Traffic-weary Westside residents make push for subway
Fed up with Westside traffic, about 40 residents last week gathered for a community meeting to build support for a subway in their area.
Although Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has long championed a "subway to the sea" down Wilshire Boulevard, Metro officials call the idea the Westside Corridor Extension because they don't know exactly where it will go on the Westside. Next month, Metro staff will ask the board for approval to hire consulants and explore the Westside's transit needs and conclude what kind of transportation will best serve the area.
More meetings are planned this summer through Southern California Transit Advocates, a nonprofit that is using a $4,000 grant to teach residents how to lobby their government. The group plans to mobilize residents and call on them to fire off letters to legislatures for federal and state money for the project.
Get the story HERE.
What are your thoughts about traffic on the Westside? What will serve the region best? Tell our blog!
Would would work to help traffic? [sic]
A subway would NOT help improve traffic. Cars will always seek to fill available lane mileage.
But a subway WILL give a large number of us a viable alternative versus joining the frey, or sitting it out, or simply staying home. The bus system is wholly inadequate for more than a mile or two, and useless at rush hour without dedicated lanes.
Rome, excuse me, New York City's subway was not built in a generation - its over 100 years in the making. What we're pushing to build today, is just one leg of perhaps 10 more that will accomodate millions more people as they crowd into the county over the next century.
The key is to keep the rail systems compatible and connectable, not diverge to buses, monorails or maglevs, and move towards fully automated operation.