Travel in Los Angeles by public transportation is quite different from other cities, simply because of how the city is laid out. The distances are greater, LA being a horizontal city, which means that the p.t. riders have something in common with each other that p.t.r.s from other cities don't have: patience. They know going from place to place that it will take time, and they learn how to schedule and pace themselves.
In other cities I've been to, it takes mere moments between when for one bus or subway or tram departs and another arrives. Not so in Los Angeles, or anywhere in SoCal, where even bus stops can be a mile or so apart. Southern Californian p.t.r.s take this in stride.
(Those who insist on driving their own cars everywhere don't understand this, wanting instant gratification. Of course, there was the one time der Brucer picked me up at work in Glendale, to drive us home in Long Beach via freeway, and due to traffic congestion the trip took as long as it would have if I'd taken the bus/subway/light rail route as usual! And even as a passenger I was more stressed out with the private driving than I ever was taking p.t.)
Sure, it's more than a few footsteps to get from one place in LA to another...horizontally. But consider, in a vertical city like NYC, if there were no elevators to make travelling from one place to another "easier", how everyone would have to climb up and down all those stairs. Either they'd all die from exhaustion, or NYC would become the healthiest city in the world! Either way, the distances (in energy required for the travel) would balance out to what LA residents regularly enjoy.
