The Blue Line is so bad today Metro suggests driving

Raghu Manavalan

File: A Blue Line Train arrives at 103rd St/Kenneth Hahn Station.

Blue Line Park & Ride patrons are advised to drive to Artesia Transit Ctr then take Silver Line / 450X, or drive into Downtown LA today. ^ST

— Metro LA Alerts (@metrolaalerts) February 23, 2012

After a power outage this morning that put part of the Blue Line out of service and caused massive delays for some, Metro's account is now reporting there is service about every 20 to 30 minutes. But it's warning passengers to expect major crowds. About 78,000 people ride the Blue Line every week day.

The outage affected the area between the Imperial/Wilmington and 7th Street/Metro Center stations. Metro was scrambling buses to route passengers around the non-functioning area. Additional alternate routes are listed at The Source.

The morning rush hour problem is due to a power loss at the main yard.

UPDATE 8:49 a.m. We asked Metro's Helen Ortiz-Gilstrap how often Metro encourages driving as a solution to Metro delays.

“Not often. This is probably an exception,” she said.

“Because of the way the system was down early this morning, and we were coordinating the buses that would go out to the individual stations, if someone had to reach their destination in a very short time we were asking that they look at alternative modes — either carpooling or calling a co-worker trying to share a ride into work. We always encourage ridesharing."