I do hope our esteemed Senor BK gets to ride the LA Subway again. The stations are each designed with a different artistic flair, some successfully and some less so, but it does make travelling under the city more interesting, and easier to spot where you are once you recognize the artworks. Quite different from the Washington DC system, where every station looks the same, like some underground gulag.
As for the fines, I never had to pay one for not having a ticket, but that's because I always had my pass with me back when I was using the LA Transit System for my daily commute. I did witness a number of people getting caught, however, when the Transit Police did their sweeps.
I remember a time when there had been an accident that held things up on the Blue Line, an above-ground light rail companion to the underground Red Line. These accidents happen because the Blue Line has to cross several city streets for part of it's route to Long Beach, and there are drivers who are bound and determined that they can dash in front of the train and not get hit. They get hit.
Well, there was quite a crowd at the Downtown station, waiting to get on the train when it arrived. Most riders are very polite, and stand to the side of the train's doors while those on-board get off. There was this one lady (and I use the term loosely) who pushed her way through the surge of off-loaders... and actually pushed me out of her way, even though I was waiting to the side.
I was agast! Once on board, finding myself sitting near to where she had plopped herself, I asked her why she had been to impatient. "I had every right! No one else is complaining! What is it to you? I've had a bad day!" she snarled. I just shook my head and settled down for the ride home.
Guess whose day got worse when the Transit Police made a sweep through the train.
There is such a thing as karma.
