Several cities and counties in Southern California offer free or discounted options for arriving and returning from your New Year’s Eve celebration, encouraging people to avoid drinking and driving.
In Los Angeles, people who want to party on New Year’s Eve can avoid drinking and driving by taking advantage of the free transit routes that will be offered throughout the subway system.
All Metro buses and trains will be free from 21:00 until 02:00
New Year’s Day train service will be offered on New Year’s Day, but free travel will end at 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Buses and subway trains will run on Sundays / holidays on New Year’s Day, but an improved Gold Line rail service will be offered due to the crowd heading to Pasadena for the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl Game. Gold Line trains will run on three-car trains to increase capacity.
Metro officials noted that Del Mar, Memorial Park, Lake and Allen stations on the Gold Line offer the best access to the parade route. People heading to the Rose Bowl Game can catch a free bus from the Parsons car park, which is four blocks west of Memorial Park Rail Station.
Long Beach Transit will also offer free New Year’s Eve trips, starting at 5 p.m.
In addition, LBT will offer night service on selected routes, with some routes departing from the Transit Gallery on First Street between Long Beach Boulevard and Pine Avenue until 2:45 a.m. New Year’s Day.
LBT provides transportation services to Long Beach, Lakewood and Signal Hill, as well as Artesia, Bellflower, Carson, Cerritos, Compton, Hawaiian Gardens, Los Alamitos, Norwalk, Paramount and Seal Beach.
The full list of routes and schedules is available on the LBT website at www.ridelbt.com/newyear. Customers can also call 562-591-2301 or visit www.ridelbt.com for route planning assistance.
Lyft service and the Orange County Transportation Authority will provide discounted or free New Year’s Eve trips to reduce disabled driving during holiday celebrations.
For the 18th year, OCTA will offer free trips on its buses from 6pm on Tuesday until 2.30am on Wednesday, the first day of 2021.
“We encourage everyone to sound the new year responsibly by taking advantage of the OC Bus service on New Year’s Eve,” said Tim Shaw, president of OCTA.
“The free service makes celebrating early 2021 a breeze, allowing drivers to leave their cars at home and not have to worry about finding a safe trip home.”
New Year’s Eve partygoers can check out the agency’s website at OCBus.com to plan their trip. Some 157,000 guests have taken advantage of free travel during the holidays since it began in 2002.
Meanwhile, the Orange County Ride Smart Coalition is offering $ 10 coupons for New Year’s Eve trips to Lyft for Orange County residents. The discount can be accessed using the OCNYE code of the travel service application between 8pm and Wednesday at 4am.
Lyft has pledged $ 25,000 in travel credits during the holidays and others throughout the year. Other organizations involved in the coalition include Fullerton Police, Anaheim Ducks, Honda Center, Responsibility.org, the Observatory Concert Hall, Rockers Against Drunk Driving, Orange County Brewers Guild, and the California Traffic Safety Office. .
Taking public transportation or any other form of alternative transportation should be on the mind of anyone planning to drink alcohol during New Year’s Eve celebrations, especially because law enforcement agencies will be in full force in search of disabled drivers, authorities reported.
The California Highway Patrol will conduct a maximum application period, with all available personnel deployed, from 6 a.m. Tuesday to 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.
“Please choose smart decisions this holiday season,” CHP commissioner Warren Stanley said in a statement. “Whether you are affected by alcohol or drugs, the result can lead to arrest, injury or death. Either way, the impact will change lives. “