Day 7 - Sunday
Well, on Day 7 we had some surprises and some pitfalls. Poor HaRRy got left behind in downtown L.A. when we got ahead of schedule and thus missed one another at Union Station. Luckily he caught up to us for lunch. Two were also left behind at the Norwalk Green Line station thanks to their having "TAP cards" and the need to tap them again for the next segment.
The surprises were some unexpected people who joined our travels. As always the more the merrier. Our group around the time we took the transit bus and the Waterfront Red Car was 18, which I believe to have smashed any previous records, at least in modern days, for a group to be together at any one time. Everyone of course is welcome to join us. However as you can well imagine, sorting out everyone's comings and goings will be nothing short of a nightmare.
We covered all of Metro's light rail lines, the aforementioned Waterfront Red Car in San Pedro, and yes even rode 25 minutes each way on a bus.
General concensus: The TAP card process is a big mistake.... as is the new "one ticket-one ride" policy. The 3-seat ride required to get from El Segundo to Union Station for example without a DayPass it would cost $1.25 per segment or $3.75 -- making it one of the (if not THE) most expensive transit trip in the country. And each segment has to be bought separately, possible causing connections to be missed.
Connectivity between the Blue & Green Lines is nonexistent and downright annoying particularly with the enormous decibel level of passing traffic on the freeway that straddles the station. There is no reason why the Green Line cannot be scheduled to run with ample time to make a 3 or 4 minute connection to/from Blue Line trains. It's as if the two are run by completely separate agencies with no coordination.
Vagrants need to be dealt with, as they can get quite pushy. Passengers in clear violation of the posted rules and regulations make the ride unpleasant for everyone. While a gated system is a move in the wrong direction, one benefit will hopefully be a reduction in the number of beggars and obvious fare beaters and hoodlums who are riding the system.
Monday will be a mixed bag, with heavy rail in the morning (totally underground), and then a circle (or triangle, if you will) trip on Metrolink that will take us to both the Inland Empire and Orange County.
Edited by KevinKorell, 20 July 2009 - 01:29 AM.