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LA light rail line gets final FTA approval
Good news for a gridlocked city desparate for any new rail line it can eek out. It will take longer than planned, cost more that planned, and unreasonable changes will be demanded, but when finally finished, it will be a good thing!
Shades of the Pacific Electric. It would be interesting to compare the cost of having retained the PE versus rebuilding it from the ground up. A sort of bizarre scenario.
Why so many years to complete so short a line?
I live in PA but recently rode from LAX to Anaheim in rush hour on a freeway that has one LA’s light rail lines in the median. Thick traffic was stop-and-go all the way, but the LRVs glided past us with ease. The station platforms were crowded with waiting passengers, too. Angelinos must know they did a good thing by backing that sales tax increase.
Interesting… I remember growing up as a kid in California, how SOCAL was considered the car CAP of the World. Now they have railroads and light rail going everywhere, with high speed rail on the drawing board. GREAT JOB!
The one thing we are learning is if you build it, people will ride. This applies to light rail, street cars, regional commuter lines, and eventually to high speed lines.
“We should have kept the PE” is a refrain often heard in the LA area, even from people who’ve only ridden a Red Car at Orange Empire. Unfortunately, when we (the governmental entities of Southern California) had the chance in the 1940’s, nobody wanted to put up the money. Of course, that was in the days when one could buy a serviceable car or truck for $100 or so, no smog certificate required, and fill the tank for less than $5.00.