‘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: Dennis Hindman
Occupation: Client services representative
Location: Toluca Lake

Your Transit Routine:

How often do you take transit and for what purpose?

I take transit five days a week to work and back and I do this due to not owning a car. I do this in conjunction with a bicycle to and from the transit.

Where are you typically traveling from and going to?

I start from home at the corner of Cahuenga Blvd. and Moorpark St. finishing up at Roscoe Blvd. and Fallbrook Ave. which is where I work. In terms of transit, that would be the Orange Line from Lankershim Blvd. to Canoga Blvd.

What lines/routes do you take?

I take the Orange Line.

How long does it typically take?

1 hour and 45 minutes.

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?

I don’t own a car. It also forces me to exercise every day which is not something I would do if I had an easy and convenient use of a car.

Other Transportation:

Do you use any other forms of alternative transportation?

Bicycle.

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

I got into heavy financial debt and had to give up my car.

Your Perspective:

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

Anything that would improve the safety and ease of use of bicycling to help with the last two miles to and from the transit.

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

An extensive bicycle infrastructure which will give a lot of bang for the buck and  on top of that have a bicycle sharing program through most of the city to encourage people to ditch the car to take transit and or bike. That combination will get more new daily bicycle commuters than will probably ride a Westside subway extension in a day. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars spent on bicycling which will probably compare in ridership to the billions spent on the subway extension.

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

It’s gotten better. Newer buses, rail additions and the Orange Line BRT.

How would you encourage Angelenos to use transit?

Make using a car slower and more inconvenient than a bicycle or transit . Stop encouraging car use with an abundant and convenient supply of free parking spaces.