Last Thursday, I had a lunch date with my friend and colleague Krys Grondorf, down at a place in Belmont Shore (Open Sesame) which is near where she lives. Time not being an issue, I decided to take the train options we have in Los Angeles to get to Long Beach, and document that trip for you here on the blog.
The trip involved two buses and two trains. It’s a distance of about 40 miles or so, according to calculations. I live in Valley Village, about a mile from the end of the Red Line Subway in North Hollywood. So I took the Orange Line (an express bus line that operates like a train, dedicated roadway with few stops) the one stop from Laurel Canyon to the North Hollywood Station.
From there, I took the Red Line Subway through Universal City, Hollywood, Silver Lake, Koreatown, etc. and got off at 7th Street/Metro Center, where I transferred to the Blue Line light rail.
The Blue Line runs mainly directly south after going east along Washington for a short distance just south of downtown L.A. It follows the previous right-of-way of the famous Pacific Electric Railway (red cars) which was dismantled after WW II – and then rebuilt in the 90s. I got off at the Long Beach Transit Mall, the end of the line, a couple of blocks from the ocean. I still had to take a bus, probably about 2 miles, to Belmont Shore. It was Passport Bus A or D, which I picked up around the corner from the Transit Mall.
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Trip Time: about 2 hours each way
Cost: Each leg of the metro cost $1.50, debited from my TAP card. So that part of the trip cost $9.00, round trip. The bus in Long Beach was $1.25 each way, so the total cost of this trip was $11.50. According to the Trip Planner function on the Metro Website, the driving cost (round trip) would be $41.56 (which doesn’t include any parking fees that might be added). And actually, I think I could have used some kind of transfer for the Long Beach bus — but I didn’t know how to do that, so it would have been less than that $11.50.
So, it’s definitely doable. Would I do it every day? Hell, no. I did get a lot of reading done, and I did all my email and calls on the smart phone on the Blue Line. The nicest thing was the zero stress, and seeing parts of the city I don’t ever get a chance to see when driving. Oh, and there was a hooker on the Blue Line coming back, which was entertaining in its own way.
First, let me apologize about the crappy video below. I’m still learning how to use the smart phone video app, and the worst part about it is in bright daylight you can’t really see the image on the screen, so you’re pretty much shooting blind. Sorry about the last shot in Long Beach, I must’ve turned the camera off before I thought I did, and heaven knows why I turned the phone upside down. Ooops.
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I tried to watch the video (I was especially excited at the prospect of the upside-down part) but all it says is “This video is private.” I nearly sobbed with disappointment!
And, I feel special because we actually chatted during your return trek!
Oh, thanks for letting me know, I must have the settings set incorrectly. I will try and make it “unprivate!”
Done, now it’s public and you should be able to view it.
Yes, it is fixed now and I watched it. That train you showed @ the Red (?) Line was sooooooo empty–was that because it was at the beginning of the line? Or are they usually like that? If public transit was like that here, I’d take it more, ha ha ha! But usually it’s packed like sardines at times I would need it.
I do think that when I am not working full-time anymore, I will try City Car Share or one of those groups, and use the Muni way more than I do now.
Right now, though, the difference between driving (about 12 minutes) and public transit (about 40+) is too much, especially at the end of the day when squeezing on to the N-Judah is sooooo UGLY!! (It’s long because I have to wait twice–in the a.m., once for the N & then at Church & Market for the J, & then the opposite in the afternoons.) The morning would not be so bad, but the afternoons are AWFUL, esp. boarding that N when it comes out of the tunnel already chock-a-block with other Humans from downtown 🙁
But that looked like a nice enough trip–and 40 miles is a long way–practically like from here to San Jose. I guess it’s like the Cal Train ride.
right, that empty train was at the beginning of the line, hence it’s emptiness – also it was at about 11 am or so, way after rush hour.
The SF Muni is an odd bird in that all those cars under Market Street get so awful-ful between Powell and Church/Castro, and then begin to shed passengers west of there. The N becomes much more pleasant right around your house and west. How long does it take you to find a parking space at school? Do you have to move your car during the day? Or has that problem been solved (I seem to remember you have some kind of grand poo-bah sticker)?
Once they put in the 2-hour parking, thus driving out the day-long parkers who parked near us & went and took BART downtown, parking got waaaaaay easier. Average day, less than 5 minutes to find parking. Once in awhile, maybe once or twice a month, it takes maybe twice as long.
Yes, I have a sticker so do not have to worry about the two-hour limit. If I didn’t, I would take Muni–no way would I want to deal with moving the car several times a day.
They city has gone CRAZY with parking fines though–most things (e.g., exceeding the two-hours, street-cleaning violation, expired meter) have gone up to $65-75 or more. It is a HUGE income stream for the city, which would go bankrupt without it. So, they want to both discourage AND encourage driving, LOL.
Hi Jim-
I recently started riding the Metro trains (now that the Expo Line opened) so I’ve been learning the system a bit.
I wanted to suggest that you purchase a Metro day pass for $5.00 next time you take a rail/bus trip that has multiple transfers. Even with one transfer each way, you save $1.00. ($1.50 X 4 = $6.00). I believe the bus rides also work with the day pass.
You can load the day pass onto your TAP card at the ticket machine.
Cheers!
Thanks Paul! I didn’t realize you could put an additional day pass onto the TAP card. So I assume that instead of debiting each ride 1.50, the TAP system will read the “day pass” instead – even if there’s money loaded onto the TAP? That would obviously save a bundle for a day with multiple rides. I’ve got one of those on Thursday and will try it.
Best, Jim
Hi Jim-
Yes, you are correct. Each time you TAP your card at a station, the system will read “Day Pass valid (date) until (time)” (or something along those lines). It won’t deduct any more money until the next day.
The other option is to print a paper day pass ticket and keep it with you all day (but then you run the risk of losing it).
Paul
Paul, I noticed it’s all right there on their website, with full instructions! I guess I skipped over that part. Thanks again so much for enlightening me (and saving me money too!)
Jim