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Old Posted Jan 8, 2022, 6:41 AM
ue ue is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kittyhawk28 View Post
For what its worth, this is Metro's eventual full-buildout plans look like:
Measure R & M projects + Strategic Unfunded Projects:



It's definitely not bad, and I could see this map realistically being built by the 2040s if another transit tax measure or two are approved in the next 2 decades. SGV is much better served with the addition of the Silver Line, but admittedly rail transit there would be overly focused around DTLA, whereas West LA would have a more convenient grid structure.

You drew some rail lines on the Harbor Subdivision, which is eventually planned to handle a direct LAX-Union Station Metrolink line at some point. Other than that, some of the lines you drew in West LA are right now being built as BRT lines (such as the line down Venice Blvd). I think building BRT while laying the barebones of the rail network is a good strategy for Metro, as it sets up future corridors for conversion to rail when ridership necessitates it.
Oh, this one's a bit different from the ones you showed in the original post. I do like this a bit better. But, it's also hard to see exactly where these lines are supposed to go, especially without any labels on the Google Maps you used. It'd be helpful if there was a custom Google Map where users could zoom in to see where everything is supposed to go. I tried to do a search, but the ones I came up with either seemed outdated or more "fantasy" maps than what is actually proposed.

I still have some reservations about this unfunded build-out:
- The Green Line should hug closer to Venice itself. Probably go down Abbot Kinney and then down Main or Pacific thru to Santa Monica. This would hit the denser and more destination-worthy parts of Venice that are actually where people want to go.
- Similarly, on the Green Line, when it gets down to Torrance, it should probably stop using the old right of way briefly around Old Torrance - a gridded and walkable neighbourhood in its own right that would benefit from more direct access to light rail. There is room at Dominguez Way, which turns into Van Ness and then Cabrillo, and then it can meet back up with the old ROW that the Green Line really wants to use. Not much different than the Purple Line dipping off Wilshire to get to Century City briefly.
- I really hate the zig-zag of the Crenshaw line you show (I know there's alternates) north of the Expo Line. It's inefficient in what is a very gridded part of LA. Have it go straight up to Wilshire and then bump it slightly over to Western and have it go straight north. If you need something down La Brea or Fairfax, have a separate, straight LRT or BRT instead. Makes for more efficient trips for a greater variety of riders.
- The NoHo-Pasadena line is great (it's basically one of the ideas I shared) but it should continue down Colorado or Green to get directly to CalTech...it's extremely short-sighted that they cheaped out with the Gold Line as it's not really convenient to the university (and universities are generally great ridership gainers)

And even still, while all these efforts are great, and certainly more impressive than anything Chicago or New York have done in generations, it still isn't enough. There really needs to be a major shift in funding towards transit, far greater than current capacities, to make LA anything approaching New York or Chicago for transit modal share. There needs to be more redundancies in dense areas (the general arc from Santa Monica/Venice to DTLA, and perhaps from DTLA into South Central) to make transit exceptionally useful and get people literally anywhere they need to go. The road layout in these areas is already conducive to this, so why not?

I agree with you though -- it doesn't all have to be rail, of course. Frequent, all-day bus service is a start, and that could be upgraded to BRT later, and then LRT/HRT if ridership grows. But there's no reason why Melrose, Fairfax, La Brea, Venice*, Santa Monica, Washington, Pico, Western, Slauson, Vernon, Avalon, etc can't have a well-oiled transit grid right now that can be upgraded later. This is what Toronto does and it arguably has the most successful transit system north of Mexico on this continent.

Also, there is very clearly an old ROW in the Beach Cities that follows Valley/Ardmore. How has this not been in the discussion (or perhaps it has, and I have missed it)? Seems like a low hanging fruit to me because it gets you a lot closer to the most popular destinations in that area (Manhattan Village, the literal beaches) than the Green Line ever will.

Another thing with this build out is that despite all the track it's adding, it still feels kind of bare. I get it - LA County is huge - but I think for the city to try and give an alternative to the car-centric lifestyle so prevalent in the region, it would better spend its efforts focusing first on the areas most conducive to transit (the older, gridded areas that already have main streets, dingbats, etc) and building out from there to more suburban areas. Some exceptions of course, like Century City, as they are major regional destinations, and the 405 line because it would probably help congestion a lot. But I'd rather see a line down Santa Monica from West LA to Silver Lake and then back down to DTLA via Sunset than spreading out far into the SGV or SFV.

* I see you noted the BRT for Venice Blvd and that's great!
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