Comments on: Streetsblog Rewind: Transportation Engineer Looks at the Lakers

By: Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:10:10 +0000

militant angeleno is

militant!

By: militant angeleno

militant angeleno — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:10:46 +0000

Vagapolitan: Hate to break this to you, but NYC’s subway was not built in a day, nor a week, nor a year, nor even 10 years. But it did take a long-ass time to build. It’s just that nearly all of it was built before your lifetime.

Los Angeles’ system is being built during our lifetime. That’s just reality, and it takes time for lines to be planned, funding to be attained, contracts to be awarded, concrete to dry. Even if we do have billions or trillions to build it all, it still takes time for it to take shape. Perhaps in this age of instant self-gratification, patience is a long-lost art.

So if you’re that impatient perhaps you should look into cryogenically freezing yourself for the next 50-100 years, that way you won’t have to wait that long.

By: Vagapolitan

Vagapolitan — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:44:31 +0000

What’s it going to take for LA to get the masst transit system truely underway. I’m talking about on NYC scale. Not only should there be a “Subway to the Sea” but it should encompass ALL parts of LA county.

I’ve been around to NYC, Boston, Chicago, London and have experienced how great their respective cities are BECAUSE i was able to navigate either by foot or public transit. We are doing all visitors to our great city a disservice by not having the best transit available. Who do I need to talk to about this?

By: ubrayj02

ubrayj02 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:24:20 +0000

One overlooked edge in being transit-friendly: you get more customers “for free” once the non-auto transit infrastructure has been properly laid out.

Car transit costs a ton to build, but a lot of that money can get made back by charging to park. Dodger Stadium charges out the rear to let you park you car.

I am sure that they are afraid of losing that parking revenue if they were to shift away from automobile use.

I imagine that many in L.A. see it as a zero-sum game: the same amount of consumers will arrive at your destination, would you rather charge them to park or let them get in for free?

The reality is that big events and public places naturally attract people – and transits users, cyclists, and pedestrians represent a “free” customer that did not require thousands of dollars in private money to go towards to build and maintain a parking space.