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It's not going to stop, Los Angeles. The price to drive your horseless carriage will continue to rise as we approach the summer and demand increases. You might want to rethink that weekend trip to Vegas. The tank may take more out of your pocket than the craps table. The real loss is in the day-to-day hump otherwise known as your commute. You may have noticed a slight decrease in the amount of traffic on the road lately, as LAist's Carrie Meathrell has. She seems to be getting to work 10 to 15 minutes earlier these days, cursing the precious moments of lost sleep.
It could be that students are starting to get out of school and are now sleeping in, dreaming of how to make this world a better place, or how to improve GTA4. School buses are dropping off the last of the little ones and beginning to be sanitized for day campers. However, a major reason for your early arrival at Satan's domain, or work, is the massive increase in Metro riders over the last few months.
I ride the Gold Line every morning and transfer to the Red at Union Station to Hollywood and Vine. I used to be able to sometimes grab a seat, or at least have some elbow room. Now I'm shoved into the aisle with my ass in the face of humanity, and the lady who works on the Jurassic Park ride at Universal. I shouldn't complain because getting all those cars off the road is great for our air quality here in the Southland, but for those new to the experience, I think we should go over some basic rules for riders that I like to call "Metroquette".
Now, it took me a couple of weeks to catch on to the culture, so everyone is allowed a slip or two, but that's it. I'm sure I'll be missing some key rules of the rail here, but that's what comments are for. Maybe monthly amendments will be necessary. Perhaps we, as a community, can publish a set of standards and practices to allow Angelenos to live in harmony from station to station.
1. Women and children first
This applies for getting in and out of the car and the seating arrangements. I have one child who is almost 2, and he can be 100 handfuls. When you see a mother (or father) struggling with her two or three kids, it's nice to give up your seat and at least give her an opportunity to corral the children in one area.
2. Let the blind man sit down!
There is a blind man who rides the Gold Line at 6:45 with his dog, Shadow. Too many times I, along with several other riders, have had to actually ask people if they would mind maybe giving up their seat to the man who can't see, the one with the dog that walks for him, that one. However, this common sense rule applies to all elderly and disabled people. There are designated seats that read "PRIORITY SEATING FOR SENIORS AND DISABLED". For those of you who have trouble understanding the concept of language as a form of communication, that means get the fuck up! Anyone with a walker, cane, crutches, or battle scars from WWII has priority.
3. Just because you're loud doesn't mean you're smart.
Not everybody wants to hear your witty interpretation of what the gift of knowledge really means in Indiana Jones. This is not your forum to share your mediocre criticisms and observations. That's my job here.
4. Limit your cell phone ramblings.
See rule #3.
5. Hold the door, Jackass!
If you see someone running for the door, don't just stare like a frightened child at Captain EO in 1988 (sorry for the personal reference). Treat this like an elevator, and just be polite. You WILL be that person running at some point, so remember your Earl Hickey. Also, keep in mind that the conductor can see people being shut out at the last second, and he or she may sometimes open those doors. Now you're going to get the stink eye from Molly Metro when she's let in.
So let's leave it here and see how it goes. As more and more of us jump on the train and leave the guzzler at home, we'll start to see this list grow. I think we'll also start to see the city's stress level fall from not inhaling fumes several hours a week while staring at "student of the month" bumper stickers and "my other car is your mom" license plate frames, although that one is kind of funny.
For me, I'll continue to hold the pole and ride the rail. I'm in it to win it (no offense, Hillary).
Photo by machoroboraza via flickr
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i don't mind poking my arm out and holding the door for someone, but my question is -- will the door simply open back up like an elevator door? or will i have to physically force it back open?
Number one rule:
Off before on!!!
There is always a young guy with dyed blue hair who gets on the Red Line and (horribly) plays the exact same Misfits song every time - followed by walking around DEMANDING money (as if we asked him to play).
I'm not opposed to listening to some live music (there is an older man who always brings a smile to my face when he plays his guitar and sings), but this guy sounds like a 3 year using a stray cat to strum.
Last night, he gets on the train and starts his speech: "Good evening ladies and gentlemen..." but before he can say another word, an irate passenger with an unbelievably booming voice says, "Shut up and play! You do this EVERY time. Just shut up and play. You're always on here begging for money and you play the same damn song. I'm sick of it, they're sick of it. If you don't start playing in 3 seconds, I'm going to push you off the train at the next stop."
That man quickly became my hero.
This topic is one of my pet peeves as a regular user of the Red and Orange Lines.
To follow up to the above poster - do NOT stand in front of the train doors while others are exiting.
And for the Orange Line buses - move in rather than congregating around the back door.
OMG, i wish i was there when guitar guy got yelled at... he's aweful. while he plays i pray and pray for the strings to break.
the whole 'hold the door' thing is kind of sketchy. I've seen conductors on the gold line reopen the doors right after they closed to let some one in. the buttons on the inside dont seem to hold the door open, or reopen it after its started to close either.
but the red line is another story. i've seen people get yelled at by security for trying to open the door wider so they can get in after its started to close and the door wasnt budging either.
As a recent transplant from Washington DC I am shocked at the behavior of LA Metro riders. Here are some more rules:
On the escalator: STAND RIGHT, WALK LEFT.
At the door: stand COMPLETELY OUT OF THE WAY of the door until everyone is off the train. If any part of your body is in front of the door you are increasing the time it takes to unload the train and therefore delaying everyone trying to board.
In the car: DO NOT HOLD THE RAIL WITH YOUR ASS. That's disgusting. Do not hold the rail with your entire body if there is anyone else standing around who might want to use the rail too. If it's so important that you have both hands free to read the newspaper, try leaning against the door. If you are leaning against the rail I need to hold, I am going to grab the rail and slide my fist down it, painfully pushing your sweaty back out of the way. If you are holding the rail with your ass, I am going to take a picture of it, and when you ask me what I'm doing I'm going to tell you loudly that it's for my blog about people who hold the subway rail with their ass.
I have to disagree with the original poster about holding the door. It's not polite to hold up a train with 500 people on it for one person who has missed the train. The metro doors in DC, by way, don't stop like elevator doors. They will slam on you, hard.
I feel like I need some bicycle "Metroquette" tips?.
I just started biking to work and have to take the red line partway. It seems I'm always in the way. Usually I end up in a handicapped zone or blocking the door on the side that doesn't open. Otherwise I'm blocking seats. I wouldn't know where to go if there was a person in a wheelchair.
And can I say that it is annoying when I go to take the elevator with my bike and 20 able-bodied people push in front of me so I have to wait for a couple trips before I can get on. Maybe someday they'll fix the NoHo escalator and this won't be a problem.
It seems to me what it comes down to is common courtesy. Weather you're in a car, bike or riding on the subway people are not courteous any more.
Off before on is key as Gu3st pointed out.
Also, if you're not walking up the escalator please stand on the right and let others pass.
"On the escalator: STAND RIGHT, WALK LEFT."
True dat Sadie. I rode the Metro for a year in DC and now, whenever I take the Red Line, I end up stuck behind people standing in the middle of the escalator. It's not a ride folks.
Regarding bicycles:
Remember that Metro asks that you not bring your bicycle on during peak hours (6:30am to 8:30am & 4:30pm to 630pm).
I agree about the elevator, but a solution is to use the stairs. I usually just take the stairs since it's quicker.
The metro doors in DC, by way, don't stop like elevator doors. They will slam on you, hard.
Hey Mr. "I'm A Transplant Therefore I'm Better Than You LA People": FYI, the subway cars in DC are made by the same manufacturer as the ones here in Los Angeles: (Ansaldo)Breda of Pistoia, Italy. Aside from their internal and external cosmetic differences, they are pretty much the same car, functionally. The Los Angeles Breda Cars, too slam on you hard. They are not equipped, as you seem to suggest, with elevator-like sensors that detect when a body is in the way of their closure. If that happens, it is only because the trains operator detects a protrusion in their line of sight and manually re-opens the doors for safety reasons.
Usually I end up in a handicapped zone or blocking the door on the side that doesn't open.
BekkaTeerlink: That's actually where bicycles are supposed to go. Though you'd probably have to do the "Wilshire/Vermont Flip" (where the boarding door's orientation is reversed from the normal operation).
RedMercury said: Regarding bicycles:
Remember that Metro asks that you not bring your bicycle on during peak hours (6:30am to 8:30am & 4:30pm to 630pm).
The head of Metro bicycle programs once told a group of cyclists not to worry about those rules.
More to come...
Militant Angeleno: nowhere in sadie's post did I detect any implication that LA's metro doors open back up like an elevator. In fact, they only mentioned DC's subway, perhaps responding to the first comment's question on how the re-opening occurs. Maybe you should calm down, you sound like a ranting douchebag.
while i approve of all of these tips, we have to allow a bit more time to settle in. all of us angelinos have become forgetful of what common courtesy means. too many years spent in our iron bubbles free from interaction with people we dont know.
everyone remember, if you would look at someone and think, "what an ass" dont do it yourself.
if its something you would normally do in your car, dont do it on the train.
im sure all will be fine once we get over this teething time
A couple of points about escalators:
Yes, yes, yes ... you should stay to the right if you are going to stand the whole way up or down, and let those who want to walk pass. (Just like on the freeway ... those who want to pass because they are going faster do so on the left.) And I don't care whether you have your friend with you, it does not give you the right to take up both the left and right sides of the step. Your conversation can wait the 30 seconds it takes to ride the escalator, and if for some reason you think it can't, the stairs are right there for you to use.
Bicycle riders, while I applaud your willingness to use a combination of biking and transit use, the escalator is not where you belong. I have seen people lose their balance and fall trying to get around a cyclist and his/her bike; you are creating a safety hazard and I would like you to please stop before someone gets seriously hurt. Use the elevator or use the stairs, please.
Stroller owners, the same thing applies. The escalator is not meant for you and your baby vehicle. You are creating a hazard and you need to use the elevators. In fact, you need to start treating the train like a bus and fold the stroller instead of pushing it onto the train and forcing others to try to dodge it.
Finally, a note to BekkaTeerlink: It is not that the escalators at NoHo are broken, it is that there a lot of juveniles who think it's "fun" to push the emergency stop button on them. Once that happens, someone with a key to reset the escalator is needed in order to restart it. (This is, I am told, a requirement of state law: Remote restarting of escalators is not allowed to avoid such safety issues as someone slipping onto the escalator just as the "start" command is given, then losing their balance and falling.)
I've checked the Metro site several times to make sure I'm following all their posted rules, so I know about the rush hour restrictions.
RedMercury: I can't carry a bike up several flights of stairs, I'm just not endowed with grace and upperbody strength.
Kymberleigh: If the NoHo 'up' escalator is not broken, then why have there been yellow barriers in front of it for the last 2 weeks with mechanics rooting around among its gears and machinery? To me it appears a bit more complicated than an authority using a key to turn it back on.
>I can't carry a bike up several flights of stairs, I'm just not endowed with grace and upperbody strength.
I haul a bike up six flights of stairs every day and barely feel it. If you can rest the bike on your shoulder, it makes it a lot easier. The clumsiness goes away, too -- I'm a klutz in most respects, but now I can nearly jog down the stairs with a '70s Schwinn that weighs about half a ton.
But mostly it comes down to powering through it for one painful, gasping, leg-burning month until it stops sucking. What with my short attention span, that's a way more appealing option than waiting for the elevator.
arlette-I appreciate you trying to be "encouraging" to Bekka Teerlink, but it sounds a little like, "You can carry a bike up lots of stairs if you just try really hard and don't be a weakling."
Kind of condescending. I bike & Metro several times a week, but I'm constantly posting on LAist like some anti-public transportation nut. Why? Because I keep trying to make a point that the most athletic among us are at an advantage. Not everybody can bike 10+ miles or carry a bike up stairs or live car-free with ease.
We should encourage people, and allow them their little complaints (e.g. "It's hard for me to carry a bike up the stairs.") It's not a competition to be the most hard-ass.
That said, go Metro!
What you have seen, Bekka, is the routine maintenance that is performed between morning and afternoon peak hours (it is deliberately scheduled for the middle of the day). My guess is that you have always been there during the maintenance period and not at rush hour, when it has been placed back in service; I've been through NoHo Station quite a bit at rush hour the past few weeks, and the escalators have both been in service.
endless +1 on the escalator issue.
i was thinking we need to make a guerrilla poster campaign for Stand Right, Walk Left, if Metro doesnt do something.
Do it chris76!
I think some of you are confusing escalators with moving walkways.
From the otisworldwide website:
TIPS FOR RIDING ESCALATORS AND MOVING
WALKWAYS SAFELY
When riding escalators and moving walkways, follow these guidelines. (among many others listed at the site)
• On escalators, stand in the center of the step and face forward.
• On moving walkways, stationary passengers should stay to the right and let those walking pass on the left.
Metrorail safety and security tips do state that on escalators people should stand to the right. And aren't those people just full of wisdom on so many issues. It seems to me that if someone is seriously injured when someone rushes past them Metro could be sued for stating this on their website. It's as if they're saying that it's ok to go past people who are standing on the escalator. I think the real reason they say that is because they know there will always be rude people on escalators who are in a rush and so they figure it's safer if you're on the edge rather than in the center. Well, that is not correct.
Since so many seem to not want to follow these rules for safety -- there are several thousand injuries on escalators every year --I'll just take the elevator and let the barbarians who used to rush past me on the escalator, almost knocking me down, have their way. If you're in that much of a hurry why don't you just sprint up the stairs? But then you're probably the ones who would hold open a door for someone running to catch a train! If safety doesn't matter to you, please just drive and stay off of public transportation. Just my opinions here, but after riding trains and buses for 50 years instead of driving I've seen a lot of good and bad behavior.
skye, your post about escalator / walkway safety is totally fascinating. What to do? Who to believe?
I agree that stand to the right, pass to the left seems to work, but please don't go nuts (or CAPITAL LETTERS) on people who don't do it. It's not posted anywhere at the stations, and it's a convention rather than a rule. I guess I'm pleading for a little forgiveness here.
Sorry, the capital letters weren't mine. I had pasted and copied from a website and didn't think to change it. I don't care anymore what people do on escalators since I do take the elevator now due to my real fear of being knocked down. I just wonder why people don't leave a bit earlier so they don't have to feel so rushed.
There are many public transit agencies around the world that don't permit people to walk on escalators for safety reasons. Maybe we can learn something from them.
Calm down and don't rush so much people. Slow down a little and try to enjoy the process of getting there, if you can. Stay safe.
Skye, I was agreeing with you. My "please don't go nuts" directive was to other people getting angry about the "correct" way to ride the escalator.
Anyway, a fruitful discussion all around. Luckily, 95% of the people on Metro seem pretty courteous whenever I'm on.
BekkaTeerlink: One silly possibility is to invest in a lighter bike.
I have a 25 lb Huffy which I would hate to carry up 6 flights of stairs. I have a 17 lb Specialized which I have no problem carrying up stairs. I wait for the crowd to thin out, hoist it on my shoulder, and up I go.
Remember, the way to build upper body strength is to work out those muscles. Bicycling--while wonderful aerobic exercise--doesn't do much for the upper body. Carrying your bike up six flights of stairs and then biking someplace is your full body workout for the day!
Imagine the savings in health club memberships! :^)
Being a green line rider, I disagree about the "hold the door" rule. The driver runs the train, and anything you do to make that more difficult isn't nice. That said, the doors do sense someone in the way, and they pop open. It's not gentle like an elevator, mind. Anyway, another train will arrive shortly...
Agree with DC transplate RE: standing and holding the poles. No butts, no "whole body" support.
I can think of many Metroquette rules to add:
Someone is wearing headphones: they don't want to talk to anyone. Respect that.
Headphone volume: keep it low. you WILL hurt your ears, and also annoy everyone big time.
Your Trash: rules are, don't leave it on the train.
Sitting next to someone: Don't take up their space with your bag, elbows, butt, newspaper, baggy shirtsleeves, jacket, or anything. If you are fat, put your excess width into the aisle, not into the window seat passenger's lap.
People sitting in aisle seats: if window seat passenger wants to get out, get up to let them out, don't just swivel. If no one is in the window seat, and the train is getting full, don't set your junk on the window seat - let someone take that seat.
Respect the driver: driver wants to get in/out of the front of the train, and you're in the front seat? Get up to give them room. And thank them. It's not hard.
Standing: not getting off for a while? Stand in the middle of the car, not at the entry/exits. You're out of the way and probably more likely to get a vacated seat this way anyway.
Sitting behind someone: no sneezing in their hair. No smacking them with the newspaper you're reading (fold that gigantic thing up, come one). No ramming them with your ridiculously large purse when you stand up.
Sitting in front of someone: Have long hair? Keep it to yourself, don't let it spill over into their lap.
And just some funny rules of thumb I've noticed:
STAND RIGHT, WALK LEFT is NOT a universal rule - sometimes it's the other way around.
Customs vary.
Generally, they correspond to which side of the road people drive on - in the UK and Japan, for example, it's 'Stand Left, Walk Right' - but it's also that way in some (all?) parts of Australia, where they drive on the right; so even that's not a universal rule.
If there signs posted, do what the signs say.
If there aren't any signs, the true cosmopolitan observes the behavior of the locals and acts accordingly.
Which may include noticing that most folks aren't in so much of a hurry that they feel the need to endanger themselves and others by sprinting up steps that aren't really designed for that.
In which case the true cosmopolitan will chill out and relax, and remember that customs vary from place to place.
LOL! A captain EO reference.... CLASSIC.
Dear users of Los Angeles public transportation, cheers to your choice. But please stop being so sensitive about your riding experience, just because you're riding a subway instead of your car does not mean you should expect the same privacy.
As a metro rider and mother of two I have a crush developing.
My kids are big enough to give up their seats for Granny or the blind guy but they're small enough to think that your lack of civilization is okay.
So, yeah, thanks darlin', we need some manners 'round here.
What an interesting conversation! We should all laugh about this, since mass transit in LA is definitely in process. In any case, I'll take the horrors of mass transit over the horrors of driving any day!!
Here are a few from my experience riding metro for a couple years (including 3 hours per day for a year... yikes!):
1 - Please don't clip your fingernails on the platform or a bus.** This is really only appropriate at home.
2 - Don't give money to homeless people or anyone else who asks. This only encourages them to return later to ask for more.
3 - When getting off the bus, please use the back exit.* Just like letting people get off subway cars before you get on, it speeds up the process.
4 - If you're going to eat peanuts or sunflower seeds, please spit the remains into a cup or something.** Who do you think will eventually clean this up?
5 - If you're (neurotically) afraid of sitting in something and would like to place a newspaper on your seat before you sit, please take your newspaper (a.k.a., trash) with you.** This is the same principle - who do you think will eventually clean this up?
* Stinky, belligerent wackos regretfully exempt.
** Should probably fall under Metro's littering policy.