet (I didn’t have my helmet that day), that the ride is free. Is that true? I’ve been looking on the Internet everywhere, but I don’t see any written evidence of that. Thanks!
That was for Bike to Work Day last week.
Bikes are allowed on the front of buses with racks, but you still have to pay a fare.
Nancy, that is just because last week was “bike to work week.” It was a limited-time, promotional offer from Metro and a number of other operators in LA County.
But given that Metro always says that there goal is to get everyone to use transit at least one day a week, wouldn’t it make more sense for them to have promos for cyclists to try and get recreational cyclists to commit to that one day a week goal?
Just sayin…
When I first met Ed, we were on the same RTD Line 424 bus on Ventura Blvd. And he still remembers that.
Was he really? That’s awesome. He’s even more of a star.
The BBC piece seems a little condescending. The reporter never considers that the subway might be a link to other light rail lines or even–horrors!–a lowly bus. After all, even the fabled London Underground has limitations. Try enjoying the night life, then taking the Tube after midnight. Sorry, no can do. So what’s left? Taxis or big public vehicles on rubber tires. Of course, those red double-deckers have a cachet that are beyond the wildest dreams of Los Angeles. Still, it’s telling how the “cool/not cool” attitudes toward public transportation depend so much upon the larger culture.
Well, I used to go clubbing deep into the night when I lived in London and what they have is an amazing OWL bus system. One can catch a bus to almost anywhere one wants to go.