The $5 billion question

How much support is there in Washington for the Subway to the Sea? With the $5 billion price tag, that's a key question. And despite a high-profile visit to L.A. today by the Secretary of Transportation, we still don't know the answer. Times Transportation Writer Jean Guccione reports:

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters rode the Los Angeles subway Tuesday morning to promote public transit but later would not commit federal funding to extend the line to the Westside.

"We don't know yet," she told editors and reporters at the Los Angeles Times. "What we want to look at is: What are the costs? What are the ridership projections? What is the cost-benefit of this project: How? When? Where? We have a lot of questions."

She said, "It would be wrong for me to prejudice a decision on this based on what we know today."

But she offered subway riders a glimmer of hope, noting the region's commitment to public transit: "If things line up appropriately, we probably would - but we don't know yet."

As for freeway commuters, Peters said local officials must decide what's best for their region. But she suggested that some day truckers might pay for new lanes dedicated to hauling goods from ports to warehouses throughout the U.S.

Peters, who talked about various ways to reduce traffic congestion, arrived for lunch at the Times in an Escalade SUV surrounded by marked CHP vehicles. She was on her way to Long Beach for a speech.

What do you think? Share your opinions by clicking the COMMENT button below

Comments

[william tutol]

I do apologize about my biases toward LA, but if you hate the traffic move. im from chicago and new york city, and LA, is not a city that can provide decent public transportation to its citizens because it is not a dense enough place or a city that was built to be a "city". It was built to be a suburb and the freeway as means of transport, not trains or buses. I don't know anyone in LA that even takes the train or even knew of the train systerm. Me as an east coaster knew more about the train than people from LA did. How sad is that!!

It's great to see steps in improving LA's traffic, but unless there is a campaign that states, that NOT ONLY POOR PEOPLE should take the train, then maybe something will change!!

[greg kay]

How can this even be debated? The Wilshire Corridor subway was the subway that was supposed to be built in the first place! It was the only corridor in L.A., according to numerous studies, that could actually support heavy rail. But a bunch of NIMBYs in the 1980's doglegged the Red Line up to North Hollywood. The real question should be: where does the next subway go? South on Vermont to USC? La Cinega from LAX to West Hollywood? From LAX to Westwood? The length of Sunset Blvd? It should be recognized that our sprawling city has an ever-denser core, bounded roughly by the 405, Santa Monica Mountains, the 101 and the 10 freeway that only a rail system can adequately service.

[Carter Rubin]

The shouldn't have had the secretary ride the Red Line to see what LA's transportation problems are. The Red Line great! They should have driven with her from Santa Monica to Miracle Mile on Wilshire at 4PM. And upon arriving at the Wilshire/Western stop 2 hours later, then taken her on the subway.

[R. Moses]

Unless 4 tracks are built from Wilshire and Western, then don't even bother. I have never witnessed such narrow minded planners and politicians. CA being the greenest of any state, yet you hear absolutely nothing from our senators in support of eliminating millions of car trips a year and the pollution that comes with it. Tear open the street and build the subway ASAP!

[Ellen]

It can take me over 2 hours to drive home from Santa Monica to Echo Park (approximately 12 miles) on Friday afternoons on the 10 freeway. That's enough to cause road rage or to cause me to go postal. And we know that traffic is only going to get worse from here on out. I've tried taking the bus and that only doubles my commute time! No one should have to suffer through such traffic and it's a crime that the city hasn't come up with a workable solution earlier. I think it's safe to say that the city's traffic problems are stifling and need to be addressed immediately. We shouldn’t have to waste our lives away in our car.

[Shaun]

There is not one corridor in this country that needs a subway line built as badly as the Wilshire Corridor. The ridership is already there and the longer we wait the more expensive it will get. I forsee at least another year of politicans talking about how much we need it. Stop talking and get the damn thing built already. $5 billion is more than worth it b/c it will improve the quality of life so much for Westside residents and businesses. Billions of dollars of private investment will follow the line, look at all the development projects near current stations.

It's amazing how LA and other west coast cities get screwed by the federal govt. The federal govt gave well over $5 billion dollars to Boston for their Big Dig failure. A project that cost $14 billion dollars and replaces about 2 miles of roadway!!!!! And how much money did the federal govt give DC for their subway? Considering how much money the federal govt spent on Boston, they should fully fund this subway outright. This subway would do a lot more for the region and our economy than Boston's Big Dig did for theirs.

All the opposition used to say "no one takes transit", it's not worth the cost, more road and freeways are better, LA is too spread out, ect.." And all of those things have proved false. Ridership on the Red Line is very high for such a short line. The Orange line (which should have been an elevated extension of the Red Line) is a huge success. LA has finally reached a point where transit is very viable b/c of all of the automobile gridlock. Plenty of people here will take transit b/c it will be faster and easier than driving. They need to fastrack this project right away and Angeleno's should be willing to pay for it b/c it will greatly improve this region.

[Bill]

Please God make this subway line happen, it takes me 1 hour to drive the 14 miles from Eagle Rock to the Miracle Mile and that is just pathetic.

In Paris over New Years I made the trip to the airport in 35 minutes on a Monday morning for a grand total of !.40 Euro's riding the subway.

[Kathleen]

Pushing forward with developing the subway system in Los Angeles is urgent--particularly since, at least so far, there are no infuriatingly loud advertisements and other annoying broadcasts being shouted at subway-riders. After yet another nerve-shredding commute in an overly loud, ad-blasting bus, I am ready to get back into my car!

[Michael]

The longer we wait the more expensive it will be and the worse the traffic situation will be. 50 billion could be considered a bargain when compared to the benefits this city would gain.

Imagine LA if nobody could complain about the traffic or the smog.

[Todd]

If there was a Subway to the ocean...I would probably actually go to the beach every once in a while. Heck, I'd probably go to the West side every once in a while.