MetroRiderLA

Some items from our neighbors to the south.

The North County Times wrote on the major transit improvements expected to be completed this year. In November, the toll/transit/carpool lanes in the 15 freeway will be completed. After that, North County Transit District plans on opening the Sprinter between Oceanside and Escondido.

Even sooner, San Diego County is getting its own 511 system. The Bay Area has it already. This utilizes modern communications and technology to deliver both road and transit information, through telephone by dialing 511 and through maps and information online.

Another cool online resource — and I thank Fredcamino for forwarding this to me — is Better Trolley. A rider of the San Diego Trolley created helpful maps and information for new and existing riders. It’s a very good resource for a very good rail system.

The Orange County Transportation Authority has something useful for customers. Destination Deals shows a list of stores throughout the county that have partnered with OCTA for discounts. It can be sorted by location and business type. Alas, unlike MetroRiderLA’s Yelpcasts, no bus or train information is provided to the establishments.

A guide can be mailed as well.

In other news, OCTA’s meeting agenda for January 8 is pondering doubling the OC Express bus fares to $2.50 from its present $1.25 promotional fare, with monthly passes for $86. The changes would take effect January 22. This affects lines 757 (Santa Ana-Pomona) and 758 (Irvine-Chino).

Six lines will see service cancellations and more lines will be broken to improve Metro service reliability within the San Fernando Valley. These service changes would go into effect in June 2006 if approved, according to the San Fernando Valley Transit Insider.

The changes are to be discussed at meetings on January 10 and February 7 in Van Nuys.

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NPR has a short segment on car-free living in Los Angeles. It’s an interview with Chris Balish, author of the book “How to Live Well Without Owning a Car“, who happens to live in Los Angeles without a car and loves it. Chris was once a self-proclaimed “car-addicted person” but chose to make the jump to a car-free lifestyle for financial reasons, which I like because a huge benefit of the car-free lifestyle is the monentary savings that come from getting rid of a car all together. It’s probably one of the best reasons to choose to go car-free. Even if you spend $150 per month on car-free transportation (Metro fare, car-sharing fees, taxi fares, etc.) you are still saving a bundle compared to owning a car when you take into consideration factors such as: gasoline, parking, service, washing, and insurance. And this doesn’t even include the upfront cost of buying car.

I haven’t read Balish’s book yet, but after hearing this interview I’m going to pick it up. Look for a report in the future.

Thought your favorite band was the coolest and most socially correct? Well check this out: Not only are the Secret Machines playing a show in San Diego this week to benefit the hardest hit regions in Dafur, but early next week they will be playing a show at Union Station to raise awareness of public transportation here in LA. There will also be a special DJ set by Shepard Fairley and a photography exhibit by Mark The Coberasnake featuring people riding public transportation. Here’s the catch - you can’t come by car. The 8:00pm show requires a valid incoming Metro to get in. And they’ll apparently be checking to make sure you didn’t park at Union Station and buy a Red Line ticket once there. Ok, so when we said free, we really meant $1.25. But hey, a cool band in a cool building.

Secret Machines
Tuesday, October 24^th
7:30pm @ Union Station
Valid Metro Ticket required for admission

http://www.thetransitcoalition.us/newspdf/ttc20061017c.pdf
www.myspace.com/secretmachines

(more…)

Thought your favorite band was the coolest and most socially correct? Well check this out: Not only are the Secret Machines playing a show in San Diego this week to benefit the hardest hit regions in Dafur, but early next week they will be playing a show at Union Station to raise awareness of public transportation here in LA. There will also be a special DJ set by Shepard Fairley and a photography exhibit by Mark The Coberasnake featuring people riding public transportation. Here’s the catch - you can’t come by car. The 8:00pm show requires a valid incoming Metro ticket to get in. And they’ll apparently be checking to make sure you didn’t park at Union Station and buy a Red Line ticket once there. Ok, so when we said free, we really meant $1.25. But hey, a cool band in a cool building. You can’t really go wrong.
Secret Machines
Tuesday, October 24^th
7:30pm @ Union Station
Valid Metro Ticket required for admission

http://www.thetransitcoalition.us/newspdf/ttc20061017c.pdf
www.myspace.com/secretmachines

(more…)