Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

News

The Downtown Streetcar: Conceptual Routes Released

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

Plans for a streetcar in downtown moved ahead today when conceptual routes were released by Los Angeles Streetcar, Inc. (LASI), the nonprofit charged with giving Los Angeles a streetcar by 2014. The routes all serve three distinct areas.

"Part of the logic behind defining this Core Service Area was to transport people to/from areas they want to get to today, like the LA Live/Staples/Convention area and Bunker Hill/Civic Center, but also route them through the locations they might not have known about or seen previously, like a Broadway corridor or Pico Blvd," explained Executive Director Dennis Allen to blogdowntown in an interview. "This is all part of the two-pronged approach that streetcar systems need to take - 1) as a local circulator and transportation solution, and 2) as one of the best economic development tools to surface in recent times."

Part of the plans call for couplets--north and south tracks running on separate streets--and mini routes like a South Park loop (see the dashed lines in the above maps).

Now that LASI has released their ideas, it's time for you to speak up. They will be hold a community open house on July 29 for public input at the Bradbury Building.

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today