These transcripts, arranged by certain characteristics, are from our trip to Long Beach MetroLink (Downtown) and inquiring locals about their experiences with the transportation system. Both Cindy and Aidan went to this train station to gather information from the locals.
Long Beach Local Interview #1
Homeless Woman
Cindy: We’re making a podcast so that means we’ll be recording you but we will keep you totally anonymous if that’s ok.
Woman: That’s ok. I want to be famous! Actually, the transportation here is excellent.
Cindy: Really?
Woman: Yes because I lived in Hawaii for a while and oh my god there’s no transportation and I mean in the central valley it sucks. This is just like LA in terms of transportation.
Aidan: So how often do you use the transportation system here?
Woman: Everyday at the moment because I’m homeless but when I wasn’t homeless I would take it as well. It’s very efficient and it’s on time usually and the drivers are really friendly and helpful.
Aidan: How do you think about the transportation system in general like the frequency or the environment?
Woman: Like I said, they are efficient, they are usually on time, they run every 15 minutes, some of them, and they take you where you want to go.
Cindy: Any improvements you would suggest about it or anything you think should be better?
Woman: I think they are doing well as it is. I think the prices are reasonable, especially with the gas prices.
Aidan: Do you feel a need to drive or do you think public transportation is sufficient enough?
Woman: I think more people should use public transportation to save the environment a tad.
Aidan: That is true. If you knew how to drive would you take the public transportation?
Lady: I knew how to drive when I was younger and when I was working, but I took public transportation just because it did relieve the hecticness but I was living in Maui at that time.
Aidan: What do you think about the recent maintenance of the metro system?
Woman: You know, I think they are pretty good because when they put the train back on, people will be like “oh!” because they have a free shuttle in there and now they will have to pay back.
Aidan: Wait so right now the shuttles are free?
Woman: Yes! That’s a good thing. Well I think one of the buses is free, I don’t go into LA but there’s one bus that’s free so if you need to go certain places you can get on it for free.
Aidan: But if you are not going into LA –
Woman: Oh, I would take the train. It’s quicker.
Aidan: So you would take the train instead of driving even if you know how to drive?
Woman: I think it’s quicker and you know it’s less stress.
Cindy: How many people on average would you see riding the bus for example?
Woman: Oh my god there could be hundreds of people. I’ve been sitting here for a week and there’s hundreds of people that take the bus on Saturdays.
Cindy: Different people of all kinds or?
Woman: Yes, a lot of veterans take the 90’s up there because it takes them to the VA and students to get to school.
Aidan: Are there many working class that take the bus?
Woman: I can take a guess that most of them are either students, the working class or of course people going to their doctor’s appointments. You sit here for a week you know everything, but I’ve taken the bus all my life so.
Cindy: When did you start using the bus like more often?
Woman: Well, I remember I started in junior high school. Back in my day you could go to high school from the 9 to the 12, but when I started school, they broke it up and that was the middle school thing and that’s when I started taking the bus.
Cindy: Do you think kids nowadays would be more willing to take public transit like compared to back then?
Woman: They don’t have any choice. Kids you know they have to take the bus but you know for them their parents have some burden because it’s expensive to pay for tickets.
Aidan: Do you feel more safe, or more comfortable when you ride the bus?
Woman: You know it’s pretty safe. Sometimes you get some crazy people once in a while but those are people with mental issues normally.
Cindy: Ah that’s true. Well that’s it, thank you so much!
Aidan: Your answers are very very helpful.
Long Beach Local Interview #2
Student Couple from Cerritos College
Cindy: So are you a local from Long Beach?
Male: Yeah.
Cindy: Oh cool! How often do you take the public transit?
Male: Pretty much any time I need to go somewhere between the hours of 10 and 5.
Cindy: Do you have your own means of transportation?
Male: Well my mom has the car so I don’t really drive until she gets home.
Cindy: Ah I see.
Aidan: So how do you think about the public transportation in Long Beach in general?
Male: In my opinion, it could use some work. It could really use some work. Certain buses come every few minutes which is good, but other buses would be really extremely late, especially if you want to rush somewhere you can be really late. I’ve waited as long as 30 minutes for bus and I was like 30 minutes late. It’s been that late before.
Cindy: Which kinds of buses are the ones that take long? Do you know any types at the top of your head?
Male: The 191 I believe, that’s the bus. The 192 will take long, that one should come every 30 minutes but it’s more like every 45-50 minutes.
Cindy: Oh no!
Male: The 61 is pretty fast, the 21 is pretty fast. I know on the top of my head that the 191 comes late and if you want to talk in terms of the metro like in terms of the Long Beach metro, horrible, absolutely horrible. I don’t think I ever want to take it again. Also I was taking the 130 the other day. That bus was almost 30 minutes late, but that bus is always late, it is never on time. The bus driver was completely rude, he tried to close me in the door and then when I told him “Sir, just go ahead, I don’t want to cause any trouble”, he proceeded to call me names, telling me to shut up and I am the customer. There is no reason why you should close me in the door as I’m getting on the bus and call me out of my name.
Cindy: Yeah that’s terrible, I’m so sorry.
Male: Yeah I’ve never had that situation with Long Beach Transit, it’s always the metro.
Cindy: So what you are describing was the metro.
Male: Yea, he was very rude and its always late.
Aidan: May we ask if you know how to drive.
Male: Yeah.
Cindy: If you had the option between say like driving your own car and transit what would you choose?
Male: Driving my own car. Well it depends on how I feel. If I want to drive and I don’t got no gas then I take the bus, but I think I prefer to drive cuz I can get to anywhere when I have to get there and not have to pay and wait for the bus all the time.
Cindy: What if the transit systems were improved? Say like more frequent times, you would feel more safe things like that. If they made these improvements would you still drive your own car over the transit?
Male: Yeah because if you have a car, use it, but I would definitely suggest, if they did make improvements, I would suggest that people who don’t have a car use it, who don’t have their own means of transportation use the bus.
Cindy: Any recommendations or improvements you would suggest in improving these systems?
Male: Just the time management, getting there on time and making sure the bus drivers have great attitudes.
Aidan: More training right?
Male: Yeah more training.
Aidan: I have another question because we just saw some rental bicycles or scooters down the street. Do you know if many people use them?
Male: A whole bunch of people use those. Usually people rent them to go around downtown down here. I know they just came out with it recently, so everybody is like “Oh I just want to do them” because nobody likes walking. So like if you don’t want to spend money on the bus because you’re going from here literally to down the street, you can rent one of those and you can go down the street and drop it off wherever you stop.
Cindy: How much does it cost to use them?
Male: I have no idea because I haven’t used them personally. I don’t think it would be more than a dollar or two, I think it depends on how far you go honestly. Actually, Long Beach transit actually has a boat. They have a boat that will take you around the harbor.
Cindy: I saw signs too.
Male: It looks just like the bus but on a boat.
Cindy: Is that even convenient?
Male: If you want to get to the other side of the water, yeah. Yeah I didn’t know about it. I was like transit in a boat?
Cindy: Yeah I saw signs for it and I thought it was for a resort or something. Well I think we are good. Thank you very much!
Long Beach Local Interview #3
Cal State Long Beach Students
Cindy: Have you ever used the public transit system in Long Beach?
Female: No I have not. Wait I use the buses, recently though.
Cindy: Oh ok, how long would the commute be from where you are and where you want to go?
Female: I can get there in an hour maybe less.
Male: Yea she takes multiple buses so it’s like two buses she takes.
Cindy: Would you consider that convenient for you or would you prefer like other means?
Aidan: Like driving?
Female: Yeah, I would rather drive but I am very scared to drive.
Male: I want to drive her but at the same time a lot of buses like for students, they drop them down to the student fee, so it’s only 75 cents now, from 1.50.
Cindy: Oh, so that is a student discount?
Male: Yea so a lot of students from Long Beach or LBCC, which is a community college, were working together to get it down to 75 cents, so yeah it just started.
Cindy: So even though you prefer driving, public transportation is still favorable as a student right?
Male: I mean I am ok with the drive. I do have other friends that would rather take the bus. Sometimes I will tell her that I will pick her up and she would be like “Nah, I will take the bus.” In the long run I could see how it would save on gas.
Aidan: So maybe because the bus is cheaper?
Male: Yea.
Cindy: Have you taken the metro station before or the metro bus?
Male: The metro bus? Yeah like in Paramount, they don’t have their own city bus like this so I use the metro.
Cindy: Oh interesting. Does that feel any different compared to taking the bus?
Male: No, I feel like it is the same.
Cindy: Oh really like safety wise and comfort wise?
Male: Yeah I feel like everybody who hops on the bus have their own mutual respect you know? Sometimes it gets packed and stuff but it’s fine.
Cindy: Would it get busy on the metro too?
Male: Yeah I think so.
Cindy: How about the commute on the metro? Is it longer than the bus or about the same?
Male: I think about the same.
Aidan: What type of improvements would you like to see to prefer the bus or public transportation more?
Female: I guess at first when i first started using the bus, I didn’t know really where to get on, where to get off, so it was really confusing and then my friend told me about this app so I use that, but I mean it’s fine.
Cindy: What is the app called?
Female: It’s called Move It.
Aidan: Oh I have heard of that. Do you think there are any drawbacks of the public transportation that keeps you from using it more often?
Male: Time. I think you get out of school at like four ish and if you miss your bus –
Female: Yeah I want to be home already.
Male: Yeah so I usually drive, so when I get out of school, I want to go straight home you know so I don’t have to wait on the bus. It’s just more convenient to have your own car, but at the same time… yeah that’s what I would say. I used to take the bus, and when I missed it I would have to wait another whole hour. Sometimes it gets delayed.
Aidan: So there isn’t enough frequency.
Male/Female: Yeah.
Aidan: Ok I think we are good. Thank you so much!
Long Beach Local Interview #4
Blonde Woman with a Kid
Blonde Woman: OK I don’t know much about public transportation, but I mean I live right here. But I don’t take it.
Aidan: Like it’s fine, we’re just asking questions. Yeah. So we’re just wondering like, how often do you take public transportation, or you never took it before?
Blonde Woman: I’ve literally never taken public transportation, because I have a car and it’s easier to take that, I guess? It’s more direct.
Aidan: So you work here? Or you’re working in another city?
Blonde Woman: I live here and I work in Long Beach. All over Long Beach.
Aidan: So you never took the public transportation and you always drive. But.
Cindy: How bad is traffic in Long Beach for you, then?
Blonde Woman: It’s really not that bad. The times that I’m driving, just because I’m an in-home therapist so I drive from house to house to house. So at most I’m driving a few miles and it’s all streets. So I don’t really have to do freeways very often. Maybe like once a day to come home from my last client. So that would be at like maybe the 710, around 3:30? It’s not that bad. 710 South, that is.
Aidan: How about for leisure time? Why don’t you take public transportation? Maybe during the weekend?
Blonde Woman: Again I just, I have my own car so it’s easier to just–easier, more direct.
Cindy: So if public transit was easier and more direct, would you be taking public transit or still no?
Blonde Woman: Maybe not. I’m trying to think, so we actually have taken my husband in public transportation on one occasion to go to L.A. And on that occasion it was because we were going up to go drinking. We wanted to be safer, right?
Cindy: I see.
Blonde Woman: And then on that occasion. On that occasion it was. You know. We experienced a few interesting characters, you know, which wasn’t a problem for us. It’s. Fun and funny and interesting but especially now with the baby you probably wouldn’t go on the buses just for safety’s sake. But I think the main reason is just because it’s easier and more direct and we don’t have to like, wait for a certain bus time or a certain bus or whatever, we just go and when want to go. We get there. If public transportation was more direct, maybe we would take it. I don’t know, I mean, for me it’s just so natural. I grew up also in an area on the East Coast where, everything was 45 minutes away and there wasn’t public transportation. So I didn’t grow up in that sort of lifestyle, I guess. So it’s probably more natural to people who grew up in the city and still live in the city for that to be part of their life. But. Like we’re talking super rural–Pennsylvania, where that doesn’t exist.
Cindy: OK. That’s perfect. OK. I don’t want because I don’t have any questions. All right. Thank you so much. A lot of people our time. Take care.
Long Beach Local Interview #5
Dog Walker
Cindy: How often do you use public transportation?
Dog walker: Not much. Now I walk a lot. So I don’t take it much. Everything around here is like so central that I just walk.
Cindy: How are they inconvenient for you?
Dog walker: They’re not inconvenient at all, I don’t mind it. I think it’s good. Yeah. It brings a lot of people in from other areas so it’s nice.
Aidan: Like how do you think of public transportation in Long Beach?
Dog walker: I think it’s pretty well organized. I think it’s free to get around locally, and I think now they’re starting to expand it so they go to the locations like the Charger games, UCLA. So I think it’s pretty smart. I think they have a pretty good grasp of what they’re doing right.
Aidan: But if you’re gonna maybe go somewhere that you cannot walk there. Are you going to consider to take the bus or take the train?
Dog walker: Like for example they have a bus here that goes straight to LAX. So whenever I go to LAX, I just use the bus. So they have really specific location ones that are great. So. Now that they’re going to have the Charger one, if I want to go the Chargers game, I’ll just jump on the bus. So yeah.
Aidan: OK. So what are some like most used transportation in Long Beach.
Dog walker: I work and live here so I almost never drive so anything that I want, usually walking distance. So I walk everywhere.
Aidan: I think that’s it.
Dog walker: All right. You guys have a good one.
Aidan: Thank you for your time.
Shared Thoughts & Shared Mobility 