Transforming Los Angeles into a Real City

January 6, 2005

Dear Editor,

While Frank Gruber is correct to point out how auto-obsessed the Times can be, one should not fault the Times for pointing out how MTA's past poor planning and short-sightedness has prevented the agency from expanding its' ridership beyond the ranks of the transit dependent. (see column)

Case 1, the Gold Line: By placing its "downtown" terminal at Union Station, the already slow Gold Line empties downtown commuters miles from their ultimate destination thereby requiring a time-consuming transfer to a second MTA line.

Case 2, the Green Line: Dubbed the "Line to Nowhere", the MTA ended up with a useless line that is sandwiched between freeways and stops short of LAX!

Case 3, the Orange Line: With no direct subterranean connection to the Red Line at its North Hollywood terminus, downtown commuters must make a 5-minute transfer on foot across busy Lankershim Boulevard and then proceed down a long escalator to reach the subway platform. It is exactly this "hassle factor" that has prevented MTA from attracting white-collar auto-commuters who value convenience and reliability in their commute.

But recently it has been the issue of the Wilshire Boulevard Red Line extension on which the Times' editorial page has been brilliant. Despite the huge obstacles to extending the Red Line to Santa Monica (methane, Waxman, existing ban on the use of sales tax dollars for subway construction), the Times editorial page has boldly supported Mayor Villaraigosa's bid to bring true traffic relief to the Westside and transform auto-commuters into urban subway riders and Los Angeles into a real city.

Allen Freeman
Santa Monica