My bus-riding life’s gotten a lot smoother, now that I’ve got myself a Little Blue Card and some Metro tokens.
Now, instead of scrounging around for change all the time, I just insert my Lil Blue Card when I take the Big Blue Bus, or pop in a token when I take the Metro. Best of all, both of these convenient methods give me discounts. The Lil Blue Card gives me a 5 cent discount per ride; the Metro tokens cost me just $1.10 a ride, compared to the regular $1.25 fare.
This doesn’t solve all my bus-riding problems. As Katie points out, none of the Metro bus stops have schedules. If you’re not familiar with a bus line, waiting for the next bus is a total crapshoot — one that I’m learning I should avoid.
Case in point: Getting to the Earlimart concert (see Losanjealous’ review) at the Getty last Friday was a breeze; I took the 720 to the 761, getting there in like 45 minutes despite rush hour traffic. Getting back — totally different story. Who knew that the last 761 started out at 9:15 pm — and that it wouldn’t even show up on the night when I needed it? I waited for it from 9:08 pm to 10:10 pm, until the 233, which takes over this route “late night” (aka after 9 pm) finally came by.
I’m learning that the bus, in general, is great during daylight hours, but very very sucky, in general, after the sun sets. It’s not hard getting to your evening engagement, but it’s a problem getting back. We bus riders need to do something about this situation….
In the meantime, I’ll be more fastidious about making sure I have enough cash for cab fare whenever I go out –
I totally agree. In the evening hours, the buses in LA come so infrequently or not at all. I take the BBB 14 home from work in Santa Monica and if I have to work past 8 PM, I may get stranded. I don’t know if the bus companies can solve this problem with the small number of people taking the bus in the evening. At one of the BBB community meetings, I suggested that they run the buses late on at least New Year’s Eve, and I haven’t seen that happen yet.
Comment by Ken Weiner — March 19, 2007 @ 12:01 am
One more thing: The Little Blue Cards are great - until you have to refill them. I have had so many problems trying to insert $10’s and $20’s into the machines on the bus. A lot of times the machine won’t accept the bills and the bus drivers just let me ride for free. Other times, the machine took my bill but did not credit my card. When that happens, the bus driver has to write out a receipt for you and tells you that you should be receiving the money in the mail. Even though it will cost a little more, I’m considering switching to the EZ Pass which you can buy online from metro.net. It lets you ride any transit (bus and rail) line in LA without having to deal with money.
Comment by Ken Weiner — March 19, 2007 @ 12:06 am
Reality check, folks.
Every transit agency is hurting, because painfully little of the tax subsidies available to public transportation can be used to fund operations. (Plenty of money available to build things, maintain roads, buy new buses to replace worn-out ones … much, much less to run the service.)
So transit service runs less frequently at night, when there are fewer people riding. “We need to do something,” if it means complaining, is going to fall on deaf ears. Especially since Metro is in a serious deficit, operating funds-wise, after ten years of consent decree-forced service additions that there wasn’t money to pay for.
The problem is that people don’t want to give up the “security blanket” of their cars when they venture out at night, and that means the only people on the bus are the transit-dependent, and most of those (by far) stay home at night.
In the meantime, Siel, I am going to give you the best advice I give everyone when they say they can’t find out when the bus runs. If you know you are going to be out and using a particular bus line, go to metro.net and print out the timetable. Every line is there, in PDF format. (There is no good excuse for “who knew?” … sorry.)
Comment by Kymberleigh Richards — March 19, 2007 @ 8:11 am
Kymberleigh — Reality check: Did you read the post?
Please explain to me how having a schedule would’ve helped me avoid an over-1 hour wait at the bus stop when the last bus in a line (761) NEVER COMES for whatever reason.
What I needed was cab fare, and a schedule for the other line (233) at the bus stop letting me know it’d be an hour before it comes by.
Comment by Siel — March 19, 2007 @ 10:25 am
Yes, Siel, I did read the post.
And here is your explanation.
I never go anywhere without knowing in advance what transit service is available. If that means I print out a timetable for a line I don’t already have one for, that’s what I do.
If you had consulted the 761 timetable, you would have found a note which says that after 9:00pm,,Line 233 provides replacement service. Then, intelligent person that I know you are, you would have consulted the 233 timetable. And you would have known what service was available late at night.
As for the cab fare, if I think there is going to be any reason why I might need it (after consulting the timetables to see when service ends for the evening), I take cab fare with me.
I know you were frustrated, but a commitment to public transportation requires a little advance time on such things as consulting timetables. And saying “we need to do something” because you got stranded for a while, when by your own account you didn’t look things up in advance, is disingenuous.
In any event, there is not likely to be an increase in night transit service, because the ridership isn’t there in sufficient numbers for such service to pay for itself, and the subsidy money that is available is going to be needed to maintain daytime service. That’s not pleasant to hear, I know, but it is the truth.
Comment by Kymberleigh Richards — March 21, 2007 @ 10:14 pm
Ah — How dare I go to a concert without knowing exactly when it’ll end? How dare I expect that public transit will take me back home? Even if I’d had the schedules, I’d never have known that the 9:30-ish bus would never show up (and it seems you’re okay with this lapse in service and that, in fact, I shouldn’t hold the bus to its schedule at all, though I should print and carry the damn thing). So how dare I expect that the last bus will show up? What audacity and idiocy!!
Your “solution” implies that all bus riders give up the possibility of every doing anything on a whim. No getting tired after a Critical Mass ride and stopping at a bus stop in the hopes that one will come along to tow you and your bike back home (with no schedule to let you know if this is a realistic hope). No staying out a little later than expected for any reason. No unexpected surprises or occasions. Never allow for the night to take any unexpected turns.
Do you really think it’s a good idea to tell other would-be bustakers that they’re basically stupid for not keeping to as anal a schedule as you apparently do?
I guess I’m asking why the negative and judgemental “advice” in your comments, when clearly, we’re both people who want more people to take the bus. What I’m most concerned about is finding a workable and manageable way of leading a car-free lifestyle. That means that I’ll name the limitations of the current bus system, and recommend other strategies (cabbing it, or taking Flexcar) to deal with those current limitations. When I say “We bus riders need to do something about this situation,” this doesn’t mean I’m calling for some sort of boycott of the Metro or a mass protest; perhaps we bus riders need to fight for more funding for the MTA. But you don’t allow for that interpretation in your response.
The odd thing is, we basically agree that since night service is spotty, it makes sense to take cab fare. Yet your comment is extremely belittling and offputting. This, I believe, is the reason why the attendece for SoCaTa meetings is so low. At the moment, it seems like a very small coterie of mostly older men who’ve known each other for a long time, who think they have all the answers and shut down anything that could be construed as a negative portrayal of the MTA. This is not an attitude that invites others to join.
I’m asking you to examine what the effect of your “advice” might be, and what you WANT the effect to be. Clearly, you’re very knowlegeable about the transit system in LA. Why not use that knowledge to educate and encourage, instead of using it to unnecessarily be judgemental and condescending? Is your goal to show how “smart” you are about transit? Or is it to encourage more riders to ride smartly? Right now, it appears to be the former.
Comment by Siel — March 21, 2007 @ 10:48 pm
Siel, I don’t know why you are being so sarcastic all of a sudden.
No, I do not expect transit users to give up doing things on a whim, but it helps if you carry timetables for lines you know you will use. I keep the ones close to where I live with me always, plus I have a full set of all schedules in the San Fernando Valley that I can take with me and/or refer to at home.
I merely suggest that you do likewise. I would suggest that to anyone who is going to use public transit on a regular basis.
You ask me to “examine” the effect of my posts. I would like you to please do likewise and see why I am saying what I am. Riding “smartly” includes preparing in advance, and your original post shows a lack of preparation.
And it is neither my fault nor yours that a bus apparently broke down and didn’t come when scheduled. It happens (they are, after all, not perfect), and I have been inconvenienced too. Only I don’t post about it in a blog and insinuate that the entire system is flawed as a result.
Also: The crack about So.CA.TA was uncalled for. I was not speaking for them when I posted.
Comment by Kymberleigh Richards — March 22, 2007 @ 6:34 pm
Dude — I write about a bus not showing you. You say I need a “reality check” and have “no excuse” because I didn’t carry a schedule — nevermind the fact that carrying a schedule won’t make the missing bus show up. Yes planning is good — if the bus comes as planned — which it didn’t. Your “advice” — and the condescending tone therein — is completely not fitting to the occasion.
It really takes a special person to say that a post in which I big up the Lil Blue Card and Metro tokens, AND advocate taking public transit at least one way, is an insinuation that “the entire system is flawed.” Gimme a break.
Comment by Siel — March 25, 2007 @ 9:58 pm
*sigh*
The point of my original post was more in response to Ken’s posts, but somehow it turned into a debate where both sides agree but the details are different.
I’m sorry that you read me as being condescending. I wasn’t trying for that. You do know a lot more than most of the people I deal with. But I do hope that — even though advance planning won’t bring a dead bus back to life so it can follow its schedule — you agree that reading timetables in advance does help one be more prepared.
Let’s not argue anymore about this. I don’t think either of us is feeling good about it.
Comment by Kymberleigh Richards — March 26, 2007 @ 8:51 pm
It seems Siel took things WAY TOO FAR. Her comments seems WAY out of proportion to what this person kymberleigh is writing. I read kymberleigh comment and didn’t see it as insulting as Siel claims. Sure, kymberleigh sai “reality check”, but c’mon kymberleigh was not directing it at any person. I think kymberleigh is trying to point out a USEFUL tip: PLAN AHEAD. Just print out the timetable and be done with it.
Secondly, Siel seems a bit frustrated waiting an hour, so it understandable for her to be mad.
third, i think Kymb answer Siel questions well and without getting mad. If Siel had just print out the timetable, then she could go to a concert and at the end of the concert(at whatever times it ends or when SHE decides to go home), she just need to whip out the time table. NO NEED TO FIGHT OVER SOMETHING SIMPLE AS THAT. hehe.
Comment by stress of taking bus — March 17, 2008 @ 1:28 pm
Eh, maybe you’re right about overreacting. But I don’t think you read my response v. carefully — It wouldn’t have mattered if I had the sched in hand, b/c the last bus did not show.
And my point about how taking the bus shouldn’t mean that I can’t change plans spontaneously still stands.
Comment by Siel — March 17, 2008 @ 2:15 pm