Posted April 14, 8:59 a.m
OK, you caught me. "Going Public" took a break last week and ran off to killer Cali to hang out with my younger sister, Kozi, and my mother. I shopped a lot, ate way too much (big ups to the shrimp and crawfish at "The Boiling Crab" in Little Saigon), and I even went to the O.C. Sadly, "Hills" fans, I didn't look up L.C., Heidi or Spencer.
But what I did look into was transit in Los Angeles.
I've ridden buses in L.A., which I call Orange Crush, due to their mandarin shade, and I just wasn't as impressed as I was by rides on the NY and D.C. systems. The buses appear to run more sparsely in L.A. and even inspired a carjack justification monologue from Ludacris in the critically acclaimed "Crash."
But I couldn't help but notice that L.A. transit got props from the American Public Transit Association, or APTA, as advertised on the tops of buses I saw. I looked into it, and found the transit was named the best in the nation by APTA in '06, according to their Web site. I'll look into this more, but it appears the buses are still riding off this success.
I wish native or former resident Angelenos would let me know what's so hot about the Orange Crush. I've heard a lot about positive public transit from D.C. and New York riders, but not so much from the Los Angeles crowd. Did I miss something? My ride wasn't so hot, but I'd love to hear whose was...
1 Comment
Rick Burke said:
Kyra-
As a native of Los Angeles who is now a confirmed Chicagoan I wanted to comment on the Orange Crush column.
Los Angeles has come a long way from the transit challenged city it was when I grew up there. After years of infighting, passage of bonds and sales tax increases have made possible a clean, modern and expanding system of subways, light rail, bus rapid transit (BRT), and a hybrid called the Orange Line in the San Fernando Valley which combines a dedicated right-of-way with express buses.
Ironically, the network that Metro is creating is largely rebuilding along the same routes that the Pacific Electric system built in the early 1900s. That system of street cars and interurban trains criss-crossed the metropolitan area until they died a slow death due to the rise of the automobile and the diesel bus in the early 1950s. That, however, is another story.
Is it worthy of the buzz, you bet it is! Chicago could take a lesson or two on how to build and operate rapid transit and make it more effective.
"GOING PUBLIC" SAYS: Thanks so much for schooling me! I'll definitely check their system out more next time I'm in L.A. I'll ask the CTA if they are getting any positive examples from L.A., in addition to the D.C., NY and Shanghai systems.
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