Metro Bus, Rail Free On New Year's Eve

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Metro is offering free rides on its rail and bus lines Saturday night for New Year's Eve.

The fare gates at all Metro Rail stations will be unlatched at 9 p.m. Saturday and remain open until 2 a.m. New Year's Day. After 2 a.m., customers will need a TAP card to ride.

Metro Rail and bus lines, including Orange and Silver lines, will run on their regular Saturday schedule along with special 24-hour service overnight. All rail and Orange lines will operate every 20 minutes on New Year's Eve. The Silver Line will operate every 60 minutes. The NoHo to Pasadena Express, Line 501, will run every 30 minutes.

Riders planning on going to the New Year's Eve celebration in downtown Los Angeles at Grand Park and using the Red or Purple lines to get there should get off at the Civic Center/Grand Park station and use the First Street exit. The Temple Street exit will be reserved for families with strollers and customers with disabilities.

Riders who present a TAP card at any Grand Park info booth will receive a free glow stick, according to Metro.

For those in the Long Beach area, the downtown Long Beach Station will be closed from 7 p.m. Saturday until 3 a.m. Sunday due to New Year's Eve celebrations on Pine Avenue.

The following Blue Line service changes will also be in effect: Trains will run every 15 minutes from 7 p.m. to close of service. The last complete northbound trips to downtown Los Angeles will depart Long Beach at 5:40 p.m., 5:53 p.m., 6:08 p.m., 6:23 p.m. and 6:38 p.m. The last complete southbound trips to Long Beach leave downtown L.A. at 4:58 p.m., 5:10 p.m., 5:22 p.m., 5:34 p.m. and 5:46 p.m.

Metro will also operate on a Sunday/holiday schedule on New Year's Day with extra game day service for the Rams/Arizona Cardinals game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Meanwhile, the Automobile Club of Southern California will offer free towing on New Year's Eve in an attempt to keep drunken drivers off the road.

The Tipsy Tow service will be available to intoxicated drivers in Southern California from 6 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday.

The Auto Club says drivers, bartenders, restaurant managers, party hosts or passengers of a drinking driver can call 800-400-4AAA for a free tow to the driver's residence of up to seven miles away.

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