MetroRiderLA

MetroRiderLA would like to wish all of our readers a Happy Holiday!

Thanks for supporting this blog since its creation this past June, it’s been a fun ride and I’m still amazed that anyone reads it all. But for those of you that do, a heartfelt thanks! Look for a lot more content in 2007, including more MetroMovies from the MetroRider crew, as well as a number of new features and who knows what else.

I herby dub 2007 The Year of the Public Transit Lifestyle. Resolve to ride.

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…well at least after a press conference at Hollywood/Highland. To all the naysayers, here’s proof that the mayor has at the very least taken the Red Line once. I took this video yesterday after the Mayor held a press conference in front of the Hollywood/Highland Red Line station promoting the MTA’s free ride program on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

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In my continued quest to make MetroRiderLA a site that popularizes a public transit lifestyle in Los Angeles I have added a Yelp! badge to the sidebar (right over there, just under the links section). The Yelp! badge is a Google Maps mash-up that will features reviews of Metro accessible restaurants, bars, shopping districts, attractions, and more. At the end of each review I will list the rapid transit options available to reach each particular destination (within a 0.5 mile radius). I probably won’t be able to list every single bus line that stops near by, but I’ll make note of any Metro Rail and Metro Rapid service in the area. Hopefully this will introduce people to the multitude of dining, entertainment, and shopping options that are easily accessible by Metro. If you have a review you’d like to add, feel free to email it to me. Include the name and address of the destination, the Metro accessibility options, and a 1-to-5 star rating in your review.

Edit: I’ve actually decided to open this up a bit more.  So if you’d like to add to the Yelp badge on a regular basis, please email me for the universal user name and password we will use for the MetroRider Yelp.  Please be respectful when writing reviews and using the Yelp account.  Thanks.

And yet another local transit blog joins the ever growing fray… this time it’s “Notes from the bus…” from Geo. McCalip.  “Notes from the bus…” will chronicle Geo’s experiences on LA and Orange County public transit and his bike.  He plans on doing a lot of mobile blogging from the trains and buses, and accordingly he offers rail maps for your Treo or iPod.  Great idea!  In addition his site offers a few guides, including “Using Public Transit from LAX” and “Using the Trip Planner“.  I’m adding a link to “Notes from the bus…” to the sidebar, and I encourage everyone to check it out!

NBC Universal and Thomas Properties Group announced yesterday a “long-term Vision Plan” to revitalize and sustain their 391-acre Universal City property (which houses Universal Studios, Universal Studios Hollywood Theme Park, and Universal CityWalk) through a transit-oriented developmenet project simply called the “Universal City Vision Plan”. According to Ron Meyer, president and COO of Universal Studios, the 25-year plan represents opportunity to “take a fresh look at our industry, the community, and our businesses”. For a full rundown of all Universal has planned check out the Universal City Vision website.

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An Amsterdam parking lot. Photo courtesy of Poom247 via Flickr.

I stumbled upon a post by a blogger from the Netherlands, Ingrid Robeyns, asking the question, “Can you live without a car?” And her post also has a secondary question, “Can post-industrial families live without a car?” The distinction of course is that it may be easier for an individual without a family to live car free, but in a family with children a car may be a necessity in our modern world.

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