Los Angeles MTA TokensAs a kid, I can remember using tokens to ride the MTA buses and streetcars in Los Angeles. You could buy a number of MTA tokens for less than the normal fare. This was a good discount and my mother and many students like myself took advantage of the tokens to go downtown This was in the 1960's when you could take the trolley or buy a cup of coffee for 10 cents. In the year of 2008, you may wonder: Do tokens for the MTA still exist?. |
Original MTA TokenGot the Gas Price Blues? |
| Today we have a rather complex array of public transportation services in Los Angeles that provide discounts to seniors, students and disabled persons. To get these discounts you have to prove your eligibility and purchase a monthly pass. There is also a general monthly pass, semi-monthly pass, weekly pass and tokens, (Yes, tokens still exist!) sold in bags of 10 for $12.50. For more details, see Metro.net Prepaid Passes & Tokens. Coming soon ... barrier gates and TAP! But, I was disappointed recently when I found out that you couldn't transfer from one Metro Rail train to another without paying another fare of $1.25. To get around this cost, you can buy the $5.00 day pass and transfer back and forth among any of the Metro Rail trains all day, and this includes free access to the entire fleet of Metro buses, as well. Current rates and discount fares are explained on the Cash Fares page. If you get careless on your fares or violate other Metro rules, you are facing a fine of $250. So, make sure you know the rules (no drinking, no eating, no smoking, etc.) and the fares and try to behave in a civil manner (not noisy or weird) to avoid the attention of the many security personnel on trains and stations. Remember that they not only check for valid passes on the cars or trains on a random basis, but they also often check passengers for fares as soon as you exit the train. I've seen many free-riders get caught as they try to exit the platform. On the Red Line and Purple Line subways, and in some other Gold Line and other stations, you can be fined for being in the platform area without a pass, even if you haven't even stepped on the train. If you're thinking you can be lucky and not get caught, it's not a good bet! MTA Rail-Road-Rules (3Rs-9Ns):
The day pass allows you to travel from the west end of the San Fernando valley using the Orange Line all the way to Long Beach or Pasadena, for example, and return on the same day for only $5.00. Not only is this a good deal compared to automobile economics, but it's also better on your nerves to let the conductor be your chauffeur. The Metro train is also more reliable and timely than the overused freeway system. I recently discovered that there's also a free shuttle at the Long Beach end of the Blue Line to visit the main peers and tourist stops on the shore. This will also connect you with the boat to Catalina Island without paying a dime. Of course, the Catalina boat will cost at least a couple of dimes. Do tourists take the Metro Rail trains? My observations are that many do and more should! Prepaid passes and tokens can save you time and money. Accepted as base fare on bus and rail, they're sold at Metro Customer Centers and more than 850 other locations including Ralph's, Community Check Cashing, Cash It Here, Jon's Market, Pavilions, Nix Check Cashing and Popular Cash Express. To find a location near you by city or zip code, use the Metro.net Pass and Token Directory. You can also purchase monthly passes online through the Metro Online Purchase page. If you want to pay by check through the mail, you have to make sure you send in your check no later than the 15th of the month for the following month pass using this mail order form. Be sure you follow the instructions on the second page of the form. Bus SchedulesFor specific bus routes, you can find the most current schedule on the Metro Trip Planning page. Although most schedules have buses that run several times an hour, there are a few routes that only run once an hour. If you miss this bus, forget it! I made this painful discovery recently when waiting for the Metro Bus 183 in Glendale. After waiting an hour, I started walking to my destination and was lucky to catch this bus at the next stop, about an hour and 15 minutes after I started waiting and walking. I personally question whether any bus route with a schedule less than every 30 minutes is worth the effort for the Metro and for the riders? What's your opinion? Do you have an hour to kill waiting for a bus? The
Metro Trip Planner
is a great resource to quickly find the best Metro routes from one place to
another. You may have to work a little bit on the spelling of street
names, but once you get the streets properly spelled, the outcome is a list
of one or more routes including estimated times for each bus or train
on the route. Keep in mind, however, that the estimated times on this
list does not include the possibility of buses with lengthy time-spans,
such as the 183 bus in Glendale. Therefore, it's best to check the
schedules of each bus after printing the route from the Trip Planning
display. Metrolink Connection?If you want to transfer to the Metrolink from the Metro Rail and Metro Bus system, however, your MTA passes, tickets and tokens won't get you in the door. The Metrolink service is a different organization that does not integrate fares with local transit systems. With a name like "MetroLINK", you would expect that the convenience of linking or transferring between systems would be an essential part of their mission? On the other hand, there is a transfer agreement from Metrolink to MTA Metro Bus/Rail which applies only to those who already have purchased their fare or pass to the Metrolink system. The agreement between Metro and Metrolink regarding fare media is as follows:
The problem with the Metrolink one-way and round-trip tickets is that you can't buy these tickets at MTA Metro Rail stations or anywhere other than Metrolink stations. Therefore, if your trip starts from Metro Rail or Bus, you have to pay your Metro fare in advance to get to the Union Depot or to other Metrolink train stations where you buy your Metrolink tickets. After you buy your Metrolink ticket, you can use the ticket for Metro Rail fare at the other end of your train ride. The same limitation occurs with the 10-trip tickets, since you can't get the date-stamp until you arrive at the Metrolink station. This, in effect, makes it a half-way transfer arrangement unless you have a valid Metrolink monthly pass or you only need the Metro Bus/Rail after you ride the Metrolink. Recently, I commuted to Chatsworth from Highland Park several times a week taking the Gold Line to Union Depot and the Metrolink to Chatsworth. I bought a Monthly Pass on the Metrolink one month, but I lost money on the deal because I didn't travel enough days to realize a savings for the month. I did better with the 10-Trip-Ticket, but the expiration date of 90 days also caused me to lose money when my job in Chatsworth ended. With the Metrolink system, you have to buy tickets for a particular line, direction and distance (number of zones). The One-Way tickets also expire after 3 hours from time of purchase. Metrolink also has a number of discounts for youth, seniors, disabled persons, students and large groups. The seniors discount for Metrolink is based on age 65, whereas the qualifying age for the MTA is 62. Verification of age is required by both organizations to purchase these discount fares. Cross-Town Token Concept?Wouldn't it be nice if you could buy Cross-Town Tokens that would be honored by both MTA Metro Rail-Bus and Metrolink? These Cross-Town Tokens could be purchased directly by commuters or by employers to award to ride-share drivers as an additional incentive for those who may be more successful in recruiting larger groups of passengers. This could include some passengers that don't own a vehicle or can't drive. Cross-Town Tokens would be used to buy special transfer tickets to go between MTA and Metrolink lines. For example, for 3 tokens you could buy a ticket to go one way from any Metro Rail or Bus to any Metrolink line. For each Metrolink zone, you would add an additional token to the price of the ticket. Two Tokens would be sufficient to purchase an all-day pass on the MTA system. To include the Metrolink trains for round trip passage, you would pay six tokens plus double the number of zones. Purchasing Cross-Town Tokens would be made more convenient by vending machines in many of the current retail outlets for MTA passes as well as United States Postal Service stores. You would be able to purchase these tokens in several quantities, including 10, 20 or 50. Prices would be discounted more for larger quantities: 10 for $11, 20 for $20, 50 for $45. The vending machines would accept cash, credit cards or ATM cards. The tokens would have no cash value. If you think this is a good idea, please pass it on to local officials and your elected representatives. We can bring down the price of gas by taking available mass transit alternatives. More convenience will attract many frustrated commuters. Instead of spending all our transportation money on infrastructure, we should invest a few dollars on making the entire system more accessible and convenient to users. You can present your comments directly to Metro MTA offices through the addresses, phones and e-mail links on this page. Use these links to contact your local Los Angeles City or County representatives. The MTA Metro Rail / Bus system is a go! You can make it go better by letting your voice be heard! |
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Ride the Gold Line TodayTake a trip with us from Heritage Square to Union Station downtown Los Angeles by watching this 5 - minute video clip!
In the next clip, we travel north on the Gold Line, returning to Heritage Square / Arroyo. Look closely and you'll also see a Metrolink train passing underneath just before crossing the L A river.
By looking at these videos, it's obvious that the Los Angeles Metro Rail is much faster through town than your high performance rubber-wheeled car!
If you cannot operate the video player, you may need to download the latest Shockwave Flash Add-on for your browser from Adobe Systems inc. Make sure this add-on is enabled in the tools options for your browser under managing add-ons. More viewing options are also available from YouTube. See more video clips by author. MTA Rail-Road-Rules
Subway 1926
Red Car Used Till 1955
Blue Line 2003
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