How Do Actors Get Around Los Angeles Without A Car?

Now that you've moved to Los Angeles for pilot season, it's time to make your way around town. Learning the ins and outs of the 405, the 101 and the 5 as well as when to take surface streets to avoid traffic jams is essential to saving time going to auditions. But what if you come to town without a car? How is an actor supposed to get around town???

One of the major factors that determines how easily you can get around town without a car is where you live. For example, Santa Monica has the Big Blue Bus that can get you from Santa Monica to as far as Beverly Hills or as close as Venice. Public transportation (or what counts for public transportation in LA) is the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority or Metro. On the plus side, Metro can get you somewhere for a couple of bucks. However, the stations are scattered and, at best, are few and far between. Planning trips around town is not very practical if you don't live near a Metro stop. Having said all of that, living near a station means you can take advantage of the trains that run about every 10 minutes or so during the day and around 20-25 minutes at night. Metro also has bus service if you'd rather not take a train.

How about riding a bike? It's great exercise and there are plenty of bike lanes in Los Angeles as many people choose to bike instead of drive. The danger of riding a bike is being the super sweaty actor at an audition.

As with any major city, there is Uber and Lyft to get you around town. There are definite advantages to these car ride services as they save you the hassle of finding a parking space and are available 24-hours a day on demand. The downside is the rides are automatically charged to your credit card. Regular customers need to encourage their friends to use the services so they can get free rides. Otherwise, the charges to your credit card can become a large amount before you realize how much money you've spent on rides.

Like many actors in Los Angeles, you will more than likely have a regular job to help pay the bills. Although it can't be done with all jobs, living close to where you work is a goal for many in Los Angeles. Being able to walk or ride a bike to work is a big help in your life without a car.

If you do need a car in a tight spot or just to run some errands outside of your neighborhood, there is a car-share service called Zipcar that allows you to pay an hourly rate to use their vehicles. From auditions to job interviews to needing a vehicle to carry groceries home, Zipcar is a good alternative when a car is the only option for you.

You can always take a cab and spend way too much money if you enjoy that kind of thing. Cabs are easy to come by downtown and in many tourist spots around the area. Good luck finding one in the middle of the day in the Valley.

Finally, make friends with people who don't mind taking you places as long as you help out with gas money.

It's not impossible to exist in Los Angeles without a car during pilot season (and beyond). It is nicer to have your own transportation so you can drive to an audition at your pace. Plus, everybody in Los Angeles should have to experience going to the California DMV at least once in their life.

I can't believe this actor is old enough to have his own vehicle.