Transportation Adventure

On a recent trip back from visiting family in Utah for my grandfather's 80th birthday, I decided to test out the transportation network in LA.  My day started off with my mom driving me to the airport in Salt Lake City.  I could've taken the Frontrunner/Trax connection, but I'll save that for another trip.

-My flight left SLC around 10:30am and I arrived at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) at around 11:15am (Total cost: $2.50, I had frequent flyer miles so I only had to pay a small tax).

Somewhere in the sky over Utah

-When I landed, I had to take a shuttle to the main part of the airport (I was in one of those little planes).  I went down to the ground transport area to take the LAX flyaway bus to Union Station in downtown LA, which arrived around 11:40am.  After being crammed in the small airplane seat, this bus was luxury.  It is a coach bus with leather seats and foot rests.  (Total cost: $8).

Union Station in downtown LA

-I arrived at Union Station in downtown LA, which is the main hub for subway, train, and bus lines.  As Lizzy and I found out when we visited here in December, it is a great place for people watching.  I took the 12:40pm Metrolink train to Downtown Riverside.  The train was peaceful and I got to kick off my shoes for a while and stretch out.  So much better than fighting LA traffic (Total cost: $13.25).

A fuzzy view of LA from the train

-I got to Riverside at around 2 pm and got on the #1 RTA (Riverside Transit Authority) bus that drops me off a short walk from our house. (Cost: Free because UCR students ride free on RTA).

It was definitely an adventure of walking, trains, planes, busses, shuttles, and automobiles.  If only I could've rode my bike and swam across some body of water, it would've been perfect.  And the whole experience cost me less than $25!