As a veteran rider with more than 20 years "experience" in the matter, I may be able to shed some light on the Arcane's of Public transportation, and bring tips and advice on how to make your commute a better one!!!
What’s my commute like? Well, it’s an adventure each day as I never know what I’m going to encounter. Yes, it’s a statement that applies any time you go out the door. Though, I doubt that you will be sitting on a train for two hours because a car is stuck on the tracks, unless you ride the train, or that you will be on a broken-down bus with an enraged passenger chasing the driver around the vehicle, and ending up holding the doors closed so that the crazy dude can’t get back on, unless... you get the point! So, during my 5 ½ hours daily commute (add an hour each way, if I miss my connection) on buses, trains, and subways from the outskirts of Downtown Los Angeles to Huntington Beach, I see a lot of interesting things.
Then, why use public transportation instead of driving? I don’t drive! I’m a terrible driver! I’m not afraid to admit it. Period. The end. Move over! Second, I get lost everywhere. I have absolutely no sense of direction. If I wasn’t paying attention, I would probably get lost in my own neighborhood. Oh, wait, it did happen. So, you can imagine the "wow” factor I experienced the day I acquired a smartphone—ten years ago—with that GPS stuff; though, once in a while the dot on the map still goes in the wrong direction. Thus, first things first, don’t just hop on a bus without knowing where it's going! Ok, yes you can, if you are me or totally lost; ask the driver (they don’t bite) before the bus takes off… really!!! How many times have I seen people suddenly
gasping in horror when they realize that they’ve been on a bus for ten minutes, and they’re going opposite to their destination? It happened to me; I know the feeling.
Get acquainted with your bus lines, even more so if you are going to depend on public transportation to go everywhere. Yes, it’s a lot of buses in LA, but stick to the essentials. Pick major streets that run long lines that you can find your way from. For
example, a while back, I used to shoot for Wilshire—I have since added more streets. But when I first moved near Downtown LA, it became my “go-to” street. No matter where I was, or if there were more direct routes; I would always try to get to Wilshire, cause I knew that, once there, I could catch the Metro 720 which would bring me to my cross street. Seems silly? You have no idea how many people try shortcuts and end up wasting more time because they got on the wrong bus. And, when I started working in Huntington Beach, I learned my bus routes 21, 25, 29 before the name of the streets they were on.
Second important thing to factor in your travel time, look at the schedules, or at least inquire how often a particular bus runs. My OCTA 21 quits during midday. I’ve had to tell distraught riders that they were waiting at the bus stop for nothing, or they’d better have an alternate route if they were planning to leave midday. With, again, the invention of the smartphone and the internet, there is no excuse not to have your bus schedules saved in a PDF format on your phone, unless you don’t know how, or you’re just being lazy. But, ah-ha… that’s when the hard-copy schedule comes into play. You know those folded paper or booklet things they have on buses and trains? If you are dealing with a major bus
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On a subway or a train, know in which car to be and which door to use to be the closest to the stairs/escalator, so you beat the crowd. A plus if you have many connections to take and only a few minutes to do so.
The Los Angeles Purple Line subway train is much shorter than the Red Line which takes almost the entire length of the station. In the morning, I like to ride in the last car. So, I'll wait at the very end of the station for the Red Line, and mid-station for the Purple Line. Keep this in mind so that you don't have to run to the Purple Line after it stopped.
5 - Ceres Magazine - Winter 2016
Some of my tricks
Commute smartly. Know what you may encounter!
know your bus lines
know the schedules