Julianna, known as "Hot Girl Transit" on social media, is sharing her positive experiences using Los Angeles’ Metro system after being forced to abandon her car due to mechanical issues. Her TikTok videos about riding the bus and train have gone viral, garnering thousands of views and encouraging others to explore LA via public transit. Despite challenges like unreliability and safety concerns historically plaguing the system, recent data shows violent crime has dropped 6.7% in 2025 compared to 2024, making it the safest year since 2021, while weekday ridership grew by 8.4% from June 2025 to 2026.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
“I almost feel like I’m rediscovering LA,” Julianna, who posts under the handle “Hot Girl Transit” on social media, says of her recent foray into the city’s public transit system.
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who → feel → system
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Sign → sign → California
While Metro does set aside funds for influencer marketing, both the influencers quoted in this story confirmed they are not on the Metro’s payroll.
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they → set → payroll
The influencer has lived in Los Angeles for 18 years, but she took the city’s public transit system for the time ever in June after her car’s engine died.
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engine → live → June
“It’s incredible where the train and the bus can take you.
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train → ’ → you
It really can take you all over town.
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It → take → town
I just started discovering new communities, new art spaces, third spaces, new places to eat, and it’s been really awesome,”
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it → start → communities
says Julianna.
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Julianna → say → ?
She excitedly shared her journey taking public transit on TikTok, where her videos now net thousands of views and hundreds of comments.
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videos → share → comments
“I filmed one video, and it was me going to K-Town, and it kind of did well, and I got some really nice comments, and people were giving me recommendations, like ‘Oh, next time try this place or try this line.'”
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people → film → line
Now, she takes the bus and train from her home in West Hollywood to places all over the city.
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she → take → city
After surviving in LA for four months without a car, she says there’s no turning back.
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she → survive → car
“Could I get another car right now?
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I → get → car
Sure, but I would be stressed out,” says Julianna.
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Julianna → stress → ?
“I don’t want to deal with the gas prices.
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I → want → prices
I don’t want to deal with the lease,” she continued.
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she → want → lease
“There’s no world where I’m gonna sit in 40 minutes of traffic on the way to downtown when I can get there in 17 minutes and not worry about parking.
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I → ’ → parking
But she says she’s not anti-car.
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she → say → ?
“I’m never one to say ‘get rid of your car’, but people should have mixed use and try it out.”
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people → ’m → it
The LA Metro system, which spans 165 bus routes and 6 rail lines, has a reputation among Angelenos for being unreliable, unsafe, and dirty.
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which → span → Angelenos
“I think most Angelenos ignore Metro,” Juan Matute, deputy director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies told the California Post in June.
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Matute → think → June
“People are still figuring out what it means to them — and so we’re very much in this transitional period in LA of what transit means to the city.
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transit → figure → city
But the system is the safest its been in years, with violent crime falling 6.7% in 2025 compared with 2024, its lowest level since 2021.
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crime → fall → 2021
Ridership is also up, with weekday ridership growing 8.4% from June 2025 to 2026, according to LA Metro.
uncertain
ridership → grow → Metro
Still, it can prove a rough ride for many who have experienced some horrors and genuine safety issues on board.
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who → prove → board
The agency has made a concerted effort to get drivers out of their cars and on the Metro.
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agency → make → Metro
In August, they launched the second phase of their One Car Challenge pilot program, which pays eligible LA County households up to $600 if they agree not to use one of their vehicles for five weeks and rely only on public transit, biking, walking, or carpooling to get around.
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they → launch → transit
In May, the D line expanded west with three new stops through Mid-City.
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line → expand → City
The line will continue expanding with new stops opening in Beverly Drive and Century City in Spring 2027, and to Westwood in Fall 2027.
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line → expand → Fall
While Julianna’s videos get plenty of love, she also gets her fair share of skeptics.
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she → get → skeptics
“I love public transportation, but it must be done with a lot of caution.
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it → love → caution
A lot goes down in the subways!” one commenter warned.
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commenter → go → subways
“If you only knew what really happens in the Metro and buses.
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what → know → Metro
Oh well,” another said.
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another → say → ?
The transit system is also attractive to transplants like Celine Milien, a native New Yorker who moved to LA a year ago without a car.
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who → move → car
“I like just being able to be free and travel,” says Milien, an actress who lives in Downtown LA and often commutes to Studio City for gigs.
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who → travel → gigs
She’s now spreading the transit gospel to everyone she knows.
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she → spread → everyone
“I have roommates that have cars, and I’ve made them take the bus with me,” says Milien, who says she’s never been paid to promote the Metro.
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she → have → Metro
“They’re like, “Wait, actually, that wasn’t that bad.
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that → ’re → ?
And I’m like, “Exactly.”
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I → ’m → ?
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
