RIDERS WANTED

摘要

THE GRAY BUSES THAT ROLL ALONG LOS ANGELES' Orange Line don't look like other buses: They're 60 feet long, and their streamlined design means they don't just stop. With some pomp, they arrive. They dock. And today, on a drizzly Sunday, nearly every seat on the Orange Line is taken. The route connects the northwest corner of the San Fernando Valley to a Metro Rail station in North Hollywood, 18 miles and about an hour away. It's perhaps the country's best example of "bus rapid transit," a grade of service that's supposed to combine the best features of a trolley line with the relative cheapness of a bus. People dig it. Today, the woman next to me is speaking quietly into her phone in Russian; next to her a guy is watching Instagram videos about elaborate bong hits. Two riders are talking about using analytics to provide better customer service, sitting across from a man in a red knit cap carrying his belongings in a black trash bag. Kids in Dr. Martens and torn black T-shirts jostle with people in boots muddied from work.