Los Angeles Commuting To Work With Public Transit
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- In this episode, I show what my commute to work looks like in Los Angeles. I show off several modes of #publictransport that #losangeles has to offer. But most importantly I demonstrate just how uncomfortable the experience can be.
#walkablecity #urbanplanning #trains #bus #transit
That highway median transfer station always baffled me. Strange how there's no walls blocking out the highway noise. Great video man
Just like that one stop on the el in the middle on 95
Alan once again managing to find every transit RUclipsr in existence
My thoughts exactly. Putting transit users into a space with constant screaming noise is beyond messed up. The way our streets are designed shows that not only were pedestrians an afterthought, they were not considered in the slightest. LADOT, CalTrans, and the LA City Council should be ashamed of themselves for the hellscape they created.
It's one thing to have bad or inconvenient transit. It's a whole different problem to make transit that is actively unhealthy for you to use.
They’re removing the upcharge soon
@@AshmewStudios Oh really? That's super cool to learn about. Maybe this is something I will include in a future episode.
Or more accurately, thought about, then completely forgotten about, then retrofitted into whatever was available.
Decisions to place the Light Rail Station in the middle of 105 Freeway was made in the late 1980s by highway-centric LA Transportation officials with little public input at the time. Transportation officials in LA are a bit smarter about those things today.
With the J (silver) line marketed as a premium bus service you think, at minimum, that route would have bus shelters at it's stops.
I didn't even know it was marketed that way. It seems marginally better.
@@timwalksit was, they even had J buses run for a while in the valley as a promo for the line. Even had ad posters for the line when it was first opened/revamped since it was originally two isolated lines
The reason for the lack of benches, bus stops, and public restrooms is because they don't want the homeless, transients, prostitutes, or junkies setting up camp in them. Until cities recognize the need for better human management, they won't see commuters trading in their cars for mass transit.
@@NotAnInternetTroll I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about m8. It was known as Line 802 or 801 with silver buses running from San Fernando road or something all the way to North Hollywood Station. This was like in 2008
@@aarondrios You really have no idea what public transport can be, do you?
I'm in Japan, Sapporo city in the north. I always plan holidays and trips in America thinking I'll take the trains and enjoy the rides / walks, and these videos give me a reality check of how good I have it here lol
If you come to New York City or some areas around it (and some other cities in the northeast), then taking the train and walking is decent. Anywhere south or west of DC though, you’ll have a much tougher time
The Northeast is generally alright because it's built in the style of compact European cities, but I'd be willing to bet my liver that you won't find any Europe/Japan-style public transportation west of the Appalachians lol.
I went as a tourist to NYC for a few days, it was okay without a car (the subway is good). After that though we went by rental car to other cities. So takeaway is good public transport is more of an exception to the norm, rather than the norm.
By the way, love your translations!
Unfortunately we have none of that, because Americans are too busy spending away their life savings for an XLR Car that is bigger than the entire smallest road I know. 😂
You have it better there. Everywhere is walkable and you can take the time to be free without having to use a car and the government does a lot to care about the safety of it's people while America doesn't. 😂😂😂😂😂
I was just in Japan a few weeks ago.. you have it so good compared to here lol
Regarding the noise at Harbor Freeway, a study done by UCLA says that the traffic noise exceeds 90 decibels, exceeding the OSHA limit for noise exposure longer than a few minutes. I like how Los Angeles wants to welcome the world with the 2028 Summer Olympics while at the same time thinking that a station in the middle of a noisy highway is genius...ah yes, what a welcoming environment. It tells me everything I need to know about how a government actually cares about its people. It's similar to how certain CTA Blue Line stations in Chicago are in the median of the Kennedy Expressway on the way to O'Hare. The Blue Line has an average noise level of 76.9 decibels according to a University of Illinois Chicago's School of Public Health.
This station could have been workable if it was fully enclosed and surrounded by sound barrier walls
@@Xenomorph-hb4zf it would be *workable*, but far from great
@@Xenomorph-hb4zf I was thinking about that, you can even see some glass walls put up at the station in this video. The only problem would be airflow, which you need in a city that can get as hot as LA. And then you would need climate control systems, and at that point, you might as well just put the station in a place that makes sense.
Buy a car, quit being a loser... Then you won't have to worry about noise at bus stops.
Keep voting Democrat! I'm sure they'll take care of you this time
No seats, no benches, no shelters. Here's hostile architecture.
There is a shelter and bench at the 28 stop and at the train line. But yes, the silver line is lacking =/
The utter DISDAIN for - if not downright HATRED of - public transportation in America is found NATIONWIDE. Our urban planners are by-and-large elitists who drive their own cars and/or are chauffeured everywhere in limousines. Few if any of these planners would dare disgrace themselves to be seen onboard a public transit vehicle of ANY kind ANYwhere. This hatred of all things PUBLIC in our country is a reality we must acknowledge and face head-on if we're ever to address it. No wonder Los Angeles has been allowed to become a transit-rider's hellhole. It's because no one with decision-making power gives a damn about it.
The United States is essentially a privileged and wealthy white-supremacist GATED COMMUNITY surrounded by crime-, drug-, urine- and feces-infested slums, which of course include its neglected public transit systems with their primarily minority ridership. We are seeing here first-hand what APARTHEID looks like in America.
Keep sharing these experiences! Not enough people know about how much better public transit could be in LA. @metamodernism has a great video on hostile transit infrastructure that details all the ways the green line stations suck, but it's nothing you wouldn't already know, since you take that station as a part of your commute.
Thank you for the words of encouragement.
Keep up the videos, man! Love them all the way from Toronto.
I have worked in LA for a short project for 2 years. I stayed with a family member in Glendale. I’ve worked all over the world and have used public transport, regardless if it’s a first or third world country. It was the worst 2 years of my life living in the US as someone who doesn’t drive. A 30 minute trip turns into 1hr and 30 to 2 hrs just because of how inefficient it is. You’d think with such a perfect weather, they’d promote cycling and public tranportation but no, cars all around that hell hole. People get stuck on traffic so they get to a park where they can jog or run. It was insane.
This echoes my thinking as well. Its really hard to look at the way LA is planned out and not ask yourself "am I crazy or is everyone else". I think what shocked me is how much LA denizens have convinced themselves that this is normal.
My family in the US lives in a 2 bedroom apt, consisting of 3 adults. They own 3 cars. That’s insane to me. And for them, that’s normal and would defend that lifestyle to the death. LA is a place with perfect weather, beautiful terrain, and diverse communities. And yet, it’s so broken and divided by gray harsh asphalts.
Well, living in Glendale is the first problem. That's a city with a more conservative government and they have zero public transit rail. I think they have recently proposed some kind of streetcar but that's about it.
The LA Metro experience can be day or night depending on where you live and work. If you live or work in DTLA, you have many public transit options.
@@timwalks Part of the issue are the numerous freeways in the LA area. I e argued we should take some freeway lanes to install both light rail and dedicated bus routes. Maybe they can serve as express routes. A good one would be to have a light rail train that could take you from LAX to DTLA using lanes on the freeway. We could at least start with dedicated express bus lanes on the freeways. Not HOV lanes but bus only lanes.
@@timwalks I recommend the book "Los Angeles and the Automobile: the making of a modern city" for more information on this subject if you haven't read it already. It's a great book and extremely well researched.
@6:42 what makes even more "sense" is the side the plants are on, for a padestrian it is "nice" to have something in between the sidewalk and that stupid 8 lane stroad, putting those flowers in between the road and the sidewalk creates a sensual barrier for padestrians, making them feel safer, and giving them something to look at instead of a half assed unplanned stupid 8 lane stroad.
This is a very astute observation, that I hadn't actually considered
Can't put the plants there because cars will run them over when pulling onto the sidewalk. Also one day we'll need to widen the road again to fix traffic. Just one more lane will fix it, trust me bro!
What's weird is the more I learn about LA public transit and urban planning, the more I can almost feel a kinship with the Twin Cities. It feels like an odd comparison at first, but both Metropolitan areas are major population centers with a lot of sprawl and polycentric urban cores. We both have bus networks that require transfers but at least have ample coverage across a huge area. There's a lack of seating and shelters across stops that should have it, and are getting fixed over time with improvements and additional benches and shelters. There's a lot of challenges with planning public transportation and reducing car dependency in these areas, but I have grown to appreciate what the LA area has been doing, and this video is a great ground-level experience review of that.
We at least put sound shields on our highway median stations though, and it's crazy to see the contrast between ours and this. I thought our highway stations were noisy until I visited Chicago and used the Red Line from 95th St station...
Thanks for the great video! Hope to see more and your channel grow!
Edit; The Twin Cities is home to the nation's largest network of bus shoulder lanes on highways and roads! We have quite a lot of regular and Express buses that will use HOV/HOT lanes as well as bus shoulders to bypass traffic. There's also BRT lines that use highway shoulders and HOV lanes, as well as future BRT lines! Come visit sometime to check it out if you can!
I've considered doing some guerrilla improvements to LA bus stops under cover of darkness. I wonder how long it would take city officials to notice a new bench or a nice shade tree? 🤣
We need more of this in LA
@@timwalks I actually got the idea from reading about how guerrilla bike lanes were created in San Francisco a few years ago and the city actually voted to keep them! Sometimes people have to take matters into their own hands!
Please do. As a disabled person, waiting for the bus with no shade on a hot summer day is hell on earth.
@@lexa_power Have you thought about getting a parasol? I just bought a folding umbrella for that reason, too.
@@angellacanfora I have one. There’s a lot of reasons why a shelter or trees with shade are preferable. Sometimes I don’t have a free hand to carry anything else. Sometimes I want to travel light and not carry anything. Sometimes I’m going places like a baseball game and can’t bring one (Dodger Stadium doesn’t allow them inside).
lol i didn’t expect him to work at SpaceX
Isn't it sad that we are surprised when someone who has a good job choses to/enjoys the use of public transit?
Yeah if i worked there i would be saying byebye to public transportation, especially in that area, the US is built for cars so I may as well use that to my advantage.
@@thehungryPENGUIN69 Yeah, I definitely don't have to take PT if I don't want to. But I refuse to buy or participate in car dependency.
Earned yourself a new subscriber! As a disabled Angeleno, the sad state of transit in our city breaks my heart. There’s so much potential - we have the most beautiful weather in the world, we could take transit everywhere if we had the system for it. So sad.
Thank you so much for making this! Obviously not an ideal setup that needs much more improvement, but I think videos like this help see the potential of what LA transit could be.
They may call it the Silver Line but when it comes to being a legit transit line, it's dead last. Building a station like Harbor is the same energy as American commuter rail groups building stations in the middle of some trees or barely any development, add a huge parking lot, and call it a day...that doesn't help pedestrians in any way. At least Harbor Freeway station has a bus hub, but for those who live around there, its location is atrocious on top of the noise. We don't even have a highway ripping through our capital, and our Metro is all underground! Before Americans criticize us, they should work on their OWN problems.
Thank you dear leader for your words of wisdom
LA could've been soooo beautiful. It's in such an amazing setting with such potential.
i won’t complain about my nyc commute ever again lmfao
As someone who was raised in NYC, New Yorkers have no idea how good they have it compared to the rest of the United States.
@@timwalks I certainly do. Born and raised in Jersey City and it's typically easier to bike to work instead of taking my SUV
@@armorpro573 Jersey city isn't new york lmfao
@@choonblaze No, but it still offers a large variety of transportation options
@@armorpro573 I used to ride a bus everyday with crazy old guy drivers to get to Manhattan and back
To answer what you said @ 5:14 ;the 105 freeway was only approved with the condition that it would have a light rail line through it
I learned that from making this video haha. I supposed its better than nothing...
It’s also hilarious that they put the poles in the middle of the sidewalk? In Canada they’re off to the side so you can use the sidewalk? Like what is a wheelchair supposed to do
Agreed. They do it in LA too but older street lights are sometimes installed like this especially on sidewalks they don't think will get highly used. This sidewalk was probably installed before the ADA was passed.
New sub here based in Chi town 😎👌🏽🔥 dope content bro
LA is one of those cities where taking transit is impossible… the systems are large but useless… makes you appreciate cities like Seattle, Dallas, NY, and DC
Yeah, always tell New Yorkers that they have no idea how good they have it. They don't seem to believe me until they go.
ALso second opinion @3:27. In the U.S we build highways everywhere and we cant stop that unfortunately, but if at the end of the day the highway is designed so there is a rail line (Thats electric and frequent) I would rather have a train that runs in a highway median than building a 4.8 Biollion doller bridge next to the highway, and having all the nimby's in the whole of seattle complain about it.
Your video is very high quality! Not sure how you only have 132 Subscribers (4/13/23)
aww thanks. I really appreciate the words of encouragement.
Thank You!
I love the passion and interest in local transportation and planning in general. There's a lot of history behind some of these poor planning decisions that you encounter that help explain why we ended up with certain things like the Green Line (that one was a federal judge). Often times too the problem is politics or political will (Westside subway, Crenshaw Line, SM portion of the Expo Line) and the rest is just Metro gonna be Metro. Going back to the Green Line though, if you have an interest in LA or transit history (or both) there is a ton of (dated) academic and non-academic work on the 105/Green Line saga. It's an interesting study because it really does touch on just about everything but even a summary would take up pages and pages.
I visited LA and stayed there for almost 2 weeks. The first thing I noticed was thats cars rule the city. People were hardly on the streets. This made me depressed because people commuted by car everywhere. The traffic was a nightmare and the lack of public transport made it feel as though it was third world. Put Beverly hills and all those fancy places aside, LA itself is not a great place. No offence to the good people who call it home, but it really is an overrated city with no soul.
This is actually a very respectful way of stating this. I have to agree. I understand that there are many people that consider LA their home and the area means a lot to them. But I fundamentally think LA's infrastructure and public services are very flawed.
I was about to say the noise probably isn't much worse than other transit stations in freeway medians, but then I noticed it's right in the middle of an interchange, so it would be that much louder.
I was number 449. Wishing you all the best. Hope you make 449,000 subs or more. Best regards. Jeff.
I live in Orlando and the shortest bus wait ive seen is 30mins and i thought it was a God send. Theres no way I could even consider a route with 1 connection much less 2 😂😂😂
Congrats on 38 subscribers!
I've been visiting LA (from the Bay Area) a couple of times a year for the past 20+ years, except during the pandemic. Roughly half the times I drive, the other times I make do with public transit - and "ridesharing" services when necessary. My most recent visit was just a few weeks ago, and was the first time I used the Metro since right before the pandemic. It was in, by far, the worst state I had seen. First, there were four or five people on the Purple Line (inside the actual train, a few feet away from me) smoking cigarettes, weed, spliffs, and something in a glass pipe. One of them was elderly and possibly homeless, but two were teenagers, very fashionably dressed. Then I transferred to the Gold Line, where a person was passed out in a pool of urine, surrounded by their paraphernalia and miscellaneous belongings, the whole car reeking of excrement. It was literally sickening. I have compassion for the homeless and try to be an ally against institutional racism, but on what planet can any of this be seen as acceptable?
The situation is really bad. What you describe is a pretty good example of what I see multiple times a week for the last year. Imagine what that does to one's psyche haha.
Don't lose that compassion, cause those people need our support. Our disdain should always be reserved for the institutions in place that allow this to keep happening.
@@rojaalborada Agreed. When I see this, I don't think to myself "how did they get themselves into this mess". I think "how can this city allow people to live like this, and continue living like this"
I had the same experience a few months ago. I used to live in San Diego and often took day trips to LA, where I would often use the light rail (I used the LA light rail more often than the San Diego Trolley, heh). I dunno if COVID has made a lot of people scared of public transit or what, but yeah, it was pretty awful and quite sad.
@@timwalks As he says though, it was not like that before the pandemic so what changed in the interim and how does Metro get it back to it's previous ride quality experience. I've ridden the gold, expo, red and purple lines many times before the pandemic and never had these kinds on experiences. Historically, the blue line was the one line people would complain about the most. Though even that line has it's stations upgraded with better signage and lighting several years ago.
Metro has recently hired more security officers and metro employees who ride the trains and walk the stations to improve customer service. Metro also implemented two new apps a few weeks ago to help with transit issues and times.
I also notice how there are very few bus benches and some don’t even provide cover from the elements.😢 Also an idea for your next video on why that is. Great video!😁
Thanks for the idea! I actually briefly talked about it in this video: ruclips.net/video/f1NL484pZ8c/видео.html
But perhaps it does deserve its own dedicated episode.
FYI noise cancelling earphone like airpods don't actually protect your ears against loud noises, so I would recommend wearing earplus or other kinds of ear protection
This was a first movie of You I've seen. Very good example how not to build transit stations and shows how LA treats transit users. Thanks a lot :)
This reminds me a tiny bit of our system in Boston, luckily we don't have highway stations, but we have a silver line BRT system. SL1, SL2 and SL3 all start in underground busways with tunnels and trolley poles, then go above ground, switch to diesel power, and continue in highway tunnels. SL 4 and SL5 are just above ground busses that are frequent and articulate. Then our green line, the oldest subway in the country, is super loud, not from the area around it or anything, but the screeching of the wheels on the tracks on corners, some stations are so bad you have to cover your ears
Woah, they switch between diesel and electric? Thats pretty cool!
@Tim Chin Walks Yeah! They are dual mode busses, the diesel engine powers a generator, but now they are replacing them with hybrids that have a bigger battery, which means no more trolley bus mode. What they should have done is use battery electric buses that charge from the trolley poles when they go underground
Keep up the great work! Its great to see more of these channels!
I will never complain about public transport here in Melbourne, Australia again after watching this video
I dont know anything about Melbourne, but looking at your transit map, it looks like the city has pretty good coverage. One only needs to look at a transit map of LA to realize how sparse and poorly connected the city is.
No idea why I watched the whole thing but it was so interesting
I dont know why either, but I appreciate it :)
I take the Silver J line to go to work and so happy there is a bus stop right outside my office and it’s only like 5-8 min walk from my house. Props to you for being so ambitious commuting 2 hours each way
Great video! That harbor freeway station is rough. I’ve heard Metro plans to add more noise protection when they start renovating the green line as part of the 105 express lanes project in a few years. However I’ve also heard that Caltrans doesn’t want them to fully enclose the platforms to avoid issues with the sight lines for people driving on the freeway so who knows how effective it would actually be.
That's a really interesting counter argument. But what sight does this station impede on? The opposite lane?
Honestly, I wonder if they've considered rebuilding the rail line on the imperial highway. You'd think more people would ride it if they didn't have to deal with interchanges like that!
The green line will also eventually conniwith the Crenshaw line and the LAX people mover so it will get a higher ridership in the future. Installing sound proofing could be because they know a lot more people will be using the green line in the future including tourists.
When I was a kid I remember the excitement when the Blue Line opened to Long Beach. I also remember being a kid and riding that around and people being confused but I found it efficient.
I went to LA in 2018 and tried to take metro from the airport to a hotel right by Union Station and it was a pain
Great video, genuinly enjoyed it!
@1:26 dont be annoyed your bus runs every 15 minutes, thats a great frequency for bus routes in the US, i live in seattle we only have 1 electrified light rail line serving a city of 3 million people and using low floor trams that cant even go 60 MPH, also most of our busses run every hour with exeptions being express routes and the few downtown routes
Yeah, Ive learned thats as good as it is going to get. The only places marginally better is manhattan in NYC. They get it down to 12 min in some spots.
Seattle is underwhelming when it comes to transit, but the ferry system is pretty solid though.
@@timwalks Metro has a better transit app they released a few months ago to help people coordinate their transit better.
A lot of busses in the San Fernando Valley only come once an hour. I too thought that 15 minutes sounded insanely frequent! 😅 I’ve been conditioned to accept much less than we deserve by this awful city.
The city of Seattle has nowhere near 3 million people dude.
Tim - I took the expo line or biked from Culver City to Santa Monica for ten months, it’s PTSD inducing. Now I live in Virginia, drive, and no longer have commute-induced trauma and lead a very happy life vs misery in California. I learned that it’s important to put your own oxygen mask on before helping others
I'll never complain about NYC Transit again.
I always tell New Yorkers that they have no idea how good they have it.
I have visited relatives in LA from San Diego many times, and you just couldn't convince me to live anywhere in interior LA. I would only live there for the beach cities that actually have some decent bike infrastructure, the beachside bike path, and a direct metro connection to downtown LA. Sounds like your commute takes 2+ hrs.
In total it was 2 hours. Even 2.5 hours on bad days. One way it was 1 hours. 1 hour and 15 minute some days.
Every 15 minutes? My guy, where I am in my state? Once a hour is good. Sometimes every two to three of one gets canceled or the next driver doesn't show.
Yeah, Ive learned from these comments that 15min is good compared to most US cities
It’s good compared to most parts of LA! The average here in the valley for most lines is once an hour, but as NordWolf points out, if one bus doesn’t show up, which happens all the time, now you’ve got to wait 2 hours.
Plenty of cities have subway stops in highway medians: Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington come to mind.
Man that is super unpleasant. We have some stations right next to freeways in Melbourne (Australia), but they always put a sound barrier between the station and the traffic. I'm also stunned at how narrow those sidewalks are over there. And then a pole in the middle of it that you have to go around. Fine if you're walking, not fine if you're in a wheelchair. We also have islands in the middle of wide roads, so you can cross in 2 stages if needed, and if you're slow you have somewhere safe to wait at the midway point. Those massively wide streets with no island in the middle are terrifying!
Absolutely. NYC has actually been starting to tackle this problem by placing interim Islands and it definetly makes me feel more comfortable.
What an utterly miserable experience. I'm so sorry they treat public transport like that in America.
Yeah, Im not sure Americans have realized just how much the onerous of financing transport has fallen on the individual as compared to other countries.
We have shonky areas in the UK too, and the scariest thing is when some weird looking rando gets on the bus - and is actually quite nice! A touch over-sharey, but nice. Then it gets into "Am I The Jerk" territory for judging that poor person, and that's terrifying!
man, this bums me out. Those highway stations are absolutely brutal. Here in Philly our El has a stop in the middle of I-95 and it's the same deal, brutally loud. At the very least it comes every 7ish minutes so it feels less insulting, but still needing to wait there for the train is just soul-crushing. You can tell the designers just really didn't care for the user experience because stations can be designed to mitigate that car noise by having them enclosed and operating platform screen doors to buffer the worst of the noise.
Metro's ride quality experience has gotten so bad since Covid. It was not like that before the pandemic so what changed in the interim and how does Metro get it back to it's previous ride quality experience? I've ridden the gold, expo, red and purple lines many times before the pandemic and never had these kinds on experiences. Historically, the blue line was the one line people would complain about the most. Though even that line (the oldest) had it's stations upgraded with better signage and lighting several years ago.
Metro has recently hired more security officers and metro employees who ride the trains and walk the stations to improve customer service. Metro also implemented two new apps a few weeks ago to help with transit issues and times. They are trying to improve things but it's going to take time and money.
When I was commuting to San Jose for work the light rail stop I got on at was just like this. So miserable.
I often ride the silverline from the South Bay to visit my father and other family members in LA. Sometimes not a pleasant experience, but it beats being stuck in traffic.
The Seattle area where I live has these “Freeway Stations” that are served by several King County Metro and Sound Transit Routes. They usually have very tall walls on both sides or are at overpass level to avoid noise.
i never knew how un walkable LA really is. it’s absolutely crazy
Yeah, It didnt really sink in until I got rid of my car.
When I lived in San Francisco in the '90s, a bus stop commonly consisted of a yellow stripe painted around a telephone pole with the route number stenciled on it, no bench, no shelter, nothing else.
Bruh the express bus price is what prices cost on most of septa in philly
Im totally not complaining. I think as far as pricing goes, metro LA is pretty fair. But also, you get what you pay for :)
@@timwalks I'm saying you have a great deal. Most of our system is $2.50 at the cheapest
Mate, have you been on the Jubilee line in London between Canary Wharf and North Greenwich? As that thing turns corners, eardrums bleed.
No I havent, but I can imagine it. In the Bay Area the BART line screeches in many areas and you really cant hold a conversation or a thought when going through those spots
your last walk towards work reminded me of my little time in a long beach neighborhood, it was probably 2 feet of sidewalk. I does not seem safe for a parent with a stroller or people in general.
Just a PSA, noise cancelling technology does NOT protect hearing in high decibel environments. the way the tech works is by producing an equal but opposite soundwave to the environmental sound, thus 'cancelling' that noise, but it has no sound insulative properties aside from the passive noise cancelling you get from having a piece of plastic in front of your ear canal. I know it is off topic to the vid, but I have tinnitus from the military and want to spread the word about this misconception.
Can the fence be replaced with a noise damping wall? Similar to what is build for housing along the highways.
Koreatown to Hawthorne Airport area - that's a pretty healthy commute. I've been inside that SpaceX building. That place is insane.
took the c line from the blue line for the first time a few months ago, the sound was crazey
What's sad is that people in this country think that public transit, and even walking and biking in general just sucks because it's planned so poorly here, given so little funding and because so much space is given to car infrastructure instead. And because of that people will go to their local governments and demand more car infrastructure and outcry any effort to improve transit as a waste of public funds (CA highspeed rail comes to mind). And because of that the transit infrastructure just gets more terrible and people hate it more creating this seemingly never ending viscous cycle.
I watched a video on RUclips about a city in LA county that recently started converting some of the car lanes on its streets into bus lanes. It tremendously improved the speed of the bus lines but of course, people cried out and complained that it was taking away space from their precious cars. So now that city is rolling back, removing the bus lanes and turning them back into car lanes. A tragedy.
I don't know what can be done to end this cycle. It's like a feedback loop, it just keeps getting worse and worse. I think the only hope is that eventually traffic will get so bad and there won't be any space left to expand lanes into that people will eventually seek out alternatives. In a way we are already starting to see that. Been seeing more and more channels like this pop up in the past few years.
Hey, first off just wanted to thank you for your thought out comment. I put love and thought into my videos and I really appreciate it when I get well written responses.
I've thought about this vicious cycle. It's something we are starting to make some progress getting past in parts of NYC. But I think solving it will come down to three things.
First, outreach and education. This is partly why I started this channel. Ive come to realize that most don't know just how bad they have it because its what they grey up with and normalized. Even those of us that are well traveled sometimes never actually think about why we enjoy the streets of European or Japanese cities, we just know that we do. So first is teaching people that there are alternatives and why those alternatives are better.
Second, building political coalitions in communities. Something we also don't realize is how much car culture has contributed to the deterioration of community and cooperation. But if we start putting in effort to become active voices in our community and educate people about alternatives, I think we can drive real change. The problem I think many cities in LA are experiencing is that they dont have this community. To many drivers it seems like they are shoving policy down their throats they didnt ask for and they might be right. Its important that the community knows what the vision or alternative that the city is pushing towards.
Finally, I think simple economics will lead to the collapse of car dependent cities. I think what we will come to realize is that cities like Detroit are the rule and not the exception, and that most cities that decide to build their infrastructure around the car will eventually end up in the same state (to Detroits credit, the city is trying to make a comeback). The simple fact that tying every Americans wealth to one the fastest depreciating assets and the expensive inefficiency of needing a vehicle to live will start to really wane on most American cities. I actually think we are heading this direction right now in many car centric cities in the mid-west (they just haven't realized yet). This reality alone will force cities to either revert this infra or further dilapidate.
I love LA public transport. In my country it is really really really bad. So bad that you basically have to jump out of the bus because they sometimes don't make the stops.
I suppose its all about perspective.
You have busses running 🏃♂️ every 15 minutes!!! Holy cheese-wiz, I'm jealous. Here it's once per hour.
My commute makes much longer and is as much of a pain. I take the 78 bus from temple city at 0635, arrive DTLA (City Hall) anywhere between 0720 and 0730. At approximately 0735, I take the 92 bus to Glendale where I arrive at work anywhere between 0815 and 0835 depending on traffic, speed and passengers. Going home, I take the 501 to Memorial Park, change to the A line, go 3 stops, get out at Sierra Madre Villa Station which is also super loud (something like 12 total lanes of highway [6 in each direction]), go downstairs, get the 266 and then get off and have to walk about 3 NYC type avenues before turning onto the street by my house. At this point, I get out my flashlight because there are neither streetlights nor sidewalks and drivers are insane. If I leave work at 5pm, I rarely arrive home before 6:30pm.
In Montreal, the REM will have a few stations along the highway, but one of the big differences is that they are fully enclosed stations with platform screen doors.
Oh yeah... Me and my sister were on vacation in L.A. last year and we stayed in El Segundo near the beach. The fastest way over the day to Downtown LA and Union Station was (besides the Commuter Express in the morning) the change between Green and Silver Line. It was pain... (especially if you had to wait 20 minutes for the next train) Yes, I like the Silver Line very much with the ride on the Fast Lane, but this transfer station is nothing you would find here in Germany.
I used to live incredibly close to your first metro stop on the route. I Absolutly loved that part of town and I especially loved Guelaguetza (the orange restaurant) . That place has some of the best Mole I have ever had.
Honestly never been haha, but ktown in general has some really good food!
Really interesting video. As someone from Zurich it’s kind of unreal to see the state of this whole "system".
Can you tell us how much this ride costs you and do you have to buy a ticket everytime or is there some sort of monthly or yearly card?
I actually never bothered to check if there was a monthly payment plan. That being said, a base ticket is $1.75 for the bus and light rail line. You can go any distance and i think its unlimited transfers for an hour or two. The silver line (the bus that goes on the highway) is 2.25, but the 1.75 from my first bus covers a portion of that since I'm transferring. For all the crap LA metro gets, it is extremely affordable. But like I say, you get what you pay for :)
@@timwalks Thank you so much for the info. I find this very interesting. That really is not very much. But it means you have to buy a ticket every single day? Like, a physical Ticket? And a separate one for the Silver Line? Seems incredibly complicated to me.
You should come to London and ride the London Underground. Some sections of both the Victoria, and Jubilee Lines are deafening. The materials used to line parts of some of the tube tubnels make it painful for the ears.... and it becomes impossible to have a conversation with someone - even if they're seated next to you. Yea, its that loud!
"Occasionally some odd folks do get on the bus and cause some unease."
Translation: "Expect some tweaking lunatic to get on and cause some shit. It may not happen every day, but it will happen."
Also: If you're asking if other areas allow buses on reserved express lanes, in my experience, in the DC area, yes. I could swear I've encountered it elsewhere too.
LA grew around one of the great electric interurban rail systems (the Pacific Electric) but then it grew much more once those rail systems were gone. Attempting to recreate it is not a horrible thing, but, the lack of transit-oriented development and pedestrian-friendly design makes transit and pedestrians 2nd-class users of the transportation network. LA's rapid transit system also often violates another transit principle - most traditional big city transit systems require you to make only no more than one rail transfer between lines (the DC Metro was specifically designed that way) and no more than one bus transfer on either end to get where you are going in a metropolitan area. I worked on the Metro Blue Line (LA-Long Beach) when it was first built (I guess it's called something different now), and at least initially, most of the LA rail lines (what were then called Red and Green) seemed to be developed completely independent of one another instead of as a system.
I use to wonder why so many metro systems in the US have such low ridership but having tried to use a few and vids like this it’s easy to see. So many stations are just not a comfortable walk and many were designed as park and ride which few would bother with. The green line is a great example how trying to save money just creates a negative reputation for the whole system. This makes those stations in San Jose look peaceful 😬
I don't know if the highway-interchange transit station is bizarre to me because there's nothing to walk to other than "getting run over", or the noise, or the fact I'm from Atlanta and building any new transit station is like taboo here to do at all in any location for some reason.
Just by reading the title i knew what station this was. I don’t understand how this is okay. Why can’t they put up some clear sound barriers? What they should really do is find a way to encase that stop into a pseudo station that stays closed until the train arrives. How has nobody sued metro as this is detrimental to a person’s health. Idk why I gripe about the LA metro, we’re lucky if our bus stop has shelter or a bench
This channel is great
ARRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! What we need are noise barriers along the track! That should do the trick I hope.
Even concrete barriers would help, but then it would really make this station feel depressing
The only way mass transit will work for everyone is if the city has zero tolerance for misconduct or poor hygiene on these platforms. In all the places around the world I see mass transit working, and the people have other options, is if the standards are high. The alternative is to make everyone desperately poor and then mass transit is the only option. Then also "works".
Here in Seattle they spent billions on a new rail system and there is no safe way to walk there. You'd have to walk down a busy, noisy street with no protection from anything. Then you get to a station with no food, no entertainment, nothing. And then you get onto a train that is new but already very dirty and has sketchy looking people sleeping in the train. And this is brand new.
This is one of many reasons I finally gave up and left LA. I was spending 2-3 hours a day in my car, but when I tried transit it became 3-4 hours. I would have loved biking, but the few times I tried that varied between frustrating and terrifying. Now I'm in a European city, and haven't owned a car for several years. Transit is reliable, clean, and safe. Reading through the comments here it sounds like LA is falling apart. I hope it starts to recover soon, but it will never be a livable city until they start to get rid of cars.
I have to agree, I don't think the city quite comprehends how damaging the motor vehicle is to their future. It's not even about reliance on fossil fuels. EV's will likely only put more strain on much of LA's infra. The city needs to increase density and improve transit.
Recommend to me in my home page, but I wanted to say I'm really sorry for your commute.
I'm currently studying at a university in the US and I can't stress enough to people I meet here that I love using public transport back home. Although my home city is probably only a 10th of the size of LA (due to the lack of urban sprawl) almost all the destinations you need to get to have one at most transfer. It would bore me to death getting on and off public transport waiting at numerous different stops when it's seriously not that hard to make a viable route which connects to more places.
Almost all videos about LA public transport seem to involve numerous boards and reboards with people movers and small short sections of line.
In comparison to a more similar sized city like London or NYC most public transport runs across the city and you really don't need these stupid transfers everywhere especially with no shelter in the heat of LA.
You do a lot of walking and a lot of waiting just to get to and from work. Someone older and/or less physically fit would have difficulty with this commute, especially when the weather is bad. Fortunately, LA doesn't have that much bad weather! This points out how pathetically inadequate public transportation is in LA.
There was a time when LA had crystal clear skies and sunshine year round, but those days are gone. 16 atmospheric rivers in a couple of months later and we are still getting cloudy days and rain showers off and on. Argh.
Actually, I think I see senior citizens taking public transit more than anybody. I assume at some point driving a car becomes too dangerous. That being said, I don't envy them.
It depends on where you live and work
@@angellacanfora Gone only temporarily and for now that is great because we desperately needed the water after having years of drought.
Over the last 30 years Los Angeles has been trying to make up for not having good Public Transportation system. Its spending billions of dollars but will probably take another 30 years
15 minute headways? Man I wish over here if I miss the bus next one doesn’t come for 50-60min
Check out my video on NY suburbs. Theres an example there of a bus line that aims to run with a frequency of 3-5 minutes:
Examples of Great and Good Suburbs
ruclips.net/video/Yfs1GwZw2Hk/видео.html
I used to use the C Line as part of my commute. This brings back a lot of memories. Yeah, the noise is horrendous.
Oh man, and Olympic is rough from a public transit perspective. It’s like a dead zone of only the 28 bus. I lived farther south off of Pico before, and moved up closer to Wilshire and Vermont. It was a game changer. That’s another weird thing about LA public transportation. Living a mile away from somewhere can make or break your car-free living.
This is very true. There were a couple of times I had considered moving closer to a line.
Perth, Western Australia has a lot of train stations in the freeway median, though I don’t think it’s as loud.
It's hard to find American public transportation vids like these and I applaud you for showing what it's like, keep them up!
The should really invest in the green line and find a way to close off the stations while adding platform screen doors somehow. I’m sure it can be done, albeit expensively.
They can do it with plexiglass. Some European and Asian transit systems have done it.
Unsure if you took the Long Beach (A) Line before, how does that line compare with the Norwalk/Redondo (C) Line? I wonder about safety and all as I am heading there during the Taylor Swift concert and staying by a hotel near the Costco/Airport.
Hmm, Ive never taken the A line but that one does go through some rough neighborhoods. I'd say you're very unlikely to experience any unsafe situations. Metro LA has been taking measures to improve overall safety around the stations, but don't be surprised to see some very disheartening situations. A lot of these lines smell pretty bad and occasionally have riders that are struggling financially or mentally.
Let me know what you think if you do end up taking the line!
@timwalks Yeah, I've taken the LB (A) Line and almost the entire Metro Rail system minus the Pink (K) Line, I do know the Red and Purple smells bad and the Light Rail System (A)(E) specifically is hit or miss. So will give it a try and see! Thank you!
Every-time I am in the states it feels like a dystopia for me. I can't understand why the people don't get depressed or sick in this environment... Crazy...
Well they do. Mental illness is a very really problem in the states. I just don't know how many realize that it may be a result of what they have done to their environment
The Silver (J) line was a combination of a number of other routes that used the corridor. It also runs on the El Monte Busway (now opened to motorists as part of the Express Lanes) to the El Monte Bus Station.
Remember that the decision-makers who decide that transit will be okay in the media of a limited access highway (freeway) has never ever used transit in their lifetimes.
Commendable! A little Quixotic, but highly admirable. ¡Buen suerte en sus viajes!
American public transit really is that abysmal
I went on the Green Line from Aviation all the way to Norwalk to go to Disneyland. It was the worst experience I have ever had using any form of public transport. 3 late teens boarded the train at Avalon Station. 2 of them were using a makeshift respirator made out of cheap, dense fabric while the other had no such thing. The 2 that did have the respirator started pulling out a cylindrical object as we pulled out of the station. Thinking nothing of it, I stayed in my normal pensive state while riding on trains. Then, a horrible aerosol smell filled the train and lingered there like bad, strong perfume. Turning back, I could see a new swath of red graffiti loosely spelling out 'ORGASM' and 3 hooded figures making their way into the next carriage. They had spray-painted on a train. My eyes were starting to leak, my nose irritated intensely, and my lungs were filling up, feeling way heavier than before as the aerosol particles creeped their way further down my respiratory system. Two old folks sitting to the right and bottom of me started maniacally smiling like The Joker, while regular commuters seemed unfazed. I was nauseated, dizzy and Midas-touched by poison, barely able to move or form thought as my brain pulsated more forcefully with each passing second.
A voice echoed incessantly like a lighthouse light trying to steer a ship in the right direction. 'The next station is Norwalk'. Never had a sentenced relieved me so much as that announcement. I exited the train, checking my phone to locate the Norwalk Station Bus Interchange. Right after I thought the storm had passed, I smelt a horrid scent like human faeces and ammonia combined. And a brown-coloured patch on the floor in front of a man shielding himself from onlookers with a checkered blanket whilst randomly convulsing and spasming like a dead a moth trying to survive after being sprayed with toxic chemicals.
If this is just another daily occurrence for commuters regularly using the Green Line, my heart goes out to you all. I could never imagine experiencing something as wild as that here in my hometown of Melbourne. Never again will I ride L.A. public transport.
P.S. A line with stations on a highway is just... absurd and inhumane. You have to wait 30 minutes for buses that spend half of their time on the road in gridlock traffic. Navigating without a car in L.A. is like navigating through a labyrinth. Stroads, recalcitrants, dangerous crossings, miles of traffic, transportation infrequencies, dirty trains littered with alcohol cans, strange-smelling sticky liquid Ion the train floors and on the station floors, illogical city design and dead neighborhoods with its only characteristics being cars, flickering streetlights, concrete and monotonous flat buildings. L.A. really needs an immediate re-design.
good god the parking structure at spacex is massive
And that's only one of 6, I believe. Granted the rest are flat
Holy Shit, That Sound is insane they need sound barriers
Great video! I'm a Transportation Planner in Los Angeles myself 🙂