It’s been a year now since the Expo Line opened and, despite all the doom and gloom predictions from some community advocates, the light rail system has not meant ruin for South L.A. To the contrary, the Expo Line is ushering in a new era for the community, and for all of Los Angeles, because it is bringing the city closer together than it has ever been.
I know because I take the Expo Line all the time. I use it to go to Exposition Park, downtown, Culver City and connections beyond. It is my preferred mode of transportation because it is an inexpensive, easy and convenient way to get around.
But most important of all, it is a relaxing way to get around as opposed to the bus, which I am all too familiar with from pre-Expo Line days. When I took the bus to get to doctor’s appointments and run other errands, I always found it to be a crowded, uncomfortable experience physically and an exhausting experience emotionally because of unpredictable wait times and schedules.
The Expo Line, by contrast, brings my stress level down. And as my stress level has gone down, my enjoyment of the city has gone up and I love rediscovering the city’s charms and treasures.
I’m not the only one. The data from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority bears that out. Ridership on the Expo Line has gone up during every single month since the trains first started rolling. The agency reports that on average just over 10,000 people used the Expo Line each weekday in May of last year. This March, that number was more than 25,000 people a day.
When I take the train, I see all kinds and all ages of people out for what can only be described as a joy ride, going to the Natural History Museum for the first time in decades with their kids or grandchildren or enjoying a chili dog at Earlez Grill.
And you haven’t lived until you’ve had the experience of taking the Expo Line on a Saturday afternoon when there’s a USC football game at the Coliseum. The trains are awash with fans in cardinal and gold. Clearly the word about the Expo Line has gotten out to the USC football fan base because they overran the trains last fall and should continue to do so in the future, based on the fun I saw them having.
With phase two of the Expo Line now under construction and on track to open in a couple of years, even more of the city is about to become accessible. Some of those destinations are obvious, like the beach, the Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica College.
But others are less obvious and, in fact, haven’t been built yet but will be soon because real estate developers are catching on to the allure of the Expo Line and are planning transit-oriented developments that will be attractions in and of themselves at stops along phase two.
For example, there is the mixed-use project proposed by the Casden Property Group adjacent to the Sepulveda Station. In addition to a large number of apartments that will be an attractive off-campus alternative for USC students, the development is due to have a City Target that I can take the Expo Line to shop at and my neighbors can commute to work there.
Los Angeles has always been a city of great possibilities. That, along with the weather, is what has been drawing people here from all over the world for decades and decades. Now, with its growing mass transit system, the opportunities are increasing for the millions of people who already call Los Angeles home and want to expand their worlds without getting in their cars.
The Expo Line is as an excellent opportunity for people who live in East Los Angeles, South LA, and other parts of the city to become acquainted with the Westside and be exposed to cultural, shopping, employment and educational opportunities they might not have otherwise.
Victoria Moore is a fashion and feature writer living in South Los Angeles.
Elleni posted at 1:52 pm on Fri, May 17, 2013.
love, Love, LOVE Expo Line! Public transportation is the most democratic of amenities for a big city - just look at buses when the Dodgers are playing a game, or Expo, the Red Line, the Gold Line and the Blue Line as they fill up when the Kings or Lakers are downtown, or when Ciclavia and the LA Festival of Books and the Long Beach Grand Prix are happening. I can't wait til the rest of Metro's roster of projects is built, but meanwhile, my family will be riding and rubbing shoulders with children, teenagers, 20-somethings, and older adults of every class, color and interest. That's gotta be good for all of us.