MetroRiderLA

An Amsterdam parking lot. Photo courtesy of Poom247 via Flickr.

I stumbled upon a post by a blogger from the Netherlands, Ingrid Robeyns, asking the question, “Can you live without a car?” And her post also has a secondary question, “Can post-industrial families live without a car?” The distinction of course is that it may be easier for an individual without a family to live car free, but in a family with children a car may be a necessity in our modern world.

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A few weeks ago Andrew from Here In Van Nuys sent me a link to an article he wrote about the much maligned TransitTV. Unfortunately, due to the madness of the holidays, I haven’t been able to address it until now. Anyhow, Andrew, a Metro Orange Line rider, despises TransitTV. The “assualt on the senses” as he calls it ruins an otherwise peaceful ride through the Valley. But is TransitTV really that bad? Let’s just put it this way, Andrew is not alone.

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Over at Blogdowntown, the ever inquisitive Eric discovered that the MTA was created in 1952 in order to construct a monorail from the Valley to Long Beach. Matt Barrett, the Metro Librarian (who hooked me up with some great links to some MetroMovies you’ll be viewing the in future), chimed in to clarify some facts about the beginnings of the MTA:

“The first MTA was formed by the State in 1951 for the expressed purpose of STUDYING, not constructing, a monorail line from Long Beach to Panorama City. That first MTA failed at public relations when the monorail lobby moved in (like the MagLevers are doing now) and offered to build systems for “free” in exchange for the next 40 years of farebox revenues…”

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The MetroMole is back with another one of his entertainingly scathing commentaries on the LACMTA.  In his most recent article, the Mole:

• Interviews a transit professional… and learns stuff!
• Disses the plans for street cars in Downtown LA
• Gets a good laugh out of Metro being called “America’s Best”
• Meets his transit “Dulcinea”…  maybe love on a bus is possible.

So go ahead and check out the writing of one of my favorite LA transit bloggers.

Image Courtesy of CBS2.COM

Terrible news. According to the LAFD News & Information Blog, an Orange Line Metro Liner bus collided with delivery truck that ran a red light today at Woodman Ave. and Oxnard St. Apparently 17 out of the 125 people on the bus were injured. Most injuries were minor, but the blog reports that one passenger suffered “serious” injuries. CBS2.COM has a video of the aftermath here.

Unfortunately, for those have followed the Orange Line, we know that this is not the first time an accident has happened. This is unfortunate, because the Orange Line has been been steadily gaining popularity since its inception (and initial string of accidents) and this frightening event might stifle the popularity a bit.

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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.