25,000 Board Subway on First Commute Day : Transit: Ridership, buoyed by 25-cent fares and fanfare of new system, is far above 7,800 forecast for initial months.

Almost 25,000 commuters broke their usual routine and trundled underground to ride Los Angeles’ new subway Monday--the first day that a 25-cent fare was charged.

Monday morning, after the balloons had popped and the hullabaloo had ended, was seen as the litmus test for the Red Line subway, which opened Saturday.

Transit officials had predicted 7,800 riders daily during the early months of operation. On Monday, an estimated 24,750 work-bound commuters and curiosity seekers boarded the system--more than triple the expected number. Such statistical successes are typical for new transit systems because ridership projections are customarily modest, experts say.

On Monday, many riders had transferred from the Long Beach/Los Angeles Blue Line to the Red Line and from suburban Metrolink trains. These were not the happy-go-lucky joy riders who swarmed the subway when it opened Saturday. These commuters were the hard core--the Steven Segals and Jean-Claude Van Dammes of the transit world. And many looked like they hadn’t yet drunk their first cup of coffee.

Fay Etheridge, 32, couldn’t figure out the fare machines and she didn’t know where the trains were located. By the time she reached the subway platform, she was in a sweat. Worst of all, she was 30 minutes late.

“It’s so confusing,” said Etheridge. “I figured I’d park the car and let the train do the driving. But I’m going to try it again.”

Etheridge and other commuters do not convert easily. Many had vowed to try the system several times before switching from bus to subway. On Monday, some gave hesitant reviews to the newly minted subway.

“So far, it seems very nice, the trains seem very clean and comfortable,” said Jim McCullough, 58, a corporate insurance manager who boarded a Metrolink train in Burbank and transferred to the Red Line at Union Station. “Of course, the company van is more convenient.”

Others, however, were prepared to become fans, even if riding public transportation added precious minutes to their commutes. Dixie Muncrief, 42, figures that the Red Line will save her the aggravation of inching through congested streets. After her experiences on Metrolink from Santa Clarita, she said she has become a believer in rail because it’s so much less stressful and frustrating.

“By the time I get home I’m not kicking the cat and yelling at the kids anymore,” said the mother of two. “Now I can sit back and read, by the time I get home, I’m not tense.”

Still others were thrilled and only wished that the line extended beyond its initial 4.4 miles--a route with five stations running between downtown and MacArthur Park. When the entire subway system is finished, it will extend 22.7 miles to the San Fernando Valley.

“It seems long overdue,” said lawyer Cathy Haddad, 35. “People will get out of their cars to ride a train.”

Monday was marred by one complaint, officials said. Until then, Metrolink dispatched free shuttle buses to downtown’s financial district. But with the Red Line running downtown, that route was eliminated and a number of Orange County commuters complained that taking the subway meant more of a wait.

There also was one glitch reported on the subway, which operates every 10 minutes between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. A signaling failure in the morning delayed one subway train by 20 minutes.

For lawyer Morteza Mostafavi, the delay undermined his confidence. Mostafavi used to drive to downtown from Long Beach. Over the months, however, he realized that he was becoming increasingly bothered by the traffic as well as other drivers’ behavior. So he started taking the Blue Line to work.

Encouraged by this experience, he ventured underground to try the Red Line Monday. But each minute of the delay caused him increasing anxiety. Finally, he blurted out: “This aggravates me. I hope they do something about this. Maybe it’s only the first day.”

The signaling problem was quickly solved and only one trainload of passengers was delayed, said Jesse Diaz, rail operations superintendent. All in all, officials were chalking up the Red Line’s first real work day as a success.

“By God, it’s beautiful,” gushed J.R. (Just Right) Starr, working as a Rapid Transit District crowd control “ambassador” as he watched a stream of passengers enter the Red Line’s Union Station stop early Monday. “This is going to be a Disneyland.”