The long ride home

I’ve traveled almost exclusively by automobile my entire life. But after three decades of car riding — and with gas prices beginning to make me rather irritable — I decided it was time to give public transportation a shot. My first experiment: Taking a Metro bus to a recent Friday night Dodgers game.

Things started off well enough —www.metro.net is insanely user-friendly.
I plugged in my starting location and my final destination (Dodger Stadium) and voila! Plenty of options. I arbitrarily selected a route that cost $2.50 one way, and should have taken 60 to 90 minutes to travel roughly 12 miles each way. The price was right, so I grabbed my quarters and my travel companion and arrived at the bus stop ahead of the arrival of Metro bus 218, which was slated to arrive at 5:41 p.m. 

At 5:54 p.m. the old 218 rolled up. I was probably going to miss my connector bus — the 4 — which was scheduled to pick me up at the corner of Santa Monica and Crescent Heights boulevards at 6:09 p.m., but didn’t care. After all, the game didn’t start until 7:40 p.m. 

A warning is warranted about the ride from the San Fernando Valley over Laurel Canyon Boulevard. This ride is not for the faint of heart. I don’t suffer from motion sickness, but this short journey was one heck of a bone-rattler. Clearly the $1.25 I’d coughed up for the lift had yet to find its way to any sort of budget for bus shocks. We lurched and bumped along mercilessly for 20 minutes. I wasn’t upset in the least when the ride ended and I exited to wait for the No. 4 (which had departed seven minutes prior). 

The No. 4 arrived at 6:24 p.m. and sure enough, this ride was much smoother. We were a little late, but I’d only spent $2.50. Plus, my friend and I got to work on crossword puzzles, and take in the scenery.

I have to digress briefly, as the onboard scenery inside the No. 4 became curious within minutes. A very drunk but very nice man planted himself across from us and began inquiring into our puzzling. We confirmed that yes, we were working on a crossword; and yes, we were enjoying it. He did not share our passion for crossword puzzles, but proffered some dirty jokes as a peace offering. Then he reached into his black plastic liquor store bag, pulled out an open can of Miller Genuine Draft and took a big slug. In between gulps from the 16-oz. can, he informed us that he used to work for Amtrak but was now employed by MTA. From this I deduced that there must be special drinking in public privileges granted to transportation employees and contemplated applying for a gig on the spot. 

Unfortunately, the allure of public transportation began to lose its luster. The driver never called out our stop at Sunset and Innes. We exited instead at Temple and Grand and walked from downtown through Echo Park to the stadium. We arrived in our seats at 8:15 p.m. 

The return trip home was more of the same. I was dying to take a cab, but my friend insisted we see my experiment through to completion. We left the game at 10:20 p.m. and waited with dozens of other Dodger fans at the corner of Douglas and Sunset until 11:04 p.m., when the trusty No. 4 showed up. It took 35 minutes to get back to the Santa Monica/Crescent Heights stop, where we’d hop back on the 218 for the final leg of the journey. 

The only problem was that the 218 never came. At least it didn’t come for 28 minutes. It might have come after that, but I wouldn’t know because at 12:08 a.m., I stood up, stomped to the curb and flagged the first cab I could find. A $26 cab ride later, we arrived back at the bus stop where we’d begun our adventure nearly seven hours earlier. 

While I can’t say I loved the experience of taking the bus, it gave me newfound respect for those who utilize public transportation. I’m also not saying I couldn’t hack it on a daily basis if I had to.
But given the choice between a 24-mile trip taking nearly five hours and — had I not taken the cab — costing my friend and me $10; or driving my car, taking 90 minutes and, according to AAA via www.metro.net, costing $6.61 in gas plus $15 for parking; I’m totally going to sell out,  drive my car and eat the $11.61 difference. I’ll just skip the hot dog and nachos.

Jen Hadley is, by her own admission, a terrible driver, inept at reading a map and was a former used car saleswoman. Give her the finger or tell her to buy herself a nav system at jmhadley624@yahoo.com.