Tag Archives: public transport

Los Angeles Without A Car – Update

Rapid Bus 720 to the beach

Yesterday, I had to get to an appointment in Beverly Hills, which is over the hill and far away from where I live, and also not terribly convenient via public transport – meaning in my case, at least, that there is no direct line there, there’s a transfer or two involved.

But never mind – I do take the Rapid 720 bus down Wilshire, and generally I find that it is pretty rapid, at least, when I’ve needed it to be. After my appointment was over, I decided – on the spur of the moment – to take the bus west all the way to the end, which in this case is the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. (We were/are having Santa Anas, which means the weather is hot and windy and full of fire danger – but it’s also quite pleasant if you like hot, dry weather, which I do).

So I loved being able to go to the beach on what was really a whim, and not have to worry about driving myself in traffic or about (my most hated thing) trying to find a place to park and paying exorbitant parking lot rates at the beach. (I saw one sign, it was a $12 fee. . .)

I got there stress-free and read my book on the way. I didn’t go in the water; it was about 5 p.m. when I arrived so I just walked down the strand and watched the gymnasts and yogis for a while. (see photos – not mine, but this is where I was, you get the idea)

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And yes, there was lots of eye candy there, though not as crowded as these pictures might suggest. I stayed down on the strand until it got dark, then had a small dinner in downtown Santa Monica before heading back home on the bus.

I can’t say that the return trip on the Rapid 720 was quick. There was a lot of Friday night traffic — I still have to remember to stay later than 8 p.m. to probably have the best chance of open streets.

To complete my journey I take the Red Line subway from Koreatown back to its end at the North Hollywood Station, where a crew was filming a scene for NCIS. Right – so we emerged from the subway to spotlights and extras. Just a very typical day in L.A., sunset at the beach and TV production — never a dull moment. Still grateful after all these years to all this place home, and can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever been bored for a single moment!

I also love that my total cost for this entire day of travel was $5. No gas, no parking, no driving. Love that!

(these photos are from Flickr: thank you Dani)

Adventures in CarFree L.A.: My One Month Without Wheels

I’m not in this line.

Well, it’s been a month! I sold my car on June 7. It’s been 30 days without a car, and so far the world has not come crashing in on me.

Mostly, I knew what I would encounter. Since I work at home, there was no commute for that on a daily basis.

I’d already experimented with grocery shopping using my bike, now outfitted with panniers. So I knew that worked – if anything, the only thing I’d say about this month with no car at my beck and call, is that there were fewer to no impulse “treats” bought — like if I really really wanted that Haagen-Dazs or chilly refreshing root beer, I’d have to walk over or get on the bike. So there was less of that. My waistline is grateful.

I did experiment with going to the beach using public transport. I took the Red Line subway to the Wilshire Boulevard Rapid Bus #720, picking it up at Vermont. It deposits you right at Palisades Park, Ocean Avenue and Wilshire in Santa Monica, so you get right to the beach (a short walk down the steps and over the pedestrian bridge spanning Pacific Coast ~~Freeway~~ Highway). The good: it gets you right there, for a total cost of $3 (that’s with 1 transfer, I bought a day pass for $5 which made more sense), I was able to read on the bus (Kindle on Android) and I got a seat both ways, which surprised me since it was a heat-wave Sunday, there was very little waiting time — that bus runs every few minutes, and the subway runs about every 10 minutes. No paying for parking at the beach or searching endlessly for a free space somewhere. The not-so-good: it takes forever to get there and get back, between 1.5 hours and 2 hours each way!

So, if you’re spending a couple of hours on the sand, is it worth it to make what is basically a 4 hour round trip (it’s around 20 miles, give or take a few, across the urban congestion of L.A. and West L.A.)? I think that for me personally, next time I’ll plan to spend the day there doing things in addition to my sunworshipping on the sand. That way, it seems more reasonable for the distance and also, travel times would be both later and earlier, thus hopefully a bit shorter.

Then again, one of the tenets to car-free living in a gigantic place like Los Angeles is that you basically “live” in your neighborhood. The beach is not in my neighborhood, so I have to accept that. What I will say is that it’s pretty much a nightmare getting there from the valley with a car as well — unless you leave at 4 a.m.

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I had one minor accident/mishap, totally my fault, and not on the street. It was in the lobby of my apartment building, where I foolishly decided to back up while still astride my bike. I got my foot caught in the pedals and fell backwards on top of the thing. I’m OK, and so it the bicycle, but it was a little bloody.

I’ll spare you a photo of that.

Out Of Service: Milwaukee Budget Cuts Hit Bus Lines: keep the residents from working, please!

Link to: Out Of Service: Milwaukee Budget Cuts Hit Bus Lines — And Keep Residents From Jobs.

Milwaukee bus heading west on Wisconsin Avenue

Interesting piece on cutbacks/fail of public transit in Milwaukee. This, on top of the failure of the new governor to see the future and accept federal money for a high speed rail link through the great state of Wisconsin.

When you cut back public transport – and assuming you’d still like the population to be working, to be paying those taxes you don’t have to if you’re a corporation or a rich person – what you’re really saying is that you’d like to require everyone to own a car.

That, or to live within walking or crawling distance of their employment, or to only work at companies fortunate enough to be on the bus lines that remain. And this is from the party of individual rights and freedoms? It seems contradictory to me. Taking away transit options actually makes people less free. So you’re against requiring folks to buy health insurance, but you’re all for making them own cars?

This, to me, is just another tactic from the right, following their usual playbook of “you’re on your own, buddy, get yourself a bike, take a cab, but don’t you ever rely on your nanny county government to provide a bus for you” (which, by the way, you help pay for with your taxes and your fares).

I never needed to own a car in Milwaukee when I lived there. The bus went everywhere. Not anymore.

(By the way, I used to work at that large building in the background when I was in college, when it was still First Wisconsin National Bank [long gone].)

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