Big stop in Sierra Madre, located outdoors, in parallel with the freeway, a tad noisy. Decent benches around and the screens worked well to give you the information you need-direction, time till next train, etc. There is an big underpass to help you get to the parking lot across and from there you can take an elevator to street level and make your way to Foothill. There were safety ambassadors around when we were ready to exit or upon entering the station, nice and helpful, made us feel better to have them around. Decent station if you head to Sierra Madre! read more

My boyfriend and I decided to go for a little adventure and took public transportation together. This location at the Sierra Madre Villa Station conveniently has a parking garage to store your car. The metro stop is located on the 4th floor if you want to strategically part there, or park on another floor and take the elevator to 4th. We had a few motivators since the 10 fwy is closed due to the fires, avoid that LA traffic and the cost of the Metro is cheaper than the parking at the LA Convention Center. The downside is some stinkiness and sketch characters. You will need a TAP card ($2) and each trip is $1.75/trip or $5/day cap or $18/week cap. It's definitely a good deal for someone who live in the area or travelers to get around without renting a car. We exited at the Pico Station and we were within walking distance of the LA Convention Center. It was pretty easy and convenient. read more

See all

Best place to come if you would like to explore La and near by communities. This location is still free parking and there is plenty of it. Don't forget your tap card and the lan your trip ahead of time so you don't miss the train and don't have to wait. read more

This station has big parking, unpaid structure, with the metro terminal is accessible via 4th floor. I love the mountain views from the structure roof, and often park here if I'm eating or visiting friends in the area. read more

*ern ern*- Gold Line Horn from the early 2000s . I came to this tram station after Coachella because I am trying to get to the 626 area. This station is very old considering the fact it was built in 2003. Back then this station was considered state of the art. At first glance, you may think this station is built in Sierra Madre, CA but it's built near a street with that name. Parking is indeed free and on the weekends if you are not riding a bus, there should be no issues finding parking. You can directly come here from Union Station which is nice because it's the biggest transportation hub you can ever see in the state of California. For students at Citrus College and APU this is one of those stops to go by if you are commuting to school. This station is also very safe as well. Not sure why but it feels good. Drawback: You may need to walk awhile before getting to the bus area read more

My church family wanted to spend the day enjoying LA by taking the Gold Line to various stops. We started here at Sierra Madre/East Pasadena; parking on the 4th floor is free and that's the level you'll need to be on to purchase your tap card and walk over the bridge down to the Gold Line. $1 for the tap card and $7 for all day rides. We rode all the way down to Santa Monica (with transfers) and if you don't want to ride down to Santa Monica there are plenty of other sites you can stop at and venture off to. Would totally recommend it to everyone that wants to explore LA while saving money at the same time! read more

Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station - Ready for an adventure! - Metro Stations Near Me - Pasadena, California

In many ways this was a good end of the line station. The trains are frequent and it is clean. However the bus depot on the ground floor is not up to par with the other great public transportation systems of the world. The signage is not informative enough not to have to ask a living person a question as to which connecting bus to take, and the bus waiting area is Spartan. I waited 30 minutes for a 487 bus going north. However other buses cam more frequently. For trains you just need to catch the next one. For buses it is best to have a schedule. I believe (and hope) that the intention is to make this Sierra Madre Villa stop just a local connection, as they expand the gold line well into the Inland Empire. read more

Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station - Metro Stations Near Me - Pasadena, California

See all

I usually take the gold line as my main form of transportation to work. The gold line runs from Sierra Madre Villa Station to Atlantic Station and vise versa, however, they are currently doing construction past Union Station so it stops at Union Station. It is estimated that they will be doing construction for the next 2-3 months. A free shuttle is available and there are signs and people to help you if you need to go past Union Station. There is a free parking structure that is five stories high and accommodates 877 free spaces and 88 paid permit parking. Reserved permit parking on the 4th floor is guaranteed until 10am. After 10am, it's a free-for-all. The 4th floor is where the machines are to purchase or reload the tap card and the entrance to the trains (across the bridge). On each floor, there will be signs painted along the walls showing which way to the train/ 4th floor. During rush hour (morning and evening) on weekdays, the train runs every 6 mins. After rush hour, the train comes every 12-15 mins. On weekends, the train runs every 7-8 mins. On weekdays, the train can run until 12am and 1am. On weekends, it can run up to 2am. You can check the times here (http://media.metro.net/riding_metro/bus_overview/images/804.pdf) Fares: A new tap card cost $1 and is good for 10 years! A one-way trip is $1.75 (includes transfers on other metro lines for up to two hours with the exception of the metro silver line and express buses), a one day pass is $7 (all Metro services), a 7-day pass is $25 (includes all metro services with the exception of the silver line and express buses), a 30-day pass is $100 (all Metro services with the exception of the silver line and express buses for 30 days) and a 30-day + Zone 1 Pass is $122 (all Metro services for 30 consecutive days). Overall I really like how the gold line is above ground and has AC. It's pretty clean and well lit. I ride it during rush hour so it's mostly people going to work or going home after work. There's been several times where there have been delays due to maintenance but i'ts expected every so often. The speakers work fine and are clear whenever a stop comes up. It does get very busy during rush hour so be prepared to not get a seat during those times. Fun fact: They are extending the gold line to Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte/City of Hope, Irwindale, Azusa Downtown, APU/Citrus College, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair. From Arcadia to APU/Citrus College, they anticipate to open the line early March of this year. read more

See all

This station, once the terminus of the Foothills Gold Line, is about to become another stop (albeit a major one) as the line is set to open to points east in Arcadia, Monrovia, and Duarte next year. With a huge parking structure featuring just shy of 1000 free parking spaces, this is a common stop for weekday commuters to downtown LA and other points around the city. Since the Gold Line connects directly to Union Station, it is feasible to start a rail trip to San Diego, Santa Barbara, or points beyond from this local station. Occasionally, we will use this station to head to Old Town or Chinatown for dinner, but more often we jump on the Gold Line at Allen Station since it's close to my folks aka babysitters. Pound for pound, there are fewer homeless here than Union Station or surrounding freeway off ramps. So they got that going for them... Which is nice. read more

horrible. everytime a women is driving the bus. (this has happened 7 times now) purposely look at me and doesnt stop on purpose. I've been right at the stop, waving, making eye contact, and just drives off. And keep in mind these or not the "off service bus" like you'd assume. No. I saw more than enough people in there to be a full functioning bus. Your employees have done nothing but cause stress and made me late to work multiple times. The amount of break downs I had because of this. It's always the little things. You need to hire better people, im so sick of this. So whoever was driving the 266 bus today 4/29 @4:15. May the fat overweight ragroach rot for an eternity.also the women driving the 256 bus a couple months ago. read more

I really enjoy taking Metro. Public transportation is pretty affordable (cheaper than driving to and from places in your own car, especially with the ever so rising cost of gas) and you can also get a lot of reading and studying done on your way to your destination. But one of the worst negatives of taking the metro is the number of stops you have to go through and possibly transferring to another line or 2 in order to get to your final destination. So sometimes it may actually be faster if you drove to your destination instead of taking the train, but then again, you didn't have to worry about sitting in traffic and could just relax and sit back and maybe even read a book. There is plenty of (free) parking in the structure here, but I have to agree with my fellow yelpers in which that parking spots are a bit tight. And if you get here late morning during the week day, you will most likely not be able to find any parking (a lot of people like to take the train to work in downtown LA). But on weekends, you should be fine. By the way, once you park, you can take the elevator or the stairs (yay cardio) to the 4th floor so you can get on the platform to catch the train. You can also load your train fare (here on the 4th floor) onto your tap card or purchase a tap card here (no more paper tickets, all on cards now called tap). It cost $5 for all day rides on the metro (including the metro buses as well). So in sum, this station on the gold line is a great location because it is conveniently located very close by the 210 freeway (this station is in a safe location as well). The parking structure is free and there is plenty of parking (but remember to get there early during Monday- Friday, but weekends are not crowded). Trains come pretty regularly so waiting isn't too long. Oh and the best thing about the gold line in general is that it is much cleaner than the other lines (red, blue, purple, green). Oh and don't worry about strange ghetto smelly people, more and more business people and students take the trains now a days so you should be okay (although you may run into someone that may be ghetto and smelly though). Overall, this is an excellent station to catch the gold line, to take to Union Station where you can catch all the other lines (or you can just keep on going on the gold to Chinatown). read more

Metro got this one right. SMV Station has a big 5 story parking structure that is generally pretty full, but not totally packed. They but a bridge across the freeway for people to walk across and go down to the platform. when people who are on the bridge they see the train arriving and sprint as if they were gonna be left behind. They can relax. it takes about 5 minutes for the engineer to get out of the cab at what was the front of the train and walk up to the other end, and get situated. he then makes an announcement the doors are closing, and checks for stragglers. You will get on. Also, for those of you who are disabled--did you know that your placard ALSO entitles you to use the paid permit spaces on the 4th floor of the garage. There are more disabled spots on other floors near the elevators, but some of you find the permit spaces a better option. read more

Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station - Metro Stations Near Me - Pasadena, California

Pretty cool station. I'd never come this far on the Gold Line before so it was a fun ride from Union Station. I believe it took 30 or 40 minutes to get here. I brought my kindle out for the ride, but I enjoyed staring out the window the whole time. It's interesting to ride alongside the cars on the freeway. I came out here to go to the Old Navy because I googled it and saw it was a quick walk from the station. No lie it is about a 2 minute walk. I spent more time walking through the giant Old Navy parking lot then I did getting from the train to there. This station is also close to a Starbucks, Dicks Sporting Goods, Ross, XI clothing, Game Stop, Nordstrom Rack, and a few other cool looking things. The station had plenty of parking (5 levels?). The station was also clean, and being a few stories high it stood out so if you were nearby you could see it and know you were going the right way. I was surprised to see the #180 bus comes out this far. That has to be quite a ride from Sierra Madre to Hollywood. One day when I'm bored, not traveling during rush hour, and have time to waste, I'll be brave and give that a chance. read more

This review is for 11/19/2011. My old intern partner had always always gone to the SFV via Red Line. I wondered what it would be like to head to Union Station Gateway. It has been awhile since I have been on the Red Line. Without even stepping on the Red Line, I can already feel nauseated with the foul smell. So, I decided to take the light rail at the Sierra Madre Villa Gold Line Station. Sierra Madre Villa Gold Line Station is the beginning/end of the Gold Line. Out of all the Los Angeles County Metro Stations, this may have the biggest parking structure out of all of them. There is at least four to five parking levels. With the Rose Parade around the corner, I am sure this place is going to be very packed. Since it was a Saturday, departures for the Gold Line at 10-11am was about 10-15 minutes. I had received a free TAP Card from Metro a couple months earlier, but did not use its free credits promotion. Just go to a ticket vending machine and purchase your tickets or load your TAP Card. Just a warning. Since I never used a TAP Card, I made a mistake of just adding value to my TAP Card of $5. Apparently, you have to purchase a Day Pass and load it to your card. By the end of my return trip, I ended up paying $6.50. So load a Day Pass, not just add value. Sierra Madre Villa Gold Line Station has a nice bridge crossing over the 210 Freeway. Then the platform was in the middle of the 210 Freeway. It was nice to see everyone in a rush and driving their personal vehicles. I was a little worried that a car just might fly onto the platform. Overall, the Gold Line is the nicest light rail out of the Blue and Green Line. I know the former Metro CEO, Roger Snoble, used to ride the Gold Line and this dream came true. I hope I'll start becoming a transient more and more, but I work at the edges of the county. I might have to find some more activities in Downtown Los Angeles. The Yelp Universe. Where are you traveling today? read more

+ Easy to find location - right off the 210 + Free and ample parking + Frequent trains + AC on the trains + Clean station + Machines have never been out of order since I've been taking the train here read more

this station has been good to me but i do have one complaint that i want to get out of the way. The structure itself was built a bit too small and narrow and if you're trying to come in during rush hour while large numbers of people are trying to get out after a long day at work, you best watch out. understandably many people just wanna get home, to the gym, to happy hour, basically anywhere that isn't work and i don't blame them. This results in people driving faster than they should and not noticing/caring about the narrowness of the structure while making sharp turns. now the positive. one thing is the structure with the high bridge that leads to a platform smack down in the middle of the 210 is awesome to look at and i will say i feel pretty darn cool while on that bridge and platform. it's a very clean parking structure. i feel like i'm at the "mickey and friends" parking structure at disneyland because it's so clean and disney clean is hard to achieve. the last thing i like about the structure/station and most importantly, is that i feel safe leaving my car there. i recently had to leave it overnight and when i came back the next morning my car was still there in the condition i left it in without a parking ticket. now i'm not advocating leaving your car there overnight because i'm not really sure that's allowed but i can say i did so and everything worked out. this station is pretty popular, especially with people that live east of it but i wonder if it will remain as popular once the gold line is expanded eastward. read more

The Gold Line is still one of the cleaner metro lines. This station is one of the more convenient stations. The parking structure here is huge and free, but it can get full during weekdays as commuters leave their cars here to go to work. A lot of the parking spots are marked for compact cars, but some people with bigger cars will just end up taking two spaces. You can buy a permit to park in the reserved spots closest to the bridge over to the platform on the 4th floor. Those spots are reserved through 11 am on Mondays through Fridays. read more

Love all the free parking, but it's not the easiest to find this station, and there is a lot of walking and stairs to get to the platform. Probably not the easiest for wheelchair access. read more

My 1st time taking the Gold Line. It's kinda hidden. Lots of FREE parking. We went on a Saturday around 7:30pm. I have only taken the Metro Link once so I'm new to this. It said online it was $1.50 each way but it cost $2.50 & it prints out a card not a ticket. We went to Chinatown it took 25 minutes but it seemed like 5 minutes. It was empty & they don't mess around they only stop for 15 seconds at each stop, but it's ok because the next train comes in 6 minutes. read more

Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station - On bridge looking onto the freeway - Metro Stations Near Me - Pasadena, California

See all

This is a very good station. It is, like most Gold Line stations that I've taken, clean and easily maintained. It is accessible to other forms of transportation, and has an additional bonus of being reasonably close, about two miles, from my parents home. read more

See all

This is by far one of the cleanest train stations. Although a light rail, it really does get around. With a continued expansion I am curious to see what the future hold for the new cities it will lay its track on. I started taking the rail when I began attending school at USC. Rather than drive and live in LA, I opted to take public transportation. I was able to study on the rail. I made some friends on there a well, and was a regular. Recently, I started taking the rail again because there has been so much traffic on my commute to Santa Monica. This is a safe line to ride in as most as and I enjoyed and look forward to its expansion. I would recommend taking the rail over driving any day. In fact, on my exploration to LA, I often get a day pass and explore the city. So much better than driving and trying to find parking. read more

I'm a commuter so I'm here M-F. The structure does get packed, but it has almost 900 free spaces.. . so which station along the line would be better to park your can at? Okay okay fine, drive all the way to Lincoln Park and you can probably still find a space at 11am, but really that's pretty far. Anyway, I like it enough to still take he gain from here every day. The one thing I hate is sometimes when you get off the train there are sheriff's deputies hanging out checking to see if you tapped your tap card. This annoys me because I'm usually in a hurry to get to a class after work and I have to stand around in a line waiting for "crime fighters" to find a crime... read more

We don't use public transportation often but it was pretty sweet to take the Gold Line to Angel City Brewery and also use it to hit up Philippe's on the way home! read more

Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station - Snapchat fun - Metro Stations Near Me - Pasadena, California

See all

I love sierra madre! it gets me places, and i get here all the way from downey/bellflower (thanks 266) since this is the end of the gold line, it runs often (every 10-15 minutes) i could go to downtown, pcc, or east la! i think the station is a normal station like any other. across the street, there's a cool shopping center, a ralphs and pasadena 300, a lounge/bowling alley. also free parking for those who want to use the train. one star off because of the mini bridge you have to walk through right above the freeway to get to the trains. if you're afraid of heights or have anxiety, this might be your only option since the elevators never work :| read more

Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station - sierra madre villa gold line. - Metro Stations Near Me - Pasadena, California

See all

It was my first time to this location a few days ago and it was very different from the other Gold Line stations as this was off the 210 freeway. This station is at the end the line but they are expanding out from here as there will be more stations that go east into Azusa (Phase 1) and then into San Dimas (Phase 2). There is free parking in the structure attached to the station that is huge. It can hold over 800 cars. Awesome! After parking, take the elevator to the 4th floor, walk over the freeway and onto the platform. Simple. The platform is about level with the cars zipping by on the 210 freeway. You are so close to the cars. I love the Gold Line as it is mostly above ground, but goes through some tunnels instead of all underground. Love the Gold Line!! read more

As a citizen of Los Angeles, I would give this 3, maybe 4 stars as far as public transpo goes. On one hand, the trains are new, clean, nice, and this station has 5 levels of secure parking for those parking and leaving their cars here. This is the last stop on the Gold Line heading toward Pasadena, located in a pretty nice part of town, very close to the San Gabriel mountains. As a cyclist - this place gets ZERO stars and an angry fist shake. To fellow cyclists - DO NOT LEAVE YOUR BIKE HERE. Don't lock it up here, no matter how good your lock. Yesterday I had my SECOND bike stolen from this station. The first one I kind of understand, I had left my bike locked on the bike racks overnight. But this time? Broad daylight. I left at about 9am, came back around 2:30 pm to my lock and bike both gone. For the SECOND TIME. A friend of mine also had their bike stolen from here, also locked up in their bike racks. Security doesn't care at all if you try to file a complaint, and just advised us that even though there were cameras by the bike rack they DON'T WORK. Do NOT lock your bike up here. I feel like someone is casing the station and waiting for people to leave, then taking their bikes. Just a word of warning. Such a nice place tarnished by some lowlifes, hopefully they step their security game up sometime soon. read more

Looks like my list needs an update! To continue... 7) Scratch #1 8) Replace tip #1 with "If you get to the station after 9 AM on a weekday, forget it! Everyone has discovered that gas is $4-$5 per gallon. ALL THE SPOTS ARE GONE! GONE I TELL YOU! JUST LEAVE! One clue is if you see people driving out. Trust me - no one is driving OUT of the station at 9 am. 9) If you get there before 9 am MY RULE STILL HOLDS. Please go straight to the top. Stop trying to get as close as possible. MOVE IT! There are like 30 people behind you and no way to get around you without cutting through the middle partition. 10) If you are willing to walk three blocks, there is neighborhood parking north off the Allen Gold Line stop that is not two hours. No I'm not going to tell you where exactly. That's my spot! 10) Scratch #5 .... Kind of makes me sad. I miss the pointless swiping... 11) Replace #5 with you better buy the tap card, put money on it and swipe it. Don't risk the ticket. Don't loose the plastic tap card either - that's $1.50 out of your wallet. The Gold Line is, by far, the nicest of all the lines with the least number of crazy people. If you have to take the Expo, Red, Purple, or Blue lines from Union Station, you may want to take some time to prepare yourself. That said, expect to experience occasional high teenagers past Allen, drunk people through Old Town, yuppies into South Pasadena, homeboys past HP, ravers in Chinatown and the occasional preacher waiting for you when you arrive at Union Station. read more

Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station - A reminder of why I take the train! - Metro Stations Near Me - Pasadena, California

See all

Do NOT park your car here on the top floor on the weekends! I parked my car over the weekend of 8/28/15 and someone came and SMASHED my window in and went through my glove box. Whoever it was also smashed the window of a car parked next to mine. I know that it's not the metro stations fault but I'm writing this just as a PSA. I have parked my car overnight here before but usually on one of the lower levels where there is more foot traffic and have never had any problems. I've also seen a security officer drive around on a golf cart but I think that they only really monitor the lot during the week. The police pretty much told me that they wouldn't be any help since they said dusting for prints would likely be useless since most people know to wear gloves so don't expect CRAP from them either. read more

Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station - Car got broken into here!! - Metro Stations Near Me - Pasadena, California

See all

The Skinny: Beat traffic, be economical and save the environment...all at the same time while you enjoy the sights. Good station with a five story parking structure in a decent part of town. The Fat: The Gold Line goes from East Los Angeles' Atlantic Station to Union Station to Sierra Madre Station. The Sierra Madre Station is good start if you want to beat the 210 traffic going into LA or if you want to travel to the East LA Area. The Station is in the middle of the freeway and is generally clean from the parking structure to the bridge. TIP: Don't fight or spend half an hour looking for a spot on the first floor or the floor with the bridge...go all the way to the top and park right next to the elevator. TIP 2: Buy an all day pass for $5. With that pass, you can board Metro Buses and go on any line. So you can essentially go visit Pasadena, Downtown LA and then take the Red Line to Hollywood and back and not have to worry about paying at every machine. You'll save too, especially if you'll be taking it back and forth. TIP 3: It's windy on the platform (it being in the middle of the 210 Freeway), so don't be holding a stack of important paperwork as you wait on the platform. It's also smart to not wear a very light dress unless you want to be a Marilyn Monroe. read more

There was a 2 year period when I took the metro rail to work, and I still ride it on occasion. As gas prices skyrocketed up, so did the popularity of taking the Gold Line. PARKING This particular lot is free for the most part (there are a few reserved spaces). I saw how quickly the parking structure would fill up on weekday mornings. I'd say get there before 8am or earlier, and as noontime hits, the lot will start to empty out... Fridays are an exception though. Everyone playing hookey, I guess. PAYMENT If you ride regularly, you should probably get a month pass. If visiting from out-of-town, perhaps a day or week pass. My New York cousin would always complain about riding our metro because they don't check your ticket (or TAP card now) each time you ride, though security will pick random times and places to catch you in the act, in which case, get ready for a financial beatdown! SCHEDULE It takes about 40 minutes to ride the Gold Line from here to Union Station (bring a book or earphones), though you also have to allow for parking and waiting for the train. It runs on a schedule, and it's fairly on the dot about that. There have been occasions when technical difficulties happen though. I've been late a few times, whether it's a loss of power, a tree falling on the tracks, a train under maintenance, or an car accident. It's not often, but I've seen delays and detours have added hours to my commute. Not fun. WHERE TO GO You can easily hit up Old Town Pasadena. With the extended Gold Line, you can now go straight to Little Tokyo. Combined with the Red/Purple line and Blue Line, it's a great way to get to the Staple Center and LA Convention Center (well, except when the events are over, then the trains get overcrowded all at once). You can also hit up Universal Studios by joining with the Red Line. You could also go straight down to the Long Beach Convention Center, though I took that once and it look like 2 hours (just drive and save over an hour). This particular line is nice because it's still new and clean. But since it connects to downtown and has now been extended, once evening hits, I'd recommend going in groups just for safety precautions. All in all, I support public transportation and is essential in maintaining a functional city as large as Los Angeles. With gas prices still on the rise, it may become more vital... read more

At the moment, this is the farthest east that the Gold Line goes (although they are currently working on the Arcadia one now). I like this station because it's relatively close to me (just need to drive west on Foothill) and there is free parking! The parking structure is pretty big, although a lot of people have decided to commute to work (thanks to rising gas prices) so you need to go early in the morning if you want to find a spot. They no longer do paper tickets; everyone needs to have (or buy) a TAP card. It just costs an extra $1 if you don't already have one. Passes are easily bought at the kiosks by the bridge to the trains (on the 4th floor). You could get away with not paying since the handicapped entrance is always open and you can just walk through it, and usually there is no one who checks to see if you have your pass, but you never know when they will randomly decide to check! Plus, do you really want to be ripping off the metro system? In my experience so far, the trains have always been punctual. It takes around half an hour to get to Union Station, although you want to have a cushion for parking, walking, etc. Sometimes there can be technical difficulties which can delay your train a lot, so just be aware of that possibility. I like using the metro to get to places where parking can be a hassle (Chinatown, downtown LA) and it's been great. Since the Gold Line is relatively new, the trains are mostly clean and don't smell, which is always a good thing. This is definitely a resource worth checking out :) read more

Last stop before heading deep into foothill suburbias of Sierra Madre and more. Because of this, It's pretty clean and not full of scary people you don't want to meet eyes with. But if you have a day off and want a fun trip to town on a week day, you can forget finding parking. Learned that the hard way. My sympathies for those who actually take the train for work and must battle for that parking. Not much fun stuff to walk to around this stop. I think its just the closest pickup and drop off point for us suburbans looking to hit the livelier towns for work or fun. Tapp cards required these days. I feel like such a city girl with a permanent card in my wallet now. read more

This is the first and closest Metro Rail station to my home in Monrovia. I cannot wait until Metro extends the Gold Line into Arcadia and Monrovia because that is far closer to my home, and instead of driving 15-20 minutes in traffic to get to the station I can drive 3 minutes on practically empty surface streets. Besides the minor hassle of getting there each morning in traffic to go to work, the other big hassle is the parking. There is a 5 story parking structure, but if you're there anytime after 8:30, good luck finding any sort of parking. Every single spot is normally filled up by 7:30, and only one or two TINY compact spots remain, often being overlapped by the cars of rushed commuters who clearly never learned how to park. ****SECRET**** Not many people know this, but there is an underground level that is never filled up in the morning where you can always nab a spot. That's the key, folks. But there is a reason (actually, reasons) why I gave the review 4 stars. One star was subtracted because of everything I stated above. In all honesty, this is a great station. During peak hours (aka the hours where everyone is heading to work, from 6 to around 8-ish) the trains to East LA and Union Station run every six minutes. That's very speedy and if for some reason you miss the train just puling out, another one will be there before you know it. It is also probably the cleanest line I've ridden on, and carries the most legit people (aka mostly businessmen and businesswomen) instead of many weird characters or homeless people. Each stop is very clearly displayed electronically at the front and back of each car, as well as announced over the loudspeaker by a polite male voice (the voice of Metro) and on a Metro gold line on the inside of each car. Service is always quick and I have yet to experience delays of any sort while riding it, although I'm sure once in a while there are (it IS public transportation after all). If you are aiming to get to Union Station, it will take you exactly 30 minutes from this station, MUCH quicker than driving downtown. I have no problems taking it and I highly recommend it to all read more

My first impression of the Gold Line (review forthcoming) wasn't stellar, but things got better, and this station kind of epitomized that fact. I had done my research online so that I wouldn't look like a complete idiot when we showed up, but there's something about fare machines that is just nerve-wracking when you haven't used them 433 times already. I was simultaneously pleased and frustrated that the fare machines are IDENTICAL to BART fare machines. They even make the same annoying sounds. True to form, the first machine I tried to use wouldn't take dollar bills, and it spit quarters right back out. I had to use another machine, which didn't like the first dollar bill I tried, but otherwise, it was IDENTICAL to using a BART fare machine. The station itself is ridiculously loud. Yes, I realize that nothing's going to be quiet in the middle of a freeway, but compared to BART's Rockridge Station (also on a freeway), the traffic noise was almost ear-splitting. Not necessarily Metro's fault, but it doesn't make the best first impression either. The parking structure is huge, and it's pretty easy to find your way to the elevators and/or stairs. I'm not entirely sure why they made the pedestrian bridge from the parking structure to the station so high in the air; it's on the fourth floor, but I think it could have been on the third and still given the freeway adequate clearance. This is only a problem because the stairs from the bridge to the platform are really steep. There's a platform elevator, but I'm so used to BART that I wouldn't even think about using it. The signs, maps, and timetables are all easy to find, accurate, and clear. The parking is also free. Riding from here to Downtown L.A. is a snap. It was way faster than I expected it to be, so $1.25 is a complete bargain. If you're a senior, it's $0.55 during peak hours and a quarter during off hours. Where are you going to find a better deal in Southern California? I have no idea why the station is called Sierra Madre Villa; why not just Sierra Madre? I don't have a problem with the name per se, but it sounds awfully close, especially in butchered Spanglish, to Maravilla, another stop on the Gold Line. Not necessarily a huge problem, but this could be confusing to someone unfamiliar with the route. read more

This station is served by the express trains. First-time riders should know how to access, and/or climb out of, this station. Sierra Madre Villa station is in the middle of the 210 Freeway, and there's no direct street access. Instead, there's a large bridge connecting the station to civilization. The bridge is on the fourth floor of the large parking garage. The street level is on the first floor -- and this needs to be mentioned because this is Southern California, after all, and what would appear to be common sense in the rest of the world is mentally confounding here. The several bus systems are also on the ground floor of the garage. This is not the most ideal place to transfer, considering the labrynthine walk, but not as bad as, say, Union Station. Hastings Ranch Center, a major shopping center, is a half-mile east. Connections: Metro Local lines 177, 181, 264, 266, 267 and 268; Foothill Transit Line 187; Pasadena Area Rapid Transit System lines 31/32, 40 and 60; Montebello Municipal Bus Line 20; and Sierra Madre Gateway Coach Community Loop and Commuter Loop lines. read more

I was debating on either 1 or 2 stars, and thought, 3 stars, because there is free parking, and plenty of it. Now on to why this place sucks: I hate having to squeeze into my passenger side door because some arrogant asshole with an SUV decided to park over the white line (when I was there first). It's also inconvenient that the only toilets here are the walls in the parking garage, and more inconvenient that it smells more like the downtown LA sidewalks in here. On the plus side, the elevators from that go down to the boarding platform do smell good, but that's probably to cover up the smell of urine that previously inhabited the elevators. I'm also surprised they passed inspection (which is now expired), considering that someone apparently burned all the plastic floor buttons, so they need an extra hard press to work sometimes. read more

OK - so maybe I'm reaching a bit, writing a review of a mass transit station, but what the heck. That I, a car-bound citizen of Southern California can actually experience mass transit is a marvel in and of itself. I live within walking distance of the Allen Ave station, but chose to depart from Sierra Madre Villa on a recent excursion to the Hollywood Bowl so that I didn't have to walk back home alone late at night. Ours is a relatively safe neighborhood, but why risk it? Anyway, as another reviewer mentioned, access to the station is from the fourth floor of the garage. This was important to note as I wanted the most direct access to my car upon my return. I'd imagine that the ample parking available on the Sunday evening I was there might be a bit more crowded during the week, but I can't say for sure. I bought my ticket from a machine. Because I had to transfer to the Red Line, and would be making a return trip, I should have purchased a day pass. However in my haste, I chose a lesser option and then had to stop to buy another ticket at Union Station to make the necessary transfer. Again, not a big deal, but useful information to note for future trips. The train arrived within 5 or so minutes and was mostly clean and comfortable. Transferring to the Red Line proved to be a bit daunting as I needed ticket information and help was a bit hard to find in Union Station that Sunday evening. I missed my first train and arrived a bit later than I intended, but all in all it was a good trip. One thing that would help with most public transportation systems in most cities is better directional signage. If you are new to the area or even to public transportation in the area, the signage isn't always clear as to which direction you need to go in or which side of the platform you need to take the train from to get where you need to go. Still, I've been trying to take public transportation whenever the opportunity presents itself, and while there is definitely room for improvement, I'm happy to have the Gold Line as an option. read more

Great way to make it downtown on the weekends! The free parking is great but during the weekday it's jam packed by 9am. I'm hoping that once they finish the gold line extension parking here won't be so tight. Lots of local buses stop at this station as well. read more

The Gold Line is Pasadena's answer to mass transit. There are still a bunch of cars on the road and there is still a lot of traffic but when you take the Gold Line, you can get to areas that are really congested. Back in high school my friends and I took the gold line to Chinatown. The Gold Line travels all the way to Union Station, where you can connect to other lines to go to your destination(s). There is free parking at this station and the parking lot is huge. It doesn't get too busy on the weekends. The train is clean and is always on time. The Sierra Madre station is the turnaround point for the Gold Line. The machines to buy the tickets are really easy to use. You should buy your tickets as there is a huge fine if you don't. I remember a one way ticket was like $1.25. I don't know if the prices have gone up. It has been a while since I've taken the Gold Line. The Gold Line does stop at different stations so you can get out at any time. There is also an all day pass, which we never got since we were only going to Chinatown. This station is convenient. There is a bridge that allows you to pass over the freeway. The waiting area is decent.. read more

Not a fan of driving in LA center, I decided to try mass transit for the first time today since I've been in California and drove over to Sierra Madre Villa a few miles from where I live, parked on the 4th floor, relatively safe area. The machines were easy to figure out, I got the day pass as I was going to the LA Car Show and figured I'd save money going back and forth. A little confused about the Day pass, but essentially, and correct me if I'm wrong, just carry it on your person and if asked, show it, otherwise you just go through the terminals, much thanks to the young man that passed by telling me this, felt like an idiot trying to swipe my printed ticket. First thing I found out, don't use the Metro "trip planner" it's wrong and misleading, just look at the Metro Map and you'll figure it out. Took the Gold to Union Station (useful to know if I decide to take amtrak someday for a weekend excursion). Then like Jennifer noted in her review, looking for the Purple line,...it was like a secret... "oh take the red" there's no signs for the Purple line at all. The Purple Line IS the Red line minus a few extra stops I'd never make, and it runs parallel to the Red Line, I'm told that the Purple line is under construction and will be expanded in the future. I hope on the Blue line at 7th and Market, and 1 stop later I'm a short walk from the Convention Center (and Staples Ctr), no traffic, no hassle, very easy. Overall experience was good, people on trains were from all walks of life and very cordial, The cars were clean as were most of the stations. Only thing I'd note was some of the stations had small platforms, some people were too close to the line, you never know if some wacko's going to push someone off, best to stay seated, till the train comes to a stop. Oh note to those coming from Arcadia, etc instead of going to the turn at Kaiser Permanente, take the turn 1 block earlier as you can't take a left turn to get into the parking structure. Looking forward to more adventures soon! read more