Planned L.A. Crenshaw Line Rollout Prompts Argument

That plan, Laura J. Nelson writes, "would break the Green Line into two pieces at Aviation Boulevard. Riders along the portion of the line that runs along the 105 would be able to board a train every six minutes during peak periods and ride west and north to the Expo Line without transferring. But riders going to or coming from the South Bay's four Green Line stations, the portion of the line with the lowest ridership, would lose their one-seat ride."

Those riders, who account for only 12 percent of the Green Line's ridership, would be forced to "transfer from the Green Line to the Green Line," as Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn put it. Her district includes Redondo Beach.

But an alternative plan to preserve South Bay riders' one-seat trip would essentially oblige the new Crenshaw Line to run two-car trains, even though it could handle three-car ones, due to the older Green Line's electrical limitations. Metro's directors will decide the issue at a board meeting on December 6. Ultimately, a planned extension of the Green Line to Torrance in the mid-2020s will change the math here once again.