Post by bennyp81 on Jun 15, 2005 14:42:55 GMT -8
Robert
User ID: 9092003 Apr 13th 3:43 AM
From our own TTC member - Dennis
Great Job.
Bob
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Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - DailyBreeze.com
L.A. needs mayor to drive transit
Frontrunner shows willinginess to use political capital to build effective light rail system.
By A. Dennis Lytton
Gas prices are on the rise. $3-per-gallon gas has already arrived in some areas. What is all the more frustrating is that we have inherited a suburban world that usually gives us no alternative to driving. The South Bay, Los Angeles and the whole region were seemingly designed to be as spread out and car dependent as possible. The simplest errands usually require driving.
Over the past several years, Metro Rail has built subways and light rail to North Hollywood, Long Beach, Pasadena and Redondo Beach.
Metrolink and Amtrak's commuter train network has grown considerably. Even bus service has improved through innovative programs such as Rapid Bus and the soon-to-be-opened Orange Line Busway.
Though these improvements are successes, they are too few for this sprawling region.
Metro Rail misses so many important communities, such as the Westside, the Valley and the heart of the South Bay.
And one shudders to think of what the price of gas will be by the end of this year.
Enter the Los Angeles mayor's race. The two remaining candidates' plans for the region's transportation future provide stark contrasts:
Mayor Jim Hahn and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg trumpeted common-sense fixes during their campaigns, such as synchronizing traffic signals. Challenger Antonio Villaraigosa goes much further in his vision for L.A.'s transportation. Villaraigosa says more freeways and cars are not the answer.
He proposes a massive and ambitious investment in our rail transit system, including extending the current Metro Red Line subway west to the sea and north to Burbank Airport and the East Valley. He wants to build the Exposition Boulevard light rail line to Santa Monica and construct a crucial connection linking the Gold, Blue and future Exposition lines through downtown. He wants to connect the airport to the Green Line and connect the South Bay to downtown quickly via Crenshaw Boulevard or the Harbor Subdivision railroad. He sees future growth focused around rail stations, encouraging people to live and work near public transit instead of being forced into driving for all their needs.
As former candidate Hertzberg observed, Hahn's vision for transportation effectively stops at fixing 25 problem intersections a year.
As with so many other policy initiatives, the current mayor has been absent. He has missed 30 percent of the meetings of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Board of Directors, though he and his three appointees form a powerful block of votes. He has allowed others to take the lead in transportation, whether it be new light rail projects on the Eastside and Westside or advocating for extending the Red Line.
Villaraigosa's vision will not be cheap. Expanding the rail system will not just cost money but political capital. Making Los Angeles' transportation future better requires vision and determined leadership. Villaraigosa dares to dream big. Only a leader with a plan and the willingness to spend political capital can get over the hurdles and build the coalitions that will be needed to pay for these projects.
There is little reason to believe that the current administration in Los Angeles will have any more vision in its second four years than it did in its first four. The mayor seems only able to boast of filling potholes and fixing a few intersections. Those are things we expect a city to do -- we should not have such low expectations. Hahn's rudderless and backward-looking approach to transportation is not what the region needs in this new millennium.
One shudders to think of what the price of gas will be when Hahn realizes that fixing potholes is not enough.
A. Dennis Lytton, a Hollywood resident, writes about transportation issues and has been active in transit advocacy in Los Angeles. His e-mail address is lytton@verizon.net.
Find this article at:
www.dailybreeze.com/opinion/articles/1467107.html
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-=†‡÷«{(: ßÔß
}»÷‡†=-
Ken Alpern
User ID: 1696934 Apr 13th 7:52 AM
Bravo, Dennis, Bravo!
John
User ID: 9921013 Apr 13th 9:55 AM
One thing I have always liked about living in Los Angeles County is that it's so easy to get around without a car.
User ID: 9092003 Apr 13th 3:43 AM
From our own TTC member - Dennis
Great Job.
Bob
= = = = = = =
Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - DailyBreeze.com
L.A. needs mayor to drive transit
Frontrunner shows willinginess to use political capital to build effective light rail system.
By A. Dennis Lytton
Gas prices are on the rise. $3-per-gallon gas has already arrived in some areas. What is all the more frustrating is that we have inherited a suburban world that usually gives us no alternative to driving. The South Bay, Los Angeles and the whole region were seemingly designed to be as spread out and car dependent as possible. The simplest errands usually require driving.
Over the past several years, Metro Rail has built subways and light rail to North Hollywood, Long Beach, Pasadena and Redondo Beach.
Metrolink and Amtrak's commuter train network has grown considerably. Even bus service has improved through innovative programs such as Rapid Bus and the soon-to-be-opened Orange Line Busway.
Though these improvements are successes, they are too few for this sprawling region.
Metro Rail misses so many important communities, such as the Westside, the Valley and the heart of the South Bay.
And one shudders to think of what the price of gas will be by the end of this year.
Enter the Los Angeles mayor's race. The two remaining candidates' plans for the region's transportation future provide stark contrasts:
Mayor Jim Hahn and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg trumpeted common-sense fixes during their campaigns, such as synchronizing traffic signals. Challenger Antonio Villaraigosa goes much further in his vision for L.A.'s transportation. Villaraigosa says more freeways and cars are not the answer.
He proposes a massive and ambitious investment in our rail transit system, including extending the current Metro Red Line subway west to the sea and north to Burbank Airport and the East Valley. He wants to build the Exposition Boulevard light rail line to Santa Monica and construct a crucial connection linking the Gold, Blue and future Exposition lines through downtown. He wants to connect the airport to the Green Line and connect the South Bay to downtown quickly via Crenshaw Boulevard or the Harbor Subdivision railroad. He sees future growth focused around rail stations, encouraging people to live and work near public transit instead of being forced into driving for all their needs.
As former candidate Hertzberg observed, Hahn's vision for transportation effectively stops at fixing 25 problem intersections a year.
As with so many other policy initiatives, the current mayor has been absent. He has missed 30 percent of the meetings of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Board of Directors, though he and his three appointees form a powerful block of votes. He has allowed others to take the lead in transportation, whether it be new light rail projects on the Eastside and Westside or advocating for extending the Red Line.
Villaraigosa's vision will not be cheap. Expanding the rail system will not just cost money but political capital. Making Los Angeles' transportation future better requires vision and determined leadership. Villaraigosa dares to dream big. Only a leader with a plan and the willingness to spend political capital can get over the hurdles and build the coalitions that will be needed to pay for these projects.
There is little reason to believe that the current administration in Los Angeles will have any more vision in its second four years than it did in its first four. The mayor seems only able to boast of filling potholes and fixing a few intersections. Those are things we expect a city to do -- we should not have such low expectations. Hahn's rudderless and backward-looking approach to transportation is not what the region needs in this new millennium.
One shudders to think of what the price of gas will be when Hahn realizes that fixing potholes is not enough.
A. Dennis Lytton, a Hollywood resident, writes about transportation issues and has been active in transit advocacy in Los Angeles. His e-mail address is lytton@verizon.net.
Find this article at:
www.dailybreeze.com/opinion/articles/1467107.html
= = = = = = =
-=†‡÷«{(: ßÔß
}»÷‡†=-Ken Alpern
User ID: 1696934 Apr 13th 7:52 AM
Bravo, Dennis, Bravo!
John
User ID: 9921013 Apr 13th 9:55 AM
One thing I have always liked about living in Los Angeles County is that it's so easy to get around without a car.