Improved public transit in L.A.? (Los Angeles, Paradise: to buy, subsidized, taxes)

[SalParadise]

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.

Of course, just "Building roads" is cheap compared to building a subway....

But our reliance on cars and roads "costs" more than is generally recognized.

1) There are a few toll roads in Orange County but most people in LA just drive wherever and whenever they want. If you "priced" our roads for what they actually cost we would see more people riding mass transit.

2) Driving on roads has external costs to society (like smog) which are generally not factored in if you just compare the bare bones construction costs of roads vs. mass transit.

3) Our reliance on roads/cars means we have used far more land (and paved over more land) than we would have with more mass transit. The result: less space for parks, hospitals, schools, biking trails, etc.

No doubt, cars are not going away given how dominant they are...but a greater balance with more transit choices will only make life in LA BETTER. That is worth the cost, esp. in the high density corridors like Wilshire Blvd.

Unfortunately, knee jerk anti-rail attitudes like you have expressed are what prevented the Wilshire subway from getting built 20 years ago. Now we are talking about building it again (traffic kept getting worse with all your blessed roads). So now we will build the subway to the sea at a COST that is MUCH MORE NOW than if we had done it 20 years ago.

[saybanana]

To the OP. In my local neighborhood, there hasn't been much of a change in bus service or new bus routes. There is a light rail line about 2 miles away, so getting to downtown is faster than the bus that goes there. Over time, I notice many people don't take the local buses if there is a Rapid bus line on the same route. Im not sure about other neighborhoods.

[wrcousert]

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.

Maybe we should do away with the seniors and disabled who rely on public transit. I guess if you can't afford $4.00+ per gallon you don't deserve to live either.

[$musicman$]

Originally Posted by wrcousert

Maybe we should do away with the seniors and disabled who rely on public transit. I guess if you can't afford $4.00+ per gallon you don't deserve to live either.

There are Senior buses that take them wherever they need to go..free.

Where I live in Burbank..they can call..get picked up..and picked up again whe they want to go home.

[$musicman$]

Originally Posted by SalParadise

2) Driving on roads has external costs to society (like smog) which are generally not factored in if you just compare the bare bones construction costs of roads vs. mass transit.

Are you aware of the huge decrease in smog in recent decades?

Smog peaked in L.A...in the 1960s..it has been dropping ever since..and continues to..even with the number of cars on the road growing exponentially.

[$musicman$]

Originally Posted by Atsuke

Have you ever been to Tokyo metropolitan area?

Yes..several times..and comparing the two is absurd.

[$musicman$]

Originally Posted by Atsuke

I'm a UCLA student and this is my lifeline to getting anywhere in this desert basin. Throwing away public infrastructure is shallow conservative thinking. It's thinking without regard for the future.

Oh, ok..we're supposed to spend billions and billions to cart a bunch of goofy college kids around.

Someone else said it was for Seniors..and still someone else said it was for poor blacks.

Don't forget to add in the all important illegal aliens.

Gee..when you all team up, I guess you can shake down society for anything you want.

[mtkomori]

Originally Posted by saybanana

To the OP. In my local neighborhood, there hasn't been much of a change in bus service or new bus routes. There is a light rail line about 2 miles away, so getting to downtown is faster than the bus that goes there. Over time, I notice many people don't take the local buses if there is a Rapid bus line on the same route. Im not sure about other neighborhoods.

Thanks for your input. Re the express bus,what they've done here in Waterloo is when they installed the new express bus on a main road just this week, the original local bus that ran down the same road now travels on another route. So automatically the express bus gets ridership. I was surprised at how many people were taking it (though mostly univ. students) just in its first days of service!
The other bus routes I've been on has predominantly students as riders. Is this true in your neighborhood as well? The rich seem to have 2+ cars in my neighborhood because they can afford it and they never take transit. Quite frankly, I must be the only adult that takes transit on our steet and I'm Asian, not poor, and have a master's degree. Gas is probably more expensive than in L.A. not to mention insurance so having 2+ cars is kind of a status symbol. lol.
These people don't necessarily look down on public transit but the truth is, taking the bus is considerably slower than driving, although with the population increase in this region, traffic congestion is getting worse and collisions are increasing, so they're improving the bus system to ultimately get more people(cars) off the roads, which should continue to be done in L.A. as well. Why isn't mass transit working in L.A. in your opinion?

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by $musicman$

Are you aware of the huge decrease in smog in recent decades?

Smog peaked in L.A...in the 1960s..it has been dropping ever since..and continues to..even with the number of cars on the road growing exponentially.

Yes, it has improved greatly but we still routinely rank the worst in the nation. Somtimes trailing Houston...another sprawling, auto-oriented metro. Plus, smog is only one of the MANY costs associated with roads.

[SalParadise]

Originally Posted by $musicman$

Oh, ok..we're supposed to spend billions and billions to cart a bunch of goofy college kids around.

Someone else said it was for Seniors..and still someone else said it was for poor blacks.

Don't forget to add in the all important illegal aliens.

Gee..when you all team up, I guess you can shake down society for anything you want.

Just another strawman in your anti-mass transit rant.

Why is it you keep trying to divide people up and claim your are the victim somehow? You sound like a bit of a crybaby to me.

There is nothing wrong with a mass transit system that serves MANY different publics (as there are in many cities from San Fran to NYC). No one is shaking anybody down here. People that ride public transit are one less car on the road for you to contend with. You should view them as your friends.