Six Tips To Make Your Commute Faster

LOS ANGELES, CA – As everyone knows, the dreaded Southern California traffic can take a real toll on your commute, and on your day. However, Metro Rideshare has given us some tips and tricks to make that morning commute a little less awful. Whether you're driving, taking a bus or train, or even borrowing a bike, here are six tips to get where you need to go a little faster:

• Want updates on your bus or train? Download the free Nextbus app to find out when your train or bus will arrive, and if it's running late. For those near San Diego, try the OneBusAway app
• Some services like Omnitrans offer their own app for arrival times
• Pay your fare ahead of time! Most agencies allow you to load your fare onto a payment cart via mobile app so you can skip the lines at the machines – rush hour lines won't hold you up anymore.
  • Ticketing apps are available for Metro, Metrolink, OC Bus, LADOT, and San Diego's Compass Cloud among others.
• Want to find a carpool buddy? Check out IECommuter.org for the Inland Empire, or Ridematch.info in Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties. For San Diego and beyond, try CarpoolWorld.com
• Ridematch can also connect carpoolers for one-time trips to events or wherever they need to go
• Borrow a bike! Bike sharing self-serve kiosks are getting increasingly popular in Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Diego. They require a credit card or membership card, and you can rent bikes by the half-hour or longer. There are bike shares in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Pasadena, Port of Los Angeles, San Diego, and kiosks are opening in Venice in August.
• Sign up for traffic alerts! Go511.com (LA/OC), IE511.org (Inland Empire), or traffic.511SD.org (San Diego) allow you to sign up for traffic alerts so you're warned about any incidents that will prolong your commute, and give you a chance to take a bike/bus/train instead.
• Go old school. Don't forget, calling 511 from any phone will connect you with operator assistance for carpooling, vanpooling, or finding a bus or rail route.

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