MetroRiderLA

The Bishop Coffee Shop & Gourmet. Photo from Hope E. via Yelp!

Here’s a quick roundup of some of my favorite 5-star reviews thus far from the MetroRiderLA Yelpcast:

• Hollywood: Natalie Peruvian Seafood Restaurant
• Long Beach: George’s Greek Cafe
• Downtown: The Bishop Coffee & Gourmet
• Mid-City West: The French Crepe Company

Do yourself a favor and check out these reviews, and then hop on a bus or train and get your ass to these 5-star establishments, transit directions are included in each review! Let us know what you think!

Oh and remember, if you’d like to add your own reviews to the MetroRiderLA Yelpcast, just email me. The more comprehensive our Yelpcast, the better for everyone.

… do the transit mash.

MetroRiderLA linked to Better Trolley, a tres cool web site with an interactive flash map of the San Diego Trolley system, and was especially impressed by the pinpointed stations linked to an interactive map. Upon further research, we discovered similar features for other big-city transit systems.

Google Maps Mania, a blog that tracks mash-ups using Google Maps, has a list of interesting transit mash-up maps around the world.

There’s no such service available for Southern California, yet. Although, Google Transit has rudimentary trip planners for Burbank Bus and Orange County Transportation Authority services.

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.

[youtube]AuJw1LqDzZY[/youtube]

As far as I know, Chris Hume’s “Beneath Los Angeles” is the only documentary film made about the construction of the Metro Red Line. That fact alone makes this a must see movie for transit-enthusiasts, not to mention those interested in the projects that have shaped our city and region. In my opinion, a $5billion public works project should have a number of documentaries devoted to it, but it looks Chris was the only filmmaker in a city of “filmmakers” who gave a shit.
(more…)

The MetroMole is back in 2007, and now he’s equipped with a digital camera! Check out his most recent article for:

• A way to save babies!
• More wasteful Metro marketing exposed!
• A possible alternative to TransitTV?
• A haunted bus stop!

And yet another local transit blog joins the ever growing fray… this time it’s “Notes from the bus…” from Geo. McCalip.  “Notes from the bus…” will chronicle Geo’s experiences on LA and Orange County public transit and his bike.  He plans on doing a lot of mobile blogging from the trains and buses, and accordingly he offers rail maps for your Treo or iPod.  Great idea!  In addition his site offers a few guides, including “Using Public Transit from LAX” and “Using the Trip Planner“.  I’m adding a link to “Notes from the bus…” to the sidebar, and I encourage everyone to check it out!