{"id":1014982,"date":"2026-08-21T13:37:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T13:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1014982\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T13:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T13:37:25","slug":"meet-the-angelenos-who-are-learning-to-get-around-without-a-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1014982\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Angelenos who are learning to get around without a car"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I met Los Feliz resident George Loomis as he was heading to catch a bus to Santa Monica. Just two weeks earlier, Loomis had decided he would drive his car only 30% of the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I drive at this percentage, I don\u2019t have road rage,\u201d Loomis said. \u201cIf everybody found their percentage, I think it would be a much happier city.\u201d<\/p>\n

L.A. has long been known as a city that runs on four wheels, but increasingly, its residents are challenging that identity. I talked to more than a dozen people who try to primarily get around via transit, walking and biking. Some have no choice: They cannot own a car right now, for financial and other reasons. Others are just fed up with driving and looking for alternatives.<\/p>\n

L.A. Metro wants to encourage it. On Aug. 4, the agency announced the \u201cOne Car Challenge<\/a>,\u201d offering residents up to $600 to keep at least one car off the roads for five weeks.<\/p>\n

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Taking it in stride<\/p>\n

Loomis isn\u2019t just a transit user. For him, walking is also a lifestyle choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born in Manhattan, so I think it\u2019s really important to have some walkability in your life,\u201d he said. \u201cI think I\u2019m happier than my neighbors, quite frankly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcela Mora, who has lived in West Adams \u201cher whole life,\u201d also finds herself using her car less and less.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not as dangerous as before,\u201d Mora said. \u201cI would never walk around here.\u201d Now, she regularly finds herself walking to the local Whole Foods and cafes in the area.<\/p>\n

Chloe Chen moved to Los Angeles from China to attend USC. While Chen regularly took the metro in China, she avoids the L.A. Metro system, telling me she finds it unclean and uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

So she walks. But it comes with challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the morning, it\u2019s too hot, and I don\u2019t dare walk at night, because it\u2019s too dangerous,\u201d Chen said.<\/p>\n

On their own two wheels<\/p>\n

Ryan Linares, a longtime Inglewood resident, owns a car but primarily bikes around the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cGas prices are pretty bad right now,\u201d he said. He also brings his bike on buses and trains when he needs to. Still, biking is not always easy. During the summer, Linares often defaults to driving, even if he\u2019s going somewhere close by, because he \u201csweats a lot\u201d and biking tires him out. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the only challenge: \u201cI\u2019ve had multiple bikes stolen from me in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cSome roads don\u2019t even have bike lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woes of public transportation<\/p>\n

At a bus stop across the street from the Downtown Inglewood rail, Johnny Olvera was waiting for his ride. Olvera told me he was recently released from jail and doesn\u2019t currently have access to a car.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou gotta be patient,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes buses can be packed, so you gotta wait for the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over in Koreatown, Adjoa Yeboah-Asuamah, a former musician and San Fernando Valley resident, was waiting for a bus. She also doesn\u2019t have access to a car right now, but even when she was driving, she says she found herself using transit for work and longer distances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer to take the bus anyway, to save on the gas. And with the long commute, I am more productive because I can multitask,\u201d Yeboah-Asuamah told me. The commute via public transportation from Koreatown to the San Fernando Valley often takes more than an hour.<\/p>\n

But just like walkers and bikers, transit users must contend with the heat.<\/p>\n

Only 26% of bus stops in L.A. currently provide shade. Efforts to improve that number are slow going<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One rider I talked to, Rudolfo Battas, who was waiting for his ride in West Hollywood, says he is grateful for bus stops that have shade covering the benches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you stand right in the sunlight, you will feel hot, but I don\u2019t feel hot right here,\u201d Battas told me.<\/p>\n

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