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I am empathetic to what a MASSIVE undertaking vaccination 10 million people (twice) is, of course. It's just that relying on public transit has often been difficult here, pre-dating the pandemic. Some examples:
When I was covering protests in DTLA & Hollywood last May/June, Metro shut down its trains before the curfew, stranding me twice. I talked to several others, both protestors and people just going to/from work, who had no way to get home.
I ended up calling a friend the first time (after Metro bikes failed to unlock properly). The second time I walked an extra couple miles. Tons of National Guard milling about but they couldn't watch the trains until curfew?
Sometimes you can just get randomly stuck in some weird pedestrian-unfriendly area with no sidewalk or no way out. Sometimes it takes BLOCKS to cross a street just to get to where you're going or a bus stop.
There's this one bus stop in Beverly Hills to catch the 16 that's a very inaccessible path of dirt. Beverly Hills is... not great for public transit. Remember how they protested so hard against the Purple Line expansion?
I used to get DETAILED instructions on how to access backlots and other complicated campuses by the parking garage. Ask for on-foot instructions and people are like, 'What?' Sometimes it ends up being VERY DIFFICULT.
Sometimes, I would go to a theater event where they wanted you to leave your bag/phone in your car, not considering you might come without one. Or they'll ask you to stay in your car until your specific time slot. So I'd just go stand around on a random block.
I had a job in Playa Vista. I live in K-Town. It took me 2 hours to get there, sometimes 3 to get home. They let me work from other offices and home most of the time, but the first 2 weeks were hell. I honestly don't know how I'd have finished my contract if it was in-office.
In that 1st week, I got stuck at a bus stop for 45 minutes with a drunk dude who detailed all the things we'd do if I was his wife. For 45 minutes. That bus is supposed to come every 12.
Sometimes, Metro will just randomly move a stop and not tell you. They'll say it's online, but what if you're not online? Also, sometimes it's not online. So when you finally figure it out, you have to walk to some other stop.
