MetroRiderLA

[tags]bru, metro, transit racism, hypocrisy, eric mann, damien goodmon, get la moving[/tags]

Yes ladies and gents, yesterday I finally met up with the renowned and very well compensated leader of the Bus Riders Union, Eric Mann, in the boardroom during the fare increase public comment period. I started the conversation - okay okay scolding - telling Eric how much I loved rail and hated seeing him use the blood and struggle of my ancestors to push his personal self-aggrandizing and enriching agenda. I then proceeded to apologize for not being able to afford to attend his recent gala at the Crystal Ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel, explaining I had to put food on my table and buy my bus pass instead. You know how life is for we commoners.

I then handed him my card and encouraged him to personally contact me to discuss the issue further. I asked for his card in return, but being the celebrity he is - he was all out of cards! I was so befuddled by his presence that I forgot to request he write down his info on the back of one of my cards. Darn - maybe next time.

The highlight of our interaction came a few minutes later when I got to personally present him with one of the dozens of flyers I made [above], which I circulated throughout the board room and among the press.

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This Saturday at 2:15 pm I will present an updated version of the Get LA Moving Plan before the Southern California Transit Advocates monthly meeting on the 4th floor meeting room in Downtown Los Angeles’ Angelus Plaza (255 S. Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90012). Please come to the meeting to see the presentation and engage in a healthy dialogue about the future of our region with some of the most seasoned mass transit advocates in Southern California.

In keeping with the Eric Mann Watch, if you’re not too busy Saturday night perhaps you should drop by the Crystal Ballroom in the Biltmore Hotel to celebrate with Los Angeles’ favorite transit adovocates - the B.R.U. and Labor Strategy Center.

It’s not yet clear whether the esteemed philosopher, theologian and transit engineer will show (please, oh please Fuhrer Mann come to teach us how racist we rail lovers all are), but free food and comedy at the Biltmore is enough to get me to consider swinging by. And heck if they have an open bar I might stay the night.

Hopefully, I can get in the door after having my cover completely blown.

I’m sure at 1 a.m. they plan to burn the place down, so I advise leaving before 12:30 a.m. lest you spend the rest of the weekend in jail sleeping next to some buff guy with a name better suited for a rottweiler.

[tags]transit, los angeles, get la moving, car free, uncar, subway[/tags]

Hello All,

I’m a mass transit advocate, a proud mass transit rider, and I’m about to relapse.

I live smack dab in the middle of this city in Leimert Park. The closest rapid station to me is just a 5-minute 0.3-mile walk away and the THREE red buses (710, 705 & 740) can wisk me away to any part of this city. The locals (all within a 5-minute walk) include the 40, 42, 105, 210, 305, and 608 in addition to the Dashes. Outside of Koreatown/Pico-Union or Downtown I couldn’t ask for better mass transit connections in this city.

And yet, for the first time in over 5 years I’m seriously considering purchasing an automobile. I’ll go from paying $0 per month for personal transportation (my job pays for my bus pass in lieu of paying for parking) to needing to put $4-6K down and pay $500-$1000 per month (depending on whether I take on a car note). So why the heck would I consider it? Primarily because my time IS that valuable, and my commute on public transit does suck.

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