Easy ride to the Hollywood Bowl
People who drive to the Hollywood Bowl for a show are kind of nuts, IMHO. Maybe I've gotten inadvertently caught in the pre- or post-show traffic too many times, but the thought of willingly driving into that snarl of honking cars seems rather masochistic to me --
Which is why I, along with a whole bunch of other Bright Eyes fans from Santa Monica, took the Park-and-Ride option last Sunday -- except I just walked over to the bus and so skipped the park part. All I did was put in my zip and concert time on this Hollywood Bowl page to figure out when my bus was gonna be there, get to the bus by that time, hand $5 to the driver, and take a seat.
The Park-and-Ride thing's really quite popular, at least in Santa Monica. We had a pretty full bus, and concertgoers actually started their picnics early, opening up their coolers and pre-partying on the bus.
One snafu -- My friend Hannah took the Park-and-Ride option from Culver City, and her bus was late! However, she arrived just 10 mins after I did, well before the show started, and didn't seem too bothered by the tardiness --
The bus leaves 25 mins after the end of the concert, and the $5 covers the trip back too. Hollywood Bowl also has a Bowlbus Shuttle service leaving from 4 locations (none near me, but maybe there's one near you) for $3 roundtrip and free parking.
All in all -- I liked not fighting traffic, not paying $12+ for parking, and not being stuck waiting in a stack parked car after the show. Why DO people drive to the Bowl?
Photo by Siel
I live 1.9 miles away from the Bowl and decided to take Metro for the last show I saw there. It took a total of 1 hour and 10 minutes, door-to-door. The bus from Hollywood and Highland took forever and got stuck in traffic with all the other vehicles that clogged up the streets leading to the bowl. Getting to and out of the bowl is always an ordeal whether you take public transportion or not. Next time I'm going to walk.
Posted by: camilo | October 03, 2007 at 11:59 AM
The Metro should have made a stop at the HB on the red line. Wait, that would have been to convinient.
Posted by: manuel | October 03, 2007 at 01:23 PM
We need a bus only path from the H&H station to the Bowl...same as the Gold Line to Dodger Stadium.
Posted by: LAofAnaheim | October 03, 2007 at 09:21 PM
Well, you'll notice how I touted the shuttle and park-n-ride services, not the Metro service to the area :P So I think we can all agree that the bus / subway service to the Bowl's -- troubled -- but really, the shuttle and park-n-ride services are great!
Camilo -- I'd definitely walk, run, or bike if you live just 2 miles away :) If I lived that close, I'd be there all the time!
Posted by: Siel | October 03, 2007 at 09:32 PM
We're 6.3 miles from the bowl according to Google Maps. I'd really prefer not to drive there, but alas, the options aren't especially good for transit/park & ride. It's almost as much of a drive to the closest park & ride lot (Culver City) as it is to the bowl, Metro requires a walk from La Cienega to Fairfax and then from Hollywood Blvd to the bowl. The last time we went (on Sunday) we ended up parked in a "no block" lot at Franklin & Cahuenga. We're really in that magical awful no good options zone for the bowl. Although the connector proposed by one blog reader from Hollywood/Highland to the Expo Line in Culver City down La Cienega would make things work great.
Posted by: Don | October 04, 2007 at 03:04 PM