Another Multi-Modal, (if that's what they call it now), commuter here. I work in downtown LA, (at USC), and live in the San Fernando Valley. My commute is about 5 miles from home to the Universal City Red Line Station, subway to 7th Street Metro, then 2 miles down Flower St. to Jefferson, hang a right on Jefferson, and .5 miles to campus. Its a pretty ideal route, since it's short enough to be ridden in just about any weather condition, (I don't ride when its raining, but how often is that in SoCal?), but long enough that you do get a nice ride in.
By the way, +1 on the nextrip app for a smart phone. You do have to go thorough a number of screens to get to the bus line/ stop that you're waiting at, but its pretty accurate and does give you a good estimate of your wait time.