A Public Transportation Snob No More...

I mentioned in a previous post that I have discovered the solution to dealing with traffic into LA - for anyone who has ever had to the trek from the west end of the Valley into Los Angeles proper - I know that you feel the pain! Due to some interviewing that I recently did in Universal City, I have happened upon one of the best-kept secrets in Los Angeles County...the Metro!

For $5 round trip and about an hour total time invested, I can take the Orange Line from Victory/Canoga to North Hollywood. I then switch to the Red Line (it runs underground) and in no time I am in the throes of the city without having to make the commitment to drive and park! It is brilliant and clearly makes me happy!

I have always been a fan of the public transportation dating all the way back to my pre-driving days in San Diego when I went to a High School out of district. Admittedly, I didn't enjoy the 3 different buses that I had to take or the transfer time - it was not the most convenient trip ever but it did get me from point A to B effectively (albeit slowly) enough. Once I started traveling for work, I learned my way through Chicago's CTA and their color-coded trains. It was a pretty easy and very efficient way to get back and forth from the airport to the city, especially when I was traveling on a budget! I spent the last 5 years on BART in the Bay Area and with exception of the inefficient step of AirBART between the Oakland Airport and Colisseum BART station, often praised it as the best way to get around versus fighting the traffic.

I provide all of that context to validate the fact that I am willing to do public transportation, but must admit that when it came to LA, I have been a bit of a snob. My assumption was always that the buses were slow, dirty and somewhat unreliable. I am here to tell you that in my experiences thus far, that is not the case. In fact, I will go so far as to say that it is probably one of the best transportation deals that you can get. Based on gas alone, I would spend something like $14 each day doing a commute to LA, but can ignore all of the hassle of traffic for almost one-third of the price.

I am a convert and a public transportation snob no more. Try it out for yourself and tell me what you think, plus you can call yourself a 'green' traveler as an added bonus!