The answer is "Yes!" for Kenny Uong who is passionate about L.A.'s buses and trains, knows how to get around without a car, and hopes to inspire others to do the same.

Los Angeles is well-known for its car culture, traffic, and freeways, but it actually does have a public transit system. And there are probably very few people who know and use this network like Kenny Uong, who was recently featured in this article by Nita Lelyveld of the Los Angeles Times. At age 21, Uong just completed his junior year at Cal State Northridge, where he studies urban planning. Uong has thousands of followers on Twitter, where he passionately shares his love for buses, trains, all things public transit, and his adventures across Los Angeles County.
Uong's story is inspiring. Some of the highlights he shared with Lelyveld include:
- He first fell in love with public transportation when he was about 3 years old. His parents did not have a car, and they still do not. The family came to California from Vietnam in 1998, before he was born.
- When Uong was around 5, he started collecting Los Angeles bus and train schedules and Metro brochures. He soon started mapping out the routes and schedules of the buses his family would take, serving like a transit app.
- By the time he was 10, he had memorized the entire Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority public transit system.
- For his 10th-grade English class, he wrote a poem called “Metro is the way to go.”
- For a ceramics class project in 11th grade, he shaped the word "Mobility" in clay, surrounded by images of a traffic signal, a bicycle, and a bus.
- Growing up, his dream was to be a Metro planner. Now as a young man, he is more interested in joining a nonprofit or advocacy group to promote transit justice.
Please read the source article to learn more about Uong and his love for public transit.
FULL STORY: Need help ditching your car for a train or bus? Meet an L.A. public transit superfan

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Connecting Communities to Nature Close to Home
Los Angeles County’s Nature in Your Neighborhood program brings free, family-friendly wellness and nature activities to local parks, making it easier for residents to enjoy and connect with the outdoors.

Palmdale’s Beloved Water Park Gets $2 Million Upgrade
To mark its 20th anniversary, DryTown Water Park has undergone major renovations, ensuring that families across the Antelope Valley continue to enjoy safe, affordable, and much-needed water-based recreation in the high desert.

Help Stop the Beetle Killing Southern California’s Oak Trees
Claifornia residents can join a volunteer “blitz” this June to help detect and map infestations of an invasive beetle that is killing thousands of oak trees across Southern California.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
City of Clovis
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions