MetroRiderLA

The gadget blog, Engadget, posted a particulary offensive story yesterday about the implementation of free WiFi internet access on a few Bay Area bus lines. Apparently AC Transit, a transit authority in the East Bay, is in the testing phase of a system which will allow riders to log onto the internet from their laptops, free of charge, as they ride. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me, and a smart way to grab new ridership from business commuters. A majority of the cars cramming up our streets are from business people coming to and from work, business people who can’t do their precious business safely while driving a car. A WiFi enabled bus would be an attractive option for a business person who could check her email, catch up on the news, and check her favorite transit blog on her way to work.

But Engadget is skeptical. They reveal the “glaringly obvious” error in this thinking:

“You’re asking to be mugged if you’re happy with pulling out your prized laptop on a city bus.”

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Well, it’s finally happened. According to the Daily News, that new light rail project that will go from Downtown LA to Culver City has been given a name: The Expo Line. After a seemingly endless amount of discussion and time spent trying to decide what to call the city’s first bit of rail that goes further west than Koreatown a decision has been made and we can move on. Or can we?

Well not really because the train will still have to labeled on a map with a color, and that color is still up in the air. So in the end nothing has been solved because now all we have is a silly name that people will probably soon forget once they start refering to the line by its color on the map. Apparently, internally at the MTA this discussion about the name/color of the new line has been a “drawn-out debate” that many board members have grown to resent.

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Ahh, San Diego.

There’s a lot to love about it. It’s room temperature 300 days out of the year, Sea World makes it fun – and profitable – to watch an orca belly flop, the zoo is vast and beautiful and it was ahead of the curve in the central city and public transit renaissances.

Only, this is about the cities north of it. At least it’s in the same county. And the city’s attractions make a more interesting lead than saying the North County cities are remarkable for being military towns that do not have tattoo parlors and rancid prostitutes as their economic base.

The way to explore San Diego – city or county – is by public transportation. The meager service and exorbitant fares are made up by excellent planning and scenic routes that are fun to ride.

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For my first two entires in the What a Rush series, I used Commuter Express service in the San Fernando Valley. One is a hard-working line very familiar to thousands of commuters on US-101; the other is a fading relic of mid-to-late 20th century transportation planning.

There are a few more commuter routes in the Valley that I did not try but plan to in the future. Meanwhile, come along on a fantastic voyage. Exact change required.

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I’ve ridden just about every line on just about every transit system in Southern California. That’s nearly a thousand different routes on over a hundred systems. Yet there is a small yet vast sector of bus services I have never used: peak-hour commuter buses.

Until now. “What a Rush” is a public journal entries of using the suburb-to-job center buses that only operate during morning and evening rush hours. Where do they run? Are they comfortable? How many people ride them? Find out in this occasional series.

According to a July 21st article in the LA Times, Mayor Atonio Villaraigosa has proposed that MTA look into the costs involved involved in providing a fare free week of public transit to the Los Angeles public in order to promote the system, increase ridership, and improve air quality.  The larger goal it seems is to convert current automoblie users into transit riders, as is evidenced from Villaraigosa’s letter to MTA CEO Roger Snoble:

“With high gasoline prices and continuing air quality challenges in the region, there is a golden opportunity to further promote transit usage throughout Los Angeles County.” -from CBS2.com

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