Ways Riding the Metro Is Better than a Car

After a 1 and a half month wait, I finally have my Metro reduced fare student card.

Goddamnit that took so long. I ordered it on August 12th. Received it on September 25th. Another one arrived a week later, perhaps due to me harrassing the fuck out of them.

What does having the TAP Card mean, exactly?

That means if I have to run to catch a train, I can skip all the delay of digging for $1.50 and inevitably failing machinery. I just have to "TAP" my card. Haha ha, I played a pun.

Anyhow, onto the point of this blog: ways riding the Metro is better than a car in Los Angeles.

As I was traversing to Long Beach from the Valley for a project, I realized the kind of travel Metro is entirely advantageous for (at least with the Metro TAP Card.)

Going back and forth between destinations.

Unless I'm in a hurry, it doesn't matter if I have to go back and forth between the Valley and Long Beach. With the Metro TAP Card, I'd already dropped $36 for the month.

That means no further costs to travel in the month. Between the Metro pass and my bike, my travel expenses other than the $36 in LA are free. Free. FREE!!!!

That vs. spending at a minimum $10 on gas a day driving 100 miles on my Corolla back and forth. 30 bucks pissed away on 3 Days of motherfucking driving between the absolute motherfucking polar ends of LA.

So yeah, economic savings is big, however this all assuming you know where the Metro trains are, where they go to exactly, how to pay fares.

Also, unless there's some accident, the trains are pretty dependable and I'll get at my destination at pretty much the same duration that I always get.

Also as an aside, depending on Metro and my bike has made me a better planner of things in my life. As a student anticipating a long commute, I'll get a paper or a presentation done much earlier than the absolute last minute.

Also, nowhere else would I meet so many youths, talk with people in spontaneity, watch a man take his eyeballs out of his eye sockets, hear the sounds of a travelling family band, the woman who goes around selling individual ordinary pens and pencils for a dollar. Being relatively privileged, nowhere else would I coming into contact with so many segments of LA that you don't hear about.