MTA - Making Transportation Arduous

I'm convinced - the Metropolitan Transit Authority here in L.A. DOESN'T WANT YOU TAKING THE BUS!

Seriously - It is the worst system! So difficult to use. I'm trying to love it. Honest, I am... In order to conquer your enemy, you must love it, so you understand how it thinks...

But I don't think they do much thinking around there... so there really is nothing to understand or love about it.

• There are NO humans at any of the Metro stations to assist if you have questions.
• There are NO maps or timetables at most bus stops (really only at the Rapid lines).
• The Metro Customer Center at La Brea & Wilshire only has 1 window for sales. No Info!
• The website is not laid out right! I would change it around so much...
  
• What's the deal with the purple line ending at western?
• The person at the information desk at the MTA headquarters - yes, i went there - didn't want to help me!!! It was like pulling teeth to get anything from her. Like I was bothering her??? Jeez - isn't this your JOB???This is the Metro Customer Center - Wilshire & La Brea... They close for Lunch from 1pm - 2pm. You can't get into the building to get maps or anything when they close for their 1 hour lunch.
  

And this is what was hanging at the bus stop, right there at Wilshire & La Brea. nice.

Funny thing - I feel safer riding the bus at 1am going from Hollywood to the Miracle Mile than I did yesterday in Gardena - which is south of South Central - in broad daylight!

Do those guys honking and making kissy sounds really think that's gonna make me swoon??? c'mon give me a break.

In my attempts to get to a live human for information about the MTA - I took the subway to Union Station - I really need to take that Union Station tour that the L.A. Conservancy gives

Gorgeous building, no?

There's so much to see... they just don't build 'em like that anymore, do they... actually, this was the last Grand Train Station built in the U.S.

I went to the MTA ticket sales booth, and asked where I could get information.

The lady told me that she doesn't give information, but that I could use the phone around the corner. A phone? seriously?

So I pick up the phone (I really need to get some alcohol wipes or hand sanitizers - but not the anti-bacterial stuff - just alcohol wipes) and after waiting for 2 minutes for a live human -to voice a complaint on the lack of available information, she puts me on hold with the complaint line... hold...
hold...
hold...
see a crazy cat lady come by - the cat was on a leash on this lady's shoulder and she was muttering - either to the cat, or to anyone who may listen...
hold...
hold...
HUMAN picks up!

She then tells me that from where I'm standing, all I need to do is go up the escalators to the MTA building which will be on my left once i exit the building - and they can give me information.

WHAT????

That's what I'm seeking, and no one told me to go straight there?

I'm well-spoken, I form my questions correctly... are we speaking the same language here? Why didn't anyone tell me this sooner?

Maybe because they don't want to help! They probably all had chips in their ears telling each other "shhhhh don't tell her to come here - give her the runaround until she gives up - they all give up eventually"

Oh no - you won't get rid of me that easily! You're just fueling my fire.

And I will attend the Westside Extension Transit Corridor Update Meeting at LACMA west - 5th floor Monday May 5th from 6-8pm. Now that I'm using the system and seeing what works and what doesn't... I will speak my voice - and I will be heard!

I'm an opinionated little snot, and I've only just begun.
(rubs hands in a menacing way)

Oh - and the gas station right outside Union Station had 87 octane at $4.23/gallon... (April 22, 2008)

I put $20 worth last week - that lasted from Wednesday to Wednesday, 123 miles, and I only drove 4 days! Ouch!

I put in another $20 this Wednesday, but so far I've only driven about 20 miles...

I'm getting a bus pass for the month of May. I'm so over this gas price explosion... I protest!

And here's a novel idea: Make the buses FREE! that would get more people out of their cars, and get the traffic flowing if the bus didn't have to wait for everyone to feed the money into the collection box thing-y.