For seven long years, I commuted from the Westside to downtown Los Angeles, serving time in that gulag of concrete, the Santa Monica Freeway.
Then last summer I moved to Pasadena. The Gold Line had just debuted, and I believed riding light rail might be a nice alternative to driving to work. I would read the paper, sip coffee and gleefully thumb my nose at people stuck in traffic.
The result of this nine-month experiment in mass transit: My round-trip commute from Pasadena by car of about 50 minutes ballooned to 100 minutes by train. I didn't sip coffee -- which isn't allowed on the train -- and for reasons I'll soon explain, I rarely read the paper.
And, I'm back to driving solo to work.
For those unfamiliar with the saga of the Gold Line, here's a recap: After more than a decade of planning and construction -- about the same time it took to put a man on the moon -- the $859-million train opened last summer.
The 13.7-mile line runs between eastern Pasadena and Union Station in 30 to 36 minutes, depending on the boldness or timidity of the train driver.
The Gold Line's chief attribute is that it's very clean (no coffee stains!).
Its chief problem is that it's always slowing down for something.
The Gold Line brakes for everything but its shadow. Curves, street crossings, straight sections of track are all reasons for the choo-choo to take a breather. Engineers often stop the train just before reaching station platforms, as if they fear passengers might hurl themselves en masse onto the tracks.
"Speed is not the reason you use this line," The Times quoted Metropolitan Transportation Authority Deputy Chief Executive John Catoe as saying in March. "It's about comfort. You can read the paper, relax. It's a really great line that way."
I tried to relax. But the more sluggish the train got, the more my road rage merely shifted to rail rage. Instead of screaming "Go!" at little old ladies on the freeway, I wanted to bellow "Go!" at train drivers.
On occasion, I'd glance down at the newspaper, but then would frequently look up, wondering why the train was stopping. Again.
I tried everything to shrink the time of my commute. The train ride itself continued to gobble precious minutes, but the black hole in which even more time vanished was getting to and from the stations.
I walked, rode my bike and drove to different stations in Pasadena. I pored over maps and bus schedules. Nothing worked.
