Rate Los Angeles County's Public Transportation System (San Diego, San Francisco: transfer to, to live)

[Rwarky]

From a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the worst and 10 being the best), rate Los Angeles County's public transportation system. Additionally, how dependable is it? What are the shortcomings to the system?

[LALady]

I'd rate LA's transportation system a 7 out of 10. The 'subway' system is nice... that's the red, blue, gold, orange line system. The shortfall of the system is due to the layout of LA. LA is so sprawling it's difficult for the system to cover the area. To get from here to there, a commuter usually has to transfer between rail lines and buses.

[Radical Raul]

On the average, -3. It only works halfway decent if you happen to live walking distance from a main line, Metrolink or if you park and ride. Other than that it's purely a novelty.

So tell me LALady do you rely on the Metro as your primary mode of transportation?

[KnoxTown]

For my situation.... a 10! Drive to Universal, park free, redline to 7th/Metro.
In general.... a 7. For what they have, it is run very well. It's clean, fairly reliable, and you can get pretty much anywhere one way or another. It's not NYC subway, but it can't be... LA is too big.

[LALady]

Originally Posted by Radical Raul

On the average, -3. It only works halfway decent if you happen to live walking distance from a main line, Metrolink or if you park and ride. Other than that it's purely a novelty.

So tell me LALady do you rely on the Metro as your primary mode of transportation?

Nope but I have used the metro to commute from time to time. As I said, you have to combine the metro with a transfer to/from a busline. thousands of people use it daily.

[Radical Raul]

Interesting, there was a stretch when I had to rely on Mass Transit in L.A., I can't count on both hands and feet how many times the bus was late or never showed, how many times a bus driver blew by me, resulting in my missing the connecting bus, or how many times I had to ride a bus in +90 temperatures without AC and open windows.

This was a 15 minute commute which took 01;15;00 by bus.

Metro Transit definitely goes out the way to cater to those in more influential densely populated areas, while they let the rest of the system go to hell and tell the working class who rely on it the most to eat cake.

It's so L.A.

[BRinSM]

the bus system is actually quite useful if your commute is no more than 5 miles or so and you don't have to transfer more than once. i've used the busses on the westside a quite a bit and it definitely works if you need it to work for you. i've also used the rails, which are much more convenient, but there aren't any on my side of town. the problem, as others has mentioned, is that LA is a huge city. I would venture to say that the large majority of people don't live within 5-10 miles of their work. there is also this idea here that you are less of a person if you don't have a car. some people are effected by this, others not so much.

bottom line, if you have to commute across the city everyday and local busses are your only option, you will probably not see the system in a positive light. however, if you are able to utilize the city's rail systems or express busses, odds are you'll think its pretty good.

with that said, i think a 6 would be a good number to rate LA's transit. once the expo line gets to santa monica and the subway is extended west, it could easily get up to an 7 or 8. however, a 9 or 10 rating is a long way off. there will need to be much more rail connectivity for this to happen in my mind.

[Radical Raul]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

bottom line, if you have to commute across the city everyday and local busses are your only option, you will probably not see the system in a positive light. however, if you are able to utilize the city's rail systems or express busses, odds are you'll think its pretty good.

This is a contradiction and you also need to point out Santa Monica operates it's own bus system which is much better than the L.A. Metro system.

If you can park and ride, take the Metrolink, you can do ok if you don't mind sometimes having to stand, but if you rely solely on public transit expect long commutes, delays, and to be treated rudely by the Metro drivers.

[BRinSM]

i don't see the contradiction.

also, when taking the busses, i prefer the metro rapid routes over the big blue routes. most, if not all of the big blue bus routes serve communities in the city of LA, so i think it is fair to lump big blue bus service in the LA transit system, just like metrolink or the blue, green, and gold lines.

[missionhome]

I would rate Los Angeles public transportation a 6/10. It is not on the level of Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC, or Philadelphia [all older and more established cities, mainly in Northeast]. It is much better in L.A. than places like Houston, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, Miami, Las Vegas, San Diego, Charlotte, Indianapolis, etc...

L.A. public transport is about midpack with cities like Portland, Seattle, St. Louis, or Cincinnati.