I rode the Blue Line from Long Beach to Staples, an hour ago, and I can say with certainty I have never been on a Metro Link train that was as crowded.
In the middle of the 17-stop trip, passengers were standing … up and down the train.
I was on the line at 3 p.m., which can’t possibly be the line’s peak ridership hour. I assume that’s more like 5 p.m., and I can only imagine what it would be like then.
Riding the Blue Line at 5 might bring back memories of the Paris or London metro/underground systems at peak hours. With people jammed like sardines. That is NOT pleasant.
We always heard we needed to use mass transport. All it took was gas at $4.40 to make it happen. Or start to happen, anyway.
I’m vaguely ambivalent about this. It’s good to get people out of their cars … but that wide-open Blue Line train I’d come to know (if not love) appears to be a thing of the past. At least in mid-afternoon on a weekday.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Luis Bueno // Jun 10, 2008 at 5:01 PM
I need a Blue Line from my house to Home Depot Center. To cover a game lately, it’s literally almost not worth the gas money.
2 nickj // Jun 10, 2008 at 8:03 PM
I need a bee line from my house to Ian’s moms
3 Char Ham // Jun 11, 2008 at 6:23 AM
Your discussion on the Blue Line brought up an interesting thought I shared with my spouse & would like to hear your thoughts.
First off, I grew up in the West SGV. During the previous time there was a big real estate spree in the late 80’s, we moved to IE. I won’t go into my discomfort living here in detail, but this small incident mirrors my beliefs/fears.
Two years ago I took the Foothill Transit bus from home to Pasadena on business. I wasn’t in a rush but during the long bus ride, I noticed up to Azusa, the bus riders were shabbily dressed, probably poor & working class stiffs who couldn’t afford a car. Then when the bus crossed over to Duarte (start of the West SGV), the riders were professionally dressed, even those in jeans who were dressed neatly.
My spouse felt the reason for these two groups of riders was that those who lived east of the SGV river were poor and the bus was their major form of transportation. The West SGVers rode to be environmentally “correct.”
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