‘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: Rach
Occupation: Retired
Location: Mar Vista

Your Transit Routine:

How often do you take transit and for what purpose?

Once a month.

Where are you typically traveling from and going to?

Westide to LAX, Pasadena, Universal City and Long Beach.

What lines/routes do you take?

Red line, Gold line, blue line. Big Blue Bus to Santa Monica. Culver City 6 to LAX/UCLA.

How long does it typically take?

An hour.

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?

Less than $50

Why do you take transit?

Cheap, don’t have car.

Other Transportation:

Do you use any other forms of alternative transportation?

Almost always use bicycle.

Are you car-free? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes.

Your Perspective:

If you could make one change to improve your transit experience, what would it be?

Easier fare payments – not just cash, want to be able to pay by card for single bus fares etc.  Improve online payment for TAP cards.

Given limited funds, how would you address L.A.’s transportation issues?

More space for bikes.  Remove seats from some trains to allow bikes on board.

Do you think L.A. transit is better or worse since you started riding? What’s changed?

Worse. More expensive. TAP cards are unwieldy.

How would you encourage Angelenos to use transit?

Education!  More public information about where the lines go, how long it takes to get there.  Prove that it is reliable, have statistics about how many buses are late etc. available.  It’s probably better than going in a car anyway.

Strongly encourage event organizers to promote transit options for their guests/attendees.

Provide strong incentives (possibly financial, but maybe free advertising would work) for business owners to convert parking spaces to bike parking, or areas with seating (i.e. benches) for pedestrians.