On riding the bus in LA and other things

When I tell most people that I'm from LA, I usually get this funny looking face. That face can lead to a confession that said person thinks other cities are better, that they think LA has too much driving and too much smog, or that they think we don't have good, reliable public transportation because we don't have subways.

As a somewhat native Angeleno (I was technically born in Woodland Hills, though raised in Simi Valley, and now live in Echo Park) I can say that I love LA, and get severely disheartened when people tell me these things without even having been to LA! So, I wanted to write a little bit about what it's really like, and as someone who has sat through hours of freeway traffic and now currently rides public transportation, I feel like I can really speak about people's issues with LA.

First, the smog thing, yes, on bad days, LA looks terrible because of the smog and I'm sure part of that has to do with the amount of cars are on the road, but it's not entirely our fault. For starters, most cities clear away their smog with frequent rain, but here in LA, we don't get nearly as much as other cities do, so the smog lingers. Then, during the summer, we get this thing called an inversion layer, which basically traps all of the pollution within the lower parts of the atmosphere, not allowing it to dissipate. And then of course, LA is surrounded by a bunch of mountains, so while in a lot of other places, the pollution can dissipate outwards, ours is all stuck. Believe it or not, there was once a time when someone proposed blasting a hole in the mountains to let all the pollution through. So really it's not entirely our fault, and actually, the air quality is getting better as emissions controls are increased.

On to driving, which I did everyday one summer on my commute to UCLA for work. LA traffic sucks. It totally sucks, which is probably why I try to avoid it during rush hour. If it's not rush hour, you can get most places rather quickly. In order to avoid the rush hour traffic, or at least make it less painful, I've carpooled a lot, and am now biking/riding the bus to work. I have a relative, who actually works from the hours of like 11am to 8pm so she can avoid the rush hour traffic. So yes, it's pretty terrible, but only during rush hour. Otherwise driving is pretty nice, there is usually a lot to see and you can get where you need to go.

And last, public transportation. A couple summers ago, I lived with my sibling and rode the 720 down Wilshire to get to UCLA for work and loved it. Now, as a full time employee, I am back on the 720 and loving it still. For those unfamiliar with LA public transit, it's mainly an intricate network of buses. There are like 4 rail lines, and two busways, but most of it is buses on streets, doing their thing. It's important to note that there are two types of buses, the local buses that stop on like every other block and the rapid buses like the one I ride. I've come to decide in my time, that these rapid buses are sort of like LA subways, they stop at the main intersections, go crosstown, and carry a lot of people. In terms of sheer numbers, the bus I ride, the 720, moves 80,000 people every day! Service would be better if we could get some bus only lanes for these "LA subways" so those 80,000 people wouldn't have to be subjected to all the other traffic, but that's a whole other battle. And though Wilshire isn't the smoothest ride, I don't have to sit behind the wheel of a car and I can read while getting where I need to go. Plus, I get to meet all sorts of cool people on the bus, some with really awesome loud iPods, others new to the city, and even tourists from Germany. I love the bus, and I love all the lovely people of color I ride the bus with and I will always love LA, no matter what other people say.