Category Archives: Events

Discuss the future of transportation at Industry Innovators: Transportation & Logistics

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Transit and goods movement are vital to our economy, and you can learn about the importance of goods and people mobility at the upcoming discussion Industry Innovators: Transportation and Logistics. One of Metro’s own, Executive Director of Highway Programs Doug Failing, will be there to talk about industry trends and challenges.

The event will take place on Thursday, May 2 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 3171 S. Bundy Dr., Suite 121, Los Angeles, CA 90066.

In addition to Metro’s Doug Failing, METRANS of USC Director Genevieve Giuliano and UPS Director of Engineering Derrick Waters will also be speaking and participating in the round table discussion and audience Q&A panel. The discussion is open to the public and free parking will be available. Drivers are asked to use the College Avenue driveway entrance.

The event can also be reached by Big Blue Bus lines 6, 14 and 44 to Bundy/Airport. For Metro connections, check Trip Planner.

Metro and the Festival of Books

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Folks heading towards Festival of Books
Metro booth at Festival of Books was pretty popular!

The first day of the L.A. Times Festival of Books was fairly quiet for Metro considering the size of the event. Only Jefferson/USC Station and 7th/Metro Station experienced higher than average crowds, and part of the crowds at 7th/Metro were heading toward Long Beach for the Grand Prix. For the rest of the system, it was just a normal weekend.

CicLAvia gets thrown into the mix tomorrow, and hopefully things run just as smoothly. We’ll have ridership numbers for the weekend on Monday.

An early reminder to go Metro to Festival of Books

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#whatareyoureading?
The Jasper Dickson Revue
L.A. Times book critic Hector Tobar reading to passing commuters
Max Lugavere

Photos by Anna Chen/Metro

This morning, Los Angeles Times book critic Hector Tobar, The Jasper Dickson Revue and Max Lugavere took the stage at Union Station East Portal to promote going Metro to the Festival of Books, which will be taking place Saturday and Sunday, April 20 – 21 at USC.

Head to the Festival of Books at USC next weekend for more readings, musical performances and great family-friendly activities. Metro has three rail stops that serve USC off the Expo Line: Jefferson/USC, Expo Park/USC and Expo/Vermont. The Metro Silver Line also drops off at 37th/USC. Show your TAP card when buying official FOB merchandise and get 10% off!

Dance performances at Red Line stations Friday and Saturday

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Dancers rehearse at Union Station East Portal in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6

Dancers rehearse at Union Station in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Natalie Metzger

On Friday and Saturday of this week, fleeting dance performances will take place at 14 Metro Rail stations as part of a conference on urbanism and modernism taking place at Metro. Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time is a time/space durational site-specific performance event presented by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and was conceived and created by award winning director/choreographer/media artist Stephan Koplowitz.

Through an ensemble of eight performers, Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time utilizes the diverse spaces at each individual station along the Metro Red Line to create a durational, and long distance performance that is in sync with the train in both space and time. Following the Metro Red Line trains’ schedule, Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time is performed both above ground at Metro station entrances and underground at various stations’ mezzanine level ticketing plazas. The entire event is designed to match the ebb and flow of the commuting public, and to take place within the strict schedule of the trains. In doing so, the performances aim to transform the Metro Red Line into a long distance performative space and invite the public to discover and re-discover a vital transportation artery of Los Angeles.

Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time spans all 14 stations of Metro’s Red Line, beginning at Union Station and continuing on to North Hollywood, lasting about 2 1/2 hours. Audiences are asked to meet at the Union Station East Portal, next to the Metro Customer Center, and purchase a Metro TAP card all-day pass, granting them access to enter and exit the Metro Red Line for the duration of the performance ($1.00 for the card for those who don’t already have one + $5.00 for all-day pass). Audience members are invited to follow the performance for as long or as short a time period as they wish as it travels through the Red Line stations.

Performances begin at the Union Station East Portal next to the Metro Customer Center on the following dates and times:

Friday, April 5, 9 a.m.
Friday, April 5, 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 6, 4 p.m.

Stephan Koplowitz: Red Line Time will be performed by Rachel Butler-Green, Roya Carreras, Leslie Curtis, Nick Duran, Monica Mordaunt, Kerrie Schroeder, Alexandria Yalj, Sadie Yarrington and Jacob Campbell (understudy). Anne C. Moore is the Rehearsal Director and Costume Designer.

Re:street is a public conference that serves both as an introduction to the new science of streets and as a basis for discussion about the form of the future city. The conference is jointly organized and hosted by the Bauhaus Universitaet Weimar in Germany and California State Polytechnic University in Pomona.

Dancers rehearse at North Hollywood Station in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Stephan Koplowitz

Dancers rehearse at North Hollywood Station in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Stephan Koplowitz

Dancers rehearse in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Natalie Metzger

Dancers rehearse in preparation for Red Line Time performances on April 5 and 6. Photo: Natalie Metzger

If you’re not already jacked for the next CicLAvia, perhaps this new video will help

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Good new video from the folks at CicLAvia. Reminder: the next event is Sunday, April 21, with a big-time new route, extending from downtown Los Angeles to Venice using mostly Venice Boulevard. It will be a great way to bike between the beach and downtown without having to dodge the usual heavy car traffic.

It’s going to be a big weekend transit-wise with the Festival of Books at USC and the Long Beach Grand Prix also taking place. We’ll be posting more this month about the best way for everyone to get around the region.

Here’s the route map:

Click above to see larger.

Click above to see larger.

Metro to run expanded service on Gold Line for Masquerade Motel

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Going to Swedish House Mafia’s Masquerade Motel? The music festival will take place March 8 and 9 at the L.A. State Historic Park, which is conveniently served by the Metro Gold Line Chinatown Station. The park is also just a short walk from Union Station.

Your Masquerade Motel ticket or printed ticket receipt gets you a free ride to and from the festival on Metro Bus and Rail. Take advantage of this deal to avoid the congestion and serious lack of parking in Chinatown. This is especially true for those attending on Friday, who will have to deal with the usual Friday evening rush hour traffic of those leaving DTLA offices.

Metro will be running expanded service on the Gold Line during the festival to accommodate crowds. And with Metro Rail open late on Friday and Saturday nights, getting home after the show should be no problem.

Here’s Live Nation’s monster news release on how to get there:

Go Metro to Swedish House Mafia’s Masquerade Motel L.A. concert by sourcemetro

Go Metro to the Tournament of Roses and the Rose Bowl

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Click above to see larger.

Click above to see larger.

The Gold Line will be running all night on New Year’s Eve for those who want to view the floats tonight as they line up on Orange Grove Boulevard or those headed to the parade or game on Tuesday.

Four stations in Pasadena (Del Mar, Memorial Park, Lake and Allen) are within a five- to 10-minute walk of the parade route along Colorado Boulevard. Follow the crowds — it’s kind of hard to miss!

As someone who lives very close to the parade route, I’ll say the same thing to motorists that I say every year: driving to Pasadena and parking in residential neighborhoods near the parade route is hypothetically possible — especially for people who arrive before 6 a.m. The problem comes each year after the parade when all the parade-goers gets stuck in long, long, long traffic jams complicated by the fact that a lot of people are trying to drive into Pasadena at the same time to attend the Rose Bowl game. You’ve been warned, people!

Some details:

•From East LA-Atlantic or Downtown LA-Union Station, board the Gold Line toward Pasadena-Sierra Madre Villa, then exit at any of the following stations which are within short walking distance of the parade route: Del Mar, Memorial Park, Lake and Allen.

•From Sierra Madre Villa, customers should board any train, then exit at any of the following stations which are within short walking distance of the parade route: Allen, Lake, Memorial Park and Del Mar.

•Customers are encouraged to purchase an ALL DAY PASS before beginning their trip to avoid long return lines to purchase tickets.

•Longer and more frequent trains will operate between Downtown LA-Union Station & Pasadena-Sierra Madre Villa.  Please use the entire boarding platform when boarding.

•Please click here for more information on Metro’s schedule between December 31 and January 1, including OVERNIGHT 24-hour rail service from December 31 into January 1.

The 99th Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio – 2:10pm

•All customers traveling to the Rose Bowl Game should exit the Gold Line train at Memorial Park. From East LA-Atlantic or Downtown LA-Union Station, board the Gold Line towards Pasadena-Sierra Madre Villa, then exit at Memorial Park.

•From Sierra Madre Villa, customers should board any train, then exit at Memorial Park.
In anticipation of higher ridership, longer and more frequent trains will operate between Downtown LA-Union Station & Pasadena-Sierra Madre Villa. Use the entire boarding platform when boarding.

•After exiting at Memorial Park, walk 3 blocks west on Holly Street (turn right upon exiting station), past Fair Oaks Avenue to the free Rose Bowl shuttle that leaves from the west side of the Parsons parking lot along Pasadena Avenue. Again, it’s hard to miss.

Shuttles run continuously from 10 a.m. until about two hours after the end of the game.
This shuttle is NOT operated by Metro. Shuttle info is provided as a courtesy and subject to change without notice.

•Customers are encouraged to purchase an ALL DAY PASS before beginning their trip to avoid long return lines to purchase tickets.

•Please click here for more information on Metro’s schedule between December 31 and January 1, including OVERNIGHT 24-hour rail service from December 31 into January 1.

Tonight: L.A. County Holiday Celebration

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Take your whole family to the L.A. County Holiday Celebration at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion tonight. The free three-hour extravaganza lasts from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will feature over 20 choirs, music ensembles and dance companies from all over Los Angeles. Pre-show activities will start at noon.

Go Metro to take advantage of our exclusive Destination Discount. Present your your valid TAP card, Metro employee ID or LA County employee ID at the Holiday Celebration hospitality table to receive a holiday celebration souvenir (while supplies last).

The show will also be streamed live on KCET and broadcast live on radio station 90.7 FM for those who aren’t able to go.

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is served by the Metro Red/Purple Line Civic Center Station and Metro Bus 14/37. Check Trip Planner for more routes and connections.

Check out the Holiday Toy Express and donate a toy on Nov 16

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Metro will be hosting Metrolink’s Holiday Toy Express and ABC7′s “Spark of Love” Toy Drive on Friday, Nov. 16 at Union Station. All commuters traveling through Union Station that evening are encouraged to bring an unwrapped toy to donate at platform 7 (tracks 13 and 14), where they’ll also get to see the dazzling holiday train, Santa, live music and more.

The Metro Express band will provide entertainment in the East Portal from 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. prior to the train’s arrival. LAFD firefighters will be stationed at the entrance to platform 7 to collect toy donations.

The Holiday Toy Express pulls into the station at 5:45 p.m. and will stay for one hour. It will depart Union Station at 6:45 p.m. and arrive in Chatsworth at 8:15 p.m., so those who take the Metro Orange Line to Chatsworth will also have a chance to see the train and donate a toy.

Go Metro to A Cooler Ride with Michael Lejeune this Thursday

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Buttons from one of Metro’s award winning marketing campaigns, designed by the in-house creative team.

Go visit the Hammer Museum on Thursday, Oct 25 at 7:30 p.m. to catch A Cooler Ride with Michael Lejeune, a free public lecture with Metro’s Creative Director. He’ll be talking about how he and his creative team apply bold design strategies to make public transportation cool. Go Metro and receive a 10% discount in the museum store. You’ll also have the opportunity to win a Graphic Design: Now in Production streetpole banner and catalog if you show your TAP card at the box office.

A Cooler Ride is presented in conjunction with the Hammer Museum exhibition Graphic Design: Now in Production, featuring some of the most vibrant graphic design work created since 2000.

The Hammer Museum can be reached on the Metro Rapid 761 to Westwood/Lindbrook or the Metro Rapid 720 to Wilshire/Westwood. Check Trip Planner for more routes and connections.