What Would You Do With $100 Billion To Improve Transit?

As part of a series of opinions about traffic and transit, The Los Angeles Times gives one transit advocate the fantasy situation of having $100 billion to spend on rail, buses, and a host of other transportation improvements.

1 minute read

March 26, 2007, 8:00 AM PDT

By Christian Madera @http://www.twitter.com/cpmadera

"God just gave L.A. $100 billion to fix traffic. What would you do?"

Bart Reed, the Executive Director of The Transit Coalition, a L.A.-based transit advocacy group, lays out his vision for transit in Southern California if money wasn't an issue.

"The most ambitious item on the list is indeed the most obvious one: $10 billion to extend the Wilshire Boulevard subway to Santa Monica, with stops at Century City and UCLA. Another $7 billion would be used to create either a subway spur or a separate light rail line to connect the San Fernando Valley with LAX and Westwood."

"So long as the spending for automobile-based transportation remains lopsidedly greater than rail spending, we'll continue to promote the idea that California is one big suburb when, in fact, much of our state is urban. We cannot continue to pretend it is 1950, so we must explore a balanced and aggressive approach to ending this gridlock that has become the hallmark of modern-day Los Angeles."

FULL STORY: Traffic snarl: If money weren’t an issue

Friday, March 23, 2007 in The Los Angeles Times

Transportation California

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Start Learning

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.