Laura Michet's Blog

The most dehumanizing train station I regularly visit

...is the A line station at Lake Ave in Pasadena. It's a freeway median station, so it's got earsplitting traffic noise... but also it's got the procedurally-generated classical music that LA Metro tries to use to keep undesirables from congregating on the platform.

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The thing about Lake Ave is that the "undesirables" just congregate on the sidewalk of Lake, which passes over the freeway. So the only people getting ear blasted on the platform are the people who plan to actually use the train. Not that anyone should get their ears destroyed... but it's definitely pretty funny that LA Metro thinks this station needed additional noise, and then continues to provide it even while it fails to achieve their stated goals.

Every time I visit here, I feel like I should be packing noise cancelling headphones or simply bringing earplugs. Unfortunately the only headphones I use are a pair of "bone conducting" headphones designed to leave my ear-holes open, for biking safety. So they accomplish nothing.

Anyway!! This is just a rant post. I have nothing useful to add besides a complaint you've probably read many times before: that metro systems should never run in freeway medians. There are also much worse stations in the LA Metro system, but this is the one I often use, and it's the one I hate the most. Boo! Hiss!! It's both crazy and not at all unexpected that the nastiest station I use in the region is in the wealthiest city I regularly visit by train!

#los_angeles