Herbie Huff navigates through Los Angeles with a mental map. A self-proclaimed “hard-core urban rider,” her head contains a network of routes and side streets that guide her commute to UCLA.
Huff, an urban planning graduate student and co-founder of the UCLA Bicycle Coalition, will share her bicycling tips at an alternative transportation presentation that will teach students various ways to navigate Los Angeles without a car.
The event is a collaboration between undergraduates and graduates from UCLA Transportation, Bruins for Transit and UCLA Bicycle Coalition.
“If you’re coming from somewhere outside of L.A., you think L.A. is a car city and you think that you need to get a car to get around L.A.,” said Michelle Go, co-president for Bruins for Transit and a graduate student in urban planning. “It can be true, but I think there are a lot of (transit) options, and a lot of students don’t know about them.”
Presenters will explain how public transit works for those who are confused about the different L.A. transit systems, and they will also discuss transportation privileges and discounts for students.
These include access to zipcars and discounted metro passes, said Malina Tran, a fourth-year English student and Undergraduate Students Association Council Facilities Commission co-director of parking and transportation.
Zedric Dalisay, a third-year Asian American studies student, is attending the event to learn about the bus system so he can go to an off-campus internship or research position.
“We’re all pretty big (transportation) nerds about the ways we get around, and also there will be a lot of fun resources all in one place,” Huff said.
Huff is most excited about having a workshop that has all alternative transportation modes.
“Once you bring students out of L.A. and see what else is out there, (they have) a greater sense of appreciation,” Tran said. “I hope that is achieved through the workshop, and, as an L.A. native, I think it’s important and valuable to understand the environment and neighborhood you are surrounded by.”