Bus Man

JFK - Look Before You Leap

2009-01-25T13:39:00.000-08:00

Visiting my daughter last week, I decided to take public transportation to the airport home, rather than hire a taxi or a car. Looking on the NYC transit web site, it was only an hour ride from her Bushwick apartment, the L train to the B15 bus at New Lots. Ah, but where is New Lots? I had no idea and didn't think to look or ask until I was already on the L train early the next morning. Turns out that as I was getting onto the bus, there is only one white guy on the bus, an older white guy with a big ol' suitcase blocking the aisle...me! Hmmm. A little uncomfortable. I did not find it threatening or fearful, I just felt like a jerk adding another obstacle to these folks just trying to get to and fro in their lives. I had looked at a map, and it did not look like a long ride between New Lots and JFK airport. And I figured it was going away from the city, so would have less rush hour morning traffic. Wrong! The bus was packed and it was a 30+ minute ride. And buses really aren't made for suitcases, big or small. It would have been smarter to take the L train to the A train and pay an extra $5 to catch the AirTrain which connects directly from the A to JFK. Next time I'll know.

What's Going To Happen?

2008-06-29T13:58:00.001-07:00

I have not written for BusMan since last September, close to a year. I've used the buses and trains some since then, but - in addition to not wanting to write another "I went here, I went there" entry - I became discouraged. Why, and is anything different now?

I became discouraged reading and riding. A couple of articles that came my way last year discussed studies of transit-based housing. Housing that is near a subway line. What they found was that these housing projects were actually increasing automobile traffic in the neighborhoods, because the subways don't go many places, and the buses that you would need to ride to get to your final destination are too slow, often late, and infrequent. As much as I like to ride the bus, I have to agree with this. The key factor as far as I'm concerned is that when you are on a bus, you are still in traffic. So you have slow and late, just like with a car. I tend to ride the bus when I can get on one, maybe two buses, and go a reasonably long distance, certainly greater than 10 miles. For less than 10 miles I'd rather ride my bike. For more than one transfer, the time lost is just not worth it. I believe a system of dedicated bus lanes would go far toward making public transit more workable in LA. Get the buses out of traffic. They'll run faster, on time, and be a much more attractive alternative to sitting in a car. Especially since adding bus lanes would reduce the number of car lanes, making the 1-person-1-car habit even worse than it is today.

I also became discouraged as I rode my bicycle more and more. I love riding my bike. I think it is quite safe. It's SO much more pleasant than getting in a car. I find it clears my head, in part because I'm not cursing at all the bad drivers like I do when I'm in my car. I get on the bike, and I know I'll get to where I'm going at a rate of 7-9 miles per hour, regardless of traffic. So I can take my time and enjoy the ride.

In addition, LA is absolutely made for bicycles. We have great weather and it is mostly flat. A change toward a more bicycle oriented culture would be great. Yet, when I ride, I see hundreds, perhaps thousands of automobiles for every bicycle I see. Maybe tens of thousands. It's very discouraging.

I had meant to write months ago that I thought the only thing that would provide the impetus to get LA residents out of their cars was if the true cost of driving was actually felt. I've been an advocate of a much higher gas tax and much higher parking fees. Well, it seems that the price of oil is having an effect. I would be much happier if this were a planned happening. I am somewhat fearful of leaving the impact of higher gas prices to the marketplace. I am fearful of the forced change in lifestyle it requires from so many people. I am fearful of the terribly regressive nature of this new cost, falling SO much more heavily on people who can't afford it. I am fearful of potential chaos that a continued rapid rise in gas prices could cause in society in general. But it does seem to be getting some people out of their cars. Transit ridership is up and traffic is definitely a tiny bit lighter both measured statistically and reported in the papers, as well as anecdotally. More Vespas, MiniCoopers, and SmartCars on the roads and less Hummers. In fact, I have not seen a Hummer on the streets in a couple of months.

I wonder what's going to happen.

Osaka, Japan

2007-09-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

I:ve spent the last several days in Kansai, the Osaka, Kyoto, Nara area of Japan. Osaka is a city of about 1.5 million. It is spread out all over the place. Two downtown areas, but lots of work areas throughout the city. It kind of reminds me of LA, though more dense. Public transportation goes everywhere. Extensive bus and rail systems. The city was leveled during WWII so it is all post-war. It is still being built, new stations in many places. It does not appear to be nearly as downtown-centric as NYC or Chicago or San Francisco. So why can:t LA have as good a public transportation system as Osaka? Is it really a technical/urban planning issue? Or is it primarily political will?

Oh, and another thing. Bicycles. Thousands of bicycles. Men in suits, old people, young people, all types of people riding bicycles. I was very surprised. I thought that was more of a third world thing. But Osaka is flat and well suited to bicycles, just like LA. Bike lanes everywhere, broad sidewalks on many of the boulevards.

Ride and Bike

2007-07-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

Friday I had an all day meeting in Santa Monica. I rode my bike 2 miles (twelve minutes) to the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax. There I caught the new Rapid Express Bus, the 920. It runs rush hour only from Wilshire and Vermont all the way to Santa Monica making only 5 or 6 stops along the way. Wow! Even faster than the 720 Rapid Bus. I put my bike on the bike rack and was dropped off 2 blocks from my meeting. Total travel time from home to destination was 50 minutes.

Eastbound traffic from the westside is unbelievably bad now during the evening rush hour. It seems counter-intuitive that the worst traffic would be the opposite of the typical downtown rush, but it is. Many thousands of jobs have been opened up on the westside over the last decade while housing prices have soared. The people who work there can't afford to live there. So it is a big mess.

I had already planned to ride my bike all the way home and not use the bus. Although there is a dedicated bus lane for a portion of the ride back, the bus is still caught in terrible traffic for most of the afternoon rush. I rode my bike in the Venice Blvd. bike lane, frequently passing cars and buses. Made it home in 72 minutes, just 20 minutes slower than my early morning ride to Santa Monica, and certainly faster than if I had tried to drive or take the bus back. Much more enjoyable, too, after a day of sitting in a meeting.

One Approach to Better Public Transit

2007-05-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

Should we pay more for a ride on public transit? This article by Frank Gruber makes a good case for answering "Yes." I'm not sure. How many rides could be subsidized by the $1.2 trillion spent in Iraq? I just got a pamphlet from the MTA (along with their excellent "12-Minute Map" detailing all the routes in town where buses run at least every 12 minutes) explaing their upcoming fare increases. The pamphlet says the system's deficit will reach $1.8 billion in 2016. Apply $1.2 trillion to that, and you have no deficit for 667 years. Hmmm....

Going Downtown

2007-02-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

It is completely beyond me why anyone would choose to commute by car to Downtown L.A. I had to report for jury duty two days this week. I walked half a block to the Beverly bus, took 5 miles or so to the Red Line subway on Vermont, then took the subway to within 3 blocks of my destination Downtown. Total time was maybe ten minutes longer than if I had driven; that includes waiting for the bus and train, and walking time. Total cost: $3 per day. No parking, no traffic, no hassle.

It was so relaxing. I have not been riding the bus much lately because of the types of trips I have had to make. I had begun to forget how simple, easy, and relaxing it is. I hate driving. I hate looking around me stuck on the road, realizing how stupid and inefficient it is to move around the city one-person-per-car. Such a large "footprint" for a single vehicle to move one person from place to place. Insane.

Rose Bowl

2007-01-02T20:18:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine lives in the valley and went to the Rose Bowl (to cheer for USC - boo!). But here is his excellent report on taking public transit to the game:

Glen
I decided to take your advice and go for the public transportation. It was a dream.
Picked up the red line at Universal City...Actually, thought I was going to North Hollywood.
Whole trip was easy. We arrived at Parson's building for the Shuttle and opted to hoof it to the Rose Bowl..
Took about 25 minutes.....

Thanks again for your suggestion....got to the game in a relaxed mood without dealing with traffic and parking.

A Bike/Bus Adventure

2006-12-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

I'm pooped. I just finished the second longest bicycle ride I've ever done. It was an adventure.

We just finished beautifying our back yard, and my son, Nathan, suggested we do something to attract more birds. He suggested looking at a bird specialty store called Wild Birds Unlimited. Well, the closest one around is in Torrance. So I decided to make an adventure out of the trip.

I rode my bicycle to the store, more than 30 miles. Virtually all of it was on dedicated bike paths, completely out of traffic. The first part of the ride was along the Ballona Creek bikepath. For those of you familiar with LA, it runs through Culver City all the way to the Marina. Very nice. Then I turned left on the bikepath that runs along all the south bay beaches. I was right on the beach on a nice cement bike path. El Segundo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach. Each a little different, all very beautiful. The whole way there are beach houses and apartments on the left, blue ocean on the right, and the Palos Verdes peninsula straight ahead getting closer and closer. Then I turned inland on Pacific Coast Highway and rode it to Crenshaw. Yes, Crenshaw is a very upscale street when you get so close to Palos Verdes. That's where the store is. Total trip time 2:40.

After shopping and eating, I started back. I rode my bike a little over 6 miles to the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. There I caught a Rapid Bus all the way to Rossmore and Beverly, less than 2 miles away from my home. The bike fits snuggly on the bike rack in the front of the bus. Easy on, easy off. Total trip time 2:20. The bus portion of the trip took one hour, the same amount of time I would have left had I been driving there.

I found it very interesting that the time spent traveling there and back was really not all that different. I think the dedicated bike path with no signals, no stop signs, no traffic, really makes a big difference in how fast I can go on my bike. The bus still has to deal with traffic. But it was nice being able to sit and not pedal on the way home. I was tired.

The bus/bike combination really extends the range one has taking alternate transportation in LA.

Hayward, Berkeley, BART + Bikes

2006-12-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I took a trip up north to visit some clients, my kids, and to have dinner with a good friend Saturday night. My son and daughter-in-law live in Hayward, and my dinner was in Berkeley. I really didn't feel like fighting weekend traffic, particularly in the rain, and especially if I had a couple glasses of wine with dinner. I went on to transit.511.org , used the simple trip planner and ended up taking the BART to Berkeley, transfering to one bus that was waiting there for me, and walking two blocks to the restaurant. My biggest surprise was how astounded my dinner companion was that I had taken a bus. Why? It was so simple. I read a couple chapters of my book while riding. Total trip took an hour and a quarter.

Back home in L.A. I've been riding my bike more than taking the bus. Pretty much any trip within a ten mile radius is bike-able as long as I don't have to wear a suit. I really enjoy bicycle commuting. There is a special store down in Torrance I want to go to and I'm planning a bus/bike combination to make the nearly 30 mile journey. Should be fun. I'll post it when I do it, probably before the end of the year.

A BusMan Rescue

2006-11-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

I was rescued by a bus today. One of the reasons I have not been writing as much in this blog is because I have been riding my bicycle a lot since I got it in June. Pretty much any trip within a 10 mile radius, and where I do not have to wear a suit provides an opportunity to ride my bike. I make good time. I travel 7 to 9 miles per hour - which is faster than I go sometimes in my car, particularly on short neighborhood trips. Also, the speed is dependable since I am not subject to traffic; I can know in advance pretty much exactly how long it will take me to arrive at my destination when I ride my bike.

Today I rode my bike to play softball in Mar Vista. After the game I was riding to an errand in Hollywood when I got a flat tire. I was on Santa Monica Blvd., just west of Beverly Glen, on the new, fantastic bike lane they just put in between Sepulveda Blvd. and Century City. But you can't go very far or very fast with a flat tire, even in a bike lane.

I walked my bike to the bus stop just west of Beverly Glen and when I saw the bus approaching I waved him down. However, the stop where I was stranded was not only not a stop for this driver's bus - he was driving an express route - it was blocked off with construction cones. Nevertheless, the driver saw that I was in distress and stopped so I could load my bicycle and board the bus. That was super nice of him.

(In addition, an elderly gentleman boarded the bus at Santa Monica and Wilshire. He asked the driver what number line the bus was, and explained that he could not see it on the bus because he was legally blind. He asked if the bus stopped at Doheney, and, though that is not a regular stop for this express line, the driver made sure the man was able to exit at Doheney. This was a good bus driver.)

I rode the bus on Santa Monica to La Brea, got off, transferred to the La Brea bus northbound, which took me to Hollywood and Highland, right across the street from my bike shop. That's about 7 miles of bus ride, far too much to walk with a flat tire. My bike shop, Hollywood Pro Bicycles, fixed my tire and got me on my way.

Saved by the bus. An exciting day.

BusMan Bust

2006-10-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

I went with BusWife to dinner downtown Friday night. We went to Little Tokyo where we were meeting a friend. I particularly hate driving on Friday nights, and discovered that the No. 16 bus goes directly from two blocks from our house to two blocks from the restaurant.

What I did not notice is that only some of the No. 16 buses go all the way to Little Tokyo. The others stop about eight blocks away. Not that eight blocks is too far to walk; it isn’t. But eight blocks through Skid Row in the dark is a bit unnerving. Bad planning, BusMan.

If I had paid attention to the bus schedule, I would have seen this problem. Still, it would have meant we would have had to skip the bus we got on and waited for the next No. 16 bus. We had already waited more than 25 minutes because Friday rush hour traffic is so awful the bus schedules are often not accurate.

So getting to the restaurant was a big bust. Late by 30 minutes and having to walk in an area we really didn’t want to traverse.

Getting home was no better. We were on time for the bus going home. But it turned out the bus stop was next to a construction site, no longer marked, not very well lit, and right on the border of Skid Row. So we didn’t wait. We took a cab.

Lesson: Have a better sense of your destination neighborhood, make sure you carefully check the bus schedule, have an alternate bus route in mind if possible, and bring cab fare just in case.

Palm Springs to Woodland Hills

2006-09-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

This just in from a BusMan enthusiast. In response to my question, "How was your trip to Woodland Hills?"

"The trip went great. Without any coaching from Mr. Busman, I took the Metrolink from San Bernardino, and after my CEB class, took the redline subway to its end at Lankershim Blvd, and then grabbed the orange line bus to its end point in Warner Ranch. And, magically, the end point of the bus, left me almost right across the street of my destination: the Marriott Hotel in Warner Ranch. It couldn't have worked better. But for Mr. Busman's encouragement, I would not have done it! "

Making do

2006-09-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Three drivers, two cars. Daughter was in town and everyone needed transportation. I looked at my calendar, and I had a breakfast meeting near Pico and Westwood at 8:00 a.m., followed by a 10:00 a.m. meeting at my office. If the breakfast went 1:15, I'd have 45 minutes to take two buses back to the office, the Pico bus #7 (same bus we all used to take to the beach in junior high) and then the La Cienega bus to Wilshire. Worked with no problem.

Living Without A Car

2006-08-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

This is a great interview of a fellow who lives in LA and does not have a car. Click here.

Two Bad, Two Good; NextBus

2006-08-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

Had a couple of bad BusMan/BusKid experiences last week. Both caused by late buses. That's a bad thing about taking the bus, if a bus is late. Then you can be late to where you're going, miss connections and be even later...it's a drag. Fortunately does not happen very often. I wrote MTA to encourage them to get the NextBus system. I first saw NextBus in the Bay Area. It's a GPS-based system. You can call from your cell phone and find out when the next bus is due to arrive. It would be very helpful in deciding which route to take, especially here in LA where there are often multiple bus routes you can take to get to a destination.

The good BusMan experiences were a very quick and easy home-gym-work-home day, and a friend took the Santa Monica Blue Bus from his home in Westwood to a meeting in Santa Monica and back. A convert. Go BusPeople!

2006-07-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

I found this cool site today, with my daughter.

Planning a Route

2006-07-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take the bus to go visit a friend on the weekend. I started with the Trip Planner on the MTA web site (http://www.mta.net/). You enter the starting point, destination point, time you want to leave or arrive, and the distance you want to walk. The planner returns the available routes, listed in order by shortest walking distance involved.

My first try returned only one route, which, since it started right down the block from me, looked pretty good. Then I noticed it got me to my destination more than 40 minutes early. This indicated that at least one of the two buses probably ran infrequently on the weekend. Sure enough, I checked online and one of the buses ran only every hour on Saturdays. Clearly a route designed (appropriately) for work commuters.

So I pulled out my handy paper bus map. If you ask via email from the Contact section of the MTA web site, or if you call, the MTA will mail you one free. They are easy to read and kind of fun if you like maps. I found my destination point and noticed there were a couple of bus lines serving it. I traced them back to my starting point and found a different combination of two routes.

Why hadn’t the Trip Planner given me this information? Because I had used the default “distance I want to walk” in the initial request. I went back and changed it from one-third mile to one-half mile using the Advanced Trip Planner button. Then I got several more options, including the one I had plotted myself. Instead of catching the bus half a block from my house, I had to walk over to Fairfax, a very easy stroll. But by doing so I was able to use two buses that ran every ten minutes, making it easier to arrive almost exactly at my desired time. It also meant that if I missed a bus I would not have long to wait for another one and so would not be terribly late to my friend’s house.

Lessons learned: 1) Get and use a transit map; 2) Adjust the walking distance on the Trip Planner to get more options.

Can't talk on a cell phone with a horn in your ear.

2006-07-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today I took one of my favorite BusMan routes. From home in the morning to a meeting in Century City (one bus, direct). Century City to my office (two buses, but only a total of 15 minutes). Office back home (nice walk from the bus stop at the end of the day).

I took the Wilshire bus home from the office. There is a lot of traffic on Wilshire at rush hour. Yet some drivers insist on coming out of their office driveway and turning left across all 6 lanes of traffic. It holds everybody up causing huge traffic jams. One person tried to do this in front of the bus I was on. On top of her driving rudeness, she was on the cell phone and not even paying attention to whether or not she had an opportunity to cross. The bus driver leaned on the horn so that the automobile driver could not have her cell phone conversation. So she had to get off the phone and drive off, finally freeing up traffic. I thought the whole incident was kind of funny.

Going to Long Beach

2006-07-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

I went to Long Beach Friday night to visit a friend. Long Beach is a pretty happening place as it turns out. Lots of people on the street, restaurants, a downtown scene. I liked it. I would not have liked it had I driven.

I parked my car at the lot near Hollywood and Vine, right across the street from the Pantages Theater. Four dollars for unlimited parking. I hopped on the Red Line Subway, took it downtown to the Blue Line, and rode the Blue Line all the way to downtown Long Beach. It was great! Fast and comfortable. Total trip took me one hour and ten minutes. I don't think I could have driven as quickly, especially in Friday afternoon traffic. The way home was equally as easy. I did not have to wait more than ten minutes for any train. I was able to have a beer with dinner because I knew I did not have to drive.

The only down side was both ways there were portions of the ride with some rowdy teenagers. I never felt threatened, just annoyed. The loud talking and jumping around lasted a few stops, then they got off, once prompted by MTA Security. I guess that's one reason why people are resistant to riding public transportation, the contact you sometimes have with rude people. But really, I experience far more rude drivers than rude passengers. In all the time I've been riding public transportation I have had less than 5 incidents where people were too loud or rude. I have never felt threatened.

Daily Life and Bikes

2006-07-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

No posts in a while for two main reasons:

1) I've been using the bus for "regular" routes I've already written about. Most typical is home to gym to office to home; and anywhere along the Wilshire corridor during the work day. Easy, quick, relaxing.

2) I got a bicycle! I've been using it to commute to work on the days when I don't wear a suit. So that has eliminated some posts because I wasn't riding the bus or train. Bicycling is great! Makes me feel like a kid again. It's very empowering. I may change the name of the blog to BusBikeMan, or something like that. Suggestions are welcome.

From A BusMan Convert

2006-06-08T06:47:00.000-07:00

Glen -- you're absolutely right. Why wouldn't anyone commuting along the Wilshire corridor take the bus? From Westwood to your Bev Hills office took me 15 minutes door-to-door using the #20 local and a few minutes less Westbound using the #720 Rapid even with a nice short walk on either end. I'm converted. David.

BusMan Goes to the Dodger Game

2006-06-03T00:23:00.000-07:00

The last time I went to Dodger Stadium I spent 45 minutes in the parking lot after the game, waiting to get out. That was unusual, I admit; it usually takes only 20-30 minutes. Tonight I was going to the game alone, didn't want to fight Friday night traffic, and, since it was Ron Cey bobblehead night I figured it would be a full house. So I decided to take the bus.

After looking at the schedules, I decided to take different routes there and back. Going there I took the Third Street bus downtown, and then caught a Sunset bus to Elysian Park, the street where I normally turn off Sunset to get to Dodger Stadium. A ten minute walk got me to where I normally park, and then another ten minutes to the Stadium.

Going home I walked to the same bus stop, but took the #2 Sunset bus to Fairfax, and then a Fairfax bus to Beverly. Both the #2 and the #4 buses pass that stop. Because I had my choice of bus lines, I knew I would not have to wait more than 10 minutes when I got to Sunset and Elysian Park...assuming the game lasted less than 3 1/2 hours, which it did. The ride home took an hour and ten minutes, including my ten minute walk from Fairfax and Beverly to my house. I could well have still been in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium.

I admit to some bus anxiety as the game got into the later innings. Dodger reliever Danys Baez - Cuban defector - blew another lead. He pitched to five batters in the 7th inning and all five scored, turning a 5-3 Dodger lead into an 8-5 Dodger deficit. So instead of a quick 7th and 8th inning and then an exciting Eric Gagne close to the 9th, the game was stretching on. I knew the bus service would be stretched out to 20-30 minutes between buses if I missed the 11:19 p.m. bus, which meant I really had to leave the park by 10:55 to give myself time to walk. Since Friday night games start at 7:40 instead of the usual 7:10, it was getting close. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Dodgers were unable to mount a comeback, so I didn't have to chose between staying for extra innings or sitting around waiting for buses. Glad for that. I would certainly take the bus to the game again, but would prefer it for a day game or a 7:10 start time.

BusMan (BusMen?) go for an evening Downtown

2006-05-31T22:31:00.000-07:00

My friend Paul lives in Long Beach. I live in the Fairfax area. We wanted to get together for dinner, so we chose a restaurant downtown. He took the Blue Line subway. I took the #16 bus down Third Street. Both let us off within 4 blocks of the restaurant. No traffic, no parking, read a book. I didn't wait more than ten minutes for the bus either way, even though we left the restaurant at 9:30 p.m. Downtown was well lit, people around, very safe feeling. Paul was thrilled that he could get downtown in less than 40 minutes, no driving, no traffic. He said it made downtown feel much more accessible. Public transit; when you plan it, it works.

Demographic

2006-05-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

What is the demographic of the people who could take public transit one or more times per week, but choose not to?

BusMan Goes to Malibu; What is it I don't understand?

2006-05-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

Friday I had a meeting in Malibu. This is 25 miles from my office, a 50 mile round trip. Even though the meeting was at 11:00 a.m., I knew there would be several spots of heavy traffic. There were. Particularly where the construction crews reduced the already congested Pacific Coast Highway from one lane to two. I checked the MTA web site and found a bus that goes from Fairfax and the 10 Freeway, straight to where my meeting was being held. I took the bus from my office, down La Cienega to the corner of Fairfax and the 10 Freeway, then got on the 534 bus to Malibu. The ride was comfortable, I paid no attention to the traffic, and I read two more chapters of my Retirement Income Planning book. The driver was so nice; she let me off between stops, right in front of my destination. I left myself 20 minutes more than I would have had I driven, and I ended up getting there 20 minutes early; in other words, minimal time loss.

What am I not understanding? Why do people choose to get in a car by themselves when they can have someone else drive them? I know people are frustrated in traffic. Not only do they talk about it all the time, you can see it in their faces as you pass their cars. Personally, I get physically uncomfortable when driving more than a few minutes. Am I the only one? Are people afraid of the other people on the bus? The vast majority of people I encounter on the bus are nice, well behaved, and even friendly. That’s more than I can say about the people I interact with when driving. I don’t get it.

Passing the Test

2006-05-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

Each weekend I try to look at my coming week’s calendar to see what days I might be able to take public transportation. Last Sunday I noticed that Tuesday, May 16 was a very full day, but had potential to put public transit to a real test. Here was my schedule:

7:00 a.m. meeting in Century City
9:30 a.m. meeting back at my office in Beverly Hills
12:00 noon lunch in Westwood
5:30 meeting in Santa Monica

I decided to accept the challenge. Three of the four meetings were within 3 blocks of busy bus routes. The Santa Monica meeting required a ten minute walk to and from the bus stop. Other than that ten minute allowance for the last meeting, I left my home or office at exactly the same time I would have left had I driven my car.

I was comfortably on time for every meeting. I was not rushed, I didn't have to deal with parking (saving, by the way, more than $35), and I traveled more than 30 miles paying no attention to traffic. I read four chapters of an important book on Retirement Income Planning. I had a seat on every bus. I met a law student from Mongolia. Cost: $3.

Elation and Frustration

2006-05-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I walked out of work and the No. 21 Wilshire bus was just pulling up to the bus stop in front of my office. Elation!

One day last week I wanted to ride the bus for my day's work activities, but the time wait for the buses I needed would have added more than an hour to my work day. Frustration!

BusKid and our trip to Santa Monica

2006-04-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Rachael, Leonie and I went to a discussion featuring Bob Scheer and Scott Ritter at Track 16 in Santa Monica. The event started at 7:00 p.m., and Leonie was already going to be in Santa Monica, so Rachael and I decided to meet her there for dinner and then all three of us could go to the event. Instead of driving, having two cars, putting up with rush hour traffic, Rachael and I decided to take the bus. Straight shot down Wilshire Blvd from my office on the Red Rapid Line 720. In fact, the bus even used the weekday rush hour dedicated lane that runs from Barrington Ave. to the city of Santa Monica. Certainly faster than driving on the clogged up freeway. Only $2.50 for the two of us. Much more comfortable and fun.

Rachael also took the bus from our home to my office. Here is what BusKid writes:

i felt empowered

3:51 get to bus stop

3:52 get on bus

4:03 get off bus

4:11 get to office

i appreciated los angeles in a personal way that i hadn't in a long time. i have never had my own car and i am accustomed to being a passenger, but the driver usually expects entertainment and conversation. the quiet of the bus allowed me to loose myself in memory and reminiscnce. after a semester away from los angeles, it was wonderful to be able to look out the window at the landmarks i am so familiar with.

BusMan in the Midwest

2006-04-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last week was a great BusMan week, and a disappointing BusMan week. On Monday I was in Ann Arbor visiting my daughter (no, I did not take the bus from California to Ann Arbor; then again, planes are kind of like buses, aren't they?). I had a Tuesday meeting in Chicago. So I took the Amtrak train from Ann Arbor to Chicago Union Station. Such a lovely ride. A little less than 5 hours. Quiet, pretty southern Michigan countryside. Great trip. My Tuesday meeting was in a hotel near O'Hare airport. So from Union Station I took the Blue Line el to O'Hare, where I caught the hotel shuttle to my hotel. I could have taken a cab from downtown Union Station to my hotel, but I think it would have been slower because of rush hour traffic. The el goes on a dedicated line right down the middle of the freeway. Ha ha, people in cars! And, of course, the el cost $1.25 compared to $60 for a cab.

The disappointing part of the week is that on Thursday I had a 4:00 p.m. appointment in Santa Monica. I thought it would be perfect to take the bus down Wilshire from my office. But the bus ran too infrequently. At that time of day it was every 20-30 minutes. I would have had to leave my office 45 minutes earlier than if I drove. So I drove. Boo! Bad BusMan.

BusMan goes to San Francisco

2006-04-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to San Francisco. I did not take the bus there (yuck!), nor did I take the bus from my home to the airport. I've actually looked into taking the bus to the airport, and will probably try it some day, but not when I have to catch a 7:00 a.m. flight.

Once I got to San Francisco, though, it was a different story. I took the BART from the Oakland airport to downtown San Francisco, then caught a bus that took me to my meeting at a client's home near the Golden Gate Park panhandle. One bus, very easy. As was getting back to downtown on one bus. Hung out downtown, had lunch with a friend, then caught BART back to Oakland. So easy. So much nicer than renting a stupid car, driving, fighting traffic, finding parking.

San Francisco is definitely more BusMan-friendly than Los Angeles, mainly because the area is more compact and they have a lot more buses, streetcars, and trains. Still, to find my way I used a Trip Planner on the Muni website just like the one for Los Angeles on the MTA website. In conjunction with an old fashioned map, it was no different than making the same arrangements for LA trips. Certainly there are more LA trips than San Francisco trips that actually require a car, but it made me realize that public transportation in LA is not that hard nor that different.

BusMan to MarathonMan

2006-03-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

25,000 people ran in the LA Marathon yesterday, and I was one of them. Why would anyone drive to that event? 25,000 people all trying to arrive at the same time in downtown LA. Yuck, what a lot of stress. So I picked up the Beverly bus half a block from my house, took it to the RedLine subway station at Beverly and Vermont, and a few minutes later I was at the starting line. No hassle, no worry about where to park or if I was going to be late. I left the house at the same time I would have left had I driven. And I had a great run.

A little LA transportation history

2006-03-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles actually began its development as a spread city before the automoblie gained popularity, before the region's famed freeways were built.

The growth of Los Angeles' suburbs in the early 1900's was made possible by the machinations of a private streetcar company, Henry Huntington's Pacific Electric Railway. Huntington's interest was in real estate, and the railway was simply his way of bringing buyers to his new suburban home sites. Perhaps the finest mass transit system of its day, Huntington's Red Cars (featured in the cartoon movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) traveled along at speeds of 45 to 55 miles per hour. Huntington's electric railway was over-built and operated at a loss, but the losses did not matter, as the mass transit system was essential to the success of his real estate investments:

The Pacific Electric lost millions of dollars extending lines far ahead of demands for service, but the loss was compensated many times over by the profits from land sales by the Huntington Land and Improvement Company. In fact, the system was built not to provide transportation but to sell real estate. (David L. Clark)

The dispersed settlement pattern on Los Angeles was established well before the arrival of the automobile; it was produced by the needs of real estate speculation.

Stop Whining and Complaining

2006-02-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

This is a letter I wrote to the Editor of the Los Angeles Times:

Stop whining and complaining, Dan Turner. Your article, "Taking the Rapid out of Transit" (Sunday, February 5, 2006; ) is both unfair and counter-productive. Why pick on the airport route and discourage people from using mass transit? The main goal of our transit system should be to get people out of cars and onto buses and trains. Far more people commute to work every day than go to the airport. And for commuting, the LA transit system can be very effective. Learn about it, don't just trash it. You might start on the MTA web site, or an MTA transit map. In fact, if you had, you would have seen that the best way to get from your home in the Hollywood Hills to LAX is by bus, not train. Just a little over one hour travel time, not the three hours it took you. Your stubborn insistence to take the train is why it took you so long.

Riding downtown; another "interesting" character

2006-01-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

Today I rode the bus from home to an early morning meeting downtown. What a pleasure! I caught the bus half a block from my house and it took me within one block of my destination. I read the newspaper during the trip, and saved about $30 parking! After the meeting I walked 3 blocks to the 720 Rapid Bus that took me in minutes within 2 blocks of my office on Wilshire. Very cool.

On the morning ride downtown, there was another "interesting" person sitting next to me (see January 23, 2006 post). Nice enough fellow, clean, sat quietly. The buses all have GPS controlled next stop notification systems. As you approach a bus stop a deep, male voice says "Next Stop" -- and gives the name of the street intersection coming up. Then it says "Followed By" -- and gives the name of the next stop, so that you can get prepared to get off if your stop is next. Each time the recorded voice would say "Followed By" the guy sitting next to me would say in unison "Followed By." He'd say a bit louder than the automatic voice from the system, so the whole bus could hear it. Not threatening, but definitely unusual. That was the only weird thing he did the whole trip all the way downtown.

TVs and slightly "off" people

2006-01-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

Today I rode the bus from home to the gym in the early morning, then from the gym to work, and then from the office home. It's a nice bus day. I get the 3rd Street bus a block and a half from my house and it takes me within 3 blocks of my gym. The Wilshire bus is right across the street from my gym, and it drops me off two doors away from my office. I walk 4 blocks from my office to 3rd and catch the 3rd Street bus home. Pretty cool for $3.

I wrote a complaint/suggestion to the MTA today. There are televisions with news and (of course) ads on many of the buses now. This is a pretty new thing, maybe over the last year or so. I don't mind the televisions, but I do mind the sound. They should do like they do on the TVs in the gym or on elevators where they run the close-captioned words at the bottom of the screen. Or they could let you tune into a particular radio band if you wanted to hear the sound. I'd rather not. They don't allow boom boxes on the bus (thank goodness!), why should they put in TVs?

Did have a funny experience on the 3rd Street bus home. There was an older lady on the bus, talking to herself, probably a bit mentally ill. She got up to get off at Fairfax. The Fairfax stop is about a quarter of a block down the street from the actual intersection of 3rd and Fairfax, but she wanted to GET OFF. She told that to the bus driver loud and clear. When she did exit the bus, she turned and told the bus driver she was going to have him arrested for false imprisonment. He thought that was pretty funny. So did I.

MTA Trip Planner

2006-01-14T06:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I drove to Oxnard to see a client. That is a beautiful drive (I took the coast route), but it is just too long and uncomfortable to drive that far. I've tried to figure out how to take mass transit out there, but I haven't been able to figure out how. Metrolink goes out that way, but then I can't find a bus to take me the rest of the way. And anyway, Metrolink frequency is designed for commuters, so there are big, hours-long gaps in service between rush hours.

Which brings me to another point. The MTA web site, specifically the Trip Planner, should do a better job of integrating all the regional transit networks. As far as I can tell, the only other systems it includes is Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus, and the Culver City Bus. Ventura, Foothill, Orange County, etc., etc. don't seem to be part of it.

The largest omission from the MTA Trip Planner is the LADOT Dash system. This is a system of neighborhood buses. You've probably seen them around. Most do circular routes through a particular neighborhood, running every 10-15 minutes throughout the day. They cost 25 cents! They are very cool. I've figured out how to take the Dash to an MTA Red Rapid bus line that saves me quite a bit of time on one of my regular routes. But I had to figure it out myself. The MTA web site gives a link to the Dash (if you look hard enough for it), but that's it. Here's the link: http://www.ladottransit.com/dash/index.html . Check it out. It's a nice system that covers 27 different neighborhoods throughout the city, many of which overlap for easy connections.

Driving causes bad moods

2006-01-02T18:08:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago I took the bus to work. Actually, first I took it to the gym, then to work, then home. I was feeling quite relaxed walking home from the bus stop. When I got home, I had to get in the car to run an errand. I noticed immediately how uptight and exasperated I got. I was yelling at someone in front of me (who, of course, couldn't hear a word I said) because they were going only 25 in a 35 mph zone. Ridiculous. It was shocking how just getting in the car changed my mood and composure.

Buses and trains in LA

2006-01-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

I love riding public transit. I love riding along with the other people. I love watching the city sights rather than the car two feet ahead of me. I love not having to move my foot from the gas to the brake every 15 seconds, or plod along at 20 miles per hour surrounded by thousands of other drivers on the freeway.

I started using public transit on a regular basis when I discovered the Amtrak train from LA to San Diego. I will never drive to San Diego again. The Amtrak takes a little over three hours and is a beautiful, lovely ride along the coast once you get past Orange County. The train goes closer to the ocean than the highway does, and you can enjoy the view because you do not have to look at the road. I can get work done on my computer, or I can read a book, or I can just enjoy the ride. No traffic, no pressure.

If you have not yet been on one of the LA subways, you should take a trip to just to experience it. Each station has a different artistic theme; in fact, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) offers a free station tour. The cars and stations are clean and safe. It is an excellent transportation choice if the subway is going where you want to be. My biggest complaint about the subway is that there is not adequate parking at most of the stations, so a “park and ride” concept does not work.

My most amazing discovery has been that we actually have a pretty good bus system in Los Angeles. The system is very extensive; taking one or two buses will get you within half a mile of almost anyplace you want to go. With the exception of a portion of the Red Rapid Bus line that has a dedicated bus lane, the buses cannot get you there any faster than the traffic flow allows...but not much slower either. Even with stops and a transfer, the trip from my Fairfax area home to Santa Monica took only 10 minutes longer on the bus than it would have taken driving. I find the little extra time at a more leisurely pace without having to worry about traffic helps me feel more calm and relaxed during the rest of the day.

Taking public transit requires a bit more planning to be sure you arrive at your destination on time. The MTA web site (www.mta.net) has a handy Trip Planner to help you find the fastest combination of buses and subways to your destination. It is hard to effectively cover a decentralized city like Los Angeles with mass transit, and I find the best time to abandon the car and take the bus is when I have a straight shot route, or perhaps one transfer. The Wilshire Boulevard Red Rapid Bus is my favorite. I even take it from my office when I have a meeting in Beverly Hills, Westwood or Santa Monica. Fast, frequent, no hassle, and no $25 charge for parking, either.