Public Tranport - General, Los Angeles

I used Shuttle to LAX because of the cheap prices, I was a little skeptical but everything came out great. It was only $20, they picked me up at my house, had to pick up several others, but we made it to the airport with time to spare. It was a great shuttle experience.

I ended up using prime time shuttle while I was in Los Angeles last weekend. Everything developed swiftly. I was picked up from LAX on time and I was taken to Downtown Disney timely. I had several bags of luggage and they adjusted greatly. Overall, a pleasant transportation experience.

I have visited and even lived in L.A. over a long period of time. Obviously, a car will take you everywhere BUT I have noticed that one has a greater appreciation for the "feel" and architecture of this vast city by taking public transport, especially the bus.

Keep in mind that the public buses are usually filled with the very poor, the very elderly and the very auto-phobic (like myself) so don't expect Beyonce to be sitting next to you.

However, I will tell you that (at least on the Wilshire Boulevard corridor buses) there is a very civilized system that announce automatically the current stop and then tells you the next stop to follow. Not even the NYC buses have this feature!

Keep in mind that bus service gets a little thin on certain routes the later the evening gets except on major artery routes.

The best thing is to get a comprehensive bus map as opposed to using the half-baked website listed below. I found that the tourist info stand in the main waiting room of Union Station was especially helpful and courteous in directing me towards my ultimate destinations.

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Super Suttle (Big Blue) is probably good at moving people but BEWARE of moving luggage. If you are tired from a long distance flight be certain you take time to ensure ALL of your bags are accounted for.

I didn't and I'm paying the price of the loss of multiple computers and electronic equipment as Super Suttle's Lost and Found is quite LOST. I actually visited the Lost and Found office in Torrence CA since I could not get them to answer a phone. I found a "plesant" young lady sitting at a desk that had no clue about my issue. All she could do was to call the driver and ask if he had any left over luggage. Hmmm...

Guess who I'm not going to use again.

Ok so your staying in Los angeles for whatever amount of time you have. You cant afford to hire a car so what do you do

You simply buy an all day travel pass that lets you travel on all the bus & trains in Los angeles unlimmited for that day

How do you get the pass

Simply goto the metro station on the hollywood blvd go down a few leaves untill you reach the ticket machine

select an all day pass & pay $5

When you enter buses show your pass to the driver 7 you can get on & off any LA bus through out the day (excluding the tourist buses)

Don't pay attention to those who condemn Los Angeles's transit system. They probably never rode on a Los Angeles subway or light rail train. Here's my experiences as a regular user of the Los Angeles mass transit system. First of all I, like most drivers in Los Angeles got tired of driving in congested traffic anytime of the day and night. It got so bad that I decided to try the Metro Rail system. After the first time riding the subway from Hollywood to the Los Angeles City Center I became hooked and now I use the trains to get to places in Los Angeles I used to drive to. I even went to places I never been to like Universal City, Downtown Long Beach and Old Town Pasadena. I admit though that the trains don't go everywhere however the Los Angeles MTA is working on that problem building and expanding rail lines but until then it is still better to ride Metro trains and buses than driving.

While I'm not the sort of person who normally enjoys proving people wrong, I am going to do just that here. When planning my trip to Los Angeles I was told by EVERYONE that I needed a car. I have to admit I panicked a bit because I don't drive and would not have a car and needed to be able to get to the places I wanted to see by public transportation. So, I Googled, I checked out Virtual Tourist etc... What did I find? Los Angeles has the third largest public transportation system in the country. Not only would I be able to get around the downtown LA and Hollywood areas, I would also be able to get to Van Nuys, Long Beach, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica and even San Diego (with transfers) etc... I think because their transportation system is so new and developing and expanding at such a rapid rate, that people just don't know about it.

There are Super Shuttles and of course taxi and Limo services to get you from LAX to Union Station which is the main transportation hub in downtown LA. Super shuttle can cost from about $17.00 on up and taxis charge a flat rate of $43.00 from the airport to Union Station. Limos are totally out of my reach so I didn't even inquire. Of course if you are staying at a 5 star hotel there is free shuttle service - again, out of my reach.

However for people like me who travel on a budget there is the Flyaway bus service which is pictured above. These buses run about every 10 minutes from LAX to Union Station and back. I think that there is also another one that services the Beverly and Wilshire areas though I can't be sure. You can catch the Flyaway right outside the LAX Ground transportation area. It costs $7.00 of which you pay when arriving at Union Station. These buses are really nice. They are much like Greyhound and very clean and comfortable. They also accommodate your luggage whether inside the overhead bins or below. Surprisingly it only took 40 minutes to get from the airport to downtown LA. It also provides the scenic route with all the palm trees surrounding the freeway and the gorgeous skyscrapers when entering the downtown Los Angeles area. Once at Union Station I payed for my ticket then hopped on the Metro Red Line train for a 15 minute ride to Hollywood. It was a breeze.

I met a woman at Union Station who lives in LA, hates to fly and had to get to San Diego in order to catch her cruise ship to Mexico. She could have flown in a matter of minutes but because of her fear of flying she took a bus to Union Station was going to hop on Amtrak to San Diego and from there to her cruise ship. All in all she told me the entire trip would take about 2 hours at the most. That's not bad for public transportation. I was thrilled to see all the various places I could travel using their system and can't wait to get back down there to visit and experience more and more of Los Angeles. So, if anyone ever asks you how to get around LA - YOU DO NOT NEED A CAR!

The Metro Red Line was my mode of transportation while in LA. It is the same as BART which services the Bay Area with a couple of exceptions. First, these Metro lines operate on an honor system. In other words, there is no one there to accept your fare and you could basically just walk right in down to the train platform without paying. However if security decides to ask for proof of payment and you cannot show proof, you are slapped with a $250.00 fine.

When entering the station there are kiosks where you buy your ticket and are very easy to use. Your ticket is good for about 2 hours which means you can transfer from one line to another without paying again. From Hollywood to Union Station which is the main hub station in downtown LA it costs only $1.25 I was thrilled over that. It costs much more here where I live.

The other aspect I liked was that these trains are fast and efficient. It only takes 15 minutes from downtown LA to Hollywood. If you drove, depending on the time of day it would take in excess of 20 minutes and then there's the parking problem. I also found these trains to be on time which was important to me while traveling back to the airport. They run every ten minutes on the Red Line. The Hollywood and Highland station is pretty cool. When you enter the station to go down to your train there are lights above you which resemble lights on a movie set. I would have loved to see this at night but I forgot to check it out.

There are several lines to include the Gold and Purple among others which service a wide area of Los Angeles county. In all I think there are eight separate lines which take you wherever you need to go. While there I used the Red Line to travel between Union & Pershing Square stations in downtown LA to Hollywood. These lines are constantly being updated to include a wider service area.

For more detailed information visit http://www.metro.net

Welcome to the California USA. You will likely find that public transportation in the Southern California region less developed than many parts of the world since the automobile and a vast freeway system is the primary means of travel here.

However, you can travel the nearly 100 miles (160 kilometer) several hour distance from LAX airport to the "Coaster" train station stop called "Poinsettia" in Carlsbad by taking a bus and trains with 2 transfers. I actually live in Carlsbad near the Poinsettia Coaster train station. I've traveled this route on public transportation before.

The route from LAX via the LA Union Train station to Poinsettia Carlsbad is as follows:

LAX bus to Union Train Station (AMTRAK) on "Flyaway" bus $6
(see time tables & pick up location here --> http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/FLYAWAY%20PAMPHLET%202009-FINAL.pdf
and -- > http://www.lawa.org/welcome_LAX.aspx?id=292 )

Once at Union Station take AMTRAK train to Oceanside AMTRAK station adjacent to the transit center (tickets & schedules here - -> http://www.dot.ca.gov/rail/go/amtrak/fares_tickets/index.cfm )

Once at Oceanside take either the "COASTER" local commuter train southbound to Poinsettia Carlsbad station (2nd stop) or take North County bus #101 from the adjacent Oceanside transit center ( see details and schedules here ---> http://www.gonctd.com/coaster_schedules.htm )

Once at the Poinsettia Carlsbad "Coaster" train station you'll need to arrange to be picked-up or taxi to your final Carlsbad destination.