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February 22, 2008
A Bummer of a Route Selected for Crenshaw Line
The Daily Breeze headed out to Wednesday's Crenshaw/Prairie Transit Corridor Study meeting (two more left) and found themselves in what we would consider a very disappointing night of transit development:
The Crenshaw line would... pass within a mile of Los Angeles International Airport.
This is starting to sound eerily familliar. However...
In a letter last fall, LAWA [Los Angeles World Airports) officials encouraged the MTA to strongly consider the needs of air passengers when deciding where to put the Crenshaw Line. Specifically, LAWA floated the possibility of a terminal at Century Boulevard and Aviation, where the rail line, bus lines and a people mover could converge.The MTA's recommended route would keep that option alive, though the idea of a central passenger collection point has been criticized because it might create a potential terrorism target. The concept has been dormant since Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was elected.
Is that a credible threat?
... officials released a plan to run the line along existing track through an industrial area of Inglewood, avoiding the city's main commercial thoroughfares.
And the people rejoiced. There will be easier access to rave parties.
The MTA also has shelved the idea of extending the Crenshaw Line north to link up with the existing subway terminus at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue.Diaz said that Crenshaw becomes too narrow north of Exposition and that the surrounding neighborhood is incompatible with rail transit.
That means the entirety of the Crenshaw Line will be south of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, and its only link to downtown Los Angeles will be via the Expo Line, which is now under construction.
Distance wise, the north of Exposition would-be-now-shelved route is about three and a half miles. At least it's "shelved." For now, you can walk three miles faster than a train, a transfer and a train.
Previously on LAist
-- Riding the Rails (and Biking) Directly to LAX
-- Crenshaw Blvd: The not-so talked about transit corridor
Bolding used for emphasize only. Photo by Fred Camino of MetroRiderLA via Flickr
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Wow, bad news!
I think anyone involved in planning MTA's routes should be required to use public transportation to get to work every single day.
The good news is that there is MTA's Flyaway Bus, which leaves from Patasouras Plaza to LAX every 30 minutes to an hour. It only costs $4 each way. It's a much better deal than a taxi, or one of those airport shuttle services. It drops off at all the departure terminals and picks up at all the arrival terminals.
New York City, a place the terrorists have hit, has busy subway stations siting right over major roads where a truck bomb could blow it to bits.
WTF? This is what happens when you build out of expediency and just for the sake that something can be built. Where is the vision and the plan? If MTA laid that groundwork, it might actually be abe to build the necessary political momentum, overcome this kind of NIMBY-ism and idiocy, and build a coherent system. But this ridiculous piece-meal strategy is an open invitation to the kind of political and planning disasters like this and on the Expo Line.
The proposal, while not a dream route, would create a direct line to the airport from downtown.
I support the idea of a people mover connecting a transit center for rail/bus is perfectly sound to me. People who imagine they could ride the train out to their gates were being unrealistic. I have no problem with an "air train" like the JFK Air Train in New York.
Also, there are of course disappointed people. There is no way to serve the population centers that wanted to be served and serve the airport.
Everyone can find reasons why a route is not ideal. However, the route is a reasonable connection between downtown and the airport. Just be glad it isn't another busway.