MetroRiderLA

If you don’t drive, the possibility of an angry Armenian jumping out of his ‘98 white Mercedes C class and charging at you after he cuts you off is quite slim. Though not to put it past the athletic suit wearing offender, I just think the chances are less, not impossible, for such a confrontation to occur while riding the bus or train.

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Photo by Ollinkoatl via Flickr.

Ingredients:

- 1 Anti-Bush/War March
- 2 different movie shoots
- Lotsa Rain

And what do you get, a miserable and well effed public transit day. Though in the end, I’d rather be walking to a bus than sitting in the absurd traffic that existed today in DTLA. (more…)

Saturday was beautiful with just the right amount of sun and the right amount of breeze. So my girlfriend and I decided to head on out to Pasadena, however, instead of taking the easily accessible Gold Line I convinced her to take the bus with me instead. I told her I was in the mood to write up a new ride report and that as far as I knew the 79 had not been done yet. Plus I wait at a bus stop that shares with the 79 and the majority of people at the stop seem to get on that bus and I had always been curious where it went. Thrilled, she said ok.
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Photo by ricemaru via Flickr.

While perusing the internet I happened upon an interesting article over at LAist about a new GPS system Metro is trying to put into place so riders can track how much longer it will be for their specific bus to arrive. Currently it is only working for Metro Rapid’s and the Orange line, but here’s hoping that if this “trial” process works it will be implemented into all Metro buses and rails. LAist did a nice test run of the system so check out their results. Since I’ve gone to the site I’ve been doing the same though I’ve not been able to test the cell phone updates. This has been a dream of MetroRiderLA’s for sometime now and this huge step is making us smile quite a bit. Again, lets hope it’s done correctly and not half assed (like many of Metro’s projects). And I agree with LAist when they suggest an outside company do the work.

I imagine sitting on my first bus and checking my next bus to see how long it will be ‘til it gets to my transfer point. Will I make it!? If the rapid is so far off, should I just hop on the local? It’s arriving after all. Or should I just walk. How many times have you decided you’d just walk, giving up on your bus’ failure once again, and seven minutes later your bus goes flying by? Well if it hasn’t happened yet, don’t worry, it will. With this we can avoid that drastic mistake. Or perhaps you’re sitting at a restaurant or bar and you can check your phone quickly to see if you have time for one more drink or can you hit the bathroom real quick before you go? I could go on and on. The advantages are endless (I know the two examples seem mundane, but just think about it). Lets just hope the time it takes for this to get implemented isn’t.

Oh that’s just the windows… or the seats or the, well just about everything really. Have you ridden in a bus that tops twenty-five miles an hour as of late? Though not likely a normal thing, if ever, the past couple weeks with the winter hiatus of most production work and therefore mass exodus of thousands from Los Angeles streets, travel time during rush hour is down over a 25%, and at other times even more! However, is faster really better? (more…)

It crossed my lips without even knowing it, but as soon as it came out I knew I had betrayed LA. It hurt and still does. How could I? How could I speak so passively and negatively of something I’ve championed so much since its inception in March? Well, if you were on that Blue Line train from O’Hare airport in Chicago going straight to the city then you would too.
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