Hello dear readers!  I’ve been on a brief break for the holidays, but I’m back!  I was in Milwaukee for a week over Christmas and received quite the surprise to see temperatures some days were warmer there than in Los Angeles.  I’m glad to be back in LA-LA Land and ready for more Metro adventures in the new year.

2014 was a great year to be a bike rider in Los Angeles.  February announced the addition of 180-miles of bikeways, per the LACBC blog.  Bike lanes expanded on many streets as part of a plan to add over 700 miles of bike lanes throughout Los Angeles.  That’s great news to fellow bike riders throughout the city and county.

2014 saw the beginning of the long awaited purple line expansion project.  Hooray, my local subway line will go to more places than DTLA!  Some really cool artifacts were unearthed during the exploration project before digging officially commenced.  Check out some ancient clams that were found here on the Metro blog.  Riders also saw a modest increase in metro fare in September as well.

Of course, there were tons of fun events around LA throughout the year aimed at increasing metro ridership, promoting biking as an alternative mode of transportation, and to bring the community together.  Some of my favorites were the No Pants Metro Ride in January and CicLAvia events in April and December.  Unfortunately, I was out of town for the October ride.  Check out my blogs about the events here, here, and here.

Last, but certainly not least, ride sharing services Uber and Lyft have survived the year, despite controversy over rider safety and lobbying efforts on behalf of taxi drivers.  I sure am grateful to have them around!

Please be safe tonight as you enjoy the New Year’s festivities.  Whether you are going to the party at Grand Park or an intimate party amongst friends, please be safe.  Don’t drink and drive.  It’s not worth it.  Metro is running 24-hours at no cost.  Use it!  Call a Lyft or a cab if your destination is not Metro-accessable.

I hope 2015 bring you endless joy and more car-free adventures that you can imagine!