I simply spent every week driving Los Angeles buses and went with 25 expat journalists from Germany, all of us in LA for a mid-career fellowship program. After I advised my native contacts that we deliberate to take public transportation to dozens of conferences and occasions—three to 4 a day, from the Westside to downtown and past—they appeared shocked and supplied dire warnings alongside the strains of “are you out of your thoughts?”
However their fears of lurking hazard, poor reliability and fewer consolation proved misplaced, albeit well-intentioned.
We drove a big choice of Metro’s 120 bus and 6 prepare strains. With shocking ease. Protected. Happily. And on time, regardless of Southern California’s legendary city sprawl. Our public transit journeys required a little bit advance planning and lead time, however they have been a fraction of the associated fee, to our wallets, to our nerves, and above all to the surroundings, in comparison with the choice a number of of us typically used — Uber.
I’ve lived for many years in Berlin, the place public transport is a a lot admired given, so I am used to touring day in and day trip with out a automobile, and I can now confidently say that the Metro does not deserve its unhealthy rap.
It is actually true that New York and Washington, different cities the place I lead fellowships, make it simpler to get from A to B by public transportation than LA. However do not underestimate Metro.
We acquired from one assembly in Beverly Hills to the subsequent assembly on Skid Row in an hour on only one bus line—the 720—that picked us up a number of blocks from Rodeo Drive and dropped us off exterior the Union Mission on San Pedro Road. Even some LA natives have been amazed to be taught that the identical bus line connects the 2 completely different worlds simply 10 miles — 16 bus stops — aside.
We additionally hit occasions in good condition in Hollywood, Common Metropolis, Santa Monica, Century Metropolis, Culver Metropolis, Glendale, Malibu, and Pacific Palisades. A few of the notably hearty public transit riders amongst us arrived at a number of of the extra difficult-to-reach appointments Earlier than those that resorted to Uber. Site visitors!
On the buses I met some chatty and pleasant fellow vacationers and sure, I additionally encountered a number of quite matted riders, chattering gibberish and misplaced in their very own distant worlds. I drove immaculately clear trains and buses and some that regarded and smelled loopy. Most rides have been someplace in between.
We had been warned about violent crime, and as with metropolitan transit programs in every single place, I’ve little doubt that may be a reliable concern. However we encountered none, though there have been some troubling moments on a late night experience from downtown to Santa Monica on a really clear however principally empty E line prepare.
One passenger was clearly handed out, slumped in his seat. One other shouted one thing unintelligible every now and then. To make such conditions really feel a little bit safer, there have been typically safety guards or police at prepare stops and on buses; safety cameras have been ubiquitous.
Our most unsure moments got here once we needed to stroll from buses or trains to our last locations. It appears pedestrians will not be one thing some Los Angeles drivers are used to. I truly needed to leap out of the way in which a number of instances when drivers acquired too near sidewalks or bike lanes.
Even at rush hour, we surprisingly discovered ourselves in half-empty buses as we zipped specific bus lanes previous lengthy strains of bumper-to-bumper site visitors. I needed to surprise why, within the face of local weather change, there have been nonetheless so many drivers in automobiles? Why is there a lot in a metropolis the place folks assume exterior the field greater than wherever else anxiousness about public transport?
My fellow German vacationers have been as amazed as I used to be by the comparatively good bus connections, the comparatively excessive frequency alongside a few of the major routes that criss-cross town, and the extremely low-cost worth of all of it – I acquired in every single place I wanted to be in public. transit and spent $18 for limitless journey for the whole week.
We used public transportation so typically that teams of us ran into one another everywhere in the metropolis, on our approach to group and leisure locations. It was normally straightforward to identify us as a result of the buses have been so empty. Just a few program contributors even selected to take the #4 bus to Santa Monica after which the Culver Metropolis Fast 6 bus to LAX for his or her flight dwelling.
In complete, I took nearly 30 completely different bus journeys and 6 prepare journeys unscathed throughout the car-free week. I noticed elements of LA I had by no means seen earlier than. I managed to get work and examine finished within the hours I spent on buses. After the fellowship ended, I wrote this text whereas using first on the E line from downtown after which on a bus to Venice.
Take it from me and two dozen different guests from Germany: Los Angeles has an eminently serviceable mass transit system, and from the development we noticed, it is solely going to get higher. Might it additionally turn out to be extra widespread among the many locals.
Erik Kirschbaum is a Berlin-based freelance journalist and author. He’s the Govt Director of the RIAS Berlin Fee, which manages eight fellowships for round 130 journalists posted within the US and Germany every year.