Why dont YOU use MetroLink Commuter Rail? (Los Angeles, Long Beach: home, employment)

[frischee112]

I am doing research on why commuter rail service in the Northeast and Chicagoland is more heavily used than those in Western Cities such as Los Angeles despite the horrific traffic there. So what are your reasons for taking the train instead of driving or the bus?

[cowboyxjon]

It takes too long. Even though traffic is heavy, it's usually faster to drive. Also, employment isn't always clustered around transit stops, so there's the big question of "What do I do once I get off of the train?"

Disclaimer: I don't live in Southern California anymore, but for instance, I could drive from home to work in 45-50 minutes and work to home in about an hour (to go 11 miles, which is ridiculous), but taking the bus would have taken one transfer and TWO HOURS to get from home to work. And there was no train service convenient to either my home or work.

[JohnG72]

The most common areas(I think) in LA to use rail would be Long Beach, SFV, and SGV.

The people that drive.....to me it depends on where they live. From about 20 mile commute or closer, it makes no sense to take the rail. It takes too long. But further out than that...I can only speculate. I think its people who just are scared of the idea of public transport. For instane, driving from say Valencia to Downtown at rush hour commute is just plain nuts. There is no point when you can take the train to union station and then the red line to most job areas downtown. Same thing from say Rancho Cucamounga(or even Diamond Bar).....takes a little over an hour to get downtown by train, but that commute takes well over an hour.

Generally I just think people are ignorant of public transportation options, or just steadfastly refuse to interact with others.

The bus OTOH is slow as can be. I should also note that there is no rail at the moment to the westside of LA where there are several job centers.

[cowboyxjon]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

The bus OTOH is slow as can be. I should also note that there is no rail at the moment to the westside of LA where there are several job centers.

Yeah. I had a co-worker (when I worked in Culver City) who lived somewhere out in the IE, because his wife had a job out there, and his intention was to eventually find something closer to home as well. He chose to drive because it was ridiculously slow to get from Union Station (where MetroLink would drop him off) to our part of Culver City. I'm sure the situation would be a bit better with the new expo line, but even then, my former office is still not-that-close to where the closest stop is supposed to be.

edit: didn't realize that the Expo line isn't finished.

[coo77]

I used to ride Metrolink commuter rail. My ride was Irvine to Los Angeles Union Station. Much faster than driving and this is a popular route for people that do Orange County- Downtown L.A. Once in Union Station a shuttle bus from our skyscraper's management company would pick many of us working in City National Plaza up and take us to the building so I didn't have to pay the tremendous price of parking in downtown either.

Now I live in Irvine and work in Irvine so no need to take Metrolink trains that are for long distance. I have a 3 mile drive to work.

Reasons many people don't ride commuter rail is:
A.) They live close enough to their work (within 10 miles) that taking a long distance train is not worth it.
B.) Our employment is not entirely focused on downtown. Downtown L.A. is one of many job centers. The entire Westside has tons of jobs, Long Beach has many jobs, Torrance and the South Bay, Irvine, the studio area of Burbank, Hollywood, Century City, Beverly Hills, Mid Wilshire, etc.... In cities like Chicago or New York you have hundreds of thousands of people working downtown. In L.A., downtown is just one of many big job centers and it isn't a job center where 30-50% of the metro area work.
C.) The train service is limited and doesn't serve close to the entire metro area. It is a niche market.
D.) Job centers are necessarily clustered around train stations so you then have to find a way to get to work once at the station.

[DarkWolf]

The Northeast Vs LA Metrolink in terms of Regional rail

Northeast

-Most Services start @ 4-5am inbound
-Outbound services start @ 6am
-Most Employment centers or Satilite Cities have at least stop or even 2
-NE Railways connect the Dense Urban areas with the Dense Suburban and Rural areas
-Trains are Electric and faster out here and even the Diesel network is faster
-Connecting services like Buses , Subways , Light Rail and Streetcars go where the people want to go
-Transit Sprawl created by Trolleys and Railways is denser then the auto - sprawl thus higher ridership on Regional Rail systems or Suburban Light Rail / Trolleys
-The Cost of Driving into an Urban Center or Employment center is expensive
-The Regional Railway systems of the Northeast have kept expanding to suite the Growing population
-The Amount of Service , every 15-30mins peak hr direction and hourly service outbound makes the systems very attractive Offpeak service is every 30-60mins depending on the line

LA Metrolink

-A Small system mainly to get people from parts of the outer suburbs to LA's core
-Slower Trains that seem unattractive to the average car commuter
-Auto-Sprawl means that most stations aren't surrounded by Dense suburbs
-Limited service mostly catered towards those working in LA's core instead of the outer areas

[wrcousert]

The main reason I don't use Metrolink right now - I'm currently living in Murrieta and we don't have Metrolink yet.

But when that day comes that I am able to move back to civilization, the reasons will probably be the following:

1. It doesn't go where I want to go. There's tons of little used freight train routes that could be utilized. Metrolink should look into using them for new lines. One example is track that runs through Huntington Beach between Bella Terra and Goldenwest College.
2. Limited hours, no late night service. It should run more often. Orange County is working on his. They plan to eventually run 18 hours a day every 2 minutes. The other counties should do the same. I would like to see service expanded to 24/7 if possible.
3. Too expensive. The least expensive trip between two stations is over $5.00. Orange County introduced a day pass that is good between any two Orange County Metrolink stations. The other counties should do the same. I'd like to see something like an EZ Pass that is good for bus and train service within the two counties - no more than $75 per month or $20 per week.

[1200RT]

i don't use the metrolink because it doesn't service my area.

mostly, though, i enjoy the privacy, security and capacity that my cars provide.

[greggd1]

Los Angeles has incredible sprawl and is dependent on vehicles. There is no way for the metro system to service the massive amount of development in southern california.

The best we can hope for is a grid that will take people to heavily populated employment areas. At the ends of these lines, parking is needed to reach the trains via car.

I looked up the Metro Lines you mentioned and they are no where near my home or anywhere I go to.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by frischee112

I am doing research on why commuter rail service in the Northeast and Chicagoland is more heavily used than those in Western Cities such as Los Angeles despite the horrific traffic there. So what are your reasons for taking the train instead of driving or the bus?

Because there is no rail that goes down the 405, which is the busiest freeway in the US(and the one I have to commute on)