[mikester]

I'm using carmageddon as an excuse with my wife to stay home for the weekend. She's not but I am.

=-)

I will speak up for LA's transit. It sucks that taking the bust from one end of LA to the other can take upwards of 2-3 hours. It's bad but that is THE BUS. In most cities there are multiple forms of transport getting from one end of the city to the other. The bus is not the means you would normally use for a longer excursion. Normally it would be some sort of light rail but in LA the light rail that exists really isn't much faster than the bus - just look at the time tables. I've never been able to justify using it. Further there is nothing that goes from LA to Orange County and again nothing from LA to Ventura or really anywhere except Riverside (I think?).

So if you have shortish hop you can make it on the bus - just don't be in a hurry. There are a few quicker solutions. There are the commuter express buses which ARE much faster than a regular bus. They have limited stops and a specific destination. When I Was working downtown I could take that bus to my office downtown in 20 - 30 minutes. Seriously, I was the last stop between the South Bay and Downtown so it was friggin awesome. Coming home was just as nice. The train would have taken over an hour. There is also in LA proper the 'Rapid which is faster with limited stops along major routes. I've used it as well as Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus. There are a lot of different Transit authorities in LA county - too many in fact. Each City has their own and they don't all share passes. So if you never want to leave Santa Monica - the Big Blue Bus is right for you. If you never want to leave LA - 'Rapid is the way to go...etc.

There isn't a good cohesive solution and the light rail is a joke. I wish I could take light rail down to OC - it would be great for my commute with some of my customers or heading to our Irvine office.