Quick How-Tos

So you live in L.A. and you’re thinking of riding the bus. What are the three most important things to know?

1. Have exact change. The machine takes coins and dollars, but it doesn’t give back if you over pay.

2. If you need to transfer to another bus as part of your trip, ask for a transfer slip from the first bus driver as you pay. He or she will tear one off for you (it’s about the size of a bookmark). Hand it over to the second bus driver when you board.

3. Exit from the back. When your stop is announced and you’ve pulled the cord above the windows and you’re ready to leave, do everyone a favor and exit from the rear doors (you have to push them open like saloon doors). This helps keep things moving, because the people getting on the bus obviously have to use the front door so they can pay.

All sounds easy and logical, right? Trust me, if you follow those rules, you’ll be doing better than most.

Banking between stops

My transit errands are getting more ambitious. Today I’m going to stop at the Bank of America in Westwood on the transfer and cash a check for my husband en route.

Also — an update to the post “Language Barrier” — it turns out that Transit TV – Moving Entertainment is not entirely in Spanish. They had a weather report in English yesterday morning that I could have done without. I look at screens all day, be they TV or computer, and I don’t really want one on the bus.

(Watch, in a month I’ll be obsessed with the Transit TV talent and know them all by name.)

Language Barrier

On the ride home, there were two people waiting with me: a guy lugging around two big, filled, industrial-sized black garbage bags and a girl (I…think) with a skateboard. I have no idea what was in the bags. The girl (…presumably) didn’t smile back at me.

On the transfer, I sat in front of a guy speaking French very loudly on his cellphone. It was difficult to read and annoying. At the next stop, two chattering Hispanic women sat down next to me.

Suddenly I hear REALLY LOUD Spanish from the front of the bus, complete with music. I look over and see that a sleek TV screen is mounted to the upper left corner behind the driver. I’m 99% sure not all the buses have this. The station is called, no shit, “Transit TV – Moving Entertainment” and it’s broadcast entirely en espanol. What country am I living in?

We drove through Beverly Hills. It struck me as sad that the poorest people have to travel through the richest areas to get home. I didn’t mind looking out the window because I never get to do that when I’m driving.