Metro has just released details on enhanced service for getting to USC games this fall. These new enhancements are added to others, including late-night weekend service for sports fans traveling to Staples Center and the popular Dodger Stadium Express that transports fans from Union Station to Dodger games. Here’s the release:
This fall for the first time, Metro and the University of Southern California will team up to make getting to USC home games fast, inexpensive and easier than driving.
With the first home game just around the corner on Saturday, Sept. 1, Metro’s new Expo Line is the perfect vehicle for the more than 80,000 fans who crowd USC games at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. And Metro is enhancing service to make it easy for fans to avoid traffic and parking hassles and take Expo to the games.
“In our effort to develop a regional transit system connecting all of our County residents to the places that they really want to go, sports fans now have the option of using Metro, Metrolink, Amtrak and the Dodger Stadium Express to games at the Coliseum, Staples Center and Dodger Stadium,” said MTA Chairman and L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.
“We think the teaming up of Metro with USC home games will be a welcome change for Trojan fans,” said Metro CEO and USC graduate Art Leahy. “On game days you can bring picnic baskets and blankets and have the whole day experience. And you don’t need to anticipate what is for some a very long drive home because Metro can now take you to within a short walk of the games and then carry you home again. Or for those who live far away, Metro can take you to Metrolink and Amtrak at Union Station.”
USC passengers will arrive at the game and then depart it at two convenient locations: Expo/Vermont and Expo Park/USC stations.
Frequent service will make it easy. Before and after the games, additional trains will be added to the Expo Line, as well as to the Red, Purple and Gold lines to make transfer connections efficient system-wide.
After the game, passengers will board trains at either Expo/Vermont or Expo Park/USC stations. Additional trains will remain in service to accommodate increased passenger loads.
Additional service also will be provided on the Silver Line for 20 minutes after each game in both directions from the 37th Street/USC Station. The Silver Line is Metro’s limited-stop service connecting the South Bay and San Gabriel Valley to downtown Los Angeles. It runs between Artesia Transit Center and El Monte Station via the Harbor Transitway on the Harbor Freeway and the El Monte busway on the San Bernardino Freeway.
Passengers traveling to the games should purchase $5 Metro Day Passes at the station where they are starting out … and that is all they will need for the day. Those starting on the Expo Line should purchase a one-way fare. When they arrive at either Vermont or Expo Park, they should purchase a return trip fare, to avoid having to stand in line after the game.
For more information on USC Trojan games go to http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/usc-m-footbl-sched.html. For more information on the easiest ways to get there via Metro go to the trip planner at metro.net.
Categories: Transportation News
PC: The last Metrolink train on the OC line on weekends departs Union Station at 4:40. But Amtrak offers several other trains after that. Worth noting is that Metrolink monthly passes are good on Amtrak trains between the same station pairs, so if you commute from Irvine to Union Station, you can use your Metrolink pass on the Amtrak trains leaving later than the last train on Saturday following USC games. Maybe this will work for you. There also are several similar options on the Antelope Valley and San Bernardino lines.
This will not help Metrolink riders on the Orange, Riverside and Ventura County Lines. The last train back to O.C. leaves L.A. at 4:40 p.m. on weekends. There is no service to Riverside or Ventura County.
Talk about a solution in search of a problem…
Transit egos are going to be blown away when the trains aren’t full.
The rail network doesn’t come from anywhere useful, and doesn’t connect with places along the way that fans would want to visit.
I thought that the one way tickets were only valid for two hours? That doesn’t make much sense. Better to buy a TAP card and add $3 to it for a single ride customer.
Also I’d like to see this added Silver Line service. It sounds like it would be a good idea but especially for night games, when service drops to hourly, an added 20 minutes of extra service (???) seems not enough. I keep sounding like a broken record, but if the Silver Line gets a color, it needs to run like rail. That means never dropping below a bus every 20 minutes, at all times – which even the Orange Line accomplishes.
Why doesn’t USC and Metro make some kind of deal that allows a game ticket to be a day pass? Rather than have [hopefully] thousands trying to figure out how to TAP. Lines will be overwhelming if people do not know what to do. Helpful people from Metro, if there, will be overwhelmed. Has anyone really thought this through? If someone has a bad experience–20 minutes to get a ticket, for instance, will they ever consider going by Metro again?
Or somehow send out TAP cards to season ticket holders? And tell them if they don’t plan to use them give them to some other fan that might?
The single most important tip of that article is hidden away in the ending. When you ARRIVE to USC, buy your return ticket. When you ARRIVE to the staples center, buy your return ticket. This speeds up the return trip home because you won’t be waiting in line for anyone else AND you won’t have to “just miss the train by a minute” because you had to stop and buy a ticket. With the phasing in of TAP-Only this is less of an issue, but I still see it all the time, particularly on Metrolink. Obviously also not an issue for weekly/monthly pass holders, but the people who will be taking the trains to USC – take note of this.
Also, I hope Metro has some sort of really good…. stacking plan(?) for the USC -> LAUS return trip. I imagine all of the trains getting full at Vermont, and there not being any room left for people boarding at Jefferson or USC/Expo Park…. maybe start an empty train at each station?