Just over a week ago, a man was beaten and left for dead on the Blue Line's Pacific platform. The downtown Long Beach platform, which is supposedly overseen by the L.A. County Sheriff, is one of many Blue Line platforms obviously neglected by the deputies.
Continue reading "If He Is Alive, Will He Vote to Renew Metro's Contract with Sheriff?" »
This summer, my interest in the significant presence of L.A. County Sheriff's deputies at pershing Square was piqued when I observed a terse conversation between a deputy and a frustrated, wheel-chair bound Metro patron. The deputy appeared to be annoyed that he had to answer to a person regarding the blocked passageway—the vehicle blocking it being a Metro contractor's vehicle.
Continue reading "L.A. Sheriff deputy allows ADA violation (Pershing Square)" »
What happens when a well-recognised transit advocate waiting to buy a newspaper is physically threatened by Metro sheriffs that gather daily at Pershing Square Red Line station? Libelous and unfounded accusations of terrorism as well as intimidation, unwarranted arrest and all manner of implicit threats to one's future liberties and life, followed by constant accusations of creating scandal for scandal's sake. My protests of being unlawfully detained were met with the phrase, "Tell it to the judge." The day's motif is sure to be best appreciated in the final video of this post's Twin Towers/County Jail misadventure, which satirically addresses a few of the very topics that the hired guns of Metro's Transit Security Bureau alleges in a fashion too serious to forget.
One wonders what the hell is going on in downtown Los Angeles, what with the LAPD targeting jaywalkers and the occasional private motorist even as Metro busses run reds while the LAPD stands by and watches. I have previously commented extensively about this problem—especially the policy that LAPD has on NOT citing Metro busses for running red lights—so I will just post two videos taken during rush hour on Friday, 10 October 2008 in downtown L.A. to illustrate the problem.
Continue reading "Lazy LAPD and the Busses Running Reds—Again" »
Metro Librarians Matthew Barrett, and Russell Wong, (and their admirable staff: Jim Walker, Historian/Archivist; William Bolanos, Intern/Circulation; Linda Ngov, Intern/Archives; and Bridgette Sanchez, Intern/Archives) have embarked on a massive project: "building a Web 2.0 resource for opening up public access to Metro’s extensive archive collection of transportation photographs, 20,000+ photos spanning 1873 to the present." It is sure to be a great undertaking. Judging from what is already available at the Los Angeles Transportation Blog, I am looking forward to the project as it develops.
Have a look at it here.
-BusTard
We missed this year's event, but there is always next year!
Earlier this week, the Daily News (L.A., not NYC) published an opinion piece wherein was stated the fact that some Metro drivers speak on their cell phones while driving. I and others to whom I have talked have witnessed such irresponsible behaviour, but after reading about it in a local daily, I decided to post this video from earlier this year.
Continue reading "Metro Driver Drives While On Cell Phone" »
UPDATE: I spoke this afternoon with Goldenvoice event producer Phil Blaine—a downtown resident, I might add—and he stated that with the coöperation of the Secret Service, LAPD, LAFD and Clinton's people, the two events should pose no problems to the attendees. Clinton's fund-raiser will take place from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. and will have reserved parking as well as offer egress in Harlem Place (the alley between the Edison and the cigar/art shoppe) whereas the main gate of Detour—half a block away—will not interfere with the Edison soiree. The security perimeter for Clinton will not intrude on Detour.
The Detour Fest will be this weekend, and Browne and I will once again be marching proudly and unpaid through the gates because, well, it's a street festival and we already paid when the taxman had his hand out.
Or so we hope. . .
As there is neither a recession nor a depression, then it follows that tits and ass, drugs and death, wrong and right, AIN'T. Or so Metro implies, as this single slice of the debauchery to follow clearly illustrates:
Last Wednesday, while on my way to Parker Center for my 10 a.m. appointment to be bled for Metrolink's miasma, I came across Bernie Parks and Gloria Molina holding a PR event. As Browne supports both folk speaking, I stopped for a moment to record the event.
Continue reading "Parker Center Blood Donor Drive Distraction" »
The Bus Bench’s roots are in Social Ecology.
The Bus Bench takes a satirical and editorial approach to dealing with the issue of mobility in Los Angeles. The emphasis of The Bus Bench is public transportation, but we also discuss class, race, gender and Downtown Los Angeles.
In commenting on The Bus Bench we do not mind if your opinion differs than that of an opinion of a writer on a particular post. We welcome discourse. We only ask that you be respectful. Do not be violent with your words.
Contact us at: browne@shametrainla.com
The Bus Bench is doing an art project on January 10th in collaboration with The Loft Gallery's Post-Post Apocalypse exhibit in San Pedro and we need a car to murder.
Are you ready to release yourself from the chain of car ownership? Do you want it documented?
(LA Bus) Metro Trip Planner. This would include directions on how to get anywhere using any bus or rail line in LA Country.
Big Blue BusWestside!!
Montebello Bus Eastside!!
Gardena Muni Southside!!
Foothills Transit The SGV!!
Did you know there was an official where to go and how to do fun stuff in L.A.? Well now you do: Experience L.A.
L.A. is a special place, so we have lots of events. Your public transit ride could be impacted check here. Special Events Street Closures.
RANDALL (BusTard) FLEMING has spent two decades working in most every facet of publishing. A former magazine publisher (Angry Thoreauan, 1987-2001), he has also contributed to a great many books, periodicals and newspapers in Los Angeles and New York: New York Post, Brooklyn Spectator, Discover Hollywood!, Ben Is Dead, Flipside, Los Feliz Ledger, Sabotage in The American Workplace (Pressure Drop Press), Notes From the Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture (Verso), and several of the Unreinforced Masonry Studio books about Los Angeles.
Art Gonzo was raised in Los Angeles. He is a visual artist. He has seen a bus. When not at The Bus Bench he is a contributor at LA Eastside.
A Valley-born Los Angeleno, Simon Ganz only recently returned from the liberal enclaves of Northern California where he, to his surprise, found himself more than happy living without a car. Now back in his hometown with only a political science major to show for his journey, he is of course constantly unemployed and hoping to join/start/follow a movement to create better transit for everyone in Los Angeles.
Rogelio Gomez is a public transit rider and an avid cyclist. He blogs at My Daily Ride when he's not sharing his adventures on The Bus Bench.
Sirinya Tritipeskul is a graduate student studying to become a transportation planner at UCLA. She writes on The Bus Bench about living car-free on the Westside. Her own blog, The Valley Girl Planner (in training), is a tribute to her Valley Girl roots and her travels around the Los Angeles area.
Recent Comments