New Subway Link Passes Its First Real-Life Test

With the novelty of free rides over and the weekend subway hoopla just a festive memory, the now-completed $4.7-billion Red Line faced its first test Monday morning.

Would more commuters abandon their cars--and the crawl of rush hour freeways--to board a subway to work?

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority estimated Monday’s ridership at 100,000 boardings and said many non-rush hour trains were filled. Last month, daily boardings averaged 65,000.

But morning trains leaving for downtown after 7:30 a.m. were not packed. The stop at Universal City had throngs of tourists, but passengers at the new North Hollywood and Universal City stations easily found seats on trains. Parking lots at both stops were about half full.

Many people were eager to try out the results of the massive public investment.

As one of the North Hollywood trains sped out of the station early Monday, Philippe Masbanji, a senior accountant for KPMG, settled in for a 30-minute trip to his office in the Wells Fargo Center downtown.

Masbanji figured he’d save up to $200 a month in parking, not to mention gasoline and minutes mired in freeway SigAlerts.

Another new subway rider was Jack Li, a financial analyst for Sanwa Bank downtown. Freeway angst had burned him out, and he had recently relied on Metrolink trains.

But on Monday he drove a mile from his Woodland Hills home to a Rapid Bus stop--instead of 20 minutes to the Northridge Metrolink station--then caught the subway.

The best part of the Red Line, he said, was its flexibility compared to Metrolink. Subway trains operate from 5 a.m. until midnight. The last northbound Metrolink train leaves downtown’s Union Station at 6:35 p.m.

“My boss will probably realize I can work more overtime,” Li said. “There’s no more excuses about catching the last Metrolink train.”

Though the Red Line was hassle-free, many passengers who used express buses between the San Fernando Valley and downtown had to convert to a new subway-bus combination.

Their express bus lines--the 424, 425 and 522--died Friday in the shadow of the subway debut. Some passengers said the changes lengthened their travel times because of the transfers. Many are domestic workers traveling from downtown to work in hotels and homes in the San Fernando Valley.

Transfers can add 15 to 20 minutes to travel time, said Deborah Orosz, an organizer with the Bus Riders Union.

The union had long protested the MTA’s plans to kill the express buses, calling it an attempt to funnel commuters into subway stations.

Many people, Orosz said, will now have to transfer to a slower local service or walk farther to a Red Line stop.

“I had to wake up earlier to take the subway and I have to be at work at 8,” said Bravo Morena, who got off the Red Line at Universal City, then rushed to find a connecting bus. “It’s already 7:43.”

Morena couldn’t take the new Rapid Bus--which travels along Ventura Boulevard and electronically holds lights green--because it didn’t go where she needed to be, so she waited with others at a nearby local bus stop. Previously she took only one bus to get to work, she said.

Lilian Ventura was luckier. She used to ride an express bus from downtown to her housekeeping job in Sherman Oaks. Now, with the subway and the Rapid Bus, she gets to work a bit faster.

The MTA has acknowledged that former express bus users won’t shave off much time when they switch to the combined subway and bus option.

But they will save money. With a $1.35 subway ticket they get a free transfer to the Rapid Bus or the 150 and 240 lines, which connect with Canoga Park and Northridge. Fares on the express bus are about $2.