A Carless culture‘s a series of posts that examines how we can make de-car-ing a sexy and viable travel solution for Angelenos.
[Here are parts one, two and three.]
So the bike riders’ve been bugging me about when I’m gonna move on from the bus, but damnit, I still got one more: A capping post on how you can get more involved.
Join a transit advocacy group!
Friends 4 Expo. This is the group that’s making the Santa Monica to downtown LA light rail happen! Friends 4 Expo’s an “all-volunteer group of citizens joined together to support an alternative to L.A.’s world-record traffic a fast, comfortable, safe, high-capacity light rail transit line from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.” I went to a meeting and was super inspired –
Southern California Transit Advocates, or So.Ca.Ta. This org’s there to “discuss issues, disseminate information, advocate, support and encourage all measures and policies deemed necessary for the creation of a truly adequate transit system chiefly throughout the five county Los Angeles metropolitan region.” Recommended by Kimberleigh, a current member of the MTA Citizens Advisory Council. Update: I went to a SoCaTa meeting!
The Transit Coalition, which “works to develop a safe, integrated, cost effective and environmentally sound public transportation system for the greater Los Angeles Region.”
Bus Riders’ Union. [added 8/24/06] This group “seeks to promote environmentally sustainable public transportation for the entire population of Los Angeles, on the premise that affordable, efficient, and environmentally sound mass transit is a human right.” Word! I’ve joined the email list. Thanks to reader John for pointing out this group to me :) Update: Okay — These people are strange and not really pro a carless LA. Opt for the other groups, seriously.
Find out more — and add to the knowledge — ’bout what’s happening in LA Transit!
MetroRiderLA. This “is a blog that promotes, supports, and critiques the burgeoning public tranist lifestyle forming in Los Angeles.” If you’re an LA Metro rider, you can register to write draft articles for approval. Once you prove your writing skillz, your post’s will go up auto :)
For more instant gratification, just get a livejournal account to start posting on L.A. Transit Riders Community — basically a free-for-all for all on the blogosphere who wanna join in on the transit convo. Not as well edited as MetroRiderLA, but a good place for instant commiseration on pub transit woes –
Doc on The Train. This recent med school grad turned blogger blogs ’bout life taking the metro, and gives you tips for how to make your life converge with the Metro sched.
L.A. Transit Rider. This is “A blog about public transit (and related issues)” in LA, written by a car-free, 2nd-gen LA. native. Here, you can find out why some Metro Red Line trains go North Hollywood, while others go to Wilshire and Western. A v. confusing thing for lotsa people — and this blog may help deconfuse you.
Los Angeles Transit Headlines. Just want the skinny? Get the latest headlines about LA transit on this blog.
So — If you’ve done nothing but complain about our public transit system before getting in your car, you know what you can do to take steps towards improving our admittely still-shitty system.
Here are parts one, two and three. Next — The bike :) Soon, I promise.
Bravo! Glad to read your reports on the LA transit scene. God knows it’s a tough place to try and get around by bus.
Have you ridden the Orange line yet? I’m hearing very good things about it. We’re trying to get a similar system set up on Geary Blvd. in San Francisco and even through everyone loves it, it’s probably going to be another 5 years before we see anything.
Comment by Nick Aster — August 3, 2006 @ 11:13 pm
Thanks dude! No — Haven’t tried the Orange line yet, mainly cuz I’m like never up that north. It got a bit of news the first week it was up and running cuz we had a number of accidents involving Orange, but it’s sorta faded from the news since…
Anyway — The site’s worth checking out. Not only is it a bus-esque line, it’s also a 14-mile bikeway and 8 miles of pedestrian paths :) Sadly, the whole site’s buried in flash, which sorta blows for linking purposes here –
Comment by Siel — August 4, 2006 @ 4:07 pm
Hey, I just moved out to LA and found your blog googling for coffee or something. Anyway, I thought you may want to add the LA Bus Rider’s Union (busridersunion.org) to your list of public transportation advocacy groups. They advocate for bus users from the perspective of people who rely completely on the bus for transportation every day (non-car-owners, and often low-income), which means that they’d rather seen tangible improvements in routes and reliability today, rather max out the budget spending billions of dollars on a new metro line 10-15 years off.
I wish we could have both, of course, but it’s worth stopping and thinking a little bit about which is the most pressing priority that will have the largest benefit (socially and environmentally). I’m suspicious of a trickle-down environmentalism that says “if you build expensive metro lines for rich people to get from Silverlake to Santa Monica more easily, then lower income people will benefit too.”
And come to think of it, as a fellow grad student, I AM low income at the moment (and for the foreseeable future). Why wouldn’t I want better bus service now, while I’m poor, rather than later? One of your commenters on an earlier bus-related post mentioned some kind of stigma attached to riding the bus with low-income people. Leaving aside all the other things that are wrong with that, how are we going to get anything done if we allow (perceived) class-divisions split us up into smaller ineffective groups? Doesn’t it make more sense to stand up together?
In 1994, the Bus Rider’s Union sued the MTA and won a court-ordered Consent Decree that gives them a certain amount of leverage in forcing the MTA to correct racial imbalances in its service and policies. The Consent Decree is set to expire in October, so helping them get that extended would be something tangible you and your readers could do for the bus riders here in LA. A lot of the problems and goals you and your readers have come up with are issues that the BRU has successfully sued the MTA over in the past. MTA’s compliance, however, has been lacking in several areas. There’s lots of info and history on their website. Be sure to check out the “victories” section of “who we are” for a sense of what can be done when people come together.
Comment by John — August 18, 2006 @ 1:17 pm
Hey John — Thanks for the passionate and informative info! I will certainly add the bus rider’s unioin to the link of advocacy groups to the list — Thanks again for pointing me to it :)
Comment by Siel — August 24, 2006 @ 5:02 pm