The Great Los Angeles Walk Happens Tomorrow!

The Great Los Angeles Walk 2008 takes place tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.! For those of you walking, a reminder: You that you should make sure you have a transportation plan in place, so you’re not stranded after walking all day!

I’ve heard from several of you, and it seems like a consensus is brewing that the best option for those of you without anyone picking you up is to PARK IN THE MORNING in Santa Monica, and take the bus all the way to Union Station BEFORE the walk. (That way, your car is waiting for you when it’s all done.)

Veteran walker Joni was the first to give this tip:

For those choosing to leave their cars at the end of the walk route (or for those who live in Santa Monica like I do), the Big Blue Bus #10 is a freeway flyer that goes from Santa Monica and 4th (near the Britannia Pub, our after party location) to Downtown’s Union Station.

It runs less often than the 704, but it gets there much faster:

http://bigbluebus.com/busroutes/schedule.asp?bus_route=10&dayofweek=saturday.

The 7:17 am bus arrives at 8 am, 7:47 am at 8:30 am, and 8:17 am at 9:03 am; one-way fare is $1.75. (I would strongly suggest taking that 7:17 am bus so you’re not late… if you arrive early, you can always have breakfast while waiting for the walk to begin.)

The #10 makes a number of stops along Santa Monica Blvd before it hops on the freeway at bundy, so you don’t have to drive all the way to the Promenade to catch it (and you can always catch the big blue #1 to get back to where you left your car from the after-walk party).

GOOD ADVICE, JONI! Thanks.

For those of you who nonetheless decide to park at Union Station, that Big Blue Bus #10 heads back to Union Station from 4th & Santa Monica at 5:44 pm, 6:15 pm, and 7:16 pm (the last trip of the evening), each scheduled to take about 55 minutes.

ESCAPE ROUTE: Along the route, if you’re exhausted and want to take the bus either to Santa Monica or Union Station, you’ve got a couple of bus or rail options (thanks to David for this info):

<a href="http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/bus_overview/images/704.pdf
” target=”_blank”>http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/bus_overview/images/704.pdf
The 704 Metro Rapid line runs eastbound from 2nd & SM Blvd in Santa Monica to Union Station but last Saturday bus leaves at 7:01pm and takes 80 minutes.

http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/bus_overview/images/004.pdf
The #4 regular line runs eastbound every 15-20 minutes from 2nd & SM Blvd in Santa Monica to Metro Rail stations at Vermont and Civic Center downtown. The Red Line subway terminates at Union Station.

I’ll be updating mile by mile, as well as when we stop and start, take breaks, etc. at www.twitter.com/greatlawalk.

Here are a few more people who plan to Twitter:

twitter.com/justin_canada
twitter.com/meekorouse
twitter.com/la_oc_foodie
twitter.com/maxually
twitter.com/drtiki
twitter.com/neverlost
twitter.com/anotorias
twitter.com/nay63
twitter.com/melanieo
twitter.com/zentertainment
twitter.com/jc_losangeles
twitter.com/Carolineoncrack
twitter.com/wildbell

If you plan to, let me know, so I can compile a master list.

Meanwhile, we’ll see you on Saturday! The crowd will be gathering in the courtyard outside (on the right of the main hall, if you’re facing the entrance) of Union Station. We’ll then head through Olvera Street and make our way to Cesar Chavez… and we’re off!

FlyAway For a Few Bucks More

Our favorite way to hit LAX — when we don’t feel like plopping down $10/day (if we’re lucky) for parking or $65 for a taxi (don’t even mention the SuperShuttle, too many bad experiences) — has become the FlyAway bus at Union Station.

According to Zach Behrens over at LAist, that’s about to get a tad more pricey:

LA Board of Airport Commissioners today were scheduled to vote on increasing FlyAway fares a couple of dollars. Citing rising fuel costs, Van Nuys and Union Station routes increased from $4 to $6 and Westwood from $4 to $5 beginning Jan. 1, 2009. The board also voted a new discount fare of $4 for persons age 65 or over, disabled, or on Medicare (proof must be shown).

Hey, it’s still an economic alternative (just make sure someone drops you off at the station, or if you’re lucky enough to be Gold or Red Line adjacent, you know what to do — or suddenly it’s a lot less economic). For Blogger Preschooler, the bus ride is just as exciting (if not more so) than the plane ride. For me, it’s a chance to get a great glimpse of the city from a high vantage point on the 110, something I can’t normally do while driving.

Blogger Preschooler Says The Darndest Things One in a series

(Photo by LA Times.)

Apparently all of our fun, weekend trips on the Metro Gold Line are making an impression on the Blogger Preschooler (or, the Kid Formerly Known as the Blogger Toddler, who was Formerly Known as Blogger Baby — take your pick).

Today, while Evan was playing with the toy trains at Swork, I got a kick out of hearing his narration.

“The next stop is HIGHLAND PARK STATION.”

And, my favorite:

“The next stop is ARROYO STATION. Stand clear, the doors are closing.”

I went ahead and asked him what his favorite train destination was.

“Chinatown… no, no, Pasadena!”

The MTA oughta put this kid on the payroll.

Dare To Dream: Two Subways to the Sea

Damn, MTA, way to get our hopes up. Officials are looking to further study two subway lines to West L.A. — one down Wilshire and one partly on Santa Monica.

The L.A. Times’ Bottleneck Blog all the details:

While the whole effort is still largely hypothetical — the subway has no funding, nor has it been formally approved — it shows how officials with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are gearing up should any money be secured for a project with a potential $9-billion price tag.

It was just a decade ago, amid several spending and construction boondoggles on the existing subway, that voters in Los Angeles County banned the MTA from using sales tax money for subway tunneling. That ban remains in effect, but complaints over Westside traffic have continued to pile up, fueling efforts to continue the subway…

The Wilshire line would get first priority for funding because it has higher ridership estimates, said David Mieger, the project manager for the Westside study. But the other line is being considered because it would make the entire system more versatile by stopping near major job centers and attractions such as the Warner Hollywood studios and Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood and the Beverly Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Enough with the studies. Let’s start building these damn tunnels!

Retro Friday: Metro Rail, 1985

Ahh, such optimism in 1985! Check out this oh-so-aged filmstrip from 23 years ago (!) mapping out the Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD)’s plans for rapid transit. Groundbreaking for the first rail project (the blue line) took place the following year. METRO RAIL: THE FUTURE IS NOW!

Before we get to the video, a few highlights:

The 150-mile rail system, as originally envisioned.

The Red Line subway, as originally envisioned — before the Ross Dress for Less methane explosion in the Fairfax District. Ahh, what coulda been! (Seriously — the subway would have passed right next to my office.)

The subway’s various stations, as originally conceived.

And now, the video. Put on your time machine goggles — I’d forgotten that such dry filmstrips were still being produced in the mid-80s.

The Battle of the Buses Is On

BusRace2008

Bus Race! Bus Race! Will Campbell writes in Blogging.la that today’s the day he faces off with The Bus Bench’s Bus Tard to see who makes it to Downtown first.

Will explains:

I’ll be on the MTA’s No. 439 catching up on my reading of Mercedes Lambert’s “Dogtown” and he’ll be bribing the driver of Big Blue’s No. 10 to skip stops as we travel from our respective points of embarkation deep in the westside sometime shortly after the 5 o’clock hour then call crawl our separate ways across town to see who gets to Clifton’s at 7th and Broadway first. With fingers crossed that we both get there before the place closes at 7:30 p.m., we will then retire inside for loser-buys dinner with perhaps whiskeys at Seven Grand afterward, or just we’ll pass around The Bus Bench Publisher Browne’s bottle of Everclear.

Will will be posting his progress via Twitter.

The Battle of the Buses Is On

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x52zko&v3=1&related=1
BusRace2008

Bus Race! Bus Race! Will Campbell writes in Blogging.la that today’s the day he faces off with The Bus Bench’s Bus Tard to see who makes it to Downtown first.

Will explains:

I’ll be on the MTA’s No. 439 catching up on my reading of Mercedes Lambert’s “Dogtown” and he’ll be bribing the driver of Big Blue’s No. 10 to skip stops as we travel from our respective points of embarkation deep in the westside sometime shortly after the 5 o’clock hour then call crawl our separate ways across town to see who gets to Clifton’s at 7th and Broadway first. With fingers crossed that we both get there before the place closes at 7:30 p.m., we will then retire inside for loser-buys dinner with perhaps whiskeys at Seven Grand afterward, or just we’ll pass around The Bus Bench Publisher Browne’s bottle of Everclear.

Will will be posting his progress via Twitter.

Celebrating the Year of the Rat

As Maria suggested in her Thursday three, we parked in South Pasadena on Saturday afternoon and hopped on the Gold Line down to Chinatown. The goal: Check out the Golden Dragon Parade and other Lunar New Year festivities.

Once we got there, Broadway was packed with people (100,000 check out the parade annually, organizers claim). Blogger Toddler was a little creeped out by the constant rat-a-tat-tat of firecrackers — not to mention the dragons dancing down Broadway. (It took him a while to realize those were people underneath.) So we briefly checked out the parade before moving on to dim sum at Ocean Seafood (review to come).

Happy Lunar New Year! (Blogger Toddler got confused when the waiter at Ocean Seafood wished us a “Happy New Year.” Evan: “It’s not New Year’s! It’s Valentine’s Day!”

DJs spin grooves

A little girl enjoys the parade

Party poppers

Celebrating the Year of the Rat

As Maria suggested in her Thursday three, we parked in South Pasadena on Saturday afternoon and hopped on the Gold Line down to Chinatown. The goal: Check out the Golden Dragon Parade and other Lunar New Year festivities.

Once we got there, Broadway was packed with people (100,000 check out the parade annually, organizers claim). Blogger Toddler was a little creeped out by the constant rat-a-tat-tat of firecrackers — not to mention the dragons dancing down Broadway. (It took him a while to realize those were people underneath.) So we briefly checked out the parade before moving on to dim sum at Ocean Seafood (review to come).

Happy Lunar New Year! (Blogger Toddler got confused when the waiter at Ocean Seafood wished us a “Happy New Year.” Evan: “It’s not New Year’s! It’s Valentine’s Day!”

DJs spin grooves

A little girl enjoys the parade

Party poppers

Los Angeles: Ad Town

Cell phone ad shot in the North Hollywood Red Line Metro station. But check out that fake Metro logo!