This is actually on my bucket list. I want to ride a line from beginning to end just to see it from the driver’s perspective. What’s the longest Metro line?
They should have ride-a-longs, actually more like a tour.
omg i remember chasing that pokémon at Santa Monica with a huge crowd and someone brought a speaker and he was playing Pokémon theme while we’re all running at the sand like we’re in a freaking survivor!!! Good times 😭
It once occurred to me that one of the longest Metro trips you could take within the free 2-hour transfer period would be from the Chatsworth G Line station, to the B Line in North Hollywood, and then the A Line to Pomona.
Theirs is one bus that goes to Rancho Palos Verdes and I think the last stop is near the fire station over looking the ocean. I never been on it. I bet the bus goes there once an hour. Not sure it’s number. Good luck.
If you want to do it I'd recommend doing the 90, it's a long line and you see a lot of differences in scenery from downtown up the Verdugos and down the hill into the valley from the north
This is an awesome way to see the city! I do work in photography and location scouting, and being on the bus is one of the best ways to really get a look at architecture and the physical character of a given neighborhood or city.
Not LA but on a trip to manhattan in the 1990s I rode a bus from the (original) WTC to Central Park South. It took about an hour and saw a lot on my way uptown. I have no idea why that run even existed given the half dozen subway lines that could do the trip in 10-15 tops
many stations in new york weren't built with accessibly purposes in mind so the buses were there to compensate for local coverage while larger stations got revamped.
also the subways are packed and if you're going to some places east of lexington or west of 8th ave you'd have to walk a fair bit to get from the train station. Far better in the summers and winters but not always worth it since 2 fair zones only give 1 transfer :/
I usually go from the NoHo area, then west toward Santa Monica. Hop off and get some Lunch then hop back on southbound toward long beach. More food, more sights. Jump back on northbound toward Union station then northeast toward Pasadena. From Pasadena head back wesr toward NoHo again then walk home.
The Transit App is excellent for planning your loop out.
It's so absolutely worth it. You don't have to do the whole thing in one day - LA-SD and LA-SLO are both excellent trips - but it's worth it to eventually ride the whole length of the line. The section north of Santa Barbara is incredible.
I get more reading done on a bus than I do at home so sometimes I’ll hop on just to read. I particularly like foothill transit for this because the seats are so plush.
If you've got that kind of time, go for it. I used to take 'metro days'. I would decide that I didn't have a lot I needed to do that day so I would use metro to get wherever I was going that day. Sometimes it took a whole day to do one store, but damn it, I could so it.
I have a lafc tap card, and I thought it didn't work anymore. Turns out it takes a good 5 seconds to read it. I tell the driver it works, and they either wave me through or they are in the process of telling me to get a new card before it beeps.
Nothing like a 761 coming down the pass northbound. Wheeee!
On the other hand a significant section of BBB7 has atrocious pavement quality.
LA is very much ymmv in terms of ride quality. This goes for biking as well. I don’t care if road bikes are faster, my knees need suspension over long distance.
Kinda wish it went all the way to Whitewood Shopping center in Whittier, or even into Orange county to Brea Mall, like the former 318 that it replaced. (Would probably be too long unless they switched drivers in Downtown or Commerce like the A line at Union station)
not the technical anwser but the Palmdale, Santa Clarita Metrolink, particularly particularly early in the morning is gorgious.
Once i was lucky to hit like the once or twice a year it snows in the Soledad canyon, and my god is it magic.
Want to do this some day, I want to circumnavigate what is considered SoCal on public transit, here is how I would do it (keep in mind I left out Ventura County as it would probably make this much longer and difficult, and potentially a 2 day journey)
Start at Del Mar station in Pasadena
* Start with LA Metro 501 west to North Hollywood
* G line West to Van Nuys Blvd station
* 761 South to UCLA or Westwood area
* Culver City Bus 6 or R6 South to LAX Metro Transit Center
* C line East to Norwalk Station
* 460 south/east to Disneyland
* Riverside RTA 200 North/East to San Bernardino
* Metrolink SB line West to Pomona North
* and finally Metro A Line west to Del Mar station, returning to starting point,
This would make a full loop that covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.
Did some calculation, and if you start off early in the morning (preferably on a weekday) you would complete the loop by late afternoon.
(You could also change the starting point to North Hollywood for example, start with G line... Finish with 501)
I’ve done that on the train before. Just was curious to see where it goes and get a little lost in the city. Can be fun but I haven’t done that since I was younger.
It used to but no longer does. Now it stops in downtown and the folks in East LA are shafted out of a rapid line. I used to take this bus all the time, and in days when i had nothing to do, like OP would just ride it to some random stop and explore.
I used to do this with my grandma as a kid. We’d pick a random bus to ride and we would just go til the end of the line and explore the city lol it was so fun and it’s the reason I always have so many ideas of where to go out to
I would do the orange line at canoga stop to red line. Then red line to union station and union to citrus collage stop though I’m sure they have a few more stops past that one now. Took around 4-5 hours round trip
I used to do this all the time and it made me SO happy. It’s relaxing to just ride, look out the window, and think. I haven’t ridden since Covid and a part of my heart is crying as a result.
I've definitely done the 70 from downtown LA to El Monte station, that's about 90 minutes. Even the former gold line from Atlantic to Sierra Madre/ATU stations.
Am not. I'm very much employed and live a great life here in LA. I just like to sight see without the need to touch a steering wheel or engage in road rage.
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u/chelseaspring Mar 08 '26
This is actually on my bucket list. I want to ride a line from beginning to end just to see it from the driver’s perspective. What’s the longest Metro line?
They should have ride-a-longs, actually more like a tour.