Just Say No To Mega-Tunnels

Partly in response to an earlier article speculating that Los Angeles transportation planners may begin investigating mega-tunnels as a response to the region's traffic woes and inability to connect existing freeway segments due to high surface acquisition costs, the Los Angeles Times offers a strongly-worded editorial about why mega-tunnels shouldn't be part of Los Angeles' transit strategy:

"But the main objection to tunnels is more philosophical. It's a truism in Southern California: If you build it, they will drive on it. New freeways (or expanded old ones) tend to lure more people into their cars, and the new routes quickly become just as jammed as the old ones. There is no reason to think the same thing won't happen with underground freeways. Building tunnels does nothing to get people out of their cars, a necessity if the nation wants to reduce its reliance on oil and Southern California wants cleaner air and less traffic. If taxpayers are going to pay the cost of building miles-long tunnels, it would be wiser to put trains in them than automobiles."