Patrick - Just to clarify, I’m a huge supporter of the subway and all the trains. But the implication in the item was that when the Expo Line and the subway to the sea are built, the bumper to bumper traffic problem will be resolved. They’ve had subways in East Coast cities for decades, even centuries, and the traffic in those cities is still bumper to bumper during rush hours. I’d be willing to bet that, even with the LA transport system returned to its pre-freeway status as the largest public transportation system in the world, there will still be bumper to bumper traffic on the 405 come January 2111.

Jon’s points are well made, except the insinuation that a subway is useless or
ineffective in LA because it won’t end bumper-to-bumper traffic.  I’ve been to
many large cities with fabulous subway and public transit systems; Tokyo, Berlin,
New York and all the rest still have bumper-to-bumper traffic.  They are effective
systems because people who don’t have cars can still fully function in society and
because cars are only one of many options instead of the only option.  Rail can
carry a higher density of people than roads and do it without being “stuck in
traffic” like buses.  I live in LA and ride the subway every chance I get.  I just don’t
think the rail system is a failure just because I still see traffic jams.

Hey PZS -

You might want to run this item past Robert Scheer or someone who knows LA a little. The light rail Blue and Gold lines have been up and running for years, as has the Red Line subway from the San Fernando Valley to Downtown. There are express buses on Wilshire and Ventura blvds. and commuter trains running through the valleys and down into Orange County.

What this article is about is a new light rail line that will connect with the Blue Line (that has been running from Downtown to Long Beach for about two decades) and run through a mostly residential area along I-10, the Santa Monica Freeway, to Santa Monica and Venice. Separately, a new subway extension is scheduled to run under Wilshire Blvd. from Downtown to the West—that’s about 15 miles or so of tunneling, a good bit of which will go through the methane fields around the La Brea Tar Pits.

Finally, while this all great, none of it—NONE of it—will do anything to end bumper-to-bumper traffic in Los Angeles anytime in this century.