Aundraya Reliford helps her 4-year-old son, Isaiah, with his jacket before he heads off to school. On some days, she takes her two sons to separate schools and then begins her long commute from Rialto to Santa Monica. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)
Reliford waits for a train at the Rialto Metrolink station, which will drop her off in downtown Los Angeles after an 80-minute ride. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)
On her way to Union Station, she reads, sleeps or stares out the window, watching miles of motorists stuck on the freeway. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)
After driving a second car she leaves parked near Union Station, Reliford arrives at MTV Networks in Santa Monica, where she manages library services. On a good day, the one-way trip takes two hours and 40 minutes. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)
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Driving east on the 10 Freeway, Reliford approaches the 110 in downtown Los Angeles during the first leg of her commute home to Rialto. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)
She makes her way to Union Station after parking her car nearby. Her daily commute is “absolutely horrific,” she says. Its not the distance. Its the amount of congestion that makes it just about unbearable. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)
Though Reliford loathes her commute, it is outweighed by her love for her home, with its big backyard where her two young boys can play safely. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)
The end of her day nears as she drives from the Metrolink station in Rialto to her mother-in-law’s house to pick up her sons. “There is no improvement in sight,” she says. “At the rate things are going, theres certainly going to be a time when I have to pull out.” (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)
