LA Metro offers car trips for the price of a bus ticket: LAist

A new, inexpensive way to get in and out of public transit is coming to Los Angeles.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Los Angeles County is badociated with the Via Via private service to provide affordable car trips to and from three busy transit stops in El Monte, Artesia and North Hollywood, within the limits of A defined service area.

Rides for TAP Card, Metro's universal transit payment system, costs $ 1.75, the same price as an ordinary Metro ticket if users register their TAP number with the company. Non-TAP card users will be charged $ 3.75 and those who are registered in Metro's LIFE Low Income Rate Reduction Program will be able to travel for free.

The pilot program of one year, first announced in 2017 and funded in part by a grant of $ 1.35 million from the Federal Transit Administration, is intended to help bridge the gap of the first and last kilometer between the transit centers and the final destinations of the people.

Moving people in and since transit in L.A.'s characteristic urban sprawl has proven difficult, even though the agency is unlocking billions of dollars in new transit lines. According to one study According to the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy, less than a quarter of Los Angeles County's population lives within walking distance of a train or a fast bus stop.

The pilot service also makes on-demand car trips more accessible for disadvantaged communities where residents may not be able to afford services like Uber or Lyft, or can not use apps due to lack of phone smart or credit card.

The program cars can be summoned using the Via application or by calling the company from any phone and stating a location. Travel can be paid with a credit card, debit card or prepaid credit card. The call center will offer translation services to non-English speakers.

Metro is also working on a micro-transport pilot project that is expected to launch later this year. It will once again partner with private on-demand badistance companies to offer subsidized carpool shared routes. The locations and rates for this program have not yet been determined, but Metro has indicated that the costs would be higher than the standard rate of $ 1.75, but less expensive than other services such as Uber or Lyft.

L. A. Metro, like transit agencies nationwide, has seen a decline in ridership over the past five years, despite mbadive investments in the system.

Recent research correlated the decline in transit in many cities to the rise of applications such as Uber and Lyft, although the situation in L.A. can be more complicated. A UCLA study conducted for the Southern California Association of Governments last year, concluded that the increase in the number of cars, particularly among the low-income immigrants who constitute the core of Metro's customer base, was the main factor to the origin of this decline.