I haven’t been able to go check out the fare gates at the Union Station Red Line as I don’t have much time to make my connection to the last Orange County Line Metrolink of the day and the damn things are (blissfully) on the complete opposite end of the station. However, these popped up on the Ticket Vending Machines today. Good to know that despite the Metro board delaying the adoption of the fare gates (yay) they went ahead and barreled ahead started wasting my tax and fare money on this crap instead of using it to maybe upgrade or add bus service or (gasp!) run a damn southbound OC line train past 6:30 PM.
For those of you that don’t follow transit blogs, despite intense public opposition to the gates, fare evasion being incredibly low, and the entire metro system having station designs that don’t lend well to them, Metro cowtowed to a contractor that makes fare gates under the assurance that all the cool kids are doing it. “All the big and cool and IMPORTANT transit systems have fare gates, pity your little honor system isn’t like them! Also, something about terrorists.” If anyone out there doesn’t know what a cargo cult is, here is the dictionary definition. Rather than actually build a world class transit system becoming of a major metropolis like LA, just PRETEND you’re cool with fare gates. If only the Metrolink ran late enough for me to go to these planning meetings and yell at people……
I mean seriously most of the directors and operators and employees are some kind of minority and we will never get anywhere unless we can move past this issue and
Oh, dear.
Oh my, this is never going to end, will it. 
The bus driver thought my Metrolink pass was only good on July 9. He gave in after I pointed out that it cost $116, so it had better be good for a whole month!
A couple of weeks ago, Metro uploaded the first version of their Google Maps data to Google Maps. Rejoice! This has already had some benefits on my commute. I have previously been driven insane by the tricky and often not-very-reliable route to the Metrolink via the Green Line, Culver City 6, and Norwalk 4. As per Google Maps’ suggestions, I started taking the Metro 108 east (which is at a much closer stop than the mall!) to Crenshaw and Slauson, and then the 710 Rapid to Wilshire/Western, then the Purple Line to Union Station. Even better is that the couple of times where the 108 runs late or the time the 710 didn’t show up, I was able to keep riding the 108 to the Harbor Transitway and then take an OCTA freeway express bus back to the Fullerton Park and Ride, which has a couple of options for buses that take me straight home.
I still prefer the Norwalk 4/Green Line/Culver 6 route to work (especially since I figured out that I can take not just the Norwalk 3 but the 108 and 110 to get closer to work from Fox Hills Mall, as well) although today I attempted taking the Green Line to Crenshaw, the 710 to Slauson, and the 358 East to work. It was really zippy, except the 358 doesn’t make any stops close to my workplace, so I’d have to go to the mall and walk or catch a bus back! The driver let me off at a red light somewhat nearby, but I have a feeling this isn’t something I could do every day. 
I’m glad that Metro finally got on board for providing this data as it has had an actual positive impact on my day-to-day life, and I really hope that local agencies (especially Culver City, which seems to be dragging its feet!) follow suit so that I can find even more optimal ways of getting home and perhaps even getting to work faster…. I got to work in not much more than one hour and 30 minutes today, which is about how long it takes to drive. 
Also been exploring the online trans-o-sphere of transit advocacy. While I am still relatively pure and undefiled, I would like to make a blunt statement: there is an awful lot of fragmentation and really stupid in-fighting going on. Better transit is better for all, and there’s a lot of my-way-or-nothing and scorched-earth “I hate everyone who doesn’t agree with me completely” going on and that’s incredibly sad and counterproductive. I did, however, find Metrolink Max, an organization with which whom I completely 100% agree with their stated goals!