Driving

We are conveniently located near the Overland exit of Interstate 10, which is immediately adjacent to the access ramps for both the north and southbound 405.  If you need to go either east or west, go out to Overland Avenue via Coventry, head south and both the westbound and eastbound on-ramps are right ahead of you. 

Going westbound (or to the 405): Take the first on-ramp (towards Santa Monica and the ocean) to get on the 10.  If you want to head north or south on the 405, it’s very easy.  If you want to head south on the 405, do nothing once you get on and you’ll end up on the 405 south (don’t panic, the traffic always looks awful from above, but most times it’s not as bad as it seems).  If you want to head north on the 405, once you’re on the 10, slide over one (or two) lanes and you’ll find yourself going onto the 405 north.

Going eastbound:  The second on-ramp (left turn on the other side of the overpass) is eastbound towards downtown Los Angeles (or if you are adventurous, Jacksonville, Florida).  NOTE:  The east/west thing is very non-intuitive, so be careful.  People are sometimes in the lane for the first on-ramp and then realize they want to be on the second one and will go straight, ignoring those pesky lane markers.

Returning:  If you are returning home via the I-10 and you are heading west, it’s very easy:  take a right at the end of the off-ramp onto Overland, and at the bottom of the hill, take a left onto Coventry.  Malcolm is the second street once you turn onto Coventry.

If you are coming from the I-10 west, it gets a little trickier.  When you get to the end of the off-ramp, you take a right on National and then another right onto Overland.  Notes on this eastbound exit:  you may tend to want to not be in the rightmost lanes west of the 405, as they get crowded with people getting on the 405 (either way).  Once those lanes are clear, get into the right lane.  Be aware that you need to be in the rightmost lane, but take care as cars will also be coming on from the 405.  It’s a little bit of a dance.  If you’re coming home via the 405, then you’re in the enviable position of not having to do anything but stay in that lane and get off at the Overland exit.

Public Transportation

Los Angeles Metro buses: Los Angeles has an extensive bus system that accesses every area in a wide area. The schedules and maps can be found at the link below in the next section.

Los Angeles Metro E Line:  One block north of us is the E Line light rail station.  You can go to the west and it will take you to downtown Santa Monica, or you can go east into the downtown area.  Going east, you can get off at USC, or go to the California Science Center to the L.A. Colosseum.  The line stops at the 7th Street Metro hub.  From there you can change to red line and go back into the Hollywood area.  We have used it to go to the Pantages Theater, as well as the Hollywood and Highland Complex (Chinese theater, Hollywood Walk of Fame, etc.).  You can also use it to go to the Hollywood Bowl.  You get off at the Hollywood and Highland stop and then around the corner is a free shuttle to the Hollywood Bowl.  You can also take the red line to its terminus, which is at Universal Studios (which has a theme park).  You can also go up to Union Station and take a train to almost anywhere (we’ve gone down to Old Town San Diego).  You can also transfer there to the Expo Gold line, which takes you into Pasadena (if you’re going to see anything at the Rose Bowl). Visit the Metro website.

Big Blue Bus:  This is the main bus line up to UCLA, it is the 12 line (and the R12 – Rapid line). If you’re interested, you can also take it in the other direction down to Culver City.  It also goes to many other destinations.

https://www.bigbluebus.com/routes-and-schedules/

Bruin Bus:  If you are affiliated with UCLA, you can also grab the Bruin bus:  https://www.transportation.ucla.edu/getting-around-campus/bruinbus

Culver City bus: The Culver City bus line is also very good and goes to a lot of places.  For us, the important one is the bus to the airport (by far the cheapest way to go).  To do this, walk to Sepulveda (0.7 miles) and catch the R6 bus (or the R6 Rapid) and it will take you all the way to the airport bus terminal (and back!).  A 2 minute walk puts you on the LAX shuttle bus, which stops at all terminals.

https://www.culvercitybus.com/Bus-Schedules

Biking and Electronic Travel

Bike: L.A. tries to be bike friendly.  There is a bike path along the Expo line that goes to the downtown and out to the beach.  Once you get there, there is a bike path that goes north a few miles and south all the way to Palos Verdes. Also, if you ride down Overland past Washington, you can connect to a bike trail that goes along the LA River.  This will take you down to Marina Del Rey and the Beach or to downtown. 

Bike and Electric Scooter Share:  There are a number of bike share (for $$$) services.  There are usually ones at the Expo station, but also in front of Trader Joe’s as well.

Other transportation modes

Rideshare Services: L.A. has a variety of rideshare services, such as Uber and Lyft (and the driverless Waymo cars!) for car rides and there are usually quite a number of drivers that are quickly accessible (depending on the time of day). 

Airport Access

The apartment is 8 miles from LAX, one of the largest airports in the world. We have been promised for years that the train into LAX will be “coming soon.” We know it’s coming, but here are some alternatives:

Uber/Lyft (rideshare services): These services can take you to the airport and from the airport. The airport now has a special lot for meeting your driver. The approximate charge is about $30 (depending on “surge pricing”).

Culver City bus: As mentioned above, the R6 bus (or the R6 Rapid — it has less stops) can be caught at the corner of Sepulveda and National. It is just under a mile and we have taken this method (with luggage) many times. The cost to the airport? $1.75