By the Time L.A.’s Subway Reaches the Sea, You Could be Dead
Metro has released new timelines for several transit projects that could change the way you commute around Los Angeles. The problem is, there aren’t enough of them. And the ones they do have could take decades to finish.
Expo Line to Santa Monica? Not until 2015.
It could be 2018 before the Green Line reaches LAX.
The Purple Line won’t reach Westwood until 2032.
The Valley won’t be able to catch anything except the 405 to the Westside until 2038.
It is refreshing to see Metro putting everything on the table for us to see. But this sure isn’t going to feed the millions of people coming over for dinner. Shouldn’t someone start cooking a little faster?
Consider: Construction began on The New York City subway in 1900. Less than five years later, 21 miles of tunnels and 58 miles of track were completed.
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At least you have time tables. The idiots here with the "gold line extension authority" are convinced Obama is going to fund them and bring it along the entire northern route on their wishlist and have it running in a couple of years.
Oh for crying out loud! I’m crying out loud!* I know we live in a democracy and all that, but sometimes a few well placed dictators with public transportation at the top of their lists would be refreshing.
Can we ask our new president to include LA metro lines as part of the national infrastructure?
*What I really meant to say was "For f*** sake!""
Hey, I thought condescendingly comparing LA to NYC was my turf! Just so you know, NYC has been building (not) the mythic Second Ave. subway for a gazillion years, last time I checked.
Still, that timetable is pretty depressing.
To Santa Monica by 2015, eh? Sounds like that’s about how long it will take before I’ll be able to afford a move back to L.A.
property taxes alone will have me dead or moved out of LA by then. sheesh!
By the time the subways are built, we’ll have flying cars and teleportation.
OK. So what are we going to do to rally the troops here in LA. This is pathetic. Who do we write or call or picket?
After a year and half, we are now concluding the Alternatives Analysis for the Metro Westside Extension. Later this month we will be presenting our recommendation to the Metro Board of Directors and asking them to allow us to proceed into a full enviornmental review known as a Draft EIR/EIS.
For those of you most interested in the subway, I invite you visit the study web page at http://www.metro.net/westside. Click on News & Info to see what we’ve evaluated, our recommendations and how we got there. Click on Contact us to share your views, ask a question or add yourself to our database so we can keep you informed as we proceed. I also invite you to join our "Metro Westside Extension" group on Facebook.
Jody Litvak
Metro Westside Extension Study Team
[...] The timeline was panned by everyone: first by LAist which noted that less than a year ago Metro officials opined that the line could be open in five years, Later by Curbed who noted that the Expo Line would be 22 years old by the time it was completed, and lastly by Mayor Villaraigosa who called the timeline "too long." How long is too long? Metblogs notes that by the time it is competed, "you could be dead." [...]
Jason,
Thanks for your spot-on post.
These timelines are unbelievably long. And if they are in fact ‘reality’, the window to seize the moment of public frustration over traffic and public support of creating a ‘tipping point’ for a true regional transportation network will close quite quickly once folks realize how lame these timelines are. It would be a shame indeed to squander this moment in LA’s history.
In my opinion, the problem is not the dedicated public servants at MTA or the aggressive lobbying for Subway to the Sea by the Mayor, but to be honest I just can’t figure out why people who do this stuff day in and day out with passion and purpose seem to be setting the bar that low. I know we certainly have had historically low expectations and systemically low prioritization/funding of public transport on local, regional, and national levels, which seems to ‘beat transit boosters down’….
And at first glance, the current cratering of the economy appears incredibly daunting.
HOWEVER:
1. Obama’s team is going to support Measure R, Prop 1A etc…regarding transit, thru the large stimulus package. In theory, this should allow for more aggressive timelines.
2. Aren’t we able to get ANY buy in from the private sector on investment/partnerships to fast track these projects?
These timetables are not only a regional embarassment, they are a national disgrace.
While we proceed at a tortoise’s pace, the rest of the world is creating the first rate infrastructure that will position them as more efficient and globally competitive.
We sent humans 240,000 miles to the moon, taking them from orbit to the moon in less than a decade. –25 years to push 15 miles from Downtown LA to the Sea? Or should I say, 25 years to push only TEN miles to Westwood/405?—
Wow, have we devolved or what?
I hope that in some way I can participate in helping improve this lame and unacceptable state of affairs.
We are better than that as a region and as a nation.
Jonathan Trachtman
Los Angeles
[...] Litvak of the Metro Westside Extension Study Team joined in on the comment section to update us on the Subway to the Sea’s progess. I shot her an email with a few questions: 1. [...]