Commuters Should Add Metrolink to New Year’s Resolutions

December 27, 2017

Get healthy, save money, enjoy life more

LOS ANGELES – New Year’s resolutions can be met by taking Metrolink trains to work, school and other destinations throughout Southern California.
Among the most popular New Year’s resolutions are getting healthy and better organized, spending less and saving more, travel, reading, and living life to the fullest, according to a Google search list compiled by iQuanti, a data-driven digital marketing company.
“Metrolink can help you achieve all these resolutions,” said Metrolink Board Chair Andrew Kotyuk. “This coming year, instead of letting your resolutions fall by the wayside, finish the year on target.”
Living life to the fullest means eliminating the stress of driving in traffic by commuting on Metrolink trains.
Numerous medical studies have documented that driving in heavy traffic over time causes blood pressure and blood sugar to rise, adds inches to the waist, boosts cholesterol, causes neck and back pain, makes drivers anxious and depressed, affects sleep, cuts exercise time, hurts relationships, and work suffers. Breathing exhaust fumes from freeway traffic also is not conducive to optimum health.
“Taking Metrolink makes sense on many levels,” said USC health professor Ed Avol, who recently rode a Metrolink train down the busy I-10 Freeway during rush hours.
“It helps deal with gridlock, reduces air pollution, relieves stress and anxiety and reduces personal exposure to pollution, all of which are good for your health.”
Considering that many Southern California residents travel upwards of 30 miles one way to work in central Los Angeles, Orange County, Burbank, Glendale and elsewhere, that’s a lot of stress. And freeway traffic in Southern California is among the worst in the nation, according to data company Inrix.
While commuting on the train, riders can organize their day, read and make new friends. They also can count the money they’re saving by parking their cars.
It’s costly to drive here. The annual cost of driving in Southern California is more than $9,000 when vehicle depreciation, fuel, repairs, insurance and parking fees are calculated, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.
Metrolink can significantly reduce the cost of owning and driving a vehicle. Many employers help subsidize Metrolink passes for employees. There also are discounts for students, seniors, the disabled, active duty military and others.
Moreover, Metrolink’s $10 unlimited rides ticket for Saturday or Sunday trips could be the best travel bargain in town, and travel is a popular New Year’s resolution.
Many of the Southland’s most popular venues, such as beaches in San Clemente and Oceanside, Mission San Juan Capistrano or Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles, are an easy walk from the Metrolink stations.
Metrolink riders also can transfer free to many local bus and rail operators, such as Metro, which serves world famous museums in Exposition Park, Old Town Pasadena as well as the beach in Santa Monica.
At Metrolink’s ARTIC Station in Anaheim, riders bound for Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney can take a free shuttle operated by Anaheim Resort Transportation (ART) for a short ride to the Magic Kingdom.
And now Metrolink is making it possible for riders to use their mobile apps to make these transfers and save time thanks to new optic readers being installed on the gated Metro Rail system in Los Angeles.
Less driving stress, saving money, having time on the train to organize one’s day and read, or using Metrolink as a vehicle of discovery, all adds up to a more enjoyable life, high on everyone’s list of New Year’s resolutions.
To learn more about Metrolink including how to ride, go to www.metrolinktrains.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Chris Gutierrez at gutierrezc@scrra.net or (213) 332-6979.