MetroRiderLA

Note: Edited July 10, 2006, to supply the Ride Report with photos from the June 26 trip. Please excuse the camera-phone-grade quality of the pictures.  

Los Angeles riders have yet another Rapid bus available to them. The newest red-bus service is 734, mirroring local 234 along Sepulveda Boulevard between the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station and the Sherman Oaks Galleria.

Line 734 is a brand new service; 234 never had a limited-stop counterpart. Line 734 also has very generous service by Valley standards; 10 minutes during rush hour and 20 minutes mid-day. There’s no weekend service yet.

I took a southbound trip leaving Sylmar/San Fernando Station at around 2:30 p.m., just a few minutes after the Princessa-bound Metrolink train left. I snapped a picture of NABI bus 7867 arriving, and driver John Botley (badge #8899, Division 15) greeted me enthusiastically to take me on a fantastic voyage along Sepulveda.

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On saturday, I went to the movies with a few fellow metroriders (and one newbie) and naturally, we took public transit. We decided to go to the Chinese theatre in Hollywood. And since its reasonably close to home for us , we took the red line.

The movie let out around 1:20 am, and unfortunately for everyone in LA, the trains stop embarassingly early here, so it was going to be impossible to take that route back home. Well what to do?

A quick search of the MTA site via Sidekick (which is a whole other issue all together) revealed that our bus options were limited, but we had heard quite a bit about the newish Holly Trolley so we decided to give it a shot.

As we approached the classic looking street trolley, we could hear the pulsating beat. The well-dressed bouncer at the door was making the kid in front of us take off his colors before he got on. One dollar each later and we were on our way.

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Live Post: Via FlyAway,
originally uploaded by fredcamino.

I’m writing from aboard the FlyAway bus to LAX. It’s 5:35 AM on Friday morning. The bus arrived a few minutes later than its scheduled 5:30 AM, but the driver apologized and then inexplicably proceeded to handout surveys instead of getting back on schedule. So now we leave Union Station about 10 minutes later than planned. There are definately more people on boad compared to the last time I took the FlyAway… I counted 17, but the driver referred to one as an ‘employee’ when passing out the surveys. Hopefully this means ridership is steadily growing… there’s still plenty of empty seats on this bus though. A problem I’ve had with the FlyAway and early flights is that the first Red Line train to Union Station from my stop (Hollywood/Western) comes at 4:43 AM which gets me to Union just as the 5:00 AM FlyAway is set to leave, and unfortunately the transfer from the Red Line to the bus plaza upstairs is not instantaneous, so I am forced to wait for the 5:30 AM bus, which gets me to LAX at about 6:00 AM if all goes well. It’s certainly a nice easy ride though, and by far the cheapest option to get to LAX. Before the FlyAway was implemented I would take the trains to LAX: Red Line to Blue Line to Green Line and then transfer to an airport shuttle from Aviation Station… the FlyAway is without a doubt easier and faster than that option. I hope ridership continues to grow, I’d like to see packed buses and an increase in frequency soon after. Go FlyAway!
Written Live via HipTop

As of late I’ve been addicted to a show on the Discovery Channel called “The Deadliest Catch.” It’s about the Alaskan fisherman that risk life and limb for the jackpot of money that is Alaskan King and Opilio crab. However, sometimes luck isn’t always on their side and the pots dropped into the freezing water below don’t produce the prized crab of Bristol Bay. The deckhands and captain alike grow weary and frustrated as they wonder what they did wrong. This is how I felt Sunday afternoon when I took my first FlyAway ride from LAX to Union Station and little Rosalie our driver must have felt like Jeff, Captain of the Billikin, when gates kept coming up empty and our ship left for Union Station with just nine crabs to count. Just nine.

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Among the people involved with MetroRider.elhay I probably ride the least as I have not yet switched my daily communte over to the hands of a semi-capable MTA driver. I’m still a weekend warrior with the public trans, but I’m waiting for a new rapid out of hollywood/western which is supposed to start in July before I fully hand over the keys in the morning.

I’ll be the first to admit I have a problem with busses. (more…)

I came into this public transit fray initially for one reason only - the cultivation of a good time via MTA. There are as many kinks and fetishes out there as there are the myspace pages to contain them, but if you boil it all down having a good time is basically comprised of 3 things: People who you are sexually attracted to, the presence of social stimulating chemicals, and a place in which to combine the aformentioned things away from one’s home. This metro rider is currently only concerned with the last listed item; getting there. I’ll go so far as to say the place where people meet their vice is the largest and most important aspect of the three. So why don’t people party with transit in this city? There’s is definitely no clear or simple answer but I’ve taken it upon myself to slowly answer that question over time, drink by drink, party by party, post by post.

As FredCamino pointed out in a previous post, the MTA has decided to scale back operating hours due to “rider demands”. Aside from being ridiculous and falling into several old timey greek logical fallacies this move deals a heavy blow to the MTA party quotient. 12:30am is already absurd, an end time which really only allows the MTA to be used to get to the party, but now even earlier? It practically knocks the lime out of my gin and tonic. There really isn’t much more that can be said about this new policy change other than it is evil and clearly implemented by anti-social bridge trolls scared of their own reflection and the smell of human pheromones after dusk. So take a swig and speak up, let them know this post hoc ergo propter hoc doesn’t count as “rider demands”. Until then be sure to ride soused, arrive drunk, and bring a change of clothes then crash at Tammy’s place. Happy hangovers.