I Finally Did It...

For the first time ever in my life, in Los Angeles, I got to work today using only my two legs and public transportation. How was it, you ask? Long. Two hours long. Actually it was a little longer, but I am a little embarrassed to admit that a portion of the lengthy commute time was due to my not being familiar with the bus system, and partly because getting around is not obvious until you're in the thick of it and trying to find out where you're going.

I brought a journal and used a stopwatch to log the time of each stop and start of my journey. I have to say, for all of the pain in the butt that it was, and the fact that I was so late to work, I had so much fun doing this. I felt like a kid who's allowed to walk home from school on their own for the first time. So here's how it went.

8:??-Left my apartment. I'm too embarrassed to say when I left because I was indecisive about going to La Brea&Wilshire or Fairfax&Wilshire and realized that the Express bus only leaves from Fairfax, so I turned and went back. I got a good workout because I was walking fast and was sweaty by the time I got to the bus stop.

9:23-Got to the Red Line 920 Rapid Express bus. Put my 5 quarters in the slot and sat down. The 920 only stops at every 4th street, so you get to the main stops faster than the Red Line 720 which is on the same route as the 920, but stops more often and goes farther east (I think). I learned that today. The bus was not crowded at all, probably because I was so late. The few people on the bus were young ladies like me.

9:27-Arrive at the Wilshire/Western stop and got off the bus. Then I walked across the street to the subway station and went downstairs to get my ticket for the railway part of my journey. It was really empty. Here are the pictures to prove it. I didn't feel unsafe, but I didn't feel comfortable. So I walked down the stairs to the subway platform and realized that the only people down there were one man and two police officers. Seeing the 1:1 cop-to-citizen ratio made me feel very safe. The area filled up with maybe 10 people. 9:45-Train arrives. So here’s the funny thing about the Red Line. There is a Red bus and a Red subway. Both go to Union station. But from Wilshire/Western to Union station there is a Purple Line subway that over laps with the Red Line subway that comes from the valley and goes to Union Station. The stop that I was waiting at was the beginning/end of the Purple line. Here I thought that I was getting on the Red Line subway. After a few stops the Red and Purple share the same stops to Union station.9:53-The train moves. I got to the train platform at about 9:30. So that’s a good 23 minutes of just waiting and not moving. Its times like this that the system is flawed. I’m not sure if I would have taken less time than the 720 bus to downtown, with the many stops it has. I’ll find out another time. Plus there are fewer trains later in the morning, I presume. The Rapid Express 920 bus doesn't go to downtown. 10:07-Arrive at Union Station. I get to the Gold Line platform and missed the train by 20 seconds. Major bummer, cuz the next one doesn’t come for 13 minutes and doesn’t leave for 4 more minutes. Is this a clean train station or what? No graffiti. No litter. No people either really.10:20-Hop on the Gold Line train. And wait.

10:24-Gold Line departs. I love the Gold Line. It’s a really mellow, scenic route. I had planned to read or play my DS, but I enjoyed the view so much that I took pictures and soaked it in. 10:43-Arrive at Del Mar stop. The Del Mar station is really nice. There’s a Mexican restaurant with a gorgeous outdoor patio that you walk across to get to the street. One day, I plan to get a margarita after work and take the metro home.

10:53-Arrive at work. Yeah, I was pretty late to work today.

So, my overall feeling about my little journey is happy. Yes it took too long, but I had so much fun. It was a little adventure in an otherwise normal day.

I'll write about my return journey in a separate post. It was the best part....