Fewer than 5,000 Swifties take Metro on first night of Taylor Swift’s LA run, avoiding past public transit strains

It might require someone with the pop culture power of Taylor Swift to get car-centric L.A. concert-goers to finally ride the public transportation system.

But so far, following the first night of the six-show Los Angeles stop on her Eras Tour, Metro has avoided the public transit strain seen in cities hosting previous shows.

Metro on Friday, Aug. 4, said 4,630 concert-going fans used the services on the first night. According to Metro spokesperson Tracy Smith, there are no planned changes to their services in light of the low turnout, though they will reassess each day.

It was a far cry from the strain scene in other places on Swift’s tour.

From stops in Atlanta to Philadelphia, social media has been buzzing for weeks about the Swiftie takeover of public transit along the tour route. Fans have regularly posted their experiences finding new friends en route by just following the costumed crowds on the way to the venues.

In some cities, ridership tripled, adding tens of thousands of passengers. At some venues, people without tickets still packed outside, gathering in parking lots, lining adjacent bridges and nearby rooftops in a practice dubbed Taylor-gating.

In anticipation of a similar scene in southern California, Metro increased capacity on show nights by 33%, extended service past midnight, and added two free shuttle routes from major stations to SoFi Stadium.

However for most of the day Thursday, the extra accommodations went unneeded. Rows of security tape forming snaking lines before the shuttles became merely decorative, as buses came and went with space inside to spare.

A pop-up stand at one station selling TAP cards — in anticipation that there may be long lines at its three vending machines — struggled to get any traffic.

Viridiana Gonzalez and Victoria Kravitz were among the first to hop on the shuttle from Downtown Inglewood Station to the stadium, where it meets the second shuttle coming from the Hawthorne/Lennox Station.

After more than 10 years as a dedicated, friendship-bracelet-toting Swifties, when finally heading to their first Taylor Swift concert they knew they wanted the peace of mind of riding Metro.

The two 25-year-olds chose to take the E Line from Arcadia, a two-hour commute, wanting to avoid the frustrations that would come with parking, traffic, or having to coordinate a drop off.

“We get to get there early and enjoy the atmosphere and experience,” Kravitz said. “That’s better than stressing with my parents for two hours. We can party, get high on crafting.”

But even those who decided to get to the stadium on public transportation, were choosing to leave by car due to safety concerns.

Julia Chen-cn and Sophia Rathauser, both 15-year-old Los Angeles residents, said they’re very comfortable riding public transit, taking the bus to school regularly.

But they planned to get picked up after the concert, like many others who turned to the Downtown Inglewood Station, where the shuttle let people off to take advantage of late-running rail, instead into a makeshift rideshare pickup spot.

“It’s just going to be really late, even though there’s going to be a lot of other people around,” Rathauser said. “It’ll be more convenient but I wouldn’t have minded either way.”

Gonzalez and Kravitz — who said they were already getting unwelcome attention on the ride there — had a similar plan, only taking the train to Little Tokyo Station before getting a ride back to Arcadia.

Hannah Stonewell, who traveled from Sydney, Australia for the show, said she wasn’t sure how she was going to get back to her AirBnB, and was thankful that the shuttle made it a little easier.

“I ended up meeting some cool people and followed them on the bus to the station here,” she said. “I’m getting an Uber from here but it’s a lot cheaper and easier than from in front of the venue.”

Metro officials said they will continue to provide added service and extend service hours to accommodate fans for the remaining five Swift L.A. show dates at SoFi and this weekend’s Hard Summer Music Festival at LA Memorial Coliseum, in Exposition Park.

In a release on Friday, Metro said plenty of parking was available at Fairview Heights and Expo/Crenshaw stations, and fans were encouraged to try the K Line, which goes to the shuttle running to and from the K Line to SoFi Stadium.

Throughout the L.A. run of Swift show dates:

• Shuttle bus services will begin at 3:30 p.m. to connect Metro rail lines C and K to SoFi Stadium; return shuttle services up to 90-minutes after each show.
• Added bus service will be offered to Line 117 for people staying at LAX area hotels; return buses running until 1 a.m.
• Expanded Metro rail service will run with a 15-minute frequency, and longer service time on all lines; service running until 2 a.m. to 7th St. Metro Center station to accommodate transfers.
• Parking will be offered at Metro stations throughout the system with many parking spots at stations on the C and E Lines.
• Parking rates wil vary by station and range from free to $30 depending upon location and proximity to the event venue. More information on parking can be found at Metro.net.
• Metro’s social media pages will be updated for the latest on service, at facebook.com/losangelesmetro, twitter.com/metrolosangeles and twitter.com/metroLAalerts and instagram.com/metrolosangeles

Source: Orange County Register