A 2012 Wish for Metro Late Night Trains

My first Metro Rail trip for 2012 happened sometime after 1:30AM on January 1st.

Yes.  1:30AM.

To help us all end 2011 and begin 2012 safely, Metro offered free bus and rail line services December 31, 2011 at 9PM to January 1, 2012 at 2AM.  To make it all the better, Metro offered Metro Rail Lines and Orange Line busway service to operate 24 hours for 2012.

As much as I love the story of Cinderella, the sudden unraveling of magic at midnight, the Cinderella hour is not the most optimal time to end a Los Angeles night out on the town.  To fully integrate the rail and bus experience into people's lives, it must ultimately align with the people who live here, the lifestyle of a urban city.  The Los Angeles lifestyle does not end at midnight.

I was only on the train briefly, but it was enough to support a 2012 Wish for Metro Late Night Trains beyond this moment.  As a regular work commuter (arguably, a lifestyle commuter, being carless) on Metro, the amount of people on the trains felt comparable to rush hour.  The people who partied too much and needed a safe ride home has no adequate equivalent in numbers (it's just smart), but there certainly were a number of passengers on that boat in the rail cars - and I'm glad they had the Metro Rail option.

I know some might argue that the popularity was the free service at the time, but paying $1.50 is definitely better than the cost of a taxi or the mental workout of figuring carpooling and the designated driver.  Others might say that the popularity was directly related to New Year celebrations and while this may be true, that doesn't give credit to what an active city we live in - where events are happening all the time, where more people might be willing to "Go Metro" to somewhere because they know they can also take it go home.

-Charity Tran