With gas prices rising beyond the comfort zones of many drivers, ridership on L.A.'s train system has seen record highs in the early months of 2008. For many in the city, the price is prompting a major paradigm shift in terms of mobility.
"You see - like most people here - I would rather stick pins in my eyeballs than hop on a bus or a train."
"That is not because I am a snob, but because America's second largest city is a sprawl. Fifty-two suburbs in search of a city, so the old saying goes."
"And the prospect of sitting in grid-locked traffic on one of the labyrinths of freeways, only to pay the equivalent of a small dowry for the right to park, may sound miserable, but given the distances involved, it is still invariably quicker than public transport."
"Yet certain things have happened here which have prompted some in this car-crazed city to question their betrothal to the internal combustion engine and weigh the possibility of a trial separation."
"Although motorists in Europe would give their right arm for petrol at nearly $4 (£2) a gallon (assuming of course they steer with the left), here it is nothing short of the end of the world as we know it."
