Kinda weird how at first Garcetti was way, way, way in the lead, and now Gruel is tied with him. Is someone stuffing the ballot box?

I thought Gruel supported the Constellation station?

The city is going broke and Wendy Gruel promised to add 2,000 more police officers and additional staff to the fire department. She also stated in one interview that someone told her that they would vote for anyone that paved Wilshire Blvd. Wendy’s response–o.k., then I’ll pave Wilshire Blvd. Its amazing how gullible people are listening to her as she promises things to the unions, while at the same time saying she will increase the level of safety, even though the crime rate is the lowest its been in the city since the 1950’s. She is obviously telling anyone whatever they want to hear ,even if its not financially possible for the city to do.

Gunner,

I share your disappointment that the Chandler corridor was built using BRT, but remember what the legal and political realities were at the time it was funded and designed.  What should have been (perhaps) an extension of the Red Line could not be because of the Waxman/Yaroslavsky ban on tunneling which was still in place.  Even if the Red Line was to run the entire length of the Right-of-Way at surface or elevated, it still needed to get out of the ground from North Hollywood which was impossible at the time.  

Then there was the cost issue which BRT usually wins, at least in the planning stages, because BRT does not require the construction of a new maintenance facility which Rail Transit usually will, and certainly this corridor would as it would have been totally cut off from the rest of the LA Metro LRT system for many years.  Remember that the Clinton Administration was especially enthused about BRT thanks primarily to Rodney Slater, an ex-Arkansas Highway Commisioner who became SecUSDOT under Clinton.

Lastly, I think having the Orange Line has been a very good thing.  First, it is highly rated as an example of BRT in North America.  While only a bronze on the Embarq scale:http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/17389/the-us-has-only-5-true-brt-systems-and-none-are-gold/

it is still a “true” BRT system, and we are all seeing the benefits and the drawbacks (most of which were predicted) of this kind of mass transit.  The fact that it operates at slower speeds and is already at capacity even with a special 65-foot bus plus 4 minute headways shows  clearly to non-transit geeks what BRT can and cannot do.  

At least the potential for upgrading to light rail remains for the foreseeable future!