📄 Transcript [show]
People have powerful feelings about the traffic in Los Angeles.
It says something that local officials warned motorists about a temporary roadwork closure on the 405 last year by calling it Carmageddon.
Angelenos took the hint, and this weekend they're expected to steer clear of the latest 405 closure, named, of course, Carmageddon 2.
That's how it is in L.A., a snarl of overstuffed freeways and commuters who keep their cool, except when they don't.
KPCC's Steven Cuevas has this profile of a punk rocker whose music expresses the insanity of L.A.
traffic while extolling the virtues of public transit.
Couple of things you need to know about Eddie Solis.
He lives in L.A., loves the band Kiss, and does not own a car.
Being someone who's from L.A., born and raised, and, you know, having a few cars in my past, I saw the city much differently through a different perspective through the eyes of a bus rider.
Come on, just all the way to the back.
Line 18, Wilshire, Western Station.
Just steps from the front door of his home, across the street from a tortilla factory in L.A.'s Boyle Heights neighborhood, Solis catches a bus that connects him with the city's subway, and the commuter train he catches to his day job at an indie record label in Hollywood.
It just opened me up to, like, little neighborhoods, galleries, clubs, bars, just everything, just seeing what's out there, little pockets of the city.
So, I'm just going to go ahead and get on the bus.
I'm going to go ahead and get on the bus.
I'm going to go ahead and get on the bus.
I'm going to go ahead and get on the bus.
Solis' journeys aboard L.A.
buses and subway cars informs a lot of the material on The New Los Angeles Part One, Through the Eyes of a Bus Rider, the latest release by the singer-guitarist band It's Casual.
The New Los Angeles No one has been wet In Solis' vision of a new Los Angeles, people abandon their cars, climb aboard public transit, and go to L.A.
to visit and rediscover their communities.
One song extols the virtues of the L.A.
County Metropolitan Transit Agency's E-ZPass and the urban underbelly it introduces to the rider.
And that's, like, a nod, an homage to, you know, the people who know what you can even go cheaper and really beat the system and really steer away from spending money on gas and oil profits and all that. $50 is all it takes for me to get to work. $50 is all it takes for me to get to work. $50 is all it takes for me to get to work. $50 is all it takes for me to witness racial tension, for me to witness illegal aliens.
It's not to paint a negative picture.
It's just my perspective of what is seen.
Off the bus and back on the street, we make our way past a jazz saxophonist playing for pocket change and down a long escalator to catch a train.
So, where are we now?
We're at the Red Line Station.
We're at the Red Line Station.
We're at the Red Line Station.
We're at the Red Line Station.
We're at the Pershing Square Station in downtown L.A.
And what's our destination?
We're going to go downstairs another tier, and in about five minutes, we're going to get on the Red Line going northbound.
Okay, let's go.
The Metro Red Line snakes from North Hollywood to downtown Los Angeles.
It's the train that inspired its casuals' signature tune and spawned a viral Internet video.
It was partly filmed late at night on a moving train as it hurtles from station to station.
Solis thrashes away on his guitar and barks the lyrics.
Which celebrate the Red Line and call out the congested freeways that coil around Los Angeles.
This is a metro red line train to North Hollywood.
The 210-605, the freeways are not so nice.
The I-5, the 210, the freeways are not so nice.
The thread that comes out of the record that ties everyone together is just like, be alive, don't be a victim of having a car.
Right.
The 210-605, the freeways are not so nice.
The I-5, the 210, the freeways are not so nice.
The Red Line.
The Red Line.
An MTA spokesman said he couldn't comment on Eddie Solis' furious pro-metro message, but the Red Line video was a hit at the offices of Move LA.
Eddie's done a good job.
Thank you, Eddie.
It's the public transportation advocacy group headed by former Santa Monica Mayor Denny Zane.
He liked the juxtaposition of Solis blissfully riding LA public transit in one scene with scenes of the band raging against those notorious freeway jams.
Eddie is all frantic when he talks about highways and so mellow when he's like grooving on his skateboard and on the bus and on the Red Line.
There's a metaphor for the transformation, you know.
From the, oh my God, I just got to get out of here.
From the, oh my God, I just got to get out of here.
I got to get out of the traffic to, hey, this is cool.
I can mellow out.
Or you can blast the tune like too many people as you claw your way across Los Angeles by car, bus, or skateboard.
Los Angeles.
There's too many people.
I want them to go away.
Even though it may take some time.
Too many people could also be a motto for.
It's casual.
Over the years, the band whittled itself down to a power duo of Solis and a rotating cast of drummers.
So you may think the burly, bearded punk rocker just can't get along with freeways, with people, or his native LA.
Not true.
I love it.
I love everything about it.
I've traveled throughout the U.S.
many times, and I could never look forward enough to coming back.
The weather, the different cultures, the landscape.
I was just like, you know what?
Now I know why everyone moves to LA.
I'm just like, I'm just gonna go to LA.
Solis will bring the love and the volume.
During a Redline mini-tour next month, its casual will play a different venue within walking distance of several Redline metro stops from Union Station to West Hollywood.
For the California Report, I'm Stephen Cuevas.
I was my driver last night.
I was my driver last night.
I was my driver last night.
I was the same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same same Expanding opportunity for the people of California and supporting the California report since its premiere in 1995.
And the California Endowment.
Health happens in schools at Calendow.org.
And Chevron.
Investing in renewables, strengthening communities, and creating jobs.
More information at Chevron.com.
The 210-605.
The freeways are not so nice.
The I-5.
The 210.
The freeways are not so nice.
The 101.
The 405.
The freeways are not so nice.
The I-5.
The I-10.
The freeways are not so nice.
The 210.
The 605.
The freeways are not so nice.
I-5.
The I-10.
The freeways are not so nice.
The red line.
The red line.
The red line.
The red line.
The red line.
The red line.
The red line.
The red line.
Between 10 to 6 or 5, the freeways are not so nice.
The I-5, the I-10, the freeways are not so nice.
The 101, the 405, the freeways are not so nice.
The 605, the 101, the 101, the 101, the I-10, the 210 the 605, the 101, the 405 the I-10 the freeways are not so nice.
the red line.
the red line.
the red line.
the red line.
The red light!
The red light!
The red light!
The red light!
The red light!
Welcome to the 92nd episode of Los Angeles Nista.
I'm your producer and host, Edward Solis.
And today is another curriculum from the MTA.
And my in-studio guest is Anne Chan.
How are you?
I'm doing good, thanks.
Yeah, thanks for coming.
Oh no, it's great to be here.
Yeah, there's a lot going on.
Obviously, the holidays are here.
And when the holidays are here, there's more people traveling, I think, in the air and ground transportation locally.
And that's where the MTA comes in.
So I know that during the holidays, there's an extra special holiday ridership program.
Can you tell me about that for Christmas and New Year's?
Yep, we have.
You can go to metro.net slash holidays.
It's part of our destination discount program.
So we offer our metro riders a special reward to get out there, ride metro, and go to these destinations.
And with your tab card or with our exclusive promotional codes, you can get discounts on various products from sports gear to restaurants to theater tickets.
So it's a really great program.
And it's a great way for you to get out for the holidays and do something fun and save money.
Very cool.
And plus, if you're going metro, you can drink and not drive.
That is right.
A lot of people...
You're not going to drink and drive.
You're going to drink and not drive.
So that's safe.
That's the best way to do it.
So we get home safe after a night of fun.
Exactly.
Now, the sports stores, I wanted to articulate a little for my audience.
It's actually available at the Staples Center team store, right?
Yes.
That discount.
We actually have two.
We have both with the LA Kings and with the LA Clippers.
That's fantastic.
It's 10% off.
And so, you know, if you want to go in and get your friend who loves Chris Paul a little something, you get 10% off that jersey.
It's a great deal.
That's great.
Now, let's talk about the New Year's Eve holiday.
You guys are offering free rides.
Yes.
We actually have a lot of things going on for New Year's Eve.
So the first and foremost, New Year's Eve, we run all night service.
So you can stay out as late as you want and party and make sure you'll get home no matter what.
So you will not be stranded.
All the rail lines.
Yes.
It's all rail and bus.
Blue line, green line, purple line, expo line, and the bus.
Yes.
Wow.
Wow.
So with that.
That's happening.
And we also offer free rides to make sure, you know, if you do get a little tipsy at midnight, you can still get home without having to pay.
It makes it really easy for you to choose getting on the train or the bus.
You know, it's cool though.
One thing is that I'm always looking at the glass half full and not half empty.
Like if you want to go from place to place all night, you can keep the party going.
Exactly.
So you don't even have to buy anything or you just go right in.
The free rides are from 9 p.m.
to 2 a.m.
So that is the pre-order.
That's the prime party time.
So that's when we have the gates unlocked for everyone to go through.
That's when it's free, but then it is all night.
Yes.
The service is all night.
Just after 2 a.m.
If you really stay out, if you're that night owl who stays out till 4, you will have to tap in after that.
Very, very well done.
Do you know if there's any events, holiday events that Metro is sponsoring?
Like are there any other tree lighting ceremonies or any other?
I know you guys are very in rhythm with the Pershing Square campaign with the ice skating rink and the new cafe there.
You guys, I mean, the red line stopped for Pershing Square is right there.
Right.
That's really great.
We actually did not know about that cafe until, I guess they opened up this year just now with their ice rink.
So we're trying to work on them, getting them on board with us also.
But at this time, you can get a dollar off admission at the ice rink if you show your tap card at the window.
That's great.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Now, how about anything with LA Live?
I mean, I know there's an ice skating rink there and that's right by the blue line.
With LA Live, it's a little more difficult because it's with the Kings.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We already have that promotion with the team.
Okay.
So they're not offering that.
That makes sense.
But we actually have a couple of holiday stuff coming up.
We're organizing the National Ugly Day, Ugly Sweater Day with Metro next Friday.
Ugly Sweater Day.
Yeah.
That really exists.
That's a national day.
It is a national day.
It's like registered as a national day.
Yes.
So we're doing really ugly sweater and we're trying to get a photo op coming up at Union Station on that day.
Okay.
So when is Ugly Sweater Day?
It is next Friday, December 20th.
Next Friday, December 20th.
I had no idea that existed.
I did not know until just now.
I mean, these kind of holidays, you guys could really, I mean, especially with Instagram.
Right.
It's a visual.
And speaking of which, there is an MTA Instagram now.
Yes.
It's at Metro Los Angeles.
If you want to find us on Instagram, we're actually in the middle of our holiday scavenger hunt contest.
Oh, let's talk about that.
Yeah.
We're on day six.
So today's clue is actually, it's somewhere in Long Beach.
So if you want to check out the Instagram.
Find out what the clue is.
Go down there and snap a photo so you can enter.
We've given out a lot of great prizes already, including tickets to the Kirk Douglas Theater.
We've given out King's hats.
Wow.
Gift cards, tickets to Disney on Ice.
So these are some great prizes and we have six more days left in the contest.
That is phenomenal.
You guys, I mean, all the prizes are like prime.
And, you know, I mean, and they're all along the MTA lines.
Yes, all of them.
You get to them via public transportation.
Our Metro accessible.
Exactly.
Now, how many more days are left?
Six days.
So people could actually still enter.
Yes.
All you have to do is follow us.
And we post the rules every day when we post the clues for this contest.
So you'll be able to figure out, you know, you'll see very clearly how you can enter, how you can play and how you can win.
Yeah, I'm looking at it right now.
The everything's very clear as far as the instructions, how to do things.
Oh, great.
Yeah.
And you guys, you guys have five more days, you said?
Six.
Well, six more, including tomorrow.
So today.
Including.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So do you announce what the prizes are the day of?
We don't.
We give you the value of the prize.
So if I guess if you decide it's just not worth your time, then you don't have to go and try to accomplish this goal.
But I mean, even still, the cheapest prize is though $25.
So you know, you can go out there $25 is still not bad, you know, for something that you didn't really have to do other than take a photo.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I think, I think part of the prize is if people aren't too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Too savvy with the MTA infrastructure, if they win and they, it warrants them to go out and use it.
Yes.
And say, hey, look at you, you get to experience all this great connection to your city.
You get to create, you know, a positive experience, more walking, you know, you're not bonded to your car, you get more freedom.
You're not looking for parking and paying for parking.
That's always a plus.
Just that alone.
Yeah.
And then the free prize.
Well, the contest itself, we're kind of, it's kind of encouraging, it's rewarding the riders and encouraging those to really use Metro to explore the system.
Yeah.
To learn about our destination discounts programs and see what are, what destinations are out there that can be Metro accessible and, you know, find ways to take advantage of Metro to make it worth your while.
Absolutely.
I think, I think just one of the things that is worth it's, you know, the while is not having to pay for parking.
Yes.
And high traffic destinations.
Oh, and not having to find parking.
Yeah.
I mean, I mean, just to, you know, a lot of people don't know that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I don't know that, you know, and I did this the night before Thanksgiving.
Oh.
I had a friend, you know, I have a friend, he works for a record label and last minute he's like, hey, I got an extra ticket to Club Nokia to go see these bands.
Oh, great.
He goes, I'll put a ticket at Will Call.
So I walked down the steps of my house and I got the line 18 right in front of me in Boyle Heights.
Oh, nice.
Yeah.
And I literally, you know, when he told me that, I put my shoes and jacket on, went, you know, cause it was like an hour from showtime.
Oh, okay.
And I went right over the bridge, the 6th Street Bridge, right into, I want to say, you know, when it goes to, it turns into what, 6th or is it 5th?
Right by the Millennium Biltmore.
Yes.
And I just walked, I walked up to 9th.
Oh, nice.
Yeah.
And, you know, it was like, it took 30 minutes and, you know, it didn't cost anything because I have a pass.
Yes.
And you got to walk and there's a lot of pros.
There's, you know, you got to take in a certain perspective of walking down that street and I hadn't seen certain buildings.
Right.
You're doing the holiday decorations right now, too.
Yeah.
You just take it all in.
I go, this is cool.
Like, I was, I started taking my time.
I'm looking around.
I was like, this is great.
Like, I don't walk down the street much.
I think it was Flower.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Flower and 5th is where I started.
And in 30 minutes, I was, I was in Bell Heights in, in the club already.
Oh, nice.
And I didn't have to like, and, you know, as I was walking down Olympic to go across the street by the Grand Museum to go to the venue, it was, you know, firsthand experience.
Like, you know, $20, $25 a park.
Yes.
And I absolutely Instagrammed that.
I was like, don't get suckered in.
It's that rage you feel when you're trying to park and there's no spaces and you're circling the lot and you're just so angry.
And then all of a sudden they get you.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
To me, I mean, that's, I mean, there's so many real life experiences that I could go on record for that, like, using the MTA to get around LA is like super convenient, cost efficient.
Puts me in a good mood because I'm not like circling the same place looking for, you know, parking or the cheapest parking.
And then figuring out, well, you know, there's no street parking and I got to pay 25 bucks.
Yeah.
Or if you're like me and you can't do street parking very well, it's even more frustrating.
I know people like that.
You found a spot, but then I can't pull in.
Yeah.
And then you're like, forget it.
And then you go into the $25 lot, the $20 lot.
And actually I did want to mention, we also have a limited edition holiday tap card that's available right now at our customer service centers.
Oh, really?
So it's the one at Baldwin Hills.
I think there's one in Koreatown.
I can't remember.
Yeah.
And at Union Station.
And at Almonte Station.
Yeah.
The one in Koreatown is the one on the corner.
Yes, the one on Wilshire.
Yeah.
Wilshire and La Brea?
Yes.
Yeah.
So we have, it's a, it's really cute.
It's a little holiday tap card.
It's got a little bus with a sleigh on it.
It's a regular price.
It's a dollar and you can load a pass.
You can load cash fare on it, but they are limited edition.
So once they're gone, they're gone.
So if you want one, get to the customer service centers and get one.
That's cool.
You know what I'm going to share is that I actually have a Visa tap card.
Okay.
The tap ready card.
Yeah.
You guys made those for a while.
Yes.
A couple of years ago and they're actually discontinued.
But it's cool because I told Paul Gonzalez the story.
You know, working, you know, basically living in the downtown area, working in Hollywood and being able to do more in North Hollywood.
I go practice with my band at a rehearsal studio and it's all along the red line.
So I'm always, and then maybe I'll have meetings in between or go do other things along the red line between downtown and North Hollywood.
Yeah.
So I'm always moving on between work and band rehearsals and doing this radio show back and forth.
Right.
So one time, you know, I took my wallet out for something and it was one of those days where I had a lot of cash.
I'm talking like almost just like I got money out of the bank.
It was like a thousand dollars in cash.
Yeah.
One of those times when you were always like people think you're a stripper.
Yeah.
Totally.
A lot of ones.
Yeah.
A lot of ones.
Right.
And I was, and I had, you know, all my bank cards, credit cards.
And.
I got off the red line and I left it on the seat.
Oh no.
And so, you know what I did was I, I actually, it was pretty funny.
You know, I actually got off, I got off the, I was on a bus and then I got on the red line and I met the bus and it was there.
Wow.
It was still there.
Oh nice.
Yeah.
It was going down Hollywood Boulevard.
And no one touched it.
You know, I mean it was, thank God it was at a time of the night where there wasn't a lot of riders.
Right.
So I don't even think, and I was sitting like in the very front.
I don't think anyone saw me.
I didn't see a lot.
Right.
So I learned about, you know, I was like, wow, these people could have had my bank cards.
They could have had, you know, cause credit card you could just swipe, you know?
And I was like, man, you know, I'm, I'm lucky.
So what I did was I stopped carrying cash.
I got the tap ready card, which is a prepaid visa.
Right.
And what I started doing was loading it.
So it's a prepaid visa.
So I would load enough cash just, just for the week.
Right.
Just for like lunch and coffee.
Okay.
And, and my fare was on it also.
So there's two sides to it.
So like you could like purchase stuff at Starbucks or go have lunch or dinner or use, use it as a tap card.
Right.
So there's, there's two, it deducts from two different places within the card.
Yes.
So I was like, well, I don't have to like, you know, I got a little paranoid.
I go, I don't have to like take all my, my bank cards with me.
Exactly.
I'm doing a lot of public transportation, you know, commuting.
I may forget.
Right.
Just one of those things that happens when you're running around.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I don't worry about it no more.
I still have it.
And I just carry that on my ID.
Oh nice.
And in my wallet.
So I don't carry my bank cards unless like, you know, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go to the market tonight or something.
Right.
You know, or something like that.
So, um, it's very, you know, convenient.
Like it blocks bringing your personal information onto a public platform.
Right.
You know what I mean?
I think it's the convenience factor is one of the biggest things where you just have to have one card and you can do your daily, your daily routine with it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Most people don't need half the things they have in their wallet at any given time.
Right.
You know, so it's just, it's a night.
And then when you do need all that other stuff, then you're probably, you know, you need it.
Exactly.
You have your eye on it.
But you know, when you're running around town, you're on the bus, you're on the train, it gets to be, you know, a little crazy sometimes.
And you're, you know, you're doing a lot of things.
You're multitasking.
You've got this, the check and that.
So it just makes things, it cuts things down for you.
And it's, it's a great way to have.
It does.
It's very cool.
So we're going to take a music break right now and we'll take a few minutes and we'll come back and chat some more.
Okay, great.
Okay.
Thanks.
Hi, this is Eddie Solis.
You're listening to Los Angeles Nista on skidrowstudios.com.
This episode of Los Angeles Nista is brought to you by La Mascota Bakery, a family owned business serving the community since 1952.
Tamales and sweet bread made the old fashioned way daily.
We're going to take a short break.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
or make amends no surrender we'll never be friends there'll be no peace there'll be no love life's too short to not hold a grudge you fucked me over you hung me out to dry you swept me under you said goodbye I feel no guilt I feel no shame if I killed you now it would be the same you kept my heart until I died I'll hold my grudge until the end of time I'll never atone or make amends no surrender we'll never be friends there'll be no peace there'll be no love life's too short to not hold a grudge you fucked me over you hung me out to dry you swept me under you said goodbye I'll never atone or make amends no surrender we'll never be friends there'll be no peace there'll be no love you fucked me over You hung me out to dry You swept me under You said goodbye Life is too short to not hold a grudge No concessions I will not budge I won't forgive, there'll be no compromise Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway I jumped off of a cruise ship Into water like some man Broken eyes, I swim to shore Hey man, what'd you do that for?
Time collapses like a hit and run Bullets fired from your tongue When wild horse subterrains The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head When wild horse subterrains The spirit is dead Death is their domain Get that in your head I never had a plan B The only person I could trust was me I'll get by with the critics' shame Fuck them, who cares anyway?
Time collapses like a hit and run Bullets fired from your thongs When wild horse subterrains The spirit is dead Death is their domain I'd rather die Meet you halfway I'd rather die Meet you halfway The Spirit is dead.
Death is their domain.
Get that in your head.
When wild horses change, the Spirit is dead.
Death is their domain.
Get that in your head.
I jumped off a cruise ship.
My life per server was a straight jacket.
I never had a plan B.
Hey man, what do you want from me?
Time collapses like a hit and run.
Bullets fired from your tongue.
When wild horses change, the Spirit is dead.
Death is their domain.
Get that in your head.
When wild horses change, the Spirit is dead.
Death is their domain.
Get that in your head.
When wild horses change, the Spirit is dead.
Death is their domain.
Get that in your head.
So, uh, what do you have to say for yourself?
All the same, the Spirit doesn't play the same.
Let's fight it For violence Let's fight it For violence Let's fight it For violence Let's fight it For violence Here I am I laugh at you For the same reason All of your hatred, what does it do?
I'm a threat, how ridiculous Try to bankrupt me, you're a fool I don't need your blessing for anything Secure it to compromise is everything Here I am, as free as the winds I'll never bow down, you will never win Here I am Here I am As free as the winds Here I am Take your best shot Round after round And I'm not gonna stop I'm a threat, you're a fool Try to discredit me and discredit you You're a fool You're an enemy You'll never know It's not me It's your own shadow Here I am As free as the winds I'll never bow down You will never win Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am Here I am I laugh at you All of your hatred What does it do?
I'm a threat How ridiculous Try to bankrupt me You're a fool I don't need your blessing for anything Security compromises everything Here I am I'm as free as the wind I'll never bow down You will never win All right, welcome back to Los Angeles Nista, episode 92.
I'm your host and producer, Edward Solis, my in-studio guest.
And Chen from the MTA.
How are you?
I'm doing great, thank you.
Fantastic.
Yeah, during our break, our music break, we're talking about some other exciting events happening.
And I had no idea you were a huge hockey fan.
So you're very excited and passionate about this next event that you're going to let us know about.
Yes, although I'm going to, full disclosure, I am a Red Wings fan.
I don't want to put any lies out there.
You want a hockey fan, you're going to have to ask Steve Hyman.
Or a Kings fan, you're going to ask Steve Hyman.
You're going to put that out there in LA even.
You're brave.
I am.
So, you know, come on.
Don't fight me.
No.
Actually, so the NHL is doing a stadium series, which is a series of outdoor games taking place across the country.
And LA has been chosen as one of the locations.
So Dodger Stadium will be hosting the Kings versus the Ducks on January 25th.
At Dodger Stadium.
At Dodger Stadium.
So they're going to turn it into a giant outdoor rink.
Wow.
And so Metro will be running the Dodger Stadium Express during that time to help people get to the game.
So you can connect to the Dodger Stadium Express at Union Station.
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
From first-hand experience going to a lot of Dodger games, I know for a fact that the Dodger shuttle, now is that provided by you guys and the Dodgers?
Is that a partnership?
Technically, yes.
It is with us and the Dodgers.
Oh, wow.
That's exciting.
I mean, to take that for free.
Yes.
In its own lane, up the hill, to the back gate.
I mean, usually when you park, you have to pay for parking and then walk across a dangerous parking lot.
Yes.
That's one of the things.
So, I mean, you guys are going to actually make that active and available on the 25th.
Yes.
So, it'll be the same thing 90 minutes before the game and up until 45 minutes after the game ends, we'll have the shuttle running.
And, you know, as long as you have your game ticket, it'll be free for you.
Free ride.
So, you can get up there and it'll let you off right behind center field, but I guess it'll be a rink that day.
Wow.
Wow.
Well, I'm sure, like, I mean, the rink is going to be like the average rink that they have, right?
Right.
It's going to be like the average size, standard professional rink.
Yes, NHL size.
So, there'll be floor seats and everything.
No, that actually, as far as I know, from what I can see in the past, the rink will be down on the field.
Everyone else will still be on the stadium seating.
So, you'll have to look down kind of at the same way you would be at a baseball game.
Okay.
But they'll have everything up on a jumbotron and it's really, I think it's about the atmosphere they'll have.
It's like presenting a new atmosphere.
See, I think they're going to have, like, a lot of activity outside.
You know, you can probably play ball hockey out in the courtyard, things like that.
It's great for, this shuttle is great for all the fans because if you're a Ducks fan, you can ride the MetroLink up from Orange County, connect to the shuttle, and make sure you can go and support your team.
That is awesome.
And best of all, because the Kings, they will probably be putting out some special stadium series commemorative gear for this game.
You can get 10% off with your tap card.
So, you can go to the store at LA Live or at the Staples Center and you can get, you know, all the souvenirs you want and you can get, see, you can save.
So, the team that you follow in hockey.
Yes.
Who's that again?
The Detroit Red Wings, who are playing the Winter Classic this year.
The Winter Classic.
Okay.
So, they're playing with Toronto in the Winter Classic.
Have they had a good run as far as their professional career the last few years?
Oh, yeah.
No, they've been doing really well for the last couple of years.
We've made the playoffs for 23 years in a row, which is a new NHL record.
Wow.
Lately, they haven't been doing so well, but, you know, it's still early.
We can turn it around.
Let me ask you, I mean, do you follow other sports as well or is hockey your favorite?
Just mostly hockey.
Wow.
I might look at the Lakers.
Really?
Once in a while.
That's interesting.
My mom's a Laker fan, so sometimes, I have to keep up with what's going on because she'll talk to me about it and I'm like, I don't know who Lamar Odom is and then I'll have to go find out.
Then you go Google and do this.
Now, I'm just going to stray away because I'm amazed that hockey's your sport and the reason why I'm amazed is because, you know, when I think of hockey fans, I think of like big dudes with broken noses.
You know what I mean?
You know, guys bigger than me that like to like, you know, brawl.
Right.
So, I mean, what is it about the sport that you like?
It's fast.
If you go to an actual hockey, a professional hockey game, and you see how fast the sport is and the speed and the amount of grace you actually need because you're playing, you know, you're on skates and you have to skate and look at the puck and look at your stick and then, you know, score.
So, there's a lot of things going on on the ice.
So, it takes a lot of coordination and I think that's always something, you know, that really amazes me and like I thought that was really cool.
So, like, so you appreciate the technical aspect of it, of the athleticism.
Right.
Like the finesse on the skates.
Yes.
And then knowing the game.
So well that you're at a professional level and being physically able to like defend yourself.
Right.
And I'm not going to lie.
Like that's kind of, that's kind of the cool part that there's a physicality to hockey.
You know, people are slamming each other around sometimes and it can get pretty heated and that's kind of cool.
So, all that and then, and the actual physical aggression is the icing on the cake.
Right.
And you know what?
We have the best trophy in all sports.
I'm sorry.
No one else has a better, like Stanley Cup is the best trophy in sports.
Wow.
You're into it.
I would never have thought.
So, so do you go to, do you go to a lot of games?
Uh, not really because it's expensive and my team's not here.
Yeah.
But you know what?
I do, I go, you know, there's beer leagues that you can join.
You can go play, you know, there's minor league hockey kind of games here.
We actually have a, there's a rink in Pasadena.
You can get there via the gold line.
Okay.
If you get off at Del Mar and walk over, it's on Green Street.
So you can go ice skating there.
And of course, during the winter time, you have the outdoor rinks at Pershing Square and up at LA Live by Pico Station.
Very cool.
Very cool.
Now, what's going on for Valentine's Day?
Uh, that we, we're not revealing too much about that yet, but we are working on another sort of contest.
So we'll have some more prizes, more contests lined up.
So you definitely want to follow along with a Metro, either on Twitter, on Instagram, or on Facebook.
And of course you can always check the source.
It's our, it's our blog.
And you can go to Metro.net and check the source.
Um, that'll update you on all the things that's happening.
That's a great blog.
There's even one in Spanish.
Yes, we have El Paso Haro too.
So you can follow along if you, you know, if English is not your first language and you prefer reading it in Spanish, you can check there.
And they have, they actually have, um, special content too.
That's different from the regular content.
That's more geared toward the Spanish speaking audience.
So I think that, it's really great to interact with our, you know, our Latino communities.
Well, yeah, I mean the, the, the MT infrastructure is for everyone in LA.
Yeah.
It's for all.
And then Spanish and English are the two biggest languages here in LA.
So.
That's just a fact, right?
Yeah.
Now, now have you ever taken the shuttle to Dodger Stadium for a game?
A few times.
Yeah.
So it's, it's a nice shuttle ride, I think.
I never, I luckily, I've never taken it at a time when, uh, there was a lot of traffic.
Right.
So I, but I know there's a lot of complaints sometimes still of, you know, trying to get the traffic.
Once you actually get up the hill, there's still traffic in there.
So it can be kind of a hassle, but I think we're improving it with every time.
So.
Well, you know, what's funny is I, I noticed an improvement from the beginning of last season to the playoffs.
Yes.
There is more, um, focus on getting the shuttle into the park with it.
It's only even on the hill.
Yes.
Like, like they didn't have to wait.
They went out to the side.
Well, uh, LAPD and LADOT actually control the bus lane.
So they do.
They do.
So we run the shuttle, but they control the lane.
So we, we've been coordinating with them and getting feedback to them about, um, you know, the traffic situation up there.
So they've been really helpful and, uh, making sure the shuttles get there much faster.
So it's, it's been a great, it's been a great coordinated effort.
What's going on with the, with the, with the Rose parade.
I mean, that's, that's annual.
We, we all know about that.
That's New Year's day.
Yes.
Um, how does Metro get proactive with that?
Well, we encourage everyone to take the gold line to Memorial park station that, and actually if you get to Memorial park to Lake station and even to Allen station, um, it'll take you right along the parade route.
It's really close.
You know, it's a walk or Memorial park, Allen and Memorial park also.
Um, so, you know, you can walk over from that station so you don't have to sit in traffic.
Uh, I live in Pasadena.
So you know, firsthand, I know firsthand how bad the traffic is afterwards.
I'm basically trapped in my house, waiting for everyone to leave.
And then the roads are clogged.
So we definitely want more, as many people as possible to take the train.
Uh, it's a great parade.
I know it's really fun.
It's their 125th, you know, year.
And it's our 10th year serving this parade.
Well, it's 10 years of gold line service running to the parade.
So that's really nice.
Um, and we know it's an easy way to get there.
It doesn't cost very much.
And you know, we, we're going to be running extra service on that day to help.
See, that's good to know because some people want to make the effort to go.
Right.
And they don't really know how to get there besides driving.
Right.
Right.
And for out of towners also, I know if you're hotel, you're probably staying in Pasadena.
You can walk over to Memorial Park station from there.
You actually have, we have at the Parsons parking lot.
We had, they have the Rose Bowl shuttle.
So you can take the shuttle up to the Rose Bowl and watch the football game.
That's really cool.
Um, you know, speaking of which, uh, I mean the Rose Bowl shuttle, uh, that exists throughout the whole college football season.
Yes.
And that is, that shuttle is, is what you just said.
It's in the same place from Memorial Parkway to the Rose Bowl.
Oh no, it's a shuttle that leaves from Parsons Park, the Parsons engineering parking lot.
Parsons engineering parking lot.
So it's about, uh, I'd say like three and a four, three or four block walk, depending on where you, where you go.
It's not a bad walk though.
It's very, it's very convenient.
And it goes right through old Pasadena.
So you can kind of see if you've seen, um, during the holiday season, it's got snowflakes lit up on the, you know, at nighttime and during the daytime, they've got, they still got lights up there and Christmas trees.
It's really pretty.
That's really cool.
Yeah.
That's really cool.
Very well done.
Now I know, um, the USC games, uh, they have a new line right next to the, the, um, Coliseum, which is the expo line.
Yes.
Now you guys have done a great job in getting people.
When I say you guys, MTA has done a great job in getting people out of their car from going to the USC games.
I mean, you guys have gotten a huge ridership out of the expo line.
I did, I did the research and, uh, we're carrying about 8,000 and eight to 9,000 per, uh, per game.
Wow.
I mean, how many cars is that?
I mean, it could be what in half.
It's like 4,000 cars.
Yeah.
You know, two people per car.
I know there's a, there's a strong tradition of tailgating at these events because, you know, that's part of the tradition and part of the fun, but we're trying to make it so that, you know, to make Metro part of this tradition too, you don't have to have a car to tailgate.
You can carry, you can carry your stuff onto the train and then take it off there.
And then, you know, set your, set up your little, set up your camp.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, there's, there's constructive and creative ways to do it where you're not like, you know, maybe that will warrant you not over bringing things.
Right.
You know, and you, you'll find some great, like those chairs that you could carry.
Right.
You know, a backpack, everything that's very streamlined and doesn't take a lot of space up.
Right.
That's perfect.
And we know we, we allow, we do allow people to take the small items, you know, small items onto the train.
Right.
So that it's perfect for the people who just want to go and have a few things and not too much stuff.
Yeah.
So I wanted to give people a little example of your favorite line to ride.
And now when I say line, not bus line, rail train, I think it's the gold line, right?
It is gold line.
Yeah.
We talked about that before.
And I think, I think I shared my information and my perspective with you the last time.
Basically, I feel the gold line is the most scenic rail train the MTA has as far as line goes.
Like, you know, the red line's underground.
Right.
You know, and so forth.
There's other factors to other lines.
People would just have to see it for themselves.
I want them to go out there and experience it instead of me giving it away.
Right.
You know, go take the blue line, go take the green line and see for yourself.
But the gold line, that's a train where like, it doesn't happen often because I'm pretty busy these days.
But like, if I could actually just take a ride somewhere and kind of just freely go, you know, take a couple hours and say, I really don't have to do anything today.
I could, you know, take a ride somewhere.
Right.
You know, kind of freely without being on a schedule.
It's like, you know what?
I want to get on the gold line.
And what you see on the gold line is pretty phenomenal from, from East LA.
Cause even before you hit Union Station, you go through these little pockets of East LA very slowly.
And you see like the, the exterior of these old buildings.
Yes.
And they'll, and the, the hills of East Los Angeles.
And then you see, you can notice all these, you know, these great markets.
Right.
And, and these little Mexican restaurants.
And you, you see the architecture of some of these little like, you know, buildings that are very reminiscent of Mexico as well.
And just, you know, just are oozing with LA Hispanic culture.
And you see the murals.
And then when you get into, you know, I would say like the next exciting thing is the first street bridge.
When you go over the bridge and you see downtown right in front of you, that skyline, I mean, someone who wants to take pictures and, you know, you know, really use that kind of thing for Instagram.
I mean, that's, that's, you know, a document, the city, that's a really good line.
And then little Tokyo.
And then you go over the freeway that that's so cinematic when you go over the freeway into, into Union Station.
And, you know, all the time, every time you can always look down and you see, it's like the, it's like with a one-on-one and kind of, it kind of meets the 10 and the five and they're all kind of crammed in there.
And you just see the line of cars as far as the eye can see.
And you're, you're going right over it.
I always take, I always take a picture or video.
Yeah.
And I always put something on Instagram because to me, it never gets old.
Right.
It's like, look, I told you, you know, do what I'm doing.
And it's almost like every hour of every day, you can see this line of cars.
And I don't know where all these people are going, but.
Where are they going?
Yeah.
It's like, where are all of you going?
There's not, there's not really rush hour anymore.
It's, it's our every day is like, you know, it's funny.
Uh, I'm from Los Angeles and growing up in the city.
Um, I gotta tell you, you know, there used to be days where you go, Oh, let's go after this time because the traffic dies down.
Right.
Or let's go on Sunday because there's no traffic.
Now, if you go Sunday during rush hour, there's rush, rush hour traffic on Sunday.
So, so rush hour traffic exists every day.
And I, it's not crazy.
Terrible.
It's totally terrible.
Well, that's why I wrote the song, the red line.
Yeah.
It says the freeways are not so nice.
They are not.
They really aren't.
This is the truth, right?
Not anymore.
I don't, I don't, I guess people just really want to get out there these days and really want, I mean, it's, it's true.
A lot of people are living in places now where it's like, that maybe the house is smaller.
So they want to get out, you know, and make the world is their house.
And that's great.
You know, the places to hang out with your friends, to see your family, but you know, you can take the gold line and you can go through East LA, little Tokyo, you know, and just to get off on a union station and walk through the building and look at the big Christmas tree, which is what I'm going to do later.
Oh, great.
Yeah.
I mean, I just want to take a walk through it and cause it feels so Christmassy.
I think the tree there is like what?
30 feet.
I'm not sure.
I know it's huge.
We got, and we've got like wreaths up on the walls and stuff too.
Yeah.
I saw the one in union.
So they went at that MTA put up in the MTA building.
There's one in the MTA building, right?
Yes.
Is that one really big?
That one is also probably also maybe 30 feet.
I'm not sure.
I thought it was a union station one at first, like the one in union station.
Right.
But it wasn't.
Oh no, there's two.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We have, we have one in the gateway building and also at union station by the, by the information booth.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
So then, so then, I mean, people could go, you know, get off, you know, I'm trying to like articulate this line.
The gold line is, that's the most, um, not only picture perfect, but the most scenic.
And I think in a way therapeutic because you're not looking at cars, but you're looking at these beautiful hillsides and the geography of LA.
You know, right.
That's part of it, especially when it goes over the Royal Seco and, you know, during the different seasons, you've got the green leaves or it's fall and these are red and it's just, you see the beautiful.
Yeah.
You see the vibrant colors of nature.
And then there's that part when you go over the river.
So the, you can kind of see like, it's kind of the LA river, but not quite.
And then there's a bike path that goes down there that you can see.
So sometimes, you know, you see people biking down there and it's, it inspires you to go down there and do the same thing.
Yeah, exactly.
And you know, from union station, I mean, you could get off, walk to the building, as I was saying, and then there's over a street right across street.
And I've had, I've been lucky through the radio show.
Like they don't do this, but I've had like one-on-one tours with people at, you know, they don't offer free tours of the whole place, but I've had, or just, you know, a tour period, but I had, you know, through the radio show, I've had someone guide me through the whole over a street with the new museum.
That's, it's like a, it's a commemoration of David Segueros, the artist from Mexico, city.
And there's so much to do there.
And a lot of people don't know that the original Chinatown in LA was at over a street.
And that's why the Chinese American museum is there.
It's at over a street.
And you know, you were like, what, why is it here?
Yeah.
There's Chinatown.
There's a large street.
And they're like, well, it's here.
Cause that's the original Chinatown.
Right.
And then they were forced to move during the construction of union station.
Yeah.
I mean, there's a lot of cool things, you know, actually we have a tribute to the Chinatown that used to be at union station in the East portal.
If you want to take a look, it's a, it's an art piece that they installed.
It looks like the river and it's got a lot of the debris that we found when we were excavating the ground.
Wow.
To build union station.
That's interesting.
I didn't know.
So, so that's portal.
What?
The East portal where you exit the red or gold line towards, towards Vignes.
The back.
Yeah.
Where the Dodger shuttle is.
Right.
Where the X-Wars plaza is.
You go down there, we have a couple art where the fish tank is.
Yeah, exactly.
And I mean, yeah, there's so much to see and not even that, but just the gold line, you can make a day out of it.
Cause then from Alvarez, you could get back on if you have a day pass and go to Chinatown.
Right.
One stop.
And then just a few more years, it's going to go all the way out to, you know, is it the Azusa?
So it's going to be out, you know, we have the photo extension coming in and then it'll be even more to explore.
Yeah.
Pasadena, Sierra Madre.
So is that, is that, has that been confirmed?
Oh, yep.
I mean, it's, it's, I think there are, we're looking at 2016 for when we opened the photo extension line.
Wow.
And that's going to go all the way down like.
To Azusa.
To the city of Azusa.
Yeah.
Wow.
So we're looking forward to that.
On Foothill, on Foothill Road, right?
Yes.
So it'll continue from Sierra Madre into Azusa.
Right.
So there's a part that runs along the middle of the freeway and then it kind of years off over that bridge.
You've noticed that big basket bridge.
It's gotten a lot of awards lately.
Yeah.
And over there it goes down into, I think Arcadia, Citrus, Citrus College.
It'll run by there.
So it'll be a lot of places where more people now will be able to access the goal line and the rest of the metro system.
Very cool.
Very cool.
One, one, one, one.
One other thing I want to say before we go is, yeah, I would have to say the goal line is my favorite line.
Even though I wrote a song about the red line, I did write a song about the goal line on the new record.
So there's a song called the goal line now.
Oh great.
No video yet, but I'll send it to you.
there we go.
Anything else you want to cover or was that about it?
Was there any other?
I think that's, that's pretty much everything.
Just looking forward to the holidays.
We actually make sure if you're going to New Year's Eve, you know, take the metro, be safe.
Be safe.
You've got, we've got events happening up at Universal CityWalk and here at Grand Park, the new, the Grand Park and downtown Los Angeles, where you can get 10% off at the food trucks if you have your tap card.
So make sure you have that handy with you and, you know, have a great time.
Grand Park is beautiful.
Thank you so much for being a part of the 92nd episode of Los Angeles Needs to Anne.
Oh, you're welcome.
Thank you for having me.
Cool.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
I'm the little Tokyo You're the ex-Hero of the night So where it falls Come to the east side Go for gold I'm on the call line Go for gold The east side So where it falls There's some kind of town Going through the design Of the way to island walk I'm on the call line So where it falls Come to the east side Go for gold I'm on the call line Go for gold
