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Go Metro to Sunday Studios at MOCA

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Check out MOCA’s annual super-sized indoor/outdoor event! Sunday Studio presents Big Family Day at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA on Sunday, June 3 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The free event features gallery tours by expert kids, hands-on activities, entertainment, and more.

Show your valid Metro pass or Metro Rail ticket at the box office on the day of the event and receive one museum voucher for a second visit to MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA on a different day.

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is located at 152 North Central Avenue in Los Angeles.  Take the Metro Gold Line and exit Little Tokyo/Arts District Station.

MOCA Grand Avenue is located at 250 South Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. Take the Metro Red or Purple Line and exit Pershing Square Station towards 4th Street and Hill Street.

For your best route, use the Trip Planner.

Go Metro to downtown Los Angeles' big sports weekend — Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Amgen Tour of California

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Kings winger Kyle Clifford fights for the puck during last night's 2-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. Photo Noah Graham/NHLi, via Getty Images and LAKings.com.

Traffic around downtown Los Angeles is probably not going to be a treat this weekend — particularly on Sunday. In the morning, the final stage of the Amgen Tour of California will shut down many streets before finishing at L.A. Live just before noon. The downtown portion of the race course will be open to public biking from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (Registration required).

The downtown circuit for the Amgen Tour of California

Then, at noon, the Los Angeles Kings try to sweep the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 4 of their playoff series and earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. The ‘Yotes spent the better part of their losing effort in Game 2 trying to knock Kings captain Dustin Brown out of the playoffs — they failed — and in Game 3 on Thursday night, the Phoenix offense remained impotent and unable to solve Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick.

Here is the traffic alert from the Kings, along with parking options. And here is the list of bus detours around the area for bike race.

For those who don’t want to mess with their cars or traffic, a very good travel option into downtown L.A. this weekend is Metro Rail, with routes feeding into downtown from every direction. Please note that bikes are allowed at all times on Metro Rail and seats have been removed on many rail vehicles to provide space for cyclists.

In addition, traffic promises not to be real treat Friday or Saturday in the downtown area. The Lakers host Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Staples and a gospel event at the Convention Center is expected to draw 15,000 people or more that day. A very large fan turnout is expected for the touring Roger Waters: The Wall concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday night — here is a post about traveling to the show via the Expo Line. The Clippers host San Antonio at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and again at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

About Metro Rail:

•The new Expo Line runs from the La Cienega/Jefferson station to 7th/Metro Center at the intersection of Figueroa and 7th streets, with a stop at Pico — two short blocks from L.A. Live and Staples Center. There is free parking available at the Metro garage at La Cienega/Jefferson, as well as many paid parking options at Exposition Park. Timetable and parking info

•The Red Line subway runs from North Hollywood to Union Station. There is free parking at the North Hollywood station, Universal City station and numerous paid parking lots around stations in Hollywood — although beware of the Tour of California, which is routed through Hollywood. There is also paid parking at Union Station — it’s $6 for the day. Timetable and parking info

•The Orange Line busway runs between Warner Center and the North Hollywood Red Line station and has free parking in several lots. Timetable and parking info

•The Blue Line runs between downtown Long Beach and 7th/Metro Center at 7th and Figueroa, with a stop at Pico, two short blocks from L.A. and Staples Center. There are free parking lots along the route, as well as paid parking in downtown Long Beach. Timetable and parking info

•The Green Line runs between Redondo Beach and Norwalk and offers transfers to the Blue Line. There is also free parking at several lots at stations. Timetable and parking info

•The Gold Line runs to Union Station from both Pasadena and East Los Angeles. There are several free parking lots or garages along the route, as well as street parking and paid parking in downtown Pasadena. Timetable and parking info. Please note the Pasadena Marathon is Sunday morning and there will be street closures.

•Metrolink and Amtrak trains serve Union Station, with connections to the Red/Purple Line subway to reach downtown L.A. destinations. Metrolink has service on the Antelope Valley, San Bernardino and Orange County lines on Sundays. Metrolink schedules and Amtrak.com

A single ride on Metro Rail is $1.50; tickets are available at ticket vending machines at all rail stations. If you need to transfer, the best choice is a day pass for $5, also available at all ticket vending machines. Fares can also be stored on electronic TAP cards, which cost $2 and are available at all ticket machines.

On the go and need rail and bus arrival/departure times from your current location? Try Metro’s new app for smartphones. Android version and iPhone version

Fans advised to Go Expo to L.A. Coliseum for Roger Waters: The Wall concert on Saturday

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Fans advised to Go Expo, arrive early for Roger Waters: The Wall concert at the L.A. Coliseum May 19. Photo by Sean Evans.

Fans advised to Go Expo, arrive early for Roger Waters: The Wall concert at the L.A. Coliseum May 19. Photo by Sean Evans.

What if they gave a concert and nobody came because they were stuck in traffic? That’s exactly what concert promoters for Roger Waters: The Wall want to avoid when the worldwide tour lights up the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this Saturday night.

And the timing couldn’t be better because the Expo Line, which opened just one day short of the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, is ready to rock ‘n roll to the first of many, many concerts and events at the Exposition Park destinations it so readily serves.

Roger Waters: The Wall is a worldwide concert tour performance of the Pink Floyd album The Wall by Roger Waters, the co-founder and principal songwriter of the archetypal progressive band Pink Floyd. The historic production of Roger Water’s aural and visual masterpiece of alienation and transformation will be performed in its entirety featuring a full band and state-of-the-art production.

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Traffic alert: avoid driving to downtown Los Angeles this weekend (especially Sunday) and Go Metro to Tour of California, Kings, Lakers and Clippers playoff games!

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Click above to see a larger Metro Rail map.

It should be quite a Sunday morning this week in downtown Los Angeles. First, downtown is hosting the eighth and final stage of the Amgen Tour of California bike race, which begins in Beverly Hills, travels through Hollywood and is scheduled to finish near L.A. Live between 11:45 a.m. and noon. Earlier in the morning, the public can ride the five-mile downtown circuit from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (Register for that event here).

Then, at noon, the L.A. Kings and Phoenix Coyotes play Game 4 of the NHL’s Western Conference Finals at Staples Center. The Kings won Game 1 last night, meaning that Game 4 could — emphasis on could — be the series clincher that would send the Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The confluence of the two events is a happy coincidence and one that basically screams for avoiding the drive into downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. The best transit option is Metro Rail, with routes feeding into downtown from every direction. Please note that bikes are absolutely allowed at all times on Metro Rail and seats have been removed on many rail vehicles to add space for cyclists.

In addition, traffic promises not to be real treat Friday or Saturday in the downtown area. The Lakers host Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Staples and a gospel event at the Convention Center is expected to draw 15,000 people or more that day. A very large fan turnout is expected for the touring Roger Waters: The Wall concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday night. The Clippers host San Antonio at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and again at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

About Metro Rail:

•The new Expo Line runs from the La Cienega/Jefferson station to 7th/Metro Center at the intersection of Figueroa and 7th streets, with a stop at Pico — two short blocks from L.A. Live and Staples Center. There is free parking available at the Metro garage at La Cienega/Jefferson, as well as many paid parking options at Exposition Park. Timetable and parking info

A lot more line-by-line info is after the jump…

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Go Metro to live music: Mariachi El Bronx

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Leave the driving (and train operating) to the pros this Cinco De Mayo by taking Metro to The Greek Theater for the 1st Annual Los Lobos Cinco De Mayo Festival.

You probably recognize the name Los Lobos, but you might not recognize one of their special guests, Mariachi El Bronx. If the name does sound vaguely familiar to you, it might be because the band is actually a side-project of the LA-based hardcore punk band, The Bronx. That’s right. A hardcore punk band that also plays mariachi. It may have started as a joke, but the music wasn’t bad, and over time they’ve developed into a serious act.

Mariachi El Bronx – “Cell Mates”

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Expo Line regular service begins Monday morning between downtown L.A. and La Cienega/Jefferson station

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The Expo Line’s opening weekend with free rides is now complete and regular service begins early Monday morning between 7th/Metro Center in downtown Los Angeles and the La Cienega/Jefferson station.

The first westbound train from 7th/Metro Center leaves at 4:54 a.m. and the first eastbound train from La Cienega/Jefferson station at 5:12 a.m. The final train of the night departs at 12:32 a.m from both 7th/Metro Center and La Cienega/Jefferson

The regular Expo Line timetable is below. It can be downloaded from the Metro website here [pdf]. Reminder: the Farmdale station is not yet open, nor is the train traveling all the way to Culver City until this summer.

Expo Line Timetable

Free rides Saturday and Sunday on the Expo Line

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Click above for a larger map.

We’ve posted tons on the Expo Line’s opening on Saturday, here’s a brief recap:

•Expo Line trains will be running from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday from 7th/Metro Center station in downtown Los Angeles to the La Cienega/Jefferson station. Two Expo Line stations are not opening tomorrow: Farmdale and Culver City. They should be done by summer.

•There is no charge to ride the Expo Line on Saturday and Sunday. Fares begin with service early Monday morning. Here’s the timetable Expo will use beginning Monday.

•You still must pay regular fares to ride the rest of the Metro system this weekend. A single ride on any bus or rail line is $1.50. A day pass with unlimited transfers is $5. If you don’t yet have a TAP card to pay fares, you can purchase one and load it with passes or cashes at ticket vending machines at all rail stations.

•There are events being held outside four stations on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — 7th/Metro Center, Expo Park/USC, Crenshaw and La Cienega/Jefferson. More details on the entertainment here.

•Metro is expecting big crowds wanting to ride the Expo Line this weekend. There will likely be lines at some stations. Best bet to avoid lines is to ride early in the morning.

 

In case you missed it: recapping our Expo Line coverage

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An Expo train at La Cienega/Jefferson station with the downtown L.A. skyline in the distance. Photo by Steve Hymon/Metro.

First, a plug: If you’re planning to attend this weekend’s Expo Line festivities, go ahead and subscribe to Metro on Twitter at @MetroLosAngeles, so you can follow our coverage in real time and share with us all your Expo thoughts and photos.

Now, business: We’ll be the first to admit that we’ve published a whole bunch of posts about the Expo Line lately — about how Expo will work, its history, who was instrumental in making it a reality. So much so that a couple of great stories got pushed off the front page before many folks probably had a chance to read them.

So, without further ado here’s a recap of our Expo Line stories from the past month or so:

Resources

Beyond phase one: making connections to the Expo Line

More info on parking, biking and bus connections to the Expo Line

Expo Line timetable is here!

Riding safely on new Expo Line bike lanes

Expo Line map, destinations guide and art guide

Go Expo this weekend

Free rides on new Expo light-rail line during opening weekend celebration, April 28-29

Expo opening day celebrations

Go Expo to Everychild Playground Play Day

History

Photos of the Expo Line through history

The Expo Line’s earlier days: recalled by the men who worked it

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Go Metro to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!

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Photo by Lord_Henry, via Flickr creative commons.

In a perfect world, I’d be writing that you could take a downbound Expo Line train the Thursday and Friday night Bruce Springsteen shows at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

As fate would have it — pretty much sealed the day I got a ticket to the Friday night show –  the Expo Line doesn’t begin running until Saturday. Nonetheless, there is transit available to the Sports Arena for those who need a ride to get to the show and have other arrangements to get home (i.e. taxi, mooching ride from friend, etc.).

From downtown L.A., the 81 bus can be caught on Hill Street or Figueroa — it eventually runs down Figueroa to the Exposition Park area. Likewise, the Metro Silver Line has numerous stops in downtown L.A. and stops at the 37th Street Station on the Harbor Transitway — it’s about a 15-minute walk from there to the Sports Arena. Until 6:30 p.m., the city of Los Angeles’ DASH F line also runs southbound on Flower and Figueroa to the corner of MLK Boulevard and Figueroa, a short walk from the Sports Arena.

I really don’t have much to add to the small canon of literature on Springsteen, who has been issuing albums for 40 years now and is touring to support his latest — and it’s a good one — “Wrecking Ball.” I will say the 16 Springsteen shows I’ve attended have by far been the 16 best concerts I’ve ever seen. Much of his music explores the vast differences between what America is and what it could be and as powerful as the music is recorded, it’s even better live.

After the jump is a video of Springsteen performing one of my favorites.

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Dust off your tux: Dapper Day on Metro arrives this Sunday, April 29

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Ever wanted to tour L.A.’s historical landmarks in your classiest attire (much like Dapper Dan, star of the video above)? Your chance comes this Sunday thanks to transit advocacy group Rail LA, which is hosting its Dapper Day on the Subway.

The event — part parade, part tour, part performance art — seeks “to celebrate the city’s rich mass transit history and rally support for future expansions of local rail,” according to Rail LA’s press release. You’ll need to wear fancy dress — suggestions here — and have a $5 Metro Day Pass. (Update: To clarify, there are some stops along the way that require cash for admission, i.e. $7 to get into the Hollyhock House. Please see the schedule for further details.)

The tour’s highlights include stops in Hollywood, El Pueblo, downtown LA and Chinatown. More details on the schedule are posted below. If you decide to attend, definitely tweet some photos of your tour to us @MetroLosAngeles.

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