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^it's really messed up how much the federal govt screws LA and Ca in general. Yeah, give the least amount of funding per capita to the city with the worst congestion in the nation.
It's not just L.A. Lots of places need more transit funding and don't get it. Often it has to do with how effective the local agency is, but it can also be influenced by national politics or by the larger funding picture. Boston has received very little in federal transit funding for the past two decades, but then again, there was a competing public works project (the Big Dig) that sucked away most fed money flowing to Massachusetts. I suspect similar issues are in play elsewhere, too.
Most of the articles I have read about LA metro's planned extensions in the LA Times have said that many of them are ready to be built and the only thing preventing it is FUNDING.
I sincerely doubt the articles actually said that the only thing preventing these projects are funding. I'd believe you if you said the articles mentioned funding as an issue or that funding has not been secured, but that is not the same thing as an article saying that a project is shovel-ready and funding is all that's required.
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Originally Posted by sav858
And LA does have several projects already under construction at the moment, the Expo line and the Gold Line extension, which opens soon
Right, which is why LA received that 76.2 million this year.
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Originally Posted by sav858
Despite CA having some powerful politicians it still gets short changed by the federal govt. For every $1.00 CA sends to the federal govt in tax revenue it only gets $.79 back. And it doesn't matter how powerful Pelosi or Feinstein are unless they are on the right committee when it comes to transportation funding, which they are not.
Did you neglect to mention Senator Boxer who is actually the chairwoman of the exact committee which determines which capital projects get the go-ahead and which ones don't? That's some good strategery! It's not as if every state who received a greater proportion of funding had more or more powerful people on that committee. As for how much CA gets back, that's true of several other states (a lot of other blue states) who did receive capital funding which makes the argument silly.
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Originally Posted by sav858
It's also silly and naive how you actually believe that federal funding is completely transparent and there is some even playing field for all. Earmarks, pork barrel projects, etc... get real, areas can get screwed out of federal funding b/c of the whim of politicians.
I don't think I've shown you that I'm silly and naive. I didn't say all federal funding was transparent, though most of it is. You can access a lot of the information--the only problem is few take the time to or are able to do the critical thinking to interpret it. Yes, there are earmarks and pork barrels, but those are transparent. You can see the earmarks. You can see the pork barrel projects. Most media outlets do a terrible job of reporting them (since most people do a terrible job of being interested), but they are absolutely out there for you to see. The bill is for you to see. The final law and amendments are there. The congressional records for who argued for what are there. The tally of votes are there. This is not a closed-door process--we're just too busy in our rooms watching porn to pay attention.
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Originally Posted by sav858
Many of these plans have been around for years and the biggest problem for most were funding. They've had many projects in the pipeline for a while. But you've also claimed several times before that LA's population is not supportive of transit, which is simply not true today. That's why I said you are stuck living in the past b/c you still don't seem to accept the change in attitudes of Anegelno's towards public transit.
Not as much as you try to portray it having.
Read my wording. I've consistently said "has been" as in it's rooted in the past. You yourself were able to pick this out in earlier posts. It's a problem of our attitude towards mass transit in the past, and it is biting us in the ass now that we're for mass transit. I do know things are changing, and I like that. I also know the car culture is still very strong.
I'm surprised that so many are praising LA. My car free experience in LA was tiring and unpleasant at best. I was too young to rent a car at the time so I had to make due but would not want to go through that again. Now granted this was 8 years so maybe LA has improved but for me in 2001 it sucked not having a car in LA.
It depends a lot on which part of the city you were staying in and what places you were trying to go to. I have a few friends who live by mass transit most of the time, but they're of the lucky few that have routes close to where they live and where they work/study.
Did you neglect to mention Senator Boxer who is actually the chairwoman of the exact committee which determines which capital projects get the go-ahead and which ones don't? That's some good strategery!
From what I read, the committees that review FTA New Start Projects are:
House Transportation and Infrastructure
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Development
House Appropriations
Senate Appropriations
Boxer is not the Chairwoman of any of these.
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As for how much CA gets back, that's true of several other states (a lot of other blue states) who did receive capital funding which makes the argument silly.
I never said Ca was the only state that gets screwed.
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Read my wording. I've consistently said "has been" as in it's rooted in the past. You yourself were able to pick this out in earlier posts. It's a problem of our attitude towards mass transit in the past, and it is biting us in the ass now that we're for mass transit. I do know things are changing, and I like that. I also know the car culture is still very strong.
You do have a point, past inaction makes it more expensive and difficult to get big ticket projects off the ground today but I feel that is mainly a funding issue, LA has had plans around for a while, before the public came around and supported them.
I'm surprised that so many are praising LA. My car free experience in LA was tiring and unpleasant at best. I was too young to rent a car at the time so I had to make due but would not want to go through that again. Now granted this was 8 years so maybe LA has improved but for me in 2001 it sucked not having a car in LA.
I had a great experience living and working in LA without driving. I lived in both Hollywood and in South Pasadena and worked for a time in West LA and then mostly in Pasadena, and also spent a lot of time downtown. The Westside has major traffic problems (which impact the buses, too), but Hollywood, Los Feliz, Pasadena, Eagle Rock, downtown (my top haunts), and many other locations have excellent public transportation options, or else are very walkable neighborhoods.
I think things have changed pretty dramatically since 2001. The Gold Line opened in 2003 (now with brand new extension!), the Orange Line (dedicated bus transitway) opened in 2005, the Rapid buses opened early in the decade (maybe around the time you were there) but have since expanded and have extended hours, and the flyaway buses were added to make it easier to get to LAX from Union Station, among other things.
It wouldn't be easy or pleasant to live in all neighborhoods in LA without a car, but for those who do (and don't have jobs that require driving) it's often far easier than people realize. I sometimes had to supplement with a late night cab, but still came out financially ahead. If and when some of the other really pressing projects finally get done (the subway to the sea, especially) I would think that the popularity of public transportation will explode exponentially, especially considering how many people are fine taking the train or subway but still have biases against buses.
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