‘Why You Ride (or Don’t Ride)‘ is a series where you, our faithful readers, share your transportation routines in L.A. and your thoughts on how to make things better – read more about the concept here.
Want to share your story? Take the survey here if you ride transit regularly, or take this one if you don’t ride.
Who You Are:
Name: JJT
Occupation: Dir, Technology
Location: Santa Monica
Your Transit Routine:
How often do you take transit and for what purpose?
Once or twice a week to get to work as a break from driving or if I left my car somewhere overnight.
Where are you typically traveling from and going to?
To work and back – Santa Monica to Beverly Hills.
What lines/routes do you take?
Mostly the 720, occasionally the 704. 920 if I’m really lucky.
How long does it typically take?
45m – 1hr including the walk on either end.
Briefly, how would you describe your typical transit experience? Love it, deal with it, or hate it?
I deal with it.
On average, what do you spend each month on transportation?
$50 – $100
Why do you take transit?
Mostly to reduce stress. It’s a nice break to read a magazine and listen to the radio. Also, the walking is good for my health (I walk a little extra to avoid transfers).
Other Transportation:
Do you use any other forms of alternative transportation?
Biking around the neighborhood.
Are you car-free? If so, why? If not, why not?
Commuting is easy, but if I need to be somewhere on time or have a ‘multiple destination day’ where I’m shuttling between meetings, public transit is too slow and unreliable.
Your Perspective:
If you could make one change to improve your transit experience, what would it be?
Transparency about when buses are arriving and why. It’s infuriating to wait for 30 minutes for a bus at 6:30pm (still rush hour/commuting for a lot of us) – even worse if you see 5 buses go by “out of service” or if a bus passes you then sits at a layover one block from the stop.
Given limited funds, how would you address L.A.’s transportation issues?
Get draconian: bus-only lanes on major streets, true bike lanes on major streets. Make driving less convenient.
Do you think L.A. transit is better or worse since you started riding? What’s changed?
Better – the Rapid buses and special event shuttles have been very helpful.
How would you encourage Angelenos to use transit?
See above.
Categories: Feedback, Metro Lifestyle, Why You Ride
sadly, it is very common to see 5 buses come by (or across the streets) out of service or whatever. Of course, In my area, Walnut, there is only one bus, that infuriates me even more.
We do need more frequent buses between 6 and 8pm. After all, it is the time, people have to get out work.