Assessing My Transit Options

Tuesday, January 18, 2005, at 07:44AM

By Eric Richardson

So yesterday I got in my first car accident. I hate writing about negative stuff like this; I'd prefer to always just be posting fun things like cool LA trips and bands you should go see. But well, sometimes the unpleasant parts of life are a reality, and I have to write about those too. Just to make sure it's above the fold: no one was hurt, so that's good. But now it's time for me to assess my options in regard to transportation.

Kathy and I were in the car, on the 110N, heading to the 101N. We were in that section after you've passed all the downtown exits, where the merge starts to get serious and people start jockeying for position in the lane they want. I had recently gotten into the lefthand of the 101 lanes. Traffic was reasonably heavy, but moving well. We slowed down, sped up, and then all of a sudden the pickup truck in front of me was stopped dead and, well, you can probably guess the rest. I locked the tires for maybe five feet or so before I hit him, but it just wasn't enough time.

If it was a car in front of me, or if I was in something taller, it's likely I would have seen what he did: car after car starting to brake suddenly. But all I saw was the camper lid on his truck.

After waiting a good ten or fifteen minutes for Caltrans to come, we got the cars off the freeway and filled out the paperwork. It was only the two cars involved, luckily, so that made things a lot simpler.

But now I find myself in an interesting situation. The body shop I got my car towed to says the repair costs would be more than the car's worth, so in a very practical sense I find myself carless. Now I get to figure out what I want to do next.

I've always sort of enjoyed the idea of being able to go without a car in the big city. LA isn't a very helpful city for that, being all spread out and all. But today it's becoming more possible than it would have been five or ten years ago. Almost fifteen years ago the MTA opened the Blue Line to Long Beach. Just over ten years ago the first section of the Red Line opened, and soon after the Green Line came online as well. In 2003 the Gold Line opened to Pasadena. But transportation isn't all that's changing. Downtown is fast becoming the urban core that Los Angeles has lacked for a very long time.

My apartment downtown is well positioned for transit. I already take the bus to get to school, and I'm experimented with a combination of train and bike to get to work. Programs like Flexcar aren't that wide spread, but they could just be that little extra bit that puts a carless existence over the top.

I haven't made any sort of decision yet... These are just the type of things I'm thinking about today.