Juan and Sirinya make it to opening day of the Eastside Extension of the Gold Line

Hi everyone!

The Eastside Extension to the Metro Gold Line opened on Sunday to a LOT of fan fare. Juan and I were one of the 70,000 + people who checked out the festivities along the eight-stop extension. We actually went first to Chinatown to sample some dim sum, then trekked to Union Station, where we got off at several stations along the route to check things out.

Above: Soto Station, which has a bird theme. I'm too much a product of the LA public schools, as I can't tell you what kind of art theory informed this kind of... art (is it a bird? a plane? no, folks, it's just a light rail train.) Below: Crowded light rail car! Some people were probably sightseeing (especially the little kids who were suuuper excited and pointing to things out the window to their parents and siblings), and others (um, like the woman with sunglasses who was dozing off) were actually trying to get somewhere.

Metro did a fantastic job preparing its staff to serve as ambassadors and authorizing its staff to implement crowd control strategies. For instance, our return to Union Station via the Mariachi Plaza was slightly delayed, as Metro staff and security crew held us and probably two dozen other people up by the fare gates until the passengers waiting downstairs for trains departed. SMART!

Juan and I walked between the distance along 1st Street between Soto Station and Indiana Station in Boyle Heights. I suspect that the areas along the Eastside Extension will be the next to "gentrify", as the light rail line provides accessibility to the rest of the city and the housing stock - which includes many California bungalows and large boarding houses with intricate details - might be very appealing to the upwardly mobile.

This home is subdivided into four apartments and is near the northeast corner of 1st and Soto.

This recently-renovated Food-4-Less is located on 1st Street, between the Soto & Indiana Stations. I would not be shocked if its corporate owner decided to step up to its A-Game upon the opening of the Eastside Extension.

Good-bye to the bus line that shadowed the Eastside Extension route, effective 11-15-09.

As part of the mini-adventure, Juan and I got agua de limon from El Mercado, which was so darn sweet that it induced dehydration and a headache. But before the headaches kicked in, we also stopped by Mariachi Plaza. There was a huge street fair underway; I was able to get my Metro Gold Line swag (thankyouverymuch); and we listened to Jose Huizar make some comments. We also got tacos from Jim's. (In actuality, the tacos were nothing special - stuff thrown together haphazardly in a fast-food joint setting. I'll get back to you on the pastrami next time.)

The following day, I went on a VIP tour of the Eastside Extension, but I've had enough blogging for now so I'll save that for another day.

Ridership on the extension is expected to average 13,000 a day during the week. Here's hoping to the successful - and safe - launch of the newest extension of Metro Rail!

Bruins for Traffic Relief LA County Fair Transit-Oriented Adventure

LA County Fair Transit-Oriented Adventure

Want to go to the LA County Fair? So do Sirinya and Juan, and they're inviting you along. Join them for a flexible transit oriented adventure this Saturday, September 26th. All the details and the RSVP are on Facebook.

Low Fares to the Fair

A Metrolink ticket gets you $2 off regular admission, so it's $15 per person instead of $17.

Fourpacks of Metrolink tickets are $29, that saves you $15 per 4 people. More info

Many Travel Options

Trains Leave Union Station at 7:00a, 9:00a, 10:40a, 11:50a, 1:20p, 3:25p, 4:45p, 6:15p, 9:00p, 11:30p

Trains Return to Union Station from the fairplex at 11:43a, 1:13p, 2:18p, 3:28p, 4:48p, 7:48p, 9:58p

You can go whenever you want, stay as long as you want, and leave whenever you want. Juan and Sirinya will be on the trains in bold. If you want to travel with us, please be at the station 15 minutes in advance of the scheduled departure.

Don't know how to get to Union Station? Use Google Transit! Best of all, it's only $1.25 on Metro, and $1.75 on BBB 10 (from Santa Monica).

What's There at the Fair?

Entertainment, horse racing, shopping, exhibits. Fried everything. See for yourself at http://www.lacountyfair.com/2009/index.asp

Fair is Open 10am to Midnight on Saturday

Follow @BTRUCLA on twitter for updates in advance of the event and on Saturday.

Transit Oriented Food Adventure: Mama's Hot Tamales, Lost Soul Cafe, Philippe's, and Scoop's

Earlier this month, Juan and I rounded up our good friends to visit Transit-Oriented Food Adventure. They included were joined by our friends Ryan and Hoi Ning from UCLA and my friend Ian from Wonderland, our elementary school in Laurel Canyon, and his wife Justine.

We started at Mama's Hot Tamales in MacArthur Park. It is not just a tamale restaurant, although we did order nearly all of the tamales on the menu (one each) to try. (My personal favorite was the tamale with spinach and mushrooms.) Mama's Hot Tamales is also an innovative example of community and economic development: the cafe is also a business and job-training restaurant which teaches people how to build on their skills from the informal economy of street food vending into more stable careers in the formal food service industry.

Mama's Hot Tamales is also a fine example of how a community economic development initiative can also act as a catalyst of local cultural tourism, as demonstrated by its ability to attract Angelenos from around the city, like us, to sojourn by transit no less.

We were served by none other than Mama herself, Sandi Romero. She was so sweet, knowledgeable, and nice. The food was delicious. My tamarindo drink was made from scratch, which I never had before. The decor was colorful and welcoming. I look forward to coming back.

Lost Soul Cafe
We took the Red Line to the Civic Center station, which was a few blocks from Lost Soul Cafe, a coffee and sandwich shop located off an obscure alley in the Old Bank District. The aesthetic of Lost Soul Cafe: Dark, unfinished ceilings, open mike space, very hipster-ish. Juan and I shared an Island Fresh smoothie, which was delicious. Ian and his wife got first an oreo shake, which turned out to be an accident. They also got their Ube shake, which was good, except for the fact that they'd had the Oreo shake first and well, there is sometimes too much of a good thing.

Philippe's
After visiting Lost Soul Cafe, we actually walked all of the way to Philippe's for French Dipped Sandwiches, which is several blocks north of Union Station and just below the hill from my family's regular Chinese restaurant, CBS Seafood Restaurant. (It is worth noting the proximity between Philippe's and CBS... I find it fascinating to see how swiftly neighborhoods change, from Chinatown to ... well, not Chinatown.) Anyway, Philippe's has been around since 1908 and moved to its current location in 1951 following the construction of the 101 freeway.

Philippe's "Frenched Dipped Sandwich" is the specialty of the house and consists of either roast beef, roast pork, leg of lamb, turkey or ham served on a lightly textured, freshly baked French roll which has been dipped in the gravy of the roasts. This was a hit with the group.

Finally, we went back on the train at Union Station - which is wonderfully iconic and beautiful - to visit Mel-Hel, the new hipster zone by LA City College. We got off at Vermont/Santa Monica and walked half a mile to eat gelato at Scoops. Scoops has gotten major press for its homemade gelato. You can get gelato with flavors that include ingredients like bacon. I don't really get that part. But hey, these kinds of amenties didn't exist when I was a kid growing up nearby before we decamped to the SFV.

Transit: $5 day pass; we used Google Transit to figure out our itinerary (www.maps.google.com). Ian, Justine, and I started our journey by walking or driving to the North Hollywood subway station while Juan, Hoi Ning, and Ryan rode the 720 Wilshire bus to MacArthur Park.

Mama's Hot Tamales, 2122 West Seventh Street (a half a block west of Alvarado St., and directly across the southern border of MacArthur Park), Los Angeles, CA 90057. Tel. 213.487.7474 - Fax (213) 487-8475. Open: 11 am - 3:30 pm seven days a week. Metro Red Line: Westlake/MacArthur Park.

Lost Soul Cafe - Old Bank District - Harlem Place Alley 124 W. 4th Street Los Angeles, CA 90001, 213.617.7000. On Twitter (twitter.com/lostsoulscafe); Facebook (facebook.com/lostsoulscafe); MySpace (myspace.com/lostsoulscafe); and the web (www.lostsouls.com). Metro Red Line: Civic Center.

Philippe's. 1001 N. Alameda Ave, Los Angeles, 90012, 213.628.3781. www.philippes.com. Metro Red Line: Union Station.

Scoop's, 712 N. Heliotrope Dr., Los Angeles, 90029, (323) 906-2649, Hours:Mon-Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m., Sun. 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Metro Red Line: Vermont/Santa Monica.

Transit-oriented adventure to Thai Town

On Sunday, Juan and I used the 720 and the Red Line to get up to Thai Town for the 2nd annual Curry Festival, which was organized by the Thai Community Development Center. (Disclosure: I was an intern there in 2003!)

For starters, we were super excited to see that Metro had indeed phased out paper day passes. Instead, we got reusable TAP cards. But what to do with them? After all, right now, Juan and I each have our own, although they're not activated right now since we didn't pay for quarterly passes through UCLA.

I insisted that Juan take a picture of these Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies. They were on the train to verify everyone had paid. Note: They carry around these scanners, which can detect whether you tapped your pass prior to boarding.

As we exited the train, I noticed several Metro employees standing by the ticket vending machines and the maps. Following last year's event, MetroRiderLA had written about his experience trying to obtain a ticket inside the Hollywood/Western station on his way back. (The article was entitled, "Thai New Years Festival Exposes Success, Failures at Metro"). It took over 30 minutes because of the large crowds attempting to figure out the two ticket machines. Back then, I commented that the high number of choice riders in this crowd exemplified the need for Metro to bring staffers into the station to help out, especially since Metro's subway stations are technically unstaffed. (But don't try to evade the sheriffs.)

So I went up to talk to these people, and I told them about MetroRiderLA's blog entry, and they seemed a little incredulous (like they'd been told that last year had large crowds, but hadn't heard it yet from an actual constituent). Then I made Juan take this picture to document it:

As for the actual event itself, it was busy, hot (thanks to the heat island effect), and wonderful. We recruited our friend Will Trevor to join us. He has a hearty appetite, which enabled us to sample more food. As a dental student, he was also super excited to see that this is how Bangluck Market stocks its Dental Care Center:

Of course, no transportation blog would be complete without these pictures:

While Metro had its staffers answer questions from choice riders and field questions and ideas from attendees on an exhibit, LAPD was out in force to make sure the people felt safe in various modes. They included this Segway.

So while ordinary Americans weren't buying American-made cars, the LAPD was buying up whatever the rental car companies didn't want.

Exhibit A: Late 2000s Ford Mustang

Exhibit B: A freaking Hummer!

Seriously. Seriously! What on EARTH??? To me, the Hummer exemplifies excess and everything that is wrong with the Big Three and America. Here we are, telling people to take public transit to an event, and then we feature a freaking Hummer?!???

Newsflash to LAPD: Ditch the Hummer ASAP.

-Sirinya