This question vexes so many transit advocates, when we look at the relatively high costs to build fixed transit in the U.S. (and other English-speaking countries) compared to other advanced economies around the world. It’s a subject I tackled indirectly in my book Railtown on the history of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system and directly in the 2022 Berkeley Law report Getting Back on Track.
Now Los Angeles documentary film producer and editor Nick Andert is tackling the question in an engaging, informative and in-depth piece he posted on YouTube, featuring an interview with yours truly and Alon Levy of NYU.
For transit nerds and those who care about improving mobility in American cities, I highly recommend it:
LA Metro Rail — the sprawling network of light rail and subway lines criss-crossing Los Angeles County since the first line opened in 1993 — is facing an existential challenge. Just like other transit agencies around the country, ridership since the pandemic has plummeted, still around just two-thirds of its pre-COVID peak.
What can be done to fix it? In my new Los Angeles Times op-ed today, I offer a number of fixes. Most of it involves building more apartments and compact housing within walking distance of the Metro Rail stations, which would ensure the system isn’t reliant just on white collar office workers who are unlikely to return to work full time.
But the agency also needs to address its crime and personal safety issues, which can be partly helped by having more riders. State leaders should consider these needs if they decide to take action to rescue LA Metro and other California transit agencies facing a “fiscal cliff” as federal COVID funds expire.
I’ve been documenting Metro Rail since before the publication of my book Railtown (UC Press) in 2014. And there’s no doubt that the ridership and fiscal crisis the system now faces is the greatest in its three-decade history. Hopefully these recommendations can help the region make the most of this multi-billion dollar investment, fulfilling the economic, environmental and quality-of-life promise of rail in Los Angeles.
If you’re interested in the past, present and future of rail transit in Los Angeles, check out the video above from my talk this week with Streets For All. My moderated comments begin about 20 minutes in. We covered everything from the dismantling of the Los Angeles streetcar network to delays building current rail lines to whether anyone alive today will ever get to ride high speed rail.
And if you don’t know Streets For All, they’re a volunteer-based organization advocating for equitable redesign of streets and the transportation network to favor transit, walking and biking, as a climate change and quality-of-life necessity in Los Angeles.
Consider becoming a member if you’re interested in these issues. I thank them for hosting me for this talk!
Join me on-line this Thursday at 11am PT when I serve as the first speaker for California Green Academy and Island Press‘s new Transformational Speaker Series. The series will focus on sustainable transportation and feature leading thinkers in sustainability, urban mobility, and innovative transportation.
As the first speaker this Thursday, I’ll discuss transformational change in Los Angeles transit, which once featured the world’s largest streetcar system. The region then became the nation’s automobile capital but now is undergoing expansive light and heavy rail growth and has an emerging emphasis on multimodal mobility.
Most of my talk will be drawn from my book Railtown (UC Press, 2014). I’ll cover Los Angeles’ current transit transformation – spawned by multiple ballot measures – and the region’s overall mobility future, especially thanks to the passage of 2016’s landmark Measure M.
The inaugural webinar takes place this Thursday, July 26thy, from 11:00-12:00 PST (14:00-15:00 EST). You can stream it live (registration not required) and follow the series on Twitter and YouTube. Hope you can join in!
Ever wonder why L.A. has taken so long to get robust rail transit, compared to other American cities like Atlanta, Washington D.C., or the San Francisco Bay Area? Any questions about why the city has rail in some places but not in others? Or the status of planned rail lines?
You can ask me these and any other L.A. rail questions today on-line from 1:30 to 2:30pm. As part of its “transportation week”, Curbed L.A. is hosting a live chat with me. Some interesting questions are already on the chat web page, so feel free to add yours in advance or during the live session.
Hope you can join. And for a deeper dive on Los Angeles rail transit history, check out my book Railtown from U.C. Press.
Two weeks ago I had an opportunity to discuss the history of Los Angeles Metro Rail in a presentation at UCLA, sponsored by UCLA’s Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Department of History, and Institute of Transportation Studies.
For those who couldn’t attend (or did attend and want to relive the magic), a video recording is now available, albeit with shaky audio the first 12 minutes or so:
And for a written description, UCLA News ran an article describing the talk last week.
Of course for the long version, I recommend reading the book.
Congratulations to Miguel Del Mundo, winner of TransportiCA’s July book club contest featuring my book Railtown. To win, Miguel had to answer three questions based on the book, which covered the history of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. Answers in bold:
1) With the defeat of Measure A in 1974, Mayor Bradley explained residents received this item in the mail the weekend before the election, which had a major effect on the outcome: property tax assessment.
2) When Tom Bradley was first elected Mayor of Los Angeles in 1973, he made a promise that he would have a rapid-transit system in construction how many months after taking office? 18.
3) LA County Supervisor Baxter Ward created what transit proposal, later defeated by county voters, and modified later under a new name and scale? Sunset Coast Line (1976), later Sunset Coast Limited (1978); both were defeated.
For his efforts, he won a signed copy from me. Here’s a picture of Miguel enjoying the book in an appropriate location:
I’m honored to see that the on-line TransportiCA has launched a new book club contest with my book Railtown. The club will include a contest to win an autographed copy of the book. You just need to answer three questions on L.A. rail history correctly and submit it to the site. More details can be found here.
Check back in on the site for more details, and thanks to TransportiCA for the selection.
ULI, the national nonprofit of real estate professionals and others interested in downtown development, reviewed my book Railtown to find out just what is going on with rail in Los Angeles:
Railtown chronicles the latest chapter in the Los Angeles saga—the city’s transition from a smoggy, car-loving, freeway-dominated megacity to an emerging cluster of walkable urban centers linked by public transit, including light and heavy rail as well as buses. This saga resembles a Greek tragedy. The central figure’s fatal flaw—the political geography of metropolitan Los Angeles and the inability to agree on a plan—drives the narrative while optimistic local leaders who view rail as the solution to the region’s traffic and environmental problems struggle to convince politicians, 88 self-centered cities, and the county electorate to accept yet another reinvention.
The review is not all positive, as the reviewer seems to have challenges with what he calls a “dense” read, but he says “for those wanting to understand the details of Metro Rail’s checkered history, this is the book to read.”
Today at noon in the LA area I’ll be on Larry Mantle’s AirTalk program, 89.3 FM (KPCC public radio). Joining me for the hour-long segment will be Art Leahy, CEO of LA Metro, and we’ll be discussing the past, present and future of LA Metro Rail. I imagine I’ll be speaking mostly about what I’ve learned in researching and writing my book Railtown, so it should be fun to have Mr. Leahy there to respond. Join if you can, and I’ll post the link after it airs.
UPDATE: The link to the audio, along with a page for commenting, can be found here.
