Author: Kenn Bicknell

George Takei

George Takei is known to most people as Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS Enterprise on the television series Star Trek. The native Angeleno also served on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District…

Cartographer Laura L. Whitlock: Los Angeles’ Pioneer mapmaker and copyright warrior

During the early years of the 20th century, Laura L. Whitlock, “the official mapmaker of Los Angeles County” was the first woman cartographer in the United States to publish her work for the mass market and the first person in…

TAP Cards and Universal Fare Media in Los Angeles Transit: History & Resources

The vision and concept for a universal fare system for Los Angeles County began at the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission in 1990. The agency encouraged countywide transit policies among all the transit service providers: for example, Southern California Rapid…

The Red Line Just Turned 30. Here’s Why It Matters.

Text by India Mandelkern. The B (Red) Line has always been the busiest line in our transit network. On an average weekday, the B Line has about 75,000 boardings. Together with the D (Purple) Line, which shares some of the…

When Los Angeles was declared to have hit “Peak Car”…in 1920!

There has been plenty of research published about the adoption and rapid growth of automobile use in Los Angeles in the early 1920s. Some notable resources include Scott L. Bottles’ Los Angeles and the Automobile: The Making of the Modern…

Metro Rail Openings

    1990 July 14: Metro Blue Line opens between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach (later renamed “A Line”) 1990 September 1: Metro Blue Line Long Beach Loop opens 1991 February 15: Metro Blue Line, Segment II opens between…