MetroRiderLA

• Seniors in Long Beach attempt the Transit Oriented Lifestyle, but elements of the car-culture like wide roads and quick traffic signals make it difficult.
• A look at potential changes to 1st and Alameda courtesy of the Downtown Regional Connector.
• The true gas holiday - this summer it’s estimated that summer travel by public transit will increase by 35%.
• Rail transit transparency: Amtrak shares on-time performance data with customers.

Image courtesy of waltarrrr.

Note: Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I’ve been in the process of moving my operations to a new location. The dust is just starting to settle, and the new HQ should allow me to better balance posting on MetroRiderLA and my other work. Plus, now I have an actual commute, I will be biking to work!

• I don’t usually condone it when bicyclists are a-holes, but this is pretty incredible footage.
• Animated tunnel advertisements on the Red Line seem to amaze most, but have a few people upset.
• Bike lanes go up at the speed of knitting in LA, and bicyclists think that sucks.
• To our favorite troll, Ocean: New York City looking to LA’s Rapid buses for inspiration.
• Can mass transit hope to compete with the global oil industry?
• Despite rising gas prices and rising transit usage, the governor plans to divert $1.4 billion away from public transit and put it in the general fund.
• The Free Way Act, created by a small government conservative, aims to keep pricing off of federally funded freeways.

• Four reasons why rising gas prices are hurting public transit.
• The O.C. to spend $12 million studying monorails and trolleys for the area.
• Megabus about to bail from Los Angeles confirming stereotype that Angelenos love their cars.
• Save mass transit, save the world.
• Amtrak needs to get on the wi-fi tip and quick.  Strike while the iron’s hot!
• L.A. Visions provides an update on the Downtown Regional Connector.

Part of the Transit Oriented Lifestyle is coming into contact with the craziest people on earth every once in a while.  I know in L.A. I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with people who are clearly mentally deranged, but this clip of a woman screaming, ranting, and … freestyle rapping at an old lady on MARTA in Atlanta may just take the cake.  Let’s just remember that these people are the exception, not the rule, when it comes to transit riders.

• Metro service change forces long-time bus commuter into a car.
• Natural congestion pricing: rising gas prices are easing traffic congestion on Los Angeles auto-roads.
• A mere $531 billion needed for transportation in Southern California.
• Across the nation, high gas prices are getting people on neglected transit systems for the first time.
• Are most people mature enough to get around without a car? Doubtful.