Cars may dominate the roads in Southern California, but we look at how Angelenos are adapting to new forms of getting around. We talk transportation issues and policies, the history of L.A.'s freeways, the singing Amtrak conductor and the results of "The Great Race." Union Station to Santa Monica Pier by car, by bike and by bus. Who will win? Plus: Colombia's leader meets with President Obama
KPCC races from DTLA to Santa Monica: Why #TeamPublicTransport lost
My win was guaranteed in this race.
From the starting line? I was going to catch a bus and its first stop was coincidentally across the street from Union Station.
The start time of 8:30 a.m.? I knew that the bus was going to pick up at 8:36 a.m.
The finish line? The bus's last stop is just two blocks from the foot of the Santa Monica Pier.
That said, those were probably the only advantages I had. So here's why I lost.
The tools I used
First, I'm not surprised. If I was going to win, it would take some major parking snarls in Santa Monica to slow down Sue Carpenter in her car.
I also underestimated Jacob Margolis's powerful, powerful legs. (He was also going downhill, so he got some help from gravity)
However, I had experience and technology on my side.
I am pretty familiar with the transit options in downtown L.A., having moved from NYC in 2012 and still car-less after all this time.
Southern California also make mass transit easier with a wealth of apps to help minimize the time spent waiting for the next bus or train.
Personally, Google Maps is my co-pilot to help plan my trips. The app now includes real-time data on buses, too, to make suggested trips more accurate.
I've also taken a liking to the app Transit which shows the routes closest to my current location and how many minutes away they are. The brand new app Go LA sounds perfect, too, but it was released just a few days after this race.
Google Maps told me taking the R10 route of the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus was my best option – unlike the L.A. Metro buses which only travel local streets, this is an express bus that goes directly from Union Station to the Santa Monica Pier.
Everything's looking good, except...
Here's one part where I got tripped up: how do you pay the fare?!
The Big Blue Bus costs $2.50, which I can pay in cash. People boarding also had monthly passes which they swiped while boarding.
But I have a TAP card, a plastic card with a chip in it that you hold in front of a sensor while boarding a train or bus.
I had at least $20 loaded on my TAP card (my regular monthly pass from Metro doesn't work on the Big Blue Bus since it's run by a different network).
Then it got confusing. I learned that on the Big Blue Bus, the card reader can only take out $1.25 at a time.
"You need to deposit $1.25 more in cash, now," the bus driver told me.
Uh, I wasn't carrying any cash.
He sighed and said I could just come back in 10 minutes when the card was scannable, again, to put it front of the sensor to deduct the rest.
It was a minor setback and I still got to board.
The lesson in this is that Southern California's network of buses and trains sometimes don't talk to each other well.
If you'll be hopping aboard your first trip, be prepared.
I recommend you carry extra cash in case you are surprised by unexpected fares. It helps to ask bus drivers or even other passengers for advice, too.
If you can, try calling the customer hotlines for the networks you'll be riding to ask what you might need to know.
And we're off!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Really. While Jacob was dodging traffic and Sue was stuck in traffic, I was chilling out on the bus.
I knew there was little I can do as a passenger to make it go faster. That is one of the benefits to mass transportation: you can accomplish a lot since you don't have to keep your eyes on the road.
So I checked my email. Took some selfies. Posted to Facebook. Sang Justin Bieber to myself (I swear, his new album is actually good!)
To help our riders, too, there will be free WiFi for people aboard the LA DOT's Commuter Express buses by the end of 2016.
L.A. Metro also tells KPCC they plan to have cell service in the subway between the Union Station and 7th/Metro stations by the end of this month.
Aside from keeping myself entertained, all I could do was wait.
One piece of comfort came from my seatmate Jennifer, a student at Santa Monica College.
She told me the Big Blue Bus reliably takes about 60-75 minutes between downtown L.A. and Santa Monica. Google Maps told me Sue's drive could take up to 70 minutes.
So if she got caught up trying to find parking, I could be running to the finish line first.
On the final stretch...
I realize I need more cardio in my life.
The bus's last stop and the finish line were amazingly close to each other. Since I'm a fast walker, it would be about 7 minutes.
But this was a race, so I dashed instead. For a while.
I was completely out of breath trying to run with a bag over my shoulder and a mic in my hand.
By the time I arrived at the foot of the ferris wheel, it was official: I got the bronze medal!
Yes, I know, third place is also last.
It took me 94 minutes to reach the finish line. Jacob Margolis biked there in 65 minutes, while Sue Carpenter drove and parked in the span of 70.
It is not surprising that mass transit can take longer, a reality that millions deal with on a daily basis in Southern California.
The takeaway is that it is getting better: if you have access to a smartphone, apps can help minimize the time spent waiting at the curb.
This race will completely change in May, too, when Metro's Expo line opens between downtown L.A. and the Santa Monica Pier (not by much, though; the bus was a straight shot while I would need to make a transfer on the trains if I started from Union Station).
Got a recommendation on what I could have done differently? Or maybe your strategies if you take mass transit yourself?
Tweet me
or post 'em here.
The Great Race: The cyclist beat both car and bus - here's why
We sent out three staffers in rush hour traffic. The mission: To race from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica Pier via bike, bus and car. The winner: The bicyclist.
Jacob Margolis biked there in 65 minutes, while Sue Carpenter drove and parked in the span of 70 minutes. Leo Duran spent 94 minutes using public transportation.
The car may be king in Southern California, but there are plenty of challenges to getting around. As we found out, driving can actually slow you down.
Here's an overview of what went down.
The route
Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to the ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier.
The racers
- By car:
, automotive critic for the OC Register
- By bike: , KPCC producer
- By mass transit: , KPCC reporter/producer
The time
Morning rush hour, starting at 8:30 a.m. sharp.
The rules
Use whatever tools and technology you have at your disposal. The final route you take is up to your discretion.
Dispatches from the racers
Sue Carpenter by car
Sue was driving what's technically a motorcycle: a Polaris Slingshot.
She drove out of Union Station with her helmet on and disregarded Waze's suggestions to take side streets. Instead, she made a beeline for the 10 freeway.
"My thought about Waze is if you're on the freeway and it's even moving at all — unless it's completely jammed stopped — it's better to be on the freeway," she says. "There's no really good shortcut around that."
She may also have had it the easiest because she just needed to drive, but then Sue also knew that she'd run into hurdles in Santa Monica.
"Does parking factor in? Yes it does, because actually I had to park mine."
Plus, her really cool car inadvertently slowed her down.
"I was driving this crazy vehicle and some guy wanted to stop and talk with me about it!"
Jacob Margolis on bike
Jacob wore spandex (he races regularly on the weekends) and hopped aboard his Ritte Bosberg, a serious racing bike.
But the roads didn't let him go as fast as he'd like along the entire route.
"Trying to get out of downtown was really hard from Union Station to Venice Boulevard, which I took all the way down," says Jacob. "The bike lane was really good in downtown, and then it got really bad when I was transitioning from downtown to Venice Boulevard."
He says some of the lanes didn't connect with each other, if they existed at all. He got a little lost at times in downtown. At other points, cars were parked in the bike lane or potholes threatened to knock him off balance.
Jacob says he made a point to stop at all stoplights and signs, but he still pushed hard to win.
"The entire time, I was completely out of breath," he says. "I actually did strain my quad."
Leo Duran on mass transit
Leo used his phone to check Google Maps, which told him the fastest route would be taking the R10 route on the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus.
That bus picked him up directly across the street from Union Station.
Apps also told him how many minutes away it was.
"In fact, that's why I said, 'We should start at 8:30!' I was checking my app and seeing that the bus would pick up at 8:36 a.m.," he says. "There are many different ways that technology was helping me to not so wait long at a bus stop or a train stop."
The bus's last stop dropped off in downtown Santa Monica at the corner of Broadway and 2nd street, just blocks away from the foot of the pier. After that, it was footrace to the finish.
Why the bike won
Cyclist Jacob Margolis narrowly beat out car driver Sue Carpenter by 5 minutes.
"I would not have pushed as hard if this was a daily commute, if I had been carrying more gear than just recording equipment, if it was hot outside," he says. "I think Sue would have won if everything hadn't fallen into place."
Jacob clocked in at 65 minutes and Sue reached the finish line in 70 minutes.
Leo Duran lagged behind after spending 94 minutes en route.
"I was surprised [Leo] made it here that fast, actually," says Sue.
"It was pretty calm and casual for me," says Leo. "I was mostly posting to Facebook, Instagramming and answering some emails."
What could have made Leo's trip better? He has more details and tips for riding public trans here.
Jacob Margolis had such a tremendous lead on his bike that he was able to drink a cup of coffee after winning, before either of his competitors showed up.
"If it weren't for traffic, I think Sue would have won," he says.
Here's Jacob's route, including the time he spent en route pedaling (minus the time he was stopped at lights).
Correction: Earlier we said that Jacob had stopped to get coffee during the race. While it is true that he was able to enjoy a nice, rich cup of joe, he actually did so after he had won and before Sue arrived at the pier.
LA Traffic: Could toll roads be a solution?
L.A. has the reputation of a car city, and as a result it has some very key traffic issues.
Herbie Huff, research associate at UCLA's Institute of Transportation Studies gives us an overview of some of those key issues and some possible fixes.
Herbie's main suggestion for a solution? Toll roads.
Some of our listeners chimed in on Herbie's thoughts and couldn't quite see how tolls would help:
While others were keen on different solutions:
Tell us what you think in the comments below or on Facebook or
!
To hear the full interview, press the blue play button above.
Crenshaw shops weigh challenges, promise of new train line
As a long-awaited train line nears the Crenshaw corridor, local residents and businesses are eyeing the changes with a mix of hope and anxiety while coping with daily construction woes.
"I do see the change, I do know it's coming and I welcome it," said Marlene Sinclair, owner of the Ackee Bamboo restaurant in Leimert Park. Sinclair has run her small Jamaican restaurant for over a decade and, like other business-owners on Degnan Blvd., hopes that a nearby trains station will bring more foot traffic and steady customers.
"We've been up and down and up and down and I'm just looking for growth," she said. "To see all the new faces and the support, I think it's just going to mean really great business for a lot of us."
But after 11 years in the neighborhood, her lease is now month-to-month, she said. She's worried that once the train line is completed, which the Metropolitan Transportation Authority says should be in three years, small businesses like hers may be pushed out, forced to leave a neighborhood they helped to build.
Challenges during construction
The eight-and-a-half mile Crenshaw/LAX line will run from Exposition Blvd to the 105 freeway. Along the way it crosses Martin Luther King, Jr Blvd., historic Leimert Park and Inglewood, site of the new NFL stadium.
The $2 billion dollar track still has three years to go before opening. But in the meantime, residents and businesses along the line are dealing with the day-to-day challenges of construction.
"The sidewalk was blocked, meaning there was no pedestrian access to here," said Adriana Cortes, manager of Delicious Southern Cuisine, a soul food restaurant that faces Leimert Park on Crenshaw Blvd. Soon after construction began in 2014, a chain link fence sprung up right outside her patio, cutting off the main flow of customers from the street.
"Even from the businesses next door, they couldn't walk here. They had to [go] from the back, the alley maybe. It was very hard for anyone to walk here, even from across the street," said Cortes.
The business took a hit. She estimates a 10-20 percent drop in sales during the first six months. That's tough for a block still trying to recover from the last recession when many stores left.
"We've seen Starbucks leave this corner. We've seen a bank leave this corner – literally the bank was next door. A lot of businesses here were closed," said Cortes, who opened her restuarant five years ago with her father, Vidal.
Programs to help local businesses
Metro says it's aware of these kinds of challenges and has made an effort to take a cue from the people who live and work along Crenshaw.
"We're knocking on doors, sitting in living rooms, going to restaurants, sitting in the dining rooms, morning day and night," said Anthony Crump, community and construction relation manager for LA Metro.
"Any construction project is disruptive," said Crump. "If you're remodeling your house or redoing your kitchen, you've got to go through some pain in order to get the benefits of it."
To help shops stay open, Metro has rolled out several programs, including grants for those directly affected by construction. The agency's Business Interruption Fund offers up to $50,000 a year for local businesses.
Adriana Cortes' restaurant, Delicious, was part of the first wave to get the grant, though she said the store got "about three-fourths" of the total grant amount. The funds helped to avoid lay-offs and boost advertisement so residents know the store is open during the construction. And she hopes that lasts.
"It's not yet quite where we want to be, but definitely improved," she said.
Cortes' restaurant is one of dozens to get the grant so far, according to Shalonda Baldwin. Baldwin oversees a variety of pilot programs for business as deputy executive officer of project management at Metro. Since Feburary 2015, 104 businesses have received the grants. All but eight located along the Crenshaw corridor, according to Baldwin.
"This program is focused on helping small mom-and-pop businesses," said Baldwin. "Those are businesses of 25 or fewer employees."
Baldwin said the total amount dispersed so far is just under $2 million, with more grants still in the application process. Metro's Board of Directors has authorized $10 million annually to be used to implement the fund, according to the agency that handles the applications.
'The only income they have'
As construction on the Crenshaw/LAX line moves south, it's already meeting similar concerns from residents in the Park Mesa Heights neighborhood.
At a recent public meeting at the Employment Development offices near Crenshaw and 57th, over 70 people packed a small room and repeatedly interrupted a Metro presentation to voice their concerns.
Many of them asked about public safety and parking during construction in the blocks just south of Leimert Park.
"That's the only income they have," said resident Ricky Dumas of those who work at the small storefronts that line Crenshaw. "And they have their regular customers and that's going to detour the regular customers to go somewhere else because they're not going to want to go through all that construction."
Tamitra Clark, also at the January 28th meeting and director of a local senior center, said she worried about how seniors with disabilities would navigate the disruption on the street and whether her center would get food truck deliveries on time. That concern about traffic flow was also raised by a local mosque preparing for Friday prayers and a primary school dealing with dropping off and picking up children.
Metro says another meeting is scheduled for the end of February to address some of the concerns, and to update residents on the construction.
"The communities in which we're building are vibrant communities to begin with," said Metro's Anthony Crump. "It's our hope and our belief that adding new transportation options will make them even stronger communities."
To hear the segment, press the blue play button above.
How Metro uses simple psychology to increase ridership
Matt Sanderson's job is in Venice, but he lives in East Hollywood. Driving could take 40 minutes or more, he says.
But he decided he'll be daring – he's using mass transit.
"That would be, I think an hour and forty minutes to two hours, maybe," he guesses. "Yeah..."
While over half of riders don't have a choice about using mass transit, L.A. Metro is looking for ways to create more Matts. If it can convince people to not drive their cars sometimes, then it would improve traffic for everyone.
It will be a tough sell, however. Many people in KPCC's Public Insight Network echoed Daniel Chan who lives in downtown LA.
"I have clients in Santa Monica, and it's a pain to get there," Chan says. "If I imagine myself standing in a bus for an hour, I'm more likely to drive there."
That's a harder problem to solve: mass transit, at best, can move only as fast as traffic. Usually it goes much slower because of all the stops.
The only answer, however, isn't just to make buses and trains go faster.
It's not obvious, but Metro believes some people are turned off of mass transit when they aren't even riding.
"It's the nature of the experience that matters," says Metro's Diego Cardoso.
That means the stretch from when you walk between your stop and where you're going is extremely important, and could be one make-or-break factor in taking mass transit.
Metro figures people will spend 15 minutes max getting to a stop, whether it's by walking, biking or the means.
Throw in obstacles, and that willingness shrinks. Maybe it's because the sidewalks are cracked and uneven, there are no streetlights or there is a lack of crosswalks.
Metro's plan to address all of this is called the First/Last Mile. It's a framework for what Metro suggests to cities to make the area and infrastructure around stops more inviting and safe.
A lot of it is rooted in psychology. For example, building more bike racks outside of a subway stop provides a visual cue to people that, yes, you can bike here.
It may also suggest investment in the areas around stations.
"Bike lanes on the street, some of the landscaping, businesses right next to the sidewalk" – all suggestions by Cardoso that he says can signal a stop is walkable and inviting.
It’s an effort that acknowledges mass transit is more than the ride itself.
First/Last Mile has already won a prestigious award from the American Planning Association. While it doesn’t solve all the hang-ups some people have with taking a bus or train, it’s a start.
Cell and Internet service coming to the LA Metro, Wi-Fi headed to LA DOT buses
L.A. subway riders have peace and quiet since there's no reception underground to make phone calls, but that silence will break at the end of March.
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority tells Take Two that it plans to have cellular service available in the subway starting in the coming weeks.
Metro spokesman Dave Sotero said the agency will roll out cell service to the underground tunnels linking Union Station and the stop at 7th/Metro at the end of March.
When it begins, you'll be able to make a phone call or use the Internet on your smartphone — and potentially be annoyed by passengers having loud conversations next to you.
Meanwhile, the L.A. Department of Trasportation tells us it will usher in Wi-Fi on all its Commuter Express buses by the end of 2016.
The department first piloted Wi-Fi on buses for a six-month period that started in January 2015. A select number of buses still offer free Wi-Fi to passengers, but the spokeswoman Lisa Martellaro-Palmer says the L.A. DOT will expand to all routes in the coming year.
Electric vehicles and the battery that could save the world
Although there are more and more electric cars to choose from, think the Nissan Leaf, BMW i3 or the Tesla Model S, electric cars are still a small portion of cars sold in the US.
One reason might be that most electric cars get fewer than 100 miles on a full charge. That's a small fraction of what a gas-powered car can do.
But that could be changing.
Scientists around the world have been hard at work for years trying to develop a battery which will challenge the dominance of the internal combustion engine.
It's a fascinating endeavor and one that Steve Levine wrote about in his new book "The Powerhouse: Inside the Invention of a Battery to Save the World."
Here he is reading from the first chapter:
https://soundcloud.com/stephen-95/audio-2-01
Only in SoCal can you take the train with the sunset...and a song
from
on Vimeo.
The East Coast has the most-traveled Amtrak route in the country – 11.6 million riders board the line connecting Boston, New York City and D.C.
But it's only on the West Coast where passengers get serenaded by Anthony Bryant.
Bryant runs the café car on the Pacific Surfliner, Amtrak's second busiest route in the country carrying 3 million riders each year.
He does more than sell sandwiches, coffee and cookies to passengers.
"It's aaaaaa beautifuuul and sunny Saturday morning foooooooor a traaaaaaaain riiiiiiiide," he sings at the start of a recent weekend trip, taking command of the PA system so his voice echoes up and down the train cars.
"E-ver-y day's a beauuutiful daaaaaaaaay (deep breath) fooooooor aaaaaaaa traaaaaaaaaaaain riiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!"
Bryant, who is as tall as his voice is booming, then waits for customers behind the counter of the café car with a mix of jazz music playing off his iPhone at the side.
A pencil-thin mustache lines his smile as people begin to file in, eyeing one of the hotdogs, maybe, or wondering how early is too early for a bottle of Arrogant Bastard IPA.
"A lot of people tell me, 'Oh, the only reason I came down is because of the song,'" says Bryant, thinking passengers want to put a face to the pipes.
"What a beautiful voice you have!" exclaims one older woman. "Thank you, young lady!" replies Anthony, "Young lady?" the woman blushes and laughs.
"Have you ever tried out for the opera?" chuckles a gentleman.
"Keep singing. It brightens my day!" says a student wearing a UC-Irvine t-shirt.
He started working for Amtrak 23 years ago, the Pacific Surfliner being his first and only route.
It was only three years into his career that, like a musical, he decided to break out into song.
"I guess I was just having a good day, and maybe it just came to me," he recalls. "It gets people talking, if nothing else, but at the time it was getting people to come down."
Bryant says there was a three-year stint in the early 2010s when he was silenced. He recalls that a directive from Amtrak corporate headquarters floated down to him, saying he needed to stop singing and playing music in the café car.
"Bureaucratic stuff, you know," he sighs.
But in 2012, just as mysteriously, he was given the green light by his superiors to use the speaker system to sing.
"Maybe a nice letter came in or maybe ideologies changed a little bit," he guesses, not questioning his luck.
Amtrak says it's unaware of any other employee elsewhere in the country who takes liberties with the loudspeaker like Bryant.
In his repertoire, Bryant has a range of songs including one he made up himself as well as California's state song, "I Love You, California."
The latter is perfect for one of the best views on a train: the Pacific Surfliner spends part of its journey hugging the coastline, chugging right along the beach where people can see the surf, sand and sun.
Bryant, who's originally from Philadelphia, says he's mostly seen urban grime and graffiti from the trains on the East Coast.
But he says the Pacific Surfliner has some of the best scenery that you can see while riding.
"Every day it blows me away," he says. "This is my utopia."
Why LA really wasn't the city built for the automobile
Freeways. They're as much a part of the identity of Los Angeles as sunshine or the movie business.
But how did it become that way?
As difficult as it is to imagine, there was a time before freeways in Los Angeles, before cars became the dominant mode of transportation.
Matthew Roth, a historian with the Automobile Club of Southern California, joined Take Two to explain how the freeways in L.A. built up the way they did.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
Did LA's freeway system build up in any sort of planned way?
I prefer the word 'network' because 'system' implies smoothly integrated, functioning parts and you can't really say that about the freeways in Los Angeles. There's always been an idea of freeways... They were first proposed in Los Angeles in 1924 as part of a big comprehensive street plan and the reasons that the engineering consultants who did this report said they wouldn't be built are really still true. One, it's really expensive... There's the fact that they compromise the quality of life in the immediate vicinity... the malapportioned benefit, you know, 'I'm paying for this freeway but this guy over here is benefiting from it'... It's not that people were stupid, they just built them in the face of these known problems, tried to work around them, and had differential success.
Is there any truth to this prevailing myth of a grand auto industry conspiracy to edge out trolleys and rail transport in LA?
The trolleys were private businesses and they were the products of the Gilded Age, of unfettered capitalism. And in fact a lot of the capital 'p' Progressive politics of the late 19th and early 20th century were geared towards reining in the excesses of capitalism, notably including the trolley companies. And it meant that it was very difficult politically for trolley companies to be seen as a legitimate recipient of public resources... The funny thing about highways is that [cars] come along 20 years after the trolley lines were put in place, and they benefitted from the lobbying that had been done by bicyclists, the 'Good Roads Movement,' which lobbied for pavement because it's better to ride a bike on pavement than on dirt. And it was the Good Roads Movement that came out of bicycling that caused the creation of highway commissions in many states, including California. 1896 is the founding date of the California Highway Commission, which is a couple of years before the first automobile in California.
Then where did this idea of LA as "the city built for the automobile" come about?
At the exact moment when we first hear the phrase that this is the city built for the automobile, which is some time in 1924, it was in a political campaign to get support for road building, at the moment that that phrase was first uttered it was false. It was a city that had been built for the trolley. But what was powerful about that claim is that it was aspirational, it was, 'We CAN build this city for the automobile!' The root motivation was to continue the rapid development of real estate. And the myth takes hold because it links with the boosterism of Southern California, and the exceptionalism— the idea that it's different here, the weather's different, the people are different. And what's different about them? They like cars better than everyone else.
Where are we gonna park?! The state of parking in LA
You can't talk about driving around L.A. without mention of parking.
KPCC transportation reporter
joined the show to tell more about what's up with L.A. parking now, and what lies ahead, including:
- A current debate over parking minimums and parking for Metro.
- Variable rate parking meters, which can be found in places like downtown L.A., and is based on how busy parking gets at any one time.
To listen to the full segment, click on the blue audio player above.
Sepur Zarco: Guatemala's landmark trial that took 3 decades to begin
The Sepur Zarco trial is underway in Guatemala, more than three decades after a group of women say the were raped and enslaved by soldiers.
Sepur Zarco is the military base where the crimes are said to have occurred. This case marks the first time in the world where charges of sexual slavery perpetrated during an armed conflict have been prosecuted in the same country where the crimes took place.
NPR international correspondent
joined the show with updates.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Colombian president Santos comes to the White House
President Barack Obama meets with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos today at the White House. They'll mark 15 years of a partnership called "Plan Colombia."
The deal was struck at a time when the South American country was on the verge of collapse.
It's a pact that you don't hear a lot about, but it's played a significant role in restoring the Colombian economy while helping stem the flow of illegal drugs into the US.
Where does the plan go from here? Take Two put that question to BBC Colombia's Natalio Cosoy.