Improved public transit in L.A.? (Oakland, Orange: homes, buy, college)

[the one]

lies lies lies.

as a daily rider i cant tell you that this is super false.
i take a bus that goes through hyde park into inglewood. its mostly black folk. i dont think they are illegal.

i also take a bus on la brea. it has all kinds of people, including tourists!
the trains? MORE TOURISTS!!! even the blue line.

as for the OP's question. service has improved, the trains are very reliable, the buses run on schedule (most of the time), they are cleaner than before and less crowded than before.

the system is improving.
GO METRO!!!

Originally Posted by $musicman$

I have lived in the L.A. area for 31 years..

The public transportation is mostly for illegal aliens..and I'd like to get rid of it all. Roads are cheaper to build..much cheaper..and they are the most efficient way for people to get where they're going.

[$musicman$]

Originally Posted by SalParadise

Hey Mtkomori: I grew up in LA County and have been here longer than Musicman. Please don't take his word as gospel.

1. No...public transit in Los Angeles is NOT "mostly" illegals. It is true that the M.T.A. BUS system is used by more low-income residents (both citizens and illegals).

2. However, the rail system including subway, light rail, and commuter rail has a wide vareity of users. In fact, the Metrolink (commuter rail) is a very affluent customer base.

3. Yes, the LA County mass transit system has improved in the last 20 or 30 years. And there are MORE improvements planned. Read this link about the "30/10 Plan" to build 30 years of mass transit lines in 10 years.

30/10 Initiative

4. LA County is more spread out than traditional east coast or Canadian cities; however, the urban core of LA County is VERY dense and the bang for the buck in building rail lines is GOOD. For example, the planned "Subway to the Sea" down Wilshire Blvd will complete the subway under Wilshire Blvd, one of the densest corridors in Los Angeles.

5. There is no silver bullet to LA's traffic problems. But adding a decent mass transit system will help....

..any comment on the cost?

[$musicman$]

Originally Posted by pwright1

Over the past 60 years what has building more roads and highways done to the region? Ruined it.

How about you..any comment on what the COST has done to ruin the region?

Freeways were the best way California ever spent it's money.

Incredibly expensive railways..were the worst way.

Many of these..like the Gold line someone mentioned..cost billions..and almost no one rides it.

I drive the 210 freeway nearly every day..which runs alongside this boondoggle..what a sick joke.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by $musicman$

I have lived in the L.A. area for 31 years..

The public transportation is mostly for illegal aliens..and I'd like to get rid of it all. Roads are cheaper to build..much cheaper..and they are the most efficient way for people to get where they're going.

Uh ... I utilize mass transit and I'm Caucasian and far from being an illegal. So where do you propose to continually build these "roads" when we are running out of space? Do you want to give up your house so that another freeway can be built? Sorry but there is only so much space where roads and freeways can be built but yet, the cars continually increase ... I guess if we get rid of mass transit, you will have more drivers on the road that should never be allowed to drive as there would be no other commuting options ... If you take away the buses and trains, then our current roadways would turn into parking lots when you add the millions who rely upon the buses...

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by $musicman$

Honestly, we can't say it's worked, because the costs were so outrageous compared to what it costs to build roads..(something like 1000 to 1)..that unless the whole city decided to pile on them..they will always be a joke.

And there has been no reduction in auto traffic..and the trains..(mostly light rail)..remain near empty.

..and thanks to car pool lanes..(most of which are very lightly used)..have made auto traffic much worse as well.

Most cars have one person..and the restricting of these cars from the left lane..(reserved for car pools)..has made traffc much worse.

In short..we have less lanes to drive on then we used to..and more and more cars.

All one has to do..is take the 5 freeway to Orange County.

Orange County sunk their money into bigger and wider freeways..and as soon as you leave L.A. County..you go from a huge mess to an absolute pleasure to drive .

Have you ridden a train lately? It's hard to even find a seat on these "nearly empty" trains you speak so fondly of ...
Let us know when you are ready to give up your home so that we can build more and more freeways and roadways ... I mean, the land doesn't just poof out of no where ...

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by $musicman$

How about you..any comment on what the COST has done to ruin the region?

Freeways were the best way California ever spent it's money.

Incredibly expensive railways..were the worst way.

Many of these..like the Gold line someone mentioned..cost billions..and almost no one rides it.

I drive the 210 freeway nearly every day..which runs alongside this boondoggle..what a sick joke.

How do you know that the Gold Line is nearly empty? Do you ride it? Did you know that the Gold Line isn't the only rail line in LA County? Try riding the trains and let me know how easy it is for you to find a seat on an average weekday ...

[$musicman$]

Who gave up their homes to build the useless train routes?

Answer..no one..because they used up valuable potential traffic lanes..causing the auto traffic to get worse.

Ditch the trains..replace with more lanes for auto traffic..and grow up and buy a car.

[$musicman$]

Originally Posted by Chatteress

How do you know that the Gold Line is nearly empty? Do you ride it? Did you know that the Gold Line isn't the only rail line in LA County? Try riding the trains and let me know how easy it is for you to find a seat on an average weekday ...

I watch the Gold line trains zoom by..

..like empty ghost trains.

[$musicman$]

Notice no comments about the cost..as if..it didn't matter.

[Lovehound]

Los Angeles was the test market for auto makers and gasoline refiners to get America out of mass transit and into buying automobiles and gasoline. They subsidized and lobbied Los Angeles into ripping up most of the mass transit and replacing it with highways (and later with freeways). You can see the signs today all over Los Angeles, ripped up dysfunctional railroad tracks, although you have to look hard to see many of them.

So instead of building more mass transit we built roads, highways and freeways. The situation we have today is that it's too difficult to build a good mass transit system, e.g. subways like New York or London. I doubt we can ever afford to get away from freeways and back into an efficient mass transit system. We can't afford to rip up houses to replace them with mass transit, and it's too expensive to dig under them particularly considering everything has to be reasonably earthquake proof.

You call buses mass transit? Hahaha, try to get more than several miles on a bus these days unless the bus line falls exactly on your intended route, same for Metrolink. If you want to go where it goes then it works fine, but if you want to go where you want to go you'll be lucky to get there without hours of commuting.

My usual reason to ride the bus is when I have to get my car fixed for longer than I want to wait. The dealer will drive me home when I drop off my car but I have to get back on my own. In the San Fernando Valley my observation is that it's mostly lower class people who ride the bus. Middle class people would rather drive themselves because they have an alternative to riding the bus and they don't want to wait all day. Lower class people have no other choice.