MetroRiderLA

Some of the swag at Metro’s online store is going green. Metro has added a new t-shirt, baby onesie, and lanyard with an eco-twist to their retail mix. The t-shirt, made of certified organic cotton, features the bold statement “I Ride For A Greener LA” printed in white on the sage colored fabric. It’s not as cool as a Prius, but for $19 it allows you to non-verbally communicate to the world just how much you care about Mother Earth. The Future Metro Rider Onesie (link takes you to a hilariously large image courtesy of Metro’s funky online store) is perfect for all you moms who want to show other moms just how much your rugrat cares about the environment. $15 will get you this lush certified organic cotton baby poop (100% biodegradable) receptacle. Last but not least is this slick black Metro Lanyard($6), made of 100% recycled soda and water bottles. Wear it around your neck, or whatever you’re supposed to do with lanyards, and know that your last bottle of Fiji water potentially went on to a better life.

The larger question brought about by this new product line-up is: does anyone actually buy stuff from the Metro Store?

I’ll confess. I have. Metro nerd that I am, I bought a few posters, a lapel pin, and a retractable badge holder or two for when I worked in the office (both badge holders promptly broke). I have to imagine though that I’m in the minority. Will Metro really sell enough t-shirts to recoup their investment (however small) in certified organic cotton? Do enough people buy their babies Metro apparel to ensure that there’s not boxes of organic onesies sitting in some warehouse until the end of time? These questions and more can be answered in our newest poll:

OK, so I’m basically hijacking the Metro news release and shilling for expensive phones.  All at once!  Basically, Metro has created a mobile-friendly website, according to the news release.

So I proceeded to try it with my Helio Ocean, which has previously struggled with the SoCal Transport trip planner.  This time, however, once I viewed the pages in HTML, it worked like a charm.  The trip planner worked well, the user interface was no more clumsy than any other mobile website, and it was generally easy to use.  I’m favorably impressed.  I have the Opera browser on my phone, as Metro suggests using, but did not have to use it - the regular Helio browser sufficed.

I might add, I bought the Ocean in no small part for use as a regular transit rider.  The Ocean’s GPS function helps me a great deal when I’m lost (which sadly happens much more often than it should), and now that Metro’s website is mobile-friendly, it’ll be much easier to both a) Find the nearest Pinkberry with Google Maps and b) get directions to that yogurt-yet-maybe-not-yogurt goodness from anywhere in Los Angeles.  So I’m going to give Metro’s new mobile website an unequivocal  two-thumbs-up as yet another way to bring along people who may not traditionally be transit riders in the Southland.

It’s good to see Metro looking for more ways to help people connect with them, as their phone lines are difficult to get through to and not open terribly frequently.  Now we’re just looking forward to getting proper information on real-time arrivals on mobile devices - hopefully this website is the backbone to getting the high-tech Holy Grail online.

(Image courtesy of the folks over at Helio, an LA-based provided of high-end mobiles)

[tags]gear, metro, los angeles, wallet, koyono, urban outfitters[/tags]

A wallet with an outside view window is essential for Metro Pass holders.

If the upcoming fare hikes materialize in their currently proposed form, your Metro Pass will become a luxury item and require the finest of frames. In all seriousness, a good wallet with a view window on the outside is an essential accessory for any MetroRider who uses a pass. It allows you to quickly flash your pass to a bus driver or fare cop without fumbling around and keeps your pricey pass as safe as your cash and credit cards. Also, a good Metro Pass wallet should be compact so it can be safely stored in your front pocket, alleviating your back from any additional undue stress (as if a bumpy bus ride wasn’t enough) and protecting your pass from the “threat” of pickpockets.

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[tags] metro tips, metro, tips, helpful hints [/tags]

Credit So Cal Metro via Flikr

There are hundreds of different things that can make or break a good metro experience, most out of the riders’ control, but others perfectly fixable. That is to say, different variables everyday can have adverse effects on your ride and with a few tried and true practices and hints those variables can be easily forgotten. For example: many times bus drivers will feel they must make a glacier of the desert and try to freeze out the bus. If you’re not prepared your bus ride can be a terrible experience and you’ll wake up with a stuffy nose the next morning. This is a common thing so most all MetroRiders are aware of this. Which means they also know that it’s easily remedied by simply bringing a zip up hoody or jacket or sweatshirt whenever you ride. No problem. But what about that back door of those articulated busses? What about those crazies a seat over? Read on for these and others and please add as many as you can think of for MetroRiders are a lot like Marines, we have to look out for each other.

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[tags]rain, umbrella, gear, los angeles, metro store[/tags]

When it comes to rain, compared to established transit cities like New York (46 inches a year) and London (23 inches a year), Los Angeles is relatively dry (15 inches a year). Nonetheless, on days like today when the rain falls, it can be a hassle to those in the Los Angeles transit culture. The age old solution? The umbrella.

Now you could go ahead and spend a lot of money and get an aerodynamic umbrella ($65), a nanotech umbrella ($94) that doesn’t get wet, and of course, for you nerds (or Hollywood Blvd. characters), the Lightsaber umbrella ($41). Due to our somewhat precipitation-light climate, perhaps you don’t wish to spend $94 on an umbrella, but still want to have something that stands out from the crowd. How about this umbrella ($25, pictured above) from our very own Metro Store. Featuring the Metro system map, this umbrella tells passing cars as you wait at the bus stop that you are MetroRider and just because you don’t drive a car doesn’t mean you’re gonna get wet!

[tags]gear, transit, grocery shopping, gadgets, gizmodo, ikea[/tags]

Grip bag holder from whateverworks.com.

A big issue a lot of MetorRider’s run into that those entrenched in the car-culture typically don’t have to worry about is grocery shopping. Most grocery stores in L.A. are modern supermarkets designed around the car-culture. They are surrounded by huge parking lots and you’re supposed to go in and fill you cart with as much groceries as it can hold and then fill your trunk and make your way home to your two car garage. The car-free and the transit-friendly don’t have the convenience of a trunk, instead we must rely on our own two hands. This generally means that you can’t buy as much as you would if you had a car. But that shouldn’t present a problem to the savvy transit user, who by nature are a bit more minimalist and organized than the car’d, so we buy what we need and schedule our grocery shopping around those needs. Even so, sometimes you need some help with those grocery bags, especially if you’re carrying heavier items like a gallon of milk or a bunch of canned goods. This is where these innovative products come into play.

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