Subway to the Sea: a vote tally and a round of meetings

The sales tax would go up and the subway to the sea built down Wilshire Boulevard -- at least if it's up to you commenters on Emerald City. A couple of days ago, I asked if you'd vote for a half-cent sales tax hike to help fund the Subway to the Sea, bringing rail all the way to the Santa Monica beach. If it gets on the ballot, the measure would need two-thirds of the vote to pass, and guess what: Exactly two-thirds of commenters on the post said they'd vote for it.

By my count, I have 24 pro votes and 12 against -- along with a lot of commentary ranging from the sweet and selfless (Nel Ivancich: "Since I live out of the L.A. area I wouldn't be a frequent user of the Subway-to-the-Sea. Yet, I'd happily give a half a cent per dollar...") to the plain old rude (the usual anti-working class, anti-immigrant vitriol).

Of course, some of the comments didn't give me a straight yes or no answer; I interpreted some (I counted adoptivefather's as a no and Brad's as a yes, for example). Multiple comments by the same author were counted as one vote, unclear comments discounted, and Left LA becuse of the tax rate!!!'s comment ignored altogether since, you know, he doesn't live here.

Lots of other great ideas came up in the comments too, from congestion pricing to a sunset clause on the tax hike. Many of you argued quite passionately for your various ideas, in fact. Might you be willing to channel that passion and energy into more directly participating in this Subway to the Sea issue?

All this is to say I'd like to personally invite all you readers and commenters to join me at the next round of Metro's Westside Extension Transit Corridor Study meetings for the public, during which this Subway to the Sea will be the main topic of discussion. The dates so far:

• Thursday, Jan. 31, 6 to 8 p.m., Los Angeles County Museum of Art – West, Terrace Room, 5th Floor, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
• Tuesday, Feb. 5, 6 to 8 p.m., Westwood Presbyterian Church., 10822 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
• Wednesday, Feb. 6, 6 to 8 p.m., Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood

Hey -- look at that: All the meetings are on Wilshire or Santa Monica, the very boulevards where the subway might be built! Drive there and you'll be fighting bumper to bumper traffic -- but at least you'll be able to tell your grandkids what life in L.A. was like before the subways.

Or you can read a book or simply zone out in a post-work funk while letting the bus do the driving for you. To get there fast, take the 720 or 920 Metro bus down Wilshire, or the 704 bus down Santa Monica. My plan is to take the 720 to the meeting at LACMA, getting there a few hours early to take in some art and maybe do a little eco-shopping before talking transit.

More details on the agenda of the Westside Extension meetings to come later, once Metro finishes prettying up the invites and officially sends them out. For now, here is what happened at the last round of meetings.

Photo by Cathy Cole via Flickr

Comments

[Bill]

Am I the only one who HATES the name "Subway To The Sea"? Subway To The Ocean would work, or Subway To The Bay... but this whole fabled Sea concept really bugs me.

[James]

Wow! That thread was a hit! I think that's the most response I've seen so far on any of your articles.

I not only think the half cent sales tax is a good idea, I think it should be permanent, and that the funding should be "ringfenced" so as to only be used to fund public transportation projects and improvements.

[m]

Came across this.... it's kinda interesting although i wish there were more concrete numbers to look at.... I think it kinda supports my idea that just increasing sales tax isn't going to get the desired behavior even if it does create money for transportation projects. Public transportation needs a lot of work to become a more attractive alternative. Unfortunately in this case, it doesn't seem like "if you build it, they will come"

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-moore13jan13,0,4001505.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

[Liam]

Good post GreenLAGirl.

Would I? Sure, but why seven billion? This is no Big Dig.

I'd like to know how they came up with that figure.

And I don't care if it's called SMURFETTE (Santa Monica Underground Rail For Every [ran out of ideas here]) or the Big Blue Underground, it's a good idea.

[Dan W.]

I support both corridors. Build them both and lets create a network!

I will gladly pay an increase in sales tax to build them.

[Sameer]

if i knew it'd be built, i'd pay everything i had...

[Erika Szostak]

The reason "If you build it, they will come," hasn't worked in LA is because we've managed to build a subway that doesn't actually go anywhere, with metro stops that are far too far apart and that barely cover this vast city. The problem is that when we have to combine our subway rides with a bunch of bus transfers, the supposed convenience of public transportation is not convenient at all. Further, many of the stops don't have much use for people's day to day needs, and seem to have been built instead for the needs of tourists, the people who might use the subway once or twice on a visit, instead of for the people who would use it every day. For example, we have subway stops at tourist traps Hollywood & Highland and Universal City, but no stops which are convenient to or in walking distance to schools like Loyola Marymount, UCLA, SMC, Harbor College, West LA College, UCI, Pasadena CC, etc. What about subway stops near huge employers like Disney, Sony, Paramount, etc., so that we could get more commuters off the road? Further, and I know this has been much bemoaned already, but the train stops short of the airport, turning a 40-minute car ride into a 2-hour ordeal. Of course, no one uses the train when it makes the situation even less convenient. I, for one, would be thrilled to have a subway to the sea, or just more subway in general. I live in Miracle Mile and work on the westside so the current system is of little use to me, but I would certainly be willing to pay another half - cent of sales tax if it meant getting a better system in place.

One other suggestion regarding easing traffic congestion: why is it that Los Angeles seems to be allergic to left-turn arrows at intersections? Installing these at more intersections seems like a fairly simple and relatively cheap solution to a small part of the problem.

[schrunchy]

I live in Venice, work downtown and totally support the new line connecting the two. Why don't they just build a monorail from Santa Monica to Wilshire/Western and let people use the existing lines from there? Would be so much less expensive, quicker to implement plus more enjoyable for riders...