MetroRiderLA

Izzy Skenazy was 9 years old when he first rode the subway. The above video is the aftermath. The below is the exclusive journal entry from the day of his legendary voyage, as well as the tumultuous days that followed. A fictional account by Tyke Johnson.

I have a map because my mom gave me one. It’s huge. A tri-folder type to which I have no use. But it was apart of the requirements for me taking this trip. I told her I had already memorized the subway system but she’s my mom and moms are cautious. So I put it in my bag and forgot about it. She then handed me twenty dollars and an MTA card. The twenty was a “just in case” fund and I took it to mean, just in case I came across a WIRED magazine and Red Bull at the newsstands. I did.

Before I finally got away from her in the handbags area of Bloomingdales she asked me to clean my room when I got home. I laughed a little. She said she was serious. I said I would and I got the hell outta there.

I hate the smell of Bloomingdales. I hate the smell of department stores, the handbag area is almost as bad as the perfume area, but in case my poor nostrils had naively started believing in a God, I had to pass through that section on my way out. A hell only three hundred different fragrances—glassy and sweet, wooden and sour—could produce, finalizing my verdict on the omnipresent.

(more…)

Photo courtesy of redpopaccidents.

The Metro Board has formally approved new Metro fare gates in order to discourage new ridership and confuse current riders.

New Metro fare gates will require prospective muggers, terrorists, and other unwashed patrons to buy a ticket before descending upon defenseless commuters. Al Qaeda, flush with oil revenue from Iraq, decides that LA’s subway fare is too expensive to warrant terrorism and decides to barbecue pork rinds instead.

(sorry, I couldn’t even try to be serious with this one, the logic is too ludicrous.)

Eric over at blogdowntown has posted the various models for the Downtown Connector, as well as readable images.

Most alternatives run at grade through Downtown on 2nd Street, with 2 and a half of them largely or entirely subway operations. Metro says that a full subway route would require losing the Little Tokyo station, which seems to be somewhat deleterious. The “compromise” plan seems to be Alternative #5, which would run underground until the last moment at Alameda Street. It’s not perfect, but speaking personally and not for this site, I have to say that #5 is the best alternative, although Alternative #6 appears to create a “compromise” station near Astronaut Onizuka, which may be a suitable replacement. That, and my paycheck will suffer severely due to easy access to Kinokuniya, but thankfully Metro isn’t my accountant.Either way, it sounds like a fairly big mess.

(hat tip to Eric Richardson - thanks for posting this information for those of us who were/are unable to attend the meetings.)

Photo courtesy of alonzoD via Flickr.

• 78 people cited in 3 hours for violating laws around Santa Clarita rail crossings
• Same deal: In a 20-minute period 4 drivers rushed through lowering gates at Santa Clarita rail crossings
• Wired magazine takes a look at the subway to the sea
• Despite opposition, Mayor says Pico and Olympic are becoming one-way streets
• Pedestrians win, 2nd street widening halted in Downtown

Could this be the start of something great?

• Bloggers checked out the Westside Extension meeting last night: Street Heat and LAist
• Cell phones on the subway? That could be good. It could also be bad.
• The American Public Transit Association’s responds to the President’s State of the Union Address.
• Is the car-free diet the key to your spring break body?
• The Daily Breeze sez no to the subway-to-the-sea and yes to the maglev-to-ontario.

Playin’ away those transit blues. (Image provided by openended via Flickr.)

Much like Bush’s troop surge, Metro musicians are in surge mode all over the red line’s stations and just like the troops they’re betting on anyone caring at all. But will there be enough of them to really make an impact on our future red line excursions?
(more…)