Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

I just hate metro. I take the bus from the El Monte metro station to work in downtown LA. I am handicap so unless I get there really early there are no handicap spots available from all those fraudsters with fake placards. On top of that some imbecile is taking a handicap spot so she can pass out these moronic religious tracts. I told her today she can’t park there but she just ignored me. On top of that, the lazy good for nothing metro «police» and «security» people are absolutely useless. They will do nothing. They literally get paid do drive around in their electric cars or those standup segway thingies doing NOTHING. They are the laziest bunch of people ever. God forbid they write a ticket to someone who is illegally parked in a handicapped spot.

well even though the service is improving every day, trying to get quality information or trip assistance does not work well at all.
online trip planner… limited
the online trip planner does not give you the best route to your destination and at times, it will only give you information with one transfer.
i was trying to get to long beach to the rose bowl. well instead of getting me to the gold line, it tells me to take three busses.
511 service. a waste.
this outsourced service is not a service. the reps aren’t knowledgeable and when you ask then ask them direct questions they have no idea.
sometimes at night, the trains are on an adjusted service schedule. you call 511 and ask if the trains are on a maintenance schedule and they have no clue. then they give you the train schedule that does not apply… «but that what we have»!
now i called them after 11 pm and i was on the pacific blue line station. i asked, «when is the next train scheduled to leave the long beach transit center (the pacific station is the first stop after the transit station)»? well which way? where are you going? i was shocked since the train only travels in one direction. my final destination was not in question, but the time of the departure. well the idiot said, «you’re not working with me … i’m hanging up»
metro transit information call center.
if f-​troop and muppet labs worked in a call center, this would be it. sub par communication and listening skills led my their supervisor.
after doing the research, you would call them to get your additional concerns addressed… or you think you would. i have called several times to have my questions addressed. now you ask a precise question, and instead of answering your question, they start asking unrelated questions. you bring to their attention, «by the way, you did not address my question». oh i am sorry, would you repeat it?
now this happen this weekend when i called in and spoke to a princess named gatson! i asked princess gaston, «are their any southbound buses that serve the douglas green line station»? i have already planned the trip and was looking at a map. instead of the princess answering me he started asking questions. ‘where are you going, what’s your starting point”?
i had to bring to the attention of princess gaston that he did not answer mt question. now i am upset so i asked if he would transfer the call to somebody to better assist me. do you know this princess told me to hang up and call back? then yelling at the princess, telling the princess that you resolve all issues while the caller is on the phone, i told him to get the supervisor… which also gave me mis information…
holy horse mess!!!

Subject: Metro bus driver line 201/didn’t stop for a waiting rider who was waving his arm. Direction of bus: south on Broadway headed toward Brand Ave/​Galleria.
Today in Glendale on Broadway & Cedar at about 11:20 I was at the Adventist church and saw a male rider waving at the 201 bus to stop but the bus driver (appeared to be white male but couldn’t see the face clearly) completely ignored the person and just kept going.
I believe the buses on that line go by about once per hour and as a Christian I felt so bad for the person. I don’t ride the buses anymore but that driver needs to be put on notice not to ignore these poor people who rely on buses to get around. Riders shouldn’t have to step in front of a bus to get it to stop — very, very dangerous.

I have taken the Subway/​Metro in Japan, Washington D.C., Paris, Rome and NYC. The LA system just does not measure up. The equipment is good but the administration of the system is just 2^nd rate. The fare system is so lose that you don’t have to buy a TAP card at all. So the cars can be filled with homeless people pan handling or vendors selling junk. I have never seen any security, just a couple of tap card checkers at the Rosa Parks station. The «transfer» system is a mess. The instructions are unclear, so you pay your $ 1.75 and you can ride the whole system all day. The stations seem to have no people that work there, if anything were to happen you would have to rely on the other passengers for help.
I hoped the city would return to the old red cars one day, so when they built the Metro rail, I was thrilled. They broke my heart, the service is so… mediocre

Line 232 has some really rude drivers who can’t even be bothered to answer a question. There is also a lot of trash on the floors and seats, that is if you can even get a seat.

Growing up, I was taught to ride the Metro Transportation that serves us Los Angelenos. My family pretty much went everywhere by way of bus or train. Even when we got a car, we would still take the public transportation system. To this day, I’m still a fan of it.
Throughout Los Angeles, the Metro Transportation system operates many buses and metro lines to service everybody in the 2^nd largest city in America. I have been on just about every single bus line. From San Fernando Valley to Hollywood to Venice to Downtown L.A. to East L.A. to Pasadena to South L.A. to Long Beach to the South Bay, the Metro system looks to see everyone. Yes I have had some good and bad experiences. But hey, it is what you make of it.
Prices are always changing just about every year. Day pass for now is $ 7. One way fare is $ 1.75. Purchase a TAP card as this seems to be the way to use the bus and trains nowadays. For only $ 1, it is reloadable, so don’t throw it away after usage, unless you want pay another dollar for it.
Look up online or ask anybody waiting at the bus stops rwagrding the arrival times. During rush hour, they’ll come a bit quicker but make frequent stops. During the weekend a and wee hours, they’ll tend to often come once an hour. Most lines are 24 hours. I advise to be careful at night riding. Save mony on gas and traffic and Go Metro!!!

This review is for line ¹⁶⁄₃₁₆
I work everyday at the century city mall. Long 8 and 9 hour shifts so when I’m tired and ready to get home I check my Metro App and rush to my stop. Someone please tell me what is the point of this metro app that tells you the exact time your bus will arrive if the driver simply displays the «not in service» and drives past you??? 3 buses in a row back to back!
Line ¹⁶⁄₃₁₆ drivers have to be the laziest bunch of them all. They literally do what they want. Why must you take a break after every route? Is it necessary to sit for an extra 15 minutes when your job is all about sitting??? Why?

To whom it may concern: I take Foothill Transit Silverstreak/​498 and have to cross the carpool lane intersection on Alameda to get to and from Union. Several times myself and others included have almost been hit, clipped, or just plain ignored by drivers as they try to rush onto the carpool lane. My final straw was this morning as myself, a woman with her young children pushing a stroller, and a gentleman, were trying to cross intersection and right smack in the middle of it, cars are cutting us off. All the pedestrians in the middle of the street halted as not one but FOUR cars raced in front of us and it was our turn and right of way to cross. This is outrageous as I put my life in my hands daily trying to cross that small pass way. This is ridiculous as the city encourages the people to utilize public transportation and these situations deter us from using it, especially at such a big hub like Union Station. This needs to be rectified NOW. Either have a cop (and cop car) sitting there during rush hour to alert drivers to SLOW DOWN and be cautious, have a crossing guard, or have the buses go through the Bus Bay in Union Station or another safe alternative for drop offs/​pick-​ups. This needs to be remedied fast or someone’s life may be injured or taken because of the city’s ignorance. Please City of Los Angeles, protect your pedestrians!

The 485 bus travels from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to the Pasadena/​Altadena area. For a very small portion of the trip, the bus travels on the 10 Fwy bus lane, which amounts to maybe 5 or 10% of the total trip. Going this route takes 45 minutes to an hour, and the bus has limited weekday service and no weekend service. The Gold Line also travels from Pasadena to Union Station, but it runs more frequently, has falrly reliable weekday AND weekend service, and takes half the time to go the route. YET the 485 is more expensive. Why is that? Why must we pay a premium fare on a bus that has limited service and takes twice as long to reach the destination? The 485 is the only public transportation that goes from the Pasadena area to Cal State L. A. and USC Medical Center. Why are you making it more difficult for patrons of these institutions? What’s the justification for charging the extra amount of money? Come on MTA, just because you’re the only game in town doesn’t mean you can ignore what’s best for the customer.

Wow, where to begin. I will give my humble opinion on the website (
) only for this review.
The
website is State-​of-​The-​Art!
That is if this were the year 2002. In the year 2002
was the cat’s pajamas. However, in this the year of our lord 2015 it is in fact a «better than nothing» source of information. If you are not a regular user of Metro public transit, then relying on this site PARTICULARLY when having to arrive at your destination via multiple buses and/​or trains will result in having your heart broken most assuredly…
Of course my main rant will be directed at the much vaunted «Trip Planner». Most of the transit lines in Los Angeles County are tied into the trip planner. It is OK for trips that do not involve too many transfers. Otherwise the early 2000’s algorithms used get overloaded.
I advise that you look at/​download the system map pdf. Look at your planned route and then do the trip planner. Do a trip planner point to point. In other words, using the system map as a guide use the trip planner to give you times from transfer to transfer one at a time taking into account that you might have to walk a block or so to get from one line to another. if you have to be somewhere at a CERTAIN time without fail, this is the only safe way to assure you do. You can also call one of Metro’s «usually» helpful operator’s during working hours. But they are not, due to time constraints, going to go into detailed schedule search for a multiple transfer trip. They will go by the Trip Planner which brings us right back to my original critique.
The rest of the website has some clumsy linking.
I am not a web designer and i can only imagine what it takes to make an efficient and information rich website that can handle high volume traffic and dispense reliable information. That being said, what the heck is MTA’s excuse for this sad situation?

Just a few min ago. waiting at the artesia blue line station. to catch the #260 to go to work. Bus departed 7 min too early. I sprinted towards door. Got there driver closed door as I got up to it. Started to drive off. I tapped hard on window. Driver ignored it and proceeded to drive off. Sound familiar, anyone? This occurs all the time on MTA transit. Ppl have gotten let go or fired from their jobs. gotten stranded while trying to get home… or have had some of the rudest, mouthy drivers in the entire LA bus system. There are some good bus drivers out there. But I’ve had more bad/​messed up experiences than good. while riding on metro. Their buses are usually way too late, way too early. or just don’t show up at all. On top of that. they continue to raise the prices on daily, weekly, monthly fares. And it will only go up. They say its to fix their system… but it looks fishy. I’m sure the big wigs at metro and getting bigger & bigger bonuses & pensions. Metro flat out doesn’t care about the «little people» who spend what lil they have to commute on this broken down bus/​light rail system. Only pretty reliable system in metro is the metro link. Long beach transit is a way better run system. Because of this driver this morning. Im getting to work late. and may be losing my steady job assignment at work. I will make a complaint on dri
ver today. but in the end. the driver will continue to be a dick. and all metro will sat it. were sorry for the inconvenience & we apologize. Messed up drivers never get demoted or disciplined. Metro as a whole only cares about filling their piggy banks & the expense of their faithful passengers. They dont truly care about the lil people who break their banks. We are forced to deal with & accept a corrupt & greedy system.

Their Routes and Website Needs To Be Improved And Updated!
Just the other day, I needed to go from Culver City to Beverly Hills and I went on to their
website for the information on how to get there and at what should I leave in order to make it for my 10:00 a.m. appointment.
I got to the bus stop by my place at the corner of Venice Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard and Yes, I was On Time for the 8:06 A.M. 733 bus which took me towards Ocean Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, but when I got there, I had to wait for nearly 45 minutes in order to get the next bus which was the 704 downtown because there were two other 704 buses previously that had just passed by with the sign written on them stating that they were both «Out Of Service» and this was basically during «Rush Hour».
I was very much disappointed in this damn wait in order to go just five miles and Yes, the 704 downtown bus that I wanted did arrive at exactly 9:25 A.M. which was Not given to ME in my online instructions according to their website, however, I was able to eventually make my way over to Santa Monica Boulevard near Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California, however, it caused me to be 10 minutes late for my appointment.
Yes, I did complain about it, but they have Very Poor Customer Relations Phone Service and you could be waiting for Hours before somebody bothers to answer the phone.
For ME, it is easier to Post my Complaint on here rather than to call them.
I just hope that there Routes, Times and Website Improves because I did follow their instructions according to their website and unfortunately it did Not get me to my appointment on time in Reality whereby their website said that I would make it to my destination before 10:00 A.M. and Not after, sadly!
===============================================================
Continuation:
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Bus and Train Service is Far from Perfect and does Need Drastic Improvements and as of Friday, April 10, 2015 at approximately 12:50 P.M., I have encountered a repeated problem.
I have been told by their Customer Relations Office in the past and by other bus drivers that I Can Use My Tap Card to Not only Pay For My Bus Fare, but to also Pay for an Additional Transfer To Go On To The Culver City Bus Just Like I Do When I Am On The Culver City Bus And Want To Pay For A Transfer On To A Metro Bus. You just need to let the driver know and he will charge Your Tap Card Separately For That Transfer.
However, when I was getting on the Bus 7838, their Male Bus Driver at that Time Refused To Sell Me A Transfer With My Tap Card And Demanded That I Pay Cash Only For That Transfer which is Ridiculous.
He pretended to Not know that You can In Fact Use Your Tap Card To Pay For Transfers and Refused To Go By The Company Rules.
Since I was so angry about what had happened, I decided to Take A Picture Of The Inside Of The Bus Which Shows The Bus Number and I am Now Posting It On Unilocal for everybody to see.
Fortunately, this damn bus driver was Ending His Shift During My Ride and luckily their female bus driver who took over Completely Understood Me and Was Able To Fulfill My Needs And Wishes.
Last, but Not Least, during my Horrible Bus Ride leaving La Cienega Boulevard at Wilshire Boulevard on that Bus 20 heading Westbound towards Westwood, I did try to Contact their Customer Relations Phone Number at: 213−922−6235, however, the wait of exactly 22.5 Minutes was Far From Worth It and when somebody finally answered, all they did was Instead Of Hearing Out My Complaint, they Immediately Transferred Me To Their Customer Relations Manager, Mr. Anthony R. who of course Never Answers His Phone and rarely responds back to emails, Believe It Or Not!
I honestly have used other Transportation Systems and this one has got to be One Of The Worst!
Yes, there is Room For Improvement, but the Question is…
Are They Ready To Improve?

Coming from Milwaukee and a Chicago native, Metro is an amazing opportunity to see LA. Cheap with a Daily Pass, it is taking us everywhere we planned on four of our nine days here. Clean, on time and rider-​friendly, every Metro employee we have met has been courteous and helpful when asked except for a single driver, #26 on the #4 bus route.
My only question to Metro is: Why are the #33 and #733 on Venice Blvd. scheduled to run within two-​three minutes of each other, actually back to back following the same routing. This inconveniently leaves up to 15 minute gaps in service on this busy blvd. Why not schedule one or the other every seven to eight minutes instead? It’s simple common sense.
Otherwise I am very impressed with seems to be a smooth operation. We rode four rail lines and 16 buses and were very pleased. Keep up the good work, looking forward to riding the Santa Monica rail extension next time!
Take our LA Trip, click onto my photo. Day 6 of 9. Start at 2÷10÷14.

Tried and tried a lot to take in the diva drivers, buses that don’t show up, buses that don’t stop, bums who drink and urinate and sometimes defecate, but couldn’t any more. I’ve done more than my share for the environment, having taken buses in LA for the past 10 years and subjected my wife to endless lectures about how we need to take this sh. in before more of it hits the planet.
We have a 2 year-​old who’s starting to understand life, and she’s not getting on that hell-​on-​4-​wheels called a bus in LA. We now drive everywhere.
The best I can do for the environment I believe is to drive a fuel-​efficient car designed by conscientious and talented engineers, built by hard-​working, well-​paid workers, and sold in a competitive global market. The second-​best thing is to hope the MTA and Santa Monica bus companies go bankrupt, fire all their workers and the routes get sold to the private sector.

3 stars only because they are the best way to get to LAX instead of the blue or red shuttles… you can ride a bus and the green line train for $ 3.00 one way vs. $ 100+ to park your car at one of the airport lots.
MTA is far below BART, MARTA or NY, they really need to improve. most of the bus drivers are rude. and the service is not good. but still better than taking a shuttle to the airport.

As a born and raised New Yorker, I am often spoiled by the fact that I have access to the best public transportation in the world and a Metrocard to make boarding a bus or riding a subway that much easier.
However, as I’ve spent more and more time in LA in the last two years, I’ve noticed that I long for a TAP card in NY. No worrying about your card wearing away, the TAP is made of a hard plastic and the technology is far more advanced than the swipe of a Metrocard here at home.
I didn’t say the LA Metro is efficient, though ;)

After I started driving, I really haven’t made much use of the public transportation in town. Sure, I’ve taken the metro here a couple of times. And once, I took the bus to an elite event because it made sense. Oh, and there was that time I took it to WeHo. Cause you know, you don’t want to drink and drive. Yeah, not a good idea.
So, that was the plan for Halloween. We decided to take two buses from the gay boyfriend’s house to Viper Room. This required taking a bus that only came every hour on weekends and then another more timely bus.
Ack! We missed the bus! Okay, we waited an hour. Damnit, why doesn’t this bus run more often?
Finally in Hollywood. Damn. Restroom break. A little-​pre drinking caught up with us.
Wait.
And more waiting.
Oh! Here’s the bus. Um, it’s kind of full. And the bus driver was VERY UNHAPPY to be driving a bus full of weird costumed people so obviously intent to party hardy, never tardy… oh, never mind. She lectured us a few times but it only seemed to work when she started threatening $ 250 fines.
Oh! Finally, we’re here! 1.5 hours behind schedule but that’s okay. We’re not tardy… I mean, yes, we are, but whatever, no line for the club!
On the way back, it was difficult to get the bus and we ended up walking for 5 miles before finally catching an overpriced cab. As the cabdriver so eloquently put it, this town needs more cabs (in my head I replaced «cabs» with «better public transportation») but the problem is no one in LA really needs it until nights such as this. Then again, it could be argued if we had such a system, people would drive less and utilize it?
In any case, I’ll use the bus again. Hell, it’s only a buck twenty-​five!

At some point, the only question that truly comes to mind is:
Why even bother trying?
(And that’s a question both for the designers of the system and for the would-​be riders.)
Just for fun (or sadistic pleasure), try figuring out how to do what should be the single most basic function of a public transit system: Getting from the central train station to the airport. If you can’t figure that out, LA’s transit authority doesn’t even deserve a second star for ‘admirable effort’. If you can figure it out, would somebody please let me know?

I’m surprised LA had an MTA, considering the price of gas, and the immense scale of the city and its surrounding neighborhoods.
The MTA somehow manages to serve a huge swath of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, but just barely. The majority of their vehicular fleet are buses, with an above ground rail line — it might run underground, but I’ve only taken buses. I’ve only been through a few well-​traveled areas, and the buses on those routes all SEEMED clean. But hey, it’s not like I ran a black light over the seats.
It can get crowded, but if you’re used to overcrowding on the NYC MTA subway, it’s nothing to worry about.
When I first visited LA, I figured I’d be able to get around using just the MTA, but I learned that’s not realistic at all, mostly due to MTA’s schedule. It’s not the most convenient and I’ve seen buses run on the HOUR depending on the day and locale. However, if there’s a reasonable fit between MTA’s schedule and yours, take advantage of mass transit and «think green» to make an eco-​friendly impact and save a little dough.

I’ve lived here in Los Angeles for over 30 years, and i’m just starting to get acquainted with our public transport…
It is so complicated and user UNfriendly — no wonder I never bothered earlier…
When I go to NYC, no problem… Barcelona (foreign country & all) — again, no problem — easy as pie.
Los Angeles MTA? help? this is my hometown — and I know a lot about this city — but the Bus System makes no sense to me whatsoever. and ending the purple line at Wilshire & Western? c’mon — extend it to La Brea at least! It should really go all the way to the Ocean — but that’s highly unlikely (damn selfish NIMBY’s — now look at the traffic jams).
Ok — I’m making the effort since gas is now hovering around $ 4/​gallon. BUT — the line i was going to start taking regularly to get to my dad’s… being discontinued in 2 months. Great!
I’ve taken several different lines in my little experiments… It hasn’t ever been all that bad — but most stops don’t have timetables or information or maps of the system. seriously — if you don’t know ahead of time where you’re going — you’re pretty much screwed.
And what’s the deal with cutting off service before the bars let out? do they really want us all to risk DUIs?
For the trip price of $ 1.25 — that’s pretty reasonable — that’s how much it cost when i was in high school way back in the late 80’s when it was still the RTD.
thanks for letting me vent