The Brief

Ah, 1923 in Los Angeles. What a different time.

It was the debut year of iconic L.A. monuments like the Hollywood sign, the Biltmore Hotel, and the Memorial Coliseum.

You had to be there, but that year was also a big deal for local public transit. L.A.’s first bus took off along Western Avenue on Aug. 18, 1923. That’s just over 100 years ago, if you’re counting.

Nowadays, Metro operates some 2,000 buses around Los Angeles. Looking back, what can we learn from the early days of public transit in L.A.? And what is the history behind the city's first bus line?

I took these questions to our transit experts: India Mandelkern, Metro’s blog editor, and Matthew Barrett, who heads Metro's research library and archive.

The bus line along Western Ave. debuted in 1923.

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Courtesy LA Metro

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Setting the scene

Q: India, you write in your piece about the first bus line that local traffic congestion was really bad back in August 1923. What climate was L.A.’s first bus entering into? 

IM: Well, L.A. already had a very robust streetcar network, but Western Avenue, where the first bus line got started, didn't actually have streetcars. For that reason, it was a really great choice for a bus line. The intersection of Wilshire and Western was the busiest intersection in pre-freeway Los Angeles. Also, traffic lights and signals, all those things were really new back then. Driving the streets was a little bit more like the Wild West. If you look at the early photos, it almost looks like a free-for-all.

MB: And there was no freeway system. The amount of time it took to get to Santa Monica in the 1920s is pretty much the same as it is today with the freeways, because of huge growth in population and congestion!

A vintage public bus from the 1920s.

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Courtesy LA Metro

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Q: Like you said, the first bus route was down Western Avenue, between Los Feliz Boulevard and Slauson Avenue. Why was that location chosen?

IM: It was very, very, congested, and it didn't already have streetcar tracks. So the bus was pretty much the only game in town if you wanted to move a large quantity of people in one vehicle.

MB: And this was a joint effort between two major transit providers in L.A. — the Pacific Electric Red Car system, the long-distance Metrolink of its day, and the Yellow Cars of L.A., the local streetcar system. The two of them got together and formed this bus company (called Los Angeles Motor Bus Co.) in order to make connections between their systems. The buses were thought of as a feeder system to the rail systems. And Western just never had any streetcars on it.

When buses were a novel concept

Q: Buses were an entirely new thing back then. What was public perception like, were people resistant or receptive? 

IM: It was really considered a novel, innovative thing to do. In this time, buses were considered more car-like than your streetcar. Early advertisements for buses tout things like, they had leather seats and really spacious aisles and you could board on the curb and you didn't have to go into the middle of the road like many streetcar stops. The public was very enthusiastic about them and within a couple months, another bus line got started and they were carrying about 10,000 passengers every day.

MB: A bus back then was as car-like as you could get if you couldn’t afford a car. It was looked at as a step up from rail.

The interior of an old public bus serving Los Angeles in the 1920s.

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Courtesy LA Metro

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Buses v. streetcars

Q: How did the new bus system interact with the streetcar system? 

IM: As Matthew pointed out, it was a joint venture between two streetcar companies that formed the first bus company. And as early as 1925, 1926, some of the less used streetcar tracks were already being converted into bus lines. There’s this perception that buses ran streetcars out of business, but that isn’t really true. Buses continued into areas where streetcar tracks weren’t going. Streetcar track was expensive to build, and buses were touted as trackless transportation. The idea that they could just go off route, make a detour — that was very innovative at the time.

Q: What were safety precautions like on those early buses? 

MB: Back in the streetcar era, buses were patrolled by special agents that were part of the staff of the L.A. Railway and Pacific Electric and L.A. Motor Coach. (Los Angeles Motor Bus Co. was later renamed Los Angeles Motor Coach Lines). You have to remember they were private companies and fare box revenue was the only revenue they had, so fare evasion was a big deal. The special agents that were employed by the company coordinated with LAPD if there were any issues that required arrests.

They also used to make exact change on buses and trains. In 1968, they went to exact change (fares), because it was too much of a temptation for some passengers to commit robberies of the operator's change belts. So, that indicates to me that things were pretty safe all the way up until maybe the late ‘60s.

Wilshire Boulevard in 1932

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Courtesy LA Metro

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A long history of alternative fuels

Q: I understand L.A. has long experimented with alternative fuel. To what extent was the bus system involved in that? 

MB: We had gas electric buses in the ‘20s. We had 60 propane-powered buses in the ‘50s. We went to propane buses for the mini-bus system, which is today's DASH system, in the ‘70s. The Rapid Transit District (RTD) even built its own in-house air quality lab to try and figure out how to reduce the particulates in diesel with particulate traps, and then they went to methanol and ethanol, and then finally CNG. In the ‘40s-’60s, L.A. had two electric trolley bus lines, and now we're moving back toward electrified buses again. So, for a city that was well-renowned for its oil wealth in the ‘20s and ‘30s, even with all of that cultural pressure and focusing on the petroleum industry, the transit system was still experimenting with alternative fuels during this entire time.

A case for buses as innovation, then and now

Q: Any closing thoughts on the role buses played back then, and now? 

IM: Before we had the resources to build rail, and after the demise of the streetcars, buses were rapid transit. That was the only way that people were able to get around. Buses came out of a moment where crippling automobile congestion was preventing people from getting around, and they reflect this way we’ve responded to situations at hand and found innovative solutions.

For more information about LA’s first bus, you can read India Mandelkern’s piece in Metro’s ‘The Source.’

In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena and Pasadena’s music community have really shown up to support fire survivors, especially fellow musicians who lost instruments and record collections.

That effort continues this weekend with a special donation concert at a Pasadena record store, with the aim of getting vinyl records back in the hands of survivors who lost their collections.

“You know, our name is Healing Force of the Universe, and I think that gives me a pretty clear direction… especially after the fires,” said Austin Manuel, founder of Pasadena record store, where Sunday’s show will be held.

The record donation effort is the brainchild of musician Brandon Jay, who founded the nonprofit Altadena Musicians after losing his home and almost all of his family’s instruments in the Eaton Fire. Through Altadena Musicians’s donation and registry platform, Jay said he and his partners have helped some 1,200 fire survivors get their music instruments back.

Brandon Jay.

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Robert Garrova

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LAist

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Now, that effort has fanned out to restoring vinyl record collections.

“All of that stuff evaporated for thousands of people,” Jay said. “Look at your own record collection and be like, ‘Wow, what if that whole thing disappeared?’”

You might know Jay from several bands over the years, including Lutefisk, a 1990s alt-rock band based in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, composed music for TV shows, including Orange is the New Black and Weeds.

Jay plans to play some holiday tunes at Sunday's record donation show (which LAist is the media sponsor), along with fellow musician Daniel Brummel of Sanglorians. Brummel, who was also a founding member of Pasadena’s indie-rock sensation Ozma, said he was grateful to Jay for his fire recovery work and to Manuel for making Healing Force available for shows like this.

Brummel, who came close to losing his own home in the Eaton Fire, recalled a show he played at Healing Force back in March.

Ryen Slegr (left) and Daniel Brummel perform with their band, Ozma, on the 2014 Weezer Cruise.

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Even Keel Imagery

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“The trauma of the fires was still really fresh,” Brummel said. After playing a cover of Rufus Wainwright’s “Going to a Town,” that night — which includes the lyrics “I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down” — Brummel said his neighbors in the audience told him the rendition hit them hard. “It felt really powerful. And without that space, it just wouldn’t have occurred.”

Details

Healing Force of the Universe Record Donation Show
Featuring: Quasar (aka Brandon Jay), Sanglorians (Daniel Brummel) and The Acrylic.
Sunday, Dec. 14; 2 to 5 p.m.
1200 E. Walnut St., Pasadena
Tickets are $15 or you can donate 5 or more records at the door. More info here.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.