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Yeah, I still remember my disappointment the first time I realized the LA subway didn't connect to LAX. I was in mild shock- why wouldn't it?!
Because they're dumb..LA public trans isn't bad but it's got quite a ways to go before it up to par with some other cities.
A trip from Long Beach to Santa Monica that would take you 30 mins driving on PCH is split between 1 light rail and 2 buses taking you all the way up through downtown and around back down through pico with the public trans.
The difference is paying for gas or paying $3.(And running the risk of sitting through bad traffic either around LAX or coming into and in Santa Monica)
What they need to do is make a light rail along the PCH connecting all the other beach cities in LA county (Hermosa,Manhattan,Redondo,Venice,Santa Monica...) To Long Beach and LAX..and then a subway line from LAX to downtown.
Yeah, I still remember my disappointment the first time I realized the LA subway didn't connect to LAX. I was in mild shock- why wouldn't it?!
Cost and logistics. It's very difficult to retrofit a rail transit system to a metro whose major growth and development was built around the automobile as the primary mode of transport. The major reason Chicago's airports are connected to the CTA system is because there was a train system to connect them to before there were airports. Even so, the Blue Line didn't go all the way to O'Hare until the mid 1980s and the Orange Line to Midway didn't even exist until the early 1990s.
Cost and logistics. It's very difficult to retrofit a rail transit system to a metro whose major growth and development was built around the automobile as the primary mode of transport. The major reason Chicago's airports are connected to the CTA system is because there was a train system to connect them to before there were airports. Even so, the Blue Line didn't go all the way to O'Hare until the mid 1980s and the Orange Line to Midway didn't even exist until the early 1990s.
I wonder why Atlanta's airport is connected to MARTA? MARTA has only been around for about 30 years...Hartsfield has existed for much longer than that. Boston's airport, on the other hand, isn't connected by rail...you have to catch a bus to the nearest station. There are several examples of very old transit systems that don't have a direct airport connection - and very new transit systems that do have a station in the airport.
Yea it stinks that the rail in Boston doesn't connect to Logan, however it seems like they have cleared a path to make the conversion to rail with the construction of the Big Dig. Buses have their own tunnels and they also connect to an electric system once inside the tunnel which makes it seem like it would be quite possible for the system to transfer from buses to light rail not much different from the Green Line...whether that ever happens or not is another question.
I've riden both MARTA and the L extensively and I can say that MARTA is a lot cleaner than the L and Quieter the loudest part in the MARTA line is the bankhead switch when the train is making that sharp turn. CTA is loud and Smelly but covers so much more area(so much more) and also has METRA and the South SHore Line and Has a better Highway system than Atlanta also. But I do feel that ATL trains move a little faster than CTA. But both systems are built on the same premise of bringing people from the outer areas to the center city Chicago's Loop and Atlantas Five Points and Lindbergh Center(Now)
but my ultimate winner is Chicago for shear coverage
Actually, LA has plans to extend the green line to LAX. Not sure how long it will take for this to happen (depends on several factors including funding) but it is one of the planned expansions in the future. The Green Line Coalition :: Extend the Metro Green Line to LAX
D.C. also has planes to extend their subway to Dulles International.
You are never going to have "quiet" trains through much of the CTA system because 1) much of it runs on steel structure that vibrates like hell when a train rolls over it and there's not much you can do about that, and 2) a lot of it is in tunnels where the sound is echoing off walls that are 2 feet on either side. But a big part of it is the age of the rolling stock. Combine a solid rather than steel-frame structure (or grade level tracks) with newer rolling stock and you can have some really quiet trains. Ride the Orange Line some day to get an idea.
I remember the absolute outrage that ensued when it was brought up in a city meeting that we replace the steel with something that screeched less.
The L fooking blows. It should be underground, to begin with, to hide it from the harsh elements and to give it a better right of way path.
I've never taken MARTA, but I'm very, very familiar with the L, and I know that you and I have discussed this before in the Chicago forum. There are severe funding issues. I think Lookout brought up the point that Chicago doesn't seem to want to zone properly around transit corridors, which is also an issue-- increased population density in areas that aren't served very well by the CTA.
I disclaim everything above with this: I've lived in Chicago, I own property there (in city limits, I mean), and I've had to rely on mass transit to get around forever. The CTA's got issues.
Because they're dumb..LA public trans isn't bad but it's got quite a ways to go before it up to par with some other cities.
A trip from Long Beach to Santa Monica that would take you 30 mins driving on PCH is split between 1 light rail and 2 buses taking you all the way up through downtown and around back down through pico with the public trans.
The difference is paying for gas or paying $3.(And running the risk of sitting through bad traffic either around LAX or coming into and in Santa Monica)
What they need to do is make a light rail along the PCH connecting all the other beach cities in LA county (Hermosa,Manhattan,Redondo,Venice,Santa Monica...) To Long Beach and LAX..and then a subway line from LAX to downtown.
Well, to be fair, it's Los Angeles. It's not like you can just tunnel through bedrock (which is also expensive). It's sand and muck. Sinkholes are common problems. Tunneling there is prohibitively expensive.
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