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Metro Trip Report

We rode the Metro in Los Angeles on 26 and 27 June 2013 as part of our cross-country trip. After arriving at Union Station on Amtrak, we made our way to the Red Line to go to our hotel. The Metro had just activated their new fare gates, so it was convenient that staff were assisting with the new vending machines. We bought our passes and made our way to the platform. The trip to our hotel took us on the Red, Blue, and Green Lines, and we found ourselves making this trip multiple times over the two days. We rode both very crowded and nearly empty trains, and generally felt reasonably safe, though there were a few time when it seemed prudent to be extra-aware of our surroundings.

Most of our ride on the Red Line was on 27 June 2013 when we rode to Hollywood to meet some friends. We arrived at our planned meeting spot a bit early so we decided to stay on the Red Line all of the way to the end of the line in North Hollywood before heading back to Hollywood. Our friends from LA, like 99% of their neighbors, had never taken the Metro, so we gave them a brief report and headed out for a late afternoon lunch. As we headed back to Union Station at the end of the day we decided to clinch the Purple Line also, so we changed trains at Wilshire/Vermont and headed out to Wilshire/Western. After a brief stop at a bank to get some cash for our trip on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, we headed back to the Purple Line for our trip to Union Station. After waiting what seemed a very long time for a train, we heard an announcement that service had been temporarily suspended. We hadn’t planned on a service suspension and needed to get back for our train ride home. Luckily the Metro started running again a few minutes later so we arrived back at Union Station with plenty of time to spare.

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