After getting stranded at Union Station following a concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum I cannot trust our city's post-COVID transit systems.

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"You cannot understand a city without using its public transportation system."
- Erol Ozan

Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, my family had become converts to the Los Angeles transit system, particularly the Red Line connecting the San Fernando Valley to Downtown. In addition to helping us do our part to relieve congestion and reduce our carbon footprint, the convenience and reliability of the subway encouraged us to explore areas of the city that we had not before. One of the last activities we participated in before being locked away in quarantine was the Bernie Sanders rally at the Convention Center which we traveled to using the train.

When we were finally released from the safety of our cocoons to venture out into the world again we naturally resumed our place as customers of Los Angeles Metro. On a Saturday afternoon in May, we headed to the North Hollywood Metro Center for a trip to the Wiltern Theater to see the band Nightwish.

What we found was drastically different than what we remembered. While it was not unusual for the elevators to smell like pot and urine, these smells permeated the entire station this time. The train that we boarded was filthy. It was also mostly empty.

While the ride to the concert was uneventful, the trip back was a nightmare. The elevator that we needed to lower my wife and her wheelchair into the station was blocked by a person who was shouting obscenities and breaking the glass. We tried calling the police but were told that this was not an emergency situation. We waited for a break in the man's tirade and managed to get into the elevator, never feeling completely safe.

We boarded the train and made the trip to the station where we needed to make the transfer for our trip back to our car. The information sign indicated that it would be just a few minutes until the next train arrived. Then the time increased and then became even longer. After an indecipherable announcement, it just disappeared. We huddled together with a couple of fellow concertgoers waiting for our train to appear.

The platform we stood on was a scene out of an apocalyptic film. There were groups of people openly doing drugs. It was a well-used market with people showing up on skateboards and bicycles to exchange money for product with various shady characters. There was not a police officer in sight.

When we arrived back in North Hollywood we tried to board the elevator but a man was sleeping in it and would not move so that we could get in. We were finally able to find a policeman to help. Unfortunately, the elevator was not functioning and we had to call the "public servant" back. Turns out that closing time had passed and the elevator had been shut down. As he tried to get in touch with operations to turn it back on, additional homeless people were loaded into the elevator as they were rousted from the station. One became confrontational when my wife asked him to put out his cigarette.

After this experience, we decided that it would be safer to take our car for future outings. However, last Friday I decided that it would be a good time to give the subway another try. I had tickets to see Rammstein at the Los Angeles Coliseum and since my wife was not joining me I could see if things had improved without jeopardizing her safety.

As soon as I arrived at the station in North Hollywood I could tell that the system was still struggling to reach the ridership levels it had before the shutdown. At 2:30 on a Friday afternoon, I should have been struggling to find a parking spot but the lot was half empty.

As soon as I opened my car door the smell of pot was immediately noticeable. Was it any wonder that people were avoiding this transit center that used to be bustling with activity?

The train I rode was half empty, but there were no available seats. People were laying down across the seats or otherwise taking up extra seats. I held on to a pole and had an otherwise uneventful trip downtown.

After the show, my sister dropped me off at Union Station so that I could return home. As I made my way towards the platform at just after midnight other people passed me wearing Rammstein tour shirts so my guess is that the trains from the Coliseum were still arriving. As I purchased my ticket I could hear the train pull in so I scanned my pass at the turnstile and hurried to the train.

As I entered the train I was immediately confronted by a police officer who informed me that I had to leave. The last train had already left for the night.

"There are no more trains," I asked incredulously.

"Nope," he said with no hint of responsibility for customer service. So much for "To Protect and to Serve." As a resident of Los Angeles, I was easily able to make other arrangements to make my way home, but what if I was a tourist unfamiliar with how to get around? That interaction would have reflected poorly on our city.

Luckily, I was traveling alone on my Friday night trip so I did not have the additional logistical problems of dealing with my wife's wheelchair. It was simple for me to call an Uber to rescue me, but I am sure that would have been more difficult if something larger than a passenger car was needed.

I am left with many questions after this second bad experience. What kind of world class city stops running its subway system at just after midnight on a Friday night? How can we expect our fellow Angelenos to give up their cars when a ride home is not guaranteed? Is it any wonder that our freeways seem to be permanently clogged?

As I swear off public transportation, I realize that I am privileged enough to be able to make that decision. What about my fellow citizens who have no other option? There are those who require buses and trains to get to work and have access to needed services throughout the city. They deserve a clean and reliable system that is available to them at all times. A poorly functioning public transportation system is nothing but an inconvenience for me, but for them, it is an anchor that helps keep them in poverty. We need to demand better from our politicians.

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.

Authors Website: http://www.changethelausd.com/

Authors Bio:

Carl Petersen is a parent, an advocate for students with special education needs, an elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council, a member of the LAUSD's CAC, and was a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race. During the campaign, the Network for Public Education (NPE) Action endorsed him, and Dr. Diane Ravitch called him a "strong supporter of public schools." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.

Carl Petersen is a father of five, including two daughters who are on the autism spectrum. His involvement in education issues began when the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) refused to provide services that his daughters' teachers agreed they needed. It was then that his family was forced to sue the District.

At the end of two days of mediation at the District's headquarters, he turned to his wife, Nicole, and said: "somebody has to change this." His wife replied, "What about you?" He accepted the challenge and has run twice for a position on the LAUSD School Board. His platforms included advocacy for special education issues and strong support for public education. In his last election he was endorsed by Americans for Democratic Action Southern California, SFV/NELA Chapter of the National Organization for Women, and Network for Public Education (NPE) Action, a group co-founded by Dr. Diane Ravitch.

When Carl is not working or engaging in activism, he enjoys hanging out at theme parks with his family. He took his oldest daughter to Woodstock '94 when she was two and used to play in several local bands. If he is at his home in Northridge, California, there is a dog at his feet and he is probably writing one of his blogs which have been published in OpEdNews, Medium, Patch, and K-12 News Network.