LAist Rants: Why Not Here, Why Not Now?
LAist Rants are strictly the opinions of the author in question. They are even in first person! We keep them on Sundays because even the hive mind needs a rest.
Traffic, everybody hates it. We are all tired of sitting on the freeways and streets burning gas and going nowhere. Everybody knows what a drag it is taking 45 minutes to go 12 miles. It stinks. Let's take into account that there is only one freeway from the valley to the westside. So, ok lets use public transportation. Do you know how long it takes to catch a bus from the Valley to Westwood??? Like an hour and a half! Are you kidding!? It's either get up at the crack of dawn to catch a bus and get to the westside by 8am or if you decide to drive and are unlucky enough to get on the 405 south after 6:45am, you are stuck in a 45 minute brake-light-a-thon to travel roughly 12-15 miles of freeway.
It's not just the freeways, though, it is the surface streets too. Have you seen how effective the "alternate" route Sepulveda boulevard is getting back to the valley from West LA in the afternoon? Yeah right.
But few people have offered a solid idea for at least reducing the amount of traffic on the LA streets. Well I have a solution. Upgrading the MTA rail system. The rail system that we have here in LA is a joke. That's right a joke. The routes that are offered do nothing to reduce the amount of traffic we have here. Hollywood to Downtown LA? Uh... ok that's nice. The 405 freeway is one of the busiest in Los Angeles. A rail route running alongside it wouldn't help reduce the traffic? You sure? LAX, one of the largest and busiest airports in the world has no direct railway access to it? Really? How is that possible?
Other major cities have MUCH better train systems than LA and that is a crime. If there is a city that needed top notch public transport it is Los Angeles. If we are going to get any improvement over the horrible travel conditions in the city, this is a major step in the right direction.
It is simple, two more rail routes need to be built. One line that runs along the 405 from the Santa Clarita Valley to the OC. Then, another line that runs along the 10 from the beach to San Bernardino. Bam. That's it. Traffic problem solved. So if we want to alleviate traffic (everybody loves that) while helping to clean the air (sounds good to me), lets improve the public transportation system. C'mon, this is Los Angeles - lots of people are trying to get to lots of differerent places. If I want to get to where I need to go without the headache and stress, what would be better than taking a train ride?