Many Ideas On Improving L.A. Mobility But No Consensus

"What will it take to get innovative, reality-based transit ideas rolling through the halls of power in Los Angeles County?"

"Sure, a few transit projects are underway, but we're 20 to 30 years behind and playing catchup – at a slow pace. A skeletal rail system is now taking shape, with the new Expo Line from downtown to Culver City under construction and an Eastside extension of the Gold Line. In the San Fernando Valley, the Orange Line busway will stretch to Chatsworth by 2012. The rabid anti-rail, socialist-dominated Bus Riders Union deserves credit for its longstanding battle that produced the so-called Rapid Bus routes, with the extra-long buses that can carry a 110 standing-room only crowd during rush hour."

"No one questions that it will take an infusion of money to build the top-rated public transit system politicians say they want in Los Angeles. Despite some progress in the past decade, fewer than 7 percent of commuters take public transportation. Most are stuck on freeways during rush hour. Recent studies underscore the severity and urgency of L.A.'s transportation woes. L.A.'s traffic is the worst in the nation. Commuters waste some 72 hours a year in freeway jams. And it won't get any better. Los Angeles County's population will increase by nearly 4 million by 2050."

"L.A.'s problem isn't a shortage of ideas for solving the chaotic commute."

"Today's problem is lack of consensus and inadequate leadership to enlist support across the board, from winning over residents wary of paying higher taxes to tight-fisted lawmakers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. As much as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appears to don the mantle of leadership, the communities that make up Los Angeles are far too fragmented and a roster of state, city, county, and regional officials insist on their own say over what projects move forward."