[craigs]

Originally Posted by LAsam

Yeah, I don't understand why we keep wasting time pretending the monorails is a viable alternative.

You know, I admittedly prefer the traditional heavy rail proposals, especially the ones that have a stop directly on the UCLA campus and over to Wilshire, etc. But as I went through the proposals on Urbanize LA (easy to read format), I was surprised to discover that the proposed automated monorail proposals include consists that would carry just as many passengers as the traditional heavy rail consists proposed, and also ran slightly more frequently at peak (every two minutes v. every two-and-a-half). That said, my experience of riding BART for decades leads me to prefer off-the-shelf transit technology for economy and availability of parts, as with Metro's other heavy rail lines.

Originally Posted by electricron

The route goes through, around, or over the Hollywood Hills.

A technicality perhaps, but the route will go through/over/under the Santa Monica Mountains. The Hollywood Hills are a specific part of the same range, but farther east.

There will be steep grades and/or expensive tunnels running transit lines through hills.
If you choose the steel wheel on steel rail, tunnels wlll be needed. If you choose rubber tires on steel or concrete rails, no tunnels will be needed.
The only reason monorail is still a viable option is because rubber tires allow them to operate on much steeper grades than steel wheels can.

Light rail trains in general can climb 6% grades with standard rail designs. Monorails could easily climb 12% to 20% grades. What they choose to use will affect how they design the transit line, no question about that. When all is planned and debated politically, those in power will usually choose to build the cheapest option for the least amount of money using the cheapest qualifying equipment meeting the minimum operation requirements possible.
Good luck.

The one good thing about the monorail proposals over the Sepulveda Pass are that riders would be able to see sunlight. A million years ago, I had to take a freeway-running bus over Sepulveda pass to get to and from college, and while that obviously sucked overall, the sunshine was a silver lining.