The Metro (live, cost, store)

[Mr_Smith89]

Is It Reliable..I Might Be using it A lot!?!

[LASam]

From my experience, the rail and bus services are very reliable. The largest problem is that the busses get trapped in traffic just like everyone else... so they can be inefficient. The rail service is also quite limited in the destinations it services.

[ConsideringLA]

Metro is great. Especially if you use a metro liner, which have dedicated lanes and (mostly) synchronized lights. Check metro.net - there are tons of maps that show service, a trip planner with all your connections, cost comparisons to driving, etc.

Bike + metro is a great way to get around.

[Mr_Smith89]

Originally Posted by ConsideringLA

Metro is great. Especially if you use a metro liner, which have dedicated lanes and (mostly) synchronized lights. Check metro.net - there are tons of maps that show service, a trip planner with all your connections, cost comparisons to driving, etc.

Bike + metro is a great way to get around.

Thanks Keep The Info Coming

[the one]

it depends on where you live. the metro rail is extremely reliable, except when some looney wants to end their life by jumping in front of it. this is LA, it happens.
but on the rails its easy to make connections, and if you dont, the most you wait is 5 to 8 minutes. the rails are also criss crossed by many rapid bus lines (more on those to come)

the buses, for me, are very reliable. in the morning i can set a clock to them. the difficult part is that some busy lines have limited service area buses(not to be confused with the rapid buses) that run tandem with the regular service buses.
ill explain this a lil more.
lets say i get on the 720, which is a rapid bus line down wilshire. anything that starts with a 7 i.e 762, 711, means its rapid. and rapid means that it does not stop on every block like the regular bus does. the 720 only stops at major intersections along wilshire blvd. well there is the 720 that originates on the west side that comes thru koreatown(along wilshire) and goes all the way past east LA to commerce. but some 720's only have limited service areas.

one time i got on the 720 at western, intending to end up on the east side of town, but i didnt see that it was the 720 whose route ended in downtown. so there i was in the middle of skid row at the end of the route tryin to figure out how to get back on either a 720 that goes all the way to the east side or another regular services bus. i caught a regular service bus, the 18, which is a drag because it stops just about every block. its not fun for long commutes.

the 111 bus line is one that has a limited bus route. most buses run the whole east to west route, and some only run east going west(or west going east) till the blue line rail station (which is about half way). those buses then turn around. like i said these run in tandem with the other full route buses.
so not only do you have to make sure that you get on the right numbered bus, but you also have to make sure you dont get on a bus that only takes you half way. it will say "limited" or "florence station" or whatever, depending on the bus line.
thats been a problem. if you dont know the exact route, or that the bus has a limited service area and not just limited stops it can get confusing.
it does not take long to figure it out tho. get a handy dandy bus route map. it has the rails, the rapids, the regulars and the local lines.

so theres the potential problem of rail disruption, limited area buses, what else???
oh, they dont run as late as i would like. by 9pm you could be waiting up to half an hour or more for a bus. by 11pm you might as well start walking.
oh and another problem, as was mentioned is that the buses can get stuck in traffic. so in places that have a lot of vehicle traffic the reliabilty is off. they might come late. and the commute might take longer (this is typical of the westside).
other than that, the system is pretty reliable (depending on where you live). there are plenty of bus lines that serve the most dense, trans dependant areas of the city. they run pretty often. they are pretty clean. most are air conditioned for hot days like today. they have the rapid service which is better and it makes the rider walk more(always a plus to keep us healthy)
its not as bad as some people think. it ultimately comes down to where you take the bus. suprisingly enough in my experience the best bus service is in the east side and the south side.
hope this helps.

oh and the bike bus combo works real well also, except that some bus routes have a lot of bike riders and if the racks on the front of the bus are occupied there wont be a place to store your bike.

good luck.
and check out
metro.net for more info.