Adventures in LA transportation
 

Hey All!

This past weekend, my wife and I flew out to the Los Angeles area to go to my brother's wedding. (I was doing the photography)

Fun trip to study different ways of getting around.

We flew from Milwaukee to L.A.
Took Hotel Shuttle bus from airport to hotel (Natural Gas powered!)
I saw an official electric vehicle charging station, complete with two electric RAV-4s! Also right there was a Might-E truck electric utility vehicle.

I saw at least two GEM cars driving around EL Segundo.

We road the Metro Bus, the Beach City Transit, The Manhattan Beach Trollery, the Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica), and took light rail all the way to Long Beach, where I found out I just missed the Clean Air Car Show the day before!

I saw people roller blading and bicycling on the beach bike paths. Half of everyone looked like they were actually biking and blading as transportation, not just entertainment. I saw one bike that was belt-driven, no chain at all!

I promise to upload photos of the electric car charging station as soon as I work on all my other photos.

Sure looked like a lot of public transportation, bike lanes, and electric vehicles. Not to mention all the CRXs I saw in perfect condition - no winter road salt!!!

An what's the deal with all the old VW busses out there? There were one zillion of them! Do they still make them in Mexico and sneak em across the border?

All that excitement and no pictures!? I don't believe you, :p

Photos?

Here's some!

http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWe...s/P1010280.jpg
http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWe...s/P1010281.jpg
http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWe...s/P1010282.jpg
http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWe...s/P1010283.jpg
http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWe...s/P1010286.jpg

Bump

Sweet!

I miss LA so much, I wish I could go more often

Only place that I can e stuck in traffic and be totally entertained by the scenes/ weather/ cars.

That's funny you should mention public transportation in LA. It is notoriously lacking in scope. The subway is nearly useless because it never goes where you want it to (it doesn't go to ANY of the local airports), and the buses take forever to get you anywhere.

The one thing I've noticed though it that there are Priuses everywhere you look and also it seems like there is a noticeable drop in traffic in general (after the prices of gas went through the roof).

VW busses are really popular. I have a friend who has had a number of them. They are perfect for camping. I think that's why they're so popluar.

HHINLA

I've noticed the same thing myself. The bus system is great to hit tourist spots, but useless for anything else. The light rail is joke, a toy compared to the BART system in the Bay Area.

Traffic has dropped during non peak hours. It still pretty bad in the morning and early evening but its much much bearable that what it was in the past.

Priuses and HCH are pretty plentiful. I've also seen several smart cars and those little green gulf cart things running around. Most parking facilities I've seen have a couple of spots reserved as charging stations.

Red -

I like to call your westside location the "MPG blackhole of LA". I go there once a week and take an MPG hit. You're Insight and any hybird should be happy as a clam in that area.

I don't have the exact ranking, but the 405/10 and 405/101 interchanges are in the top 5 traffic interchanges for volume. That makes the 405/Sepulveda Pass one of the biggest freeway bottlenecks in the country.

The charging stations are leftovers from the zero-pollution mandate that's gone by the wayside.

But, like you said, the key is driving non-peak.

PS - If you're a yogurt fiend, then the Bigg Chill at Westwood and Olympic is the place to go (South-East corner).

CarloSW2

As to the old VWs,somebody bought all the old tooling and they re-pop virtually everything for those cars and vans,KGs too.Crazy!

Funny that when I first moved down here I called this place the same thing; a black hole :D

405 to anything is horrible. I feel sorry for anyone having to commute either down from Sherman Oaks to UCLA or up from around LAX. You just want to kill yourself in that commute.

eh, the Insight sucks in city driving. Without an EV mode its gas mileage is terrible for it. Around the low 30s. The best FE I've found now is to just walk. Its slow, but it sure beats clutching in traffic when I just need to go a mile or two. :turtle:

I think I saw that place that last time I wandered by, I'll check em out next time I'm there. :thumbup: