Have you finally had it?

The MTA is about to begin studying two route options for Phase 2 of the Expo Line. For more details check out Steve Lopez's Sunday column and join the debate here.

Should the MTA use the Southernn Pacific right-of-way it already owns, which runs west from Robertson past Cheviot Hills and all the way to Santa Monica?

Or should it respect the wishes of homeowners in Cheviot and nearby communities who would prefer a southerly route along Venice Boulevard, north on Sepulveda and then west along the existing right of way?

To add your two cents, click on comments.

Comments

[R. Perez]

Many people have written to voice their suggestions for reducing traffic congestion. Yet no one wants to touch the sacred cow, the fundamental issue of overpopulation.
Here is the real solution. Reduce overpopulation with the following proposals:

1. Institute a one child policy.
2. Deport illegals
3. End immigration
4. Stop illegal immigration (and yes it can be done).

If any one of these proposals offends you. Stop complaining, YOU are the problem.

[Rose E. Rojas]

I have pondered on many occasions if I should get on the freeway or take an alternate route to my destination. Unfortunately, I have chosen the freeway on-ramp, only to find the freeway standting still. I wish there was a flashing RED light when the freeway was stopped, or a YELLOW flashing light when the feeway was slow, or a GREEN flashing light when the road was clear. These lights would help me and others make a better choice.

[Aviva Starkman]

Here's a letter I just sent to the MTA. There's a news release on their website (http://www.mta.net/news_info/press/metro_007.htm) announcing upcoming public hearings and requesting comments.

With the increasing population density and impossible traffic situation throughout Los Angeles, it is vital that MTA step up and offer a viable and attractive public transportation solution immediately. Unfortunately, judging from your request for public comment (news release dated January 23, 2007), MTA is headed in the wrong direction.

Most of your proposed service modifications are to CANCEL or otherwise REDUCE service. You must do the opposite. To entice people out of their cars and onto public transportation, this city must be BLANKETED in buses. There need to be several alternative routes to get from any point A to point B. Each major street needs to have multiple bus routes, and smaller streets should be considered for buses as well. Most importantly, buses must run FREQUENTLY-- every 5 to 10 minutes-- so a rider knows that if he misses this one, the next won't be far behind. I recommend that you study Egged's bus service in Jerusalem, Israel, as a phenomenally effective example. (I understand that MTA's challege is greater, because Los Angeles is a much larger city than Jerusalem.)

I am a person who would love to ride buses, if only they went where I needed to go. Let me give some examples, to illustrate the shortcomings of MTA's current system.

1. I live in West Hollywood and work in Redondo Beach. It's a straightforward drive south on La Cienega and then the 405, taking 30 minutes to an hour. The MTA website's trip planner offers me a bewildering array of options, the shortest of which requires two buses and a train, and gets me to my office by 8 am-- provided I leave home at 6. Even if that were practical (which it isn't), what about the return trip? What if I miss a connection?

2. From my boyfriend's home in Eagle Rock, I could theoretically take the train to work. I'd just have to drive to a Gold Line station, then ride the Gold Line. To the Red Line. To the Blue Line. To the Green Line. And then walk or take another bus to my office. That trip would take a minimum of 2-1/2 hours. Who designed this brilliant subway system?

3. I recently discovered a DASH bus that goes from my apartment to Farmer's Market and The Grove. Cool-- I could take a bus to dinner or a movie and not worry about parking. Uh, scratch that. The last DASH leaves at 6 pm. The L.A. Times just ran an article about the difficulty of parking at restaurants along West Third Street. Here's a great opportunity for MTA to step in and offer frequent evening buses to get diners to and from their meals.

4. One of your service modification proposals is to cancel the 119/126 line. I just found out about that route last week. I can easily catch that bus on Manhattan Beach Blvd. and ride it to downtown Manhattan Beach for lunch. I bet a lot of South Bay workers could do the same. But the bus only runs 8 times a day: at hour intervals in the early morning and again in the late afternoon. Even with those crippling limitations, I rode the bus last week to pick up my car from a repair shop. The bus was 25 minutes late. Unacceptable. Instead of CANCELING this route, why don't you improve it? Add MANY more trips, maybe extend the route all the way to the Pier, and advertise it to local businesses.

Los Angeles NEEDS the MTA. We need vision, and we need service! Please step up to the challenge.

[C. Duque]

I used to be a commuter from the West San Fernando Valley to Century City. My current commute is now down the hall into my home office using the telephone, computer and overnight delivery services to do business. I have removed myself from the problem but obviously this is not possible or available to everyone.

My wife still commutes into the Westside roughly 18 miles taking 45 minutes on a good day and 1 to 1-1/2 hours or more on a bad day. This is a colossal waste of time, resources, and mental energy which is bad for both business and our family.

The Orange Line was recently completed which takes travelers across the San Fernando Valley floor along what was once a rail line but diverted to wasted space. The new buses are double long, use clean fuel and are quiet. But they do not offer any relief for commuters into the Westside or the central City.

I have several propositions to help alleviate the current deplorable conditions by removing large numbers of cars from the roads. First, telecommuting should be used whenever possible and encouraged by businesses and communities by way of financial incentives to the businesses and the commuters. Too many workers drive into an office and walk into a room or cubicle and sit by themselves all day. You can do that from home with much less headache and undoubtedly higher efficiency. We have the technology. We should use it. Office space rotation could be used to reduce the need for actual head count space per day for those that do need physical face to face contact.

Second, create links between the existing lines such as the Orange Line and the major destinations. As an example make Sepulveda Blvd. through the Sepulveda Pass a bus only throughway during peak traffic periods with no private vehicle access unless you are a resident or carpooling. Increase the number of buses from the valley into the city enough that there is no waiting upon transfer from the Orange Line. For those that really do need their car at work, leave your car at work. Most families have more than one car, both of which sit in the driveway at night anyway. I for one would be more than willing to drive my wife to the Orange Line station if it meant she could avoid sitting in traffic and actually do something useful while riding an efficient, quiet and speedy bus.

Third, many of us remember the dream traffic during the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984. A simple but effective staggering of business hours created this temporary relief and it is beyond my comprehension why it wasn't permanently instituted.

For anything to change for the better it is going to take compromise and a willingness to change and be a part of the solution rather than a continuing part of an increasing problem.

[Julia Plascencia]

I think its an absolutely brilliant idea to use the expo line. I used to live in the palms area when I was a student at UCLA and often parked right above the expo line at westwood when returning from visiting family on the eastside so as to catch the bus up to campus.

I remember the feeling of futility traveling from Alhambra to UCLA on the 10. I think it is incredibaly selfish of the Cheviot Hills Homeowners association to block a mass transit solution that will actually be more cost effective than more complex and pricier alternatives. Also, don't they care about the children in their neighborhood. Didn't a study just come out that children develop less lung capacity when they live within 500 yards of a major thouroghfare?

I just wish our city and county had the wisdom, foresight, and leadership to implement such a solution.

[MJ Wagner]

Personal issues --
* signals that are red for no purpose other than to annoy me -- Culver at the Marina Freeway exit. There is NO exit due to construction yet we have to wait, wait, wait for the greenlight for non existant traffic that before construction exited at that point. I do not know who to call to have the turn off the light while the construction drags on. The flow of traffic would obviously be improved as would the humor of the drivers.......

* Europeans seem to do very well with roundabouts for their intersections -- I believe it would really help congested intersections and left turn drivers would be ecstatic

[gilbert Tsao]

Restrict the Diamond lanes to weekdays between 6 am to 8 pm only. Open them to all traffic during weekends and off hours on weekdays. Northern California is doing it. Why can't we do likewise?

[Jesus Rodriguez]

We can all keep complaining about traffic or do something about it. What have I done? I ride my bicycle and use the Metro Green line Monday to Friday to go to work. I also use my bicycle for anything else where it’s practical (the grocery store, video store, to get a hair cut, etc.). I save so much money on gas, car ware and tare and insurance. And, I am in the best shape ever.

I keep letting the politicians know they won’t get my vote unless they do something about traffic.

I know so many people that could be using public transportation or a carpool or some other method that reduces traffic. But they’re selfish. They expect others or the politicians to do something about the traffic problems.

And don’t forget about global warming. Most people only care about the time they spend in traffic and the money they’re wasting. But what about the effects on the environment and what kind of world are we leaving to our children.

It starts with you, do something about it!!!

[Bryan C. Klinesteker]

Monorails are the key to solving the unbearable gridlock that we all experience but I never hear enough about them. To me it is a no-brainer. Monorails are sleek, quiet, and cost efficient. Put them right down the middle of all the LA freeways. No homeowners are displaced. People would flock to them and they would be the pride of LA. COME ON LA PLANNERS AND WAKE UP! Other countries have them and we are falling farther and farther behind as gridlock and pollution now rule the day. I thought we were supposed to be a creative city drawing people with creative minds. Where are the creative minds in city planning? Does anybody in city government have the guts to stand up and do something good and progressive for this city? By the way, Walt Disney offered monorails to LA over 50 years ago and was turned down. What a huge mistake. Can someone say oil, tire, and auto lobbyists? Let's put in monorails and not repeat the mistakes of the past. We deserve it!

[Al Vvi]

Problem #1 Politicians are not interested on problem solving, they are interested on their paycheck

Problem #2 Medias are more interested to provide space for the politicians EGO and not for problem solving solutiones and visions.

Problem #3 As long as beautifyer have the saying in the City Planning Departments essential problems will not get solved.

It das not make sense to go into any detailed discussion - Down Town Development, a disaster
Port Operation, a disaster
Air Quality, a disaster
Traffic, a disaster
Waterfront Development, a disaster
Disaster Prevention, a disaster
and so on

[Scott Bogash]

I often get riled up by columns and stories on this topic but I think it's time I finally threw my $0.02 in. I'm a 42 year old native Angeleno, 16 years living near Beverlywood and Cheviot Hills. I'm fed up with traffic, long before Zev had his epiphany, but it is a great neighborhood. On the other hand, it's not the greatest neighborhood--why do they get so much clout in preventing progress? The Cheviot Hills people are hugh hypocrites, "generous"?! The people that would benefit from the Expo line, the silent ones, are their own domestic employees. Drive any morning down Motor Ave., follow a bus and count how many Latina nannies and cleaning ladies step of the bus. It's residential from Pico down to National--it's obvious where these women are going to work. Shame on the Cheviot Hills' board! I won't be around to reap the benefit of the [poorly named] Expo line, I look forward to moving Downtown in a few weeks and riding the Red Line to work in the Valley.

[Jeff Nagler]

As a Cheviot Hills homeowner for the past 10 years, I read your column in today’s Sunday Times with glee (and of course, just like you, with frustration). It’s about time the light of the local press is being shined upon the selfish, narrow-minded few who run the Cheviot Hills Homeowner’s Association. These self centered people have done everything they can to kill projects that are in the best interests of greater Los Angeles, and at the same time, they’ve also destroyed the traffic flow in and around Cheviot Hills and Century City. They’ve been able to convince the City of Los Angeles to narrow Motor Avenue with the hope of restricting the flow of commuter traffic on Motor, a street meant to handle that traffic very well. At the same time, they’ve “planted” ugly “rock gardens” that protrude into the street to further impair traffic flow. All they’ve done is screwed up the ability of those of us who live in Cheviot Hills to leave the neighborhood on our own commutes, or to drive our kids to activities or to school. The residents here have had enough of these myopic people. The only problem I have with your column today is that it doesn’t focus enough on our weak-willed City Councilmember, Jack Weiss, who has allowed these small minded tyrants on the CHHA to run rough shod over the rights of Cheviot Hills residents and the people of the Westside of Los Angeles. Please keep up the good work pushing Mr. Weiss and his friends to a direction that benefits all of the residents of Los Angeles and the surrounding communities, and let’s get that rail line built down Exposition Boulevard as soon as possible.

[Steve G]

Most Angelenos know the story of the 710 Freeway, and how the NIMBYs prevented the completion of a roughly five-mile stretch through Pasadena, South Pasadena and Alhambra . The latest proposal by CalTrans is to build the entire stretch underground, in order to solve the problems with acquisition through negotiation or condemnation. Looking at the history of grand schemes like this, and we’re talking about So Cal here, I’d say the underground plan is just another PIPE dream.

The route most north/south-bound commuters take through the above named communities runs along Fremont Avenue and a short stretch of Pasadena Avenue. Most of this route is only two lane residential roadway. A jog in this path at the Pasadena/South Pasadena boundary (at Columbia St) creates a bottleneck. And recently the MTA built the Gold Line crossing at Fremont Avenue, only a quarter mile south of the city boundary, at grade. The north half of South Pasadena is now completely grid-locked during morning and afternoon rush hours.

I would like to see a smooth transition across the Pas/South Pas boundary and a grade separation over the gold line. These could both be accomplished by building a bridge. The terrain already slopes downward as you move south from the city boundary toward the Gold Line, so the elevated roadway would only need to maintain its elevation moving southward til it crosses the railroad (make sense??). This plan would still require some acquisition by CalTrans, but few homes, if any, would need to be demo’d.

Maybe I’m just trading a pipe dream for a pink cloud, but I believe this solution would do a lot of good for a lot less money.

[Ruth Doxsee]

The MTA should definitely use the Southern Pacific right-of-way that it already owns for the Expo line. It's common sense. One group of wealthy homeowners should not have the power to negate an improvement for thousands of others living in the same city.

[Lorelei Armstrong]

Encourage businesses to move to four ten-hour work days rather than five eight-hour work days. Stagger those four days throughout the week. Not only will it move commuters out of the classic rush hour, it would reduce the number of cars on the road on a given day.

[Steve LaRock]

Why doesn't the Metro Green Line go all the way to LAX?

The Metro Green Line should go all the way to Los Angeles International Airport with a station centrally located under the theme building. Then extend the Metro Green Line further East, all the way to Disneyland/ Knots Berry Farm and create a Metrolink station at Magic Mountain in Valencia. Tourists arriving at LAX could then use the Metro trains and subway to get to: Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Hollywood/Highland, Universal Studios and Magic Mountain.

[Eric Mankin]

Today's excellent column about Cheviot Hills NIMBY regarding the Exposition Boulevard ROW if anything understates the degree of overreaction from the homeowners association. As the single dissenting board member accurate states, only 1/4 mile of the track touches the neighborhood - and it does so on the extreme southwest corner; a tiny arc east of Overland and north of the 10, parallelling Northvale Road north of Palms Park

If we had trains thundering down this arc right next to homes and the park, maybe there might be a beef. But in fact, the tracks run at the bottom of cut that starts way, way below residential grade, and only comes to grade at Overland Ave itsself. If you walk the street immediately adjutting the right of way, you'll find at most three houses the tracks are anywhere near the tracks.

This aerial photo tells the story:
http://www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl&q=

What the aerial photo can't communicate is the degree of overreaction that shows up in the Cheviot reactions. Yes, they have a really nice neighborhood, but no, this project is not going to do anything to lower its property values in any way any outside observer can see.

Qualification: Cheviot _does_ have one potential impact. To access the line from Century City, bus service down Motor Avenue might come under pressure to increase. However, rather than put the busses on Motor, they could aquite effectively go up Overalnd and then loop and return.

Bottom line: sure, put it out Venice Boulevard if we get the money. But Expo on Expo is a total no-brainer

[jeff]

I took another look at the two proposed alignments for phase 2 of the Aqua (Expo) line on the MTA's site.

The Venice/Sepulveda detour has some merit as it does serve commercial areas adjacent to Culver City and Palms. However, the detour would cause a significant delay in the time it would take to reach points west of the 405. This delay could be even worse unless the detour is grade separated.

Mabye the MTA should look at building on both alignments if it is looking to maximize transit options to the Westside. However, if only one could be built, it makes sense to build the most direct route - along the Expo right of way. It will be less expensive to build and journey times will be faster. The other alignment could be served by a rapid bus from the Washington/National station to the Sepulveda/Olympic station if the demand is there.

It's long past time for those residents of Cheviot Hills that still maintain a NIMBY attitude towards transit to let go. Surely they're sick of getting stuck in traffic as well.

[G. Anderson]

Maybe it's been talked about before, but I have some ideas for solutions to traffic messes..

There are several places where people chisel into line, in front of people changing free ways....

Anti Chiseling stategies could keep people from slowing down traffic..

On the Ventura Freeway going merging into the 405 People stay to the left until it's time to merge then the cut in front of the Cue...

On the 110 going north past China Town people intending to go north avoid the line by staying to the right, then they cut over at the last minute this is dangerous and again slows down traffic...

People going east on the 134 stay to the far right to avoid the line up in the left lane, then cut over at the last minute just before the free splits up...this is also dangerous and slows traffic down...

No one one dream of chiseling in line at a movie theater what makes traffic lines different... There should be anti chiseling laws....There are lots of places like this all over the LA basin every drive knows them, you probably can suggest many more....

[Jim Brown]

OK Steve, here it is. The most practical solution to downtown bottlenecks. You take calipers and put the point in the center of congestion in downtown LA. You then draw a circle 2 to 3 (you name it) miles. You then ban all automobile traffic within the circle. You put earplugs in your ears to block out all the screams and then sit back and watch it work. It will take some time but everyone will benefit. People will ride public transportation, downtown merchants will sell more goods and freeway congestion will go down considerably. Park and ride will become a fixture. Other outlying communities will emulate the no-car zone. Throw in the use of bicycles and other personal methods of transportation and everyone benefits.

Jim Brown
Attorney-Real Estate Broker
571 Hampshire Rd. #135
Westlake Village, CA 91361
805-497-2212

[E.R. Stern]

1. I drive a Mini. If more people drove short cars, like the Mini or Bug, there would be lots more room on the roads for more cars. Remember when they banned trucks during the daylight hours at the time of the '84 Olympics? Not that more cars are desirable, but they do seem to be inevitable.

2. The L.A. city goverment geniuses managed to build a scandalously underused subway system at a cost of 300 MILLION Dollars per mile. And that was 20 years ago. For $300 million/mile, clean, energy-efficient buses could have been put on almost every street in town and then some. To now extend the subway at Lord-only-knows what fantastic expense is a lot like sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq. Futile, wasteful, a tragic misuse of resouces.

[Ken Simon]

Steve - and others - I dream.... that at the intersection of the 110 going north on the 5 - people would no longer be able to cut into the line at the very end and make all the rest of us wait in a line that may not need to even exist. CAN WE place a camera and offer tickets to those who are a bit lost in life?

I would add the 405 intersection with the 134 east - the cuts drive me crazy.

Oh one last area - the 5 North just north of the 134 - It looks like several cars simply use the offramps to pass us all by, and then create the slowing they detest when they clog the reentry ramp....

Someday, I will mature more and not get caught by these folks - I'm trying - but I sure think we could get lots of money in tickets with a well place video or camera system! Thanks!

[Jonathan Weiss]

See why Cheviot Hills residents think light rail is right for Cheviot and the greater Los Angeles area at http://lightrailforcheviot.org/.

[jack callies]

There should be a law that every building have its address number
prominently displayed and visible from the street; ideally in the same
general area. It is frustrating, and dangerous to have to drive slowly
looking for a location. I have had to go miles out of my way and around
the block numerous times looking for an address. If the address was
easily read from the street it would save gas, reduce pollution and
accidents. It would also aid the police and fire departments in finding a location.

[MIchael L. Dawson]

To borrow a phrase from Pres. Kennedy, " Ask not what your freeway can do for you, ask what you can do for your freeway".

Almost every post on this blog is about what the various governments should do for the driver. Yes, there a few posts about what you can do, namely getting out of your cars and onto bicycles, and these will help, but one of the big problems I see is about education. Driver's education. I come from the midwest where I learned that slower traffic is to keep to the right and let faster traffic around on the left. Obviously, that doesn't work here because no one wants to get out of the left lane. Why? Because if you do, you'll probably not get back into the left lane for several miles. My dad observed this behaviour when he came out to visit two decades ago! He said, "everyone drives on the left here" in his best Bill Cosby imitation voice. I tried explaining to him that out here, no one reads the pamphlets that the DMV issues for a drivers license, and thusly, no one knows about these little rules that were designed to create friendly traffic flows. He just shook his head and said "I'm glad I don't live here".

Remembering that conversation got me to thinking. All we need is a bit of education and behaviour modification and things will go smoother. Llet me talk about agitation for a moment. No, I'm not talking about driver agitation over sitting in hours of diesel exhaust every day on the freeway, but agitation of fluid dynamics. Traffic in many senses, is just like a fluid going through a pipe. If the pipe becomes restricted, the overall flow of the fluid is diminished. A freeway is like a pipe and drivers are like the fluid. The only difference is that drivers have a mind of their own and almost always will try to speed their journey by changing lanes to take advantage of a lane that "appears" to be moving faster. These lane changes are the agitation of which I speak. In a tightly crowded freeway, any lane change will affect not only the lane you are exiting from, but the lane you are entering. This causes ripples in the flow and brake lights start coming on. Brake lights mean slower and/or stopped traffic. My theory is that if drivers picked a lane to be in and stayed there, turbulence, or agitation of the traffic flow would decrease. Thusly, overall traffic would flow faster.

Now you and I know that isn't going to happen. There are women out there who drive those giant SUV's and they don't know diddly about anything other than shuttling their fat lazy kids around. We've got yuppies in their BMW's and Mercedes' who think they own the road because their income is 10 times what the guy next to them makes, or worse yet, those same bozos using the carpool lanes on onramps while driving solo. We've got truckers who by and large, try to do the right thing, but usually can't because some guy in a Mini has just cut in front of him because there was a 10 ft opening in the truckers lane that will put him 5 feet in front of the car he was originally following. We've got a president who when he comes to town, allows the secret service to literally shut down all traffic in all directions while this 15 vehicle motorcade zips along at 60 mph down Sunset Blvd. or the 405. (The president has a helicopter, he should use it or don't come to LA. It's just not fair for a guy to come to town and have over 100,000 people get out of his way. We're buying his buddies' gas and when we have to wait 20 or more minutes for this entourage to go by, we're just lining their pockets with more of our hard earned dollars) Putting that aside for a moment, we've got cops who think nothing of shutting down an ENTIRE stretch of freeway to look for a piece of paper that says "I did it". Worse yet, we've got cops who use their sirens to get through lights and then turn them off immediately after clearing an intersection. I followed one one day to see what his hurry was. He went into a friggin' 7-11 after blasting through 3 lights with his siren!

This is the land of me,me me. It's all about the "me" mentality. The haves and the have nots. The more money you make, the more liberties you will take. That's a fact of life in LA.

Now on to something more meaningful. The Alameda Corridor Project. As an avid railfan, I was keenly interested in this project. This was a grand project that was completed slightly ahead of schedule and under budget. It was designed to move rail traffic from the ports to various switching yards near downtown. The project sunk rail lines down below street grade which reduced by a large factor, the number of street crossings. Now that the project is built and is in use, why isn't it fully utilized? LA Times ran an article saying that the line's capacity is only about 30% used. If this is so, why are their so many trucks on the 710 and 110? The rail companies should be required to move all container traffic through the Alameda Corridor to yards outside of LA first, then download them to trucks for deliveries in the region from places other than the overcrowded ports. This would reduce truck traffic immensely in the area and be a sure winner to help clear up the smog problems at the ports.

The Green Line - As previously mentioned, I am a rail fan. What I can't figure out is why the Green Line stopped short of LAX. This was the stupidest mistake that could have been made. LAX is one of the busiest airports in the world and to have a subway stop less than a mile from the terminals is incomprehensible! This was sheer idiocy. Just think of how many car trips to LAX could be reduced if the line actually made a loop around the terminals. Rail lines, above or below ground, should radiate out from LAX in all directions. Maybe we don't have the money to make a line go all the way into SFV, but it could get half way up the 405 to park and ride lots. Same for any other direction out of LAX. If such a system were available, I'd use it everytime I had to fly. The Fly-Away bus is nice, but it is subject to the traffic woes too! The private vans that ply the airport are just too dangerous. Those people drive like freakin' maniacs because the longer they take to return to the airport, the less money they make. Most of them deserve to have their licenses revoked, if they have them at all!

Thanks again Steve for letting me vent. I don't seem to have anything better to do on my Saturday mornings.

mdawson