We’re only about two-hundred feet from Tommy Fleming’s front door, located on a side street off Western Ave., before we see the first of about five homeless tents in our two block walk to Hollywood/Western Station. We are on our way to Tommy’s job as a video editor at the NBC/Universal lot.

Crossing Western Avenue, Tommy says, “When I moved to this neighborhood, I moved all my stuff in and…when I was smoking a cigarette this guy asked me for a cigarette and I said, ‘no.’ The guy punched me in the jaw, and just kept walking,” Tommy is laughing while saying it, reassuring me “…that never happened again. I’ve never really felt unsafe since.” He acknowledges that homelessness has definitely increased in the two years since he has moved there, but adds that “for the most part they’re respectful and I don’t have any issues with it, but it’s just kind of sad.”

This sense of hopelessness around homelessness in Los Angeles is something almost any Angeleno can relate to. Particularly when using the transit system, it tends to seem the epidemic of homelessness is only increasing. Tommy, like a lot of residents who take mass transit, seems to do his best to acknowledge the situation while still moving through his day. It’s a dilemma a lot of people in the city face. The struggle between how much time and effort to give an issue that feels so gigantic and beyond them and, while uncommon in Tommy and my experience, potentially dangerous when factoring in interactions with those facing mental instability or drug usage. It’s important to note that Tommy was hit by a random man, who wasn’t necessarily homeless, but this fear of safety is real for a lot of riders, and whether it is substantiated or inflated by some, it is certainly true that until the city finds a way to make the majority of Angelenos feel safe while taking transit, there won’t be the amount of ridership Metro hopes to obtain.

We just miss the northbound Red Line train so, while waiting ten minutes for the next one, I ask Tommy if he has to take public transit to work or whether driving is an option. “There’s parking at work and at my house, but I was in a pretty bad car accident around three or four years ago…totaled my car…the guy was drunk and didn’t have any insurance. It was a total loss on my part, and left me slightly traumatized. I just thought after that I didn’t want to deal with driving for a while, and…yeah I just didn’t go back. I’ll drive still if someone needs me to, but my general stress level is lower when I’m not driving.” Unlike when Tommy was smiling and telling about his cigarette altercation, this experience is being relayed to me in much more serious tone. Bad things can happen on transit or in a private vehicle, unfortunately bad luck is part of living in a city of millions, however the close access of the Red Line allows Tommy to pick his poison, and for him that includes not being behind the wheel.

While waiting he adds, “My boss takes the Metro to work from Studio City, but I would say most people will ask me ‘Do you take the Metro?”’and when I say, ‘yeah,’ they respond, ‘“WOW!”’ Which I think Is ridiculous because it would be such a hassle to drive in comparison to this.” As he finishes the thought the train is arriving, on time.

We get on and I ask him if it bothers him that while the Red Line has cell service from Union Station to Sunset/Vermont, cell service is not yet available from Hollywood/Western onward, “Truthfully I don’t mind it that much, I’m on my phone so much the rest of the day. There is an argument that it’s good for safety, but I just bring a book or download the songs I want to listen to.” Also the whole train ride lasts nine minutes so there isn’t too much time to account for.

While getting off the train, Tommy mentions how he wished Metro was better at advertising it’s convenience, but he finds, and I agree, that it can sometimes be a hard system to figure out how to use. So much of what we feel about a mode of transportation is which aspect we focus on. By making the experience easier to understand, it could allow people to remember the convenience of a nine minute train ride, rather than the headache-inducing ten minutes of finding out which train is going where. Yet, Tommy says, that pales in comparison to the one thing he hates most about driving: parking. “A drive that only takes six minutes turns into fifteen minutes spent parking!” he says, which in Los Angeles can often be an optimistic prediction if one is street-parking or in one of those ten floor parking garages.

Instead, we exit the station with a large number of tourists on their way to Universal Studios. They take the pedestrian bridge to the park, and Tommy and I cross the street to the studio entrance where I leave him. A twenty-eight minute commute, and that includes missing the train and waiting ten minutes. It just makes sense.

It's 8am on Friday morning and I meet Izzy Schloss, a friend from college, who agrees to my request of joining her on her commute to work. With one condition: we take public transit. She agrees, with slight hesitation but an open mind, and I plot our voyage from Vermont in Los Feliz to Old Town Pasadena.

Living on the southern part of Los Feliz near Vermont & Hollywood, Izzy has two options to get to work. There is the Red line that she can ride to Union Station and then transfer to the Gold line to Pasadena, walking included it takes about 1 hour. This is the obvious route. The one Google Maps would often advise, however there is an alternative. Metro's often criticized "Rapid Buses" (the red busses) were introduced in 2000 as a way to speed up bus travel. They make limited stops more akin to a subway or light rail. However, most common maps of metro don't feature them and the bus stops don't exactly advertise any particular significance so they are often overlooked, even by avid transit users.

We discovered this route worked well only because of my favorite transit app, CityMapper. Its interface makes it almost seem like Waze for mass transit. It is quick and efficient, and most importantly uses more logical connections then other interfaces like Google Maps. For Izzy, who wished to avoid cumbersome connections and being underground, the 780 was a great option.

The 780 would get us to where we needed to go for $1.75 in about 45 minutes. About 50% longer then her average car trip that takes "20-30 minutes most days depending on traffic." Which proved Izzy right when asked to comment on mass transit in LA saying "it's terrible...not on time, and usually takes at least twice as long to get anywhere then it would in your car." I couldn't refute the time argument and there is a lot of room for improvement, however, I found it interesting that we usually talk about commutes from only a single angle: time. Izzy went so far as to say, "its about efficiency. I want to get from my home to work as fast as possible, I'm not saying that it's right, but if anything that means I get to spend more time at home, and if I get really illegal, I can do it in 15 minutes."

We begin snaking through Atwater Village and Glendale, and I ask Izzy if she has had positive experiences with mass transit. She talked about a recent summer spent in Spain being an Au Pair where a good bike network and bus system allowed her to get everywhere she needed to go. What struck me the most was that, while Izzy loved the efficiency of the system, what she really loved was how it taught her about her surroundings and helped her learn Spanish by listening to others. One could argue that we are allowed to be more carefree about time on vacation but being an Au Pair and taking Spanish lessons Izzy still had places to be and speed was a factor. Many of us love to utilize the social benefits of mass transit when we are in cities that have systems that are perceived as efficient, but ignore the benefits in our own cities. LA is a perfect example. Izzy doesn't use Metro because she perceives it as being inefficient but the irony is the freeway system in LA, particularly during rush hour is far from efficient with traffic jams and accidents effecting your arrival time (add to that a million other factors.) So if time wasn't the main issue, maybe something else was.

The 780 Rapid Bus in Los Feliz, and the Local 181 behind it

As I asked Izzy what was the quality of time spent on her commute like she said she enjoyed "time to herself...listening to NPR.." I definitely understand the desire for alone time and it makes a lot of sense, but the funny thing was when asked what her least favorite aspect of her commute she responded, "well I don't like the terrible traffic sometimes...and it's funny I usually keep my windows down because I don't like the isolation. That separation to everyone around me."

LA is the product of being a civic experiment in how far we could take the idea of privacy and private property. The car has become an extension of our home and many often end up with a community solely consisting of those either in their home or work. In many parts of LA, you can find it difficult to run into people in parks, or on the street, or any other public space because they tend to not exist or are engineered as an after thought. This can be tempting for the individual, particularly those that adore privacy, but dangerous for a society. We isolate ourselves. If desired, we ignore problems of those with different lives then us whether it be racial or economic. For example, the massive homeless problem brewing in LA can easily be avoided if one just turns up their radio, rolls up the window, and takes the right route.

So, is there a way to have a city that looks out for one another and yet allows for the very healthy desire of a certain amount of privacy? That is a very large issue and not the sole responsibility of any one Angeleno who's just trying to get to work. The funny thing was, by the end of the trip as we were passing through Eagle Rock, she remarked that trip had been so easy. She enjoyed seeing the evolution of the city between Los Feliz and Pasadena. She enjoyed a coffee. She talked to a friend. She wanted to try it again, and next time bring a book. The ride turned out to only take 39 minutes (I tried it twice just to make sure.)

Not everyone has the luxury of the door to door route that the 780 offers Izzy, for many of us transfers are required. Increased frequency is needed. Those are all valid and very real concerns. Yet, the thing that I find most fascinating is that Izzy had no knowledge of this very convenient route prior to our investigation. There are so many transit routes in this city of 4 million that many have little to no knowledge of. Metro can do a far better job of advertising our system, but if you are annoyed by traffic and feeling isolated, if you want more time to read or watch a show, or even just desire the ability to feel like you live in a city, I advise you to download Citymapper, or any other transit app, and discover your options. Or leave me a comment asking for a hand, I'd love to explore the city with you.