Pasadena Freeway getting a new look and a new name

[ladoll]

Originally Posted by CALGUY

The very same GM.
With their successful lobby to derail the red cars, they were in the thick of it to see that California would favor the automobile over public transit.
By pouring millions into the Arroyo Sewco Parkway project, they stood to gain millions in new auto sales.
With GM'S bucks, the state had a windfall of extra bucks to help fund other road projects.
The more accessible freeways built, the more cars being built to use them.
Simple economoics, that old supply and demand theory.
Bob.

They got into trouble for their shenanigans, but only got a little slap on the wrist as punishment. I wonder what LA's public transportation system would have been like if GM wasn't able to interfere with it.

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

Originally Posted by ladoll

They got into trouble for their shenanigans, but only got a little slap on the wrist as punishment. I wonder what LA's public transportation system would have been like if GM wasn't able to interfere with it.

Probably the same as it is today. People - especially liberals (and I'm generally a liberal) - like to blame the auto manufacturers, but the truth is that it was the City Of L.A. and the residents who wanted more freeways. We can romanticize public transportation, but it was just as undesirable decades ago as it is today: Slow and crowded, with limited service, even in its heyday.

[John23]

I'm hardly ever on that freeway, but it epitomizes how horribly out of date LA's infrastructure has become.

-Designed for 27,000 cars a day, and now it handles a 122,000. I wonder what the numbers are for the 405, 10, etc.

The system needs a bigger overhaul than just a name change.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

Probably the same as it is today. People - especially liberals (and I'm generally a liberal) - like to blame the auto manufacturers, but the truth is that it was the City Of L.A. and the residents who wanted more freeways. We can romanticize public transportation, but it was just as undesirable decades ago as it is today: Slow and crowded, with limited service, even in its heyday.

Public transportation is great as long as someone else is using it and making the freeways flow more smoothly for me.

[ladoll]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

Probably the same as it is today. People - especially liberals (and I'm generally a liberal) - like to blame the auto manufacturers, but the truth is that it was the City Of L.A. and the residents who wanted more freeways. We can romanticize public transportation, but it was just as undesirable decades ago as it is today: Slow and crowded, with limited service, even in its heyday.

This is more than liberal finger-pointing. GM violated antitrust laws in order to dismantle the streetcars in Los Angeles, as well as other cities (Detroit, Cleveland, NYC, to name a few). They faced charges on this.

Also, Los Angeles' public transportation is not representational of the entire US. Chicago and New York City both have excellent and extensive public transportation systems. Perhaps if Los Angeles had had the chance to work on their public transportation system the way that both Chicago and NYC has, it would be better. Is LA different from NYC and Chicago? Yes. Does that mean a good, efficient public transportation system can never come to LA? No.

[CA4Now]

The Pasadena fwy is 70 years old!
Pasadena Freeway: The Pasadena Freeway turns 70, showing its age and its charm - latimes.com

[BlackShoe]

For 5 years of my childhood lived right next to this historic route, on Bridewell Street. Back then, it was the first and only freeway in SoCal. No one called it a freeway, or, for that matter, a parkway, it was just simply referred to as the speedway. We had a 1938 Ford, and my dad would usually drive around 45mph on it, common in that era.