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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.

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"The subway is an outmoded type of transportation"

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We didn't say it. Tony Bell said it to the LA Times' Steve Hymon.

Who is Bell? Bell is the communications director for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. And to be fair, Bell thinks "light rail down one of the major east-west streets on the Westside might be the better solution." So trains are not totally out.

Here's another Bell quote:

"The supervisor understands — as do most county residents — that we have a regional transportation crisis, not just a city of Los Angeles transportation crisis," Bell said. "By sinking the lion's share of the funding [sales tax] into a project that only serves three cities" — L.A., Beverly Hills and Santa Monica — "we're shortchanging the rest of the region."

Oh. I see. The only people in LA County who will use the proposed Subway to the Sea will be residents of those three cities. Has Bell not taken the Metro Rapid 720 that serves Wilshire Blvd.? Has he gone out and taken a survey of all the people who use that bus route?

We're no traffic experts here, but by relieving the center of LA County's traffic congestion problem, it just might have a butterfly effect that may benefit the rest of the county, even residents in Antonovich's 5th District.

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