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LA Mass Transit: Get It Running |
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Voice in the Cheap Seats
By Charles Tarlow
What will it take to build mass transit in LA now? The short answer is: money!
The long answer is that we need to decide which mass transit system best suits Los Angeles, figure out how we are going to pay for it, get the plan on paper, and put it before the people.
It is not going to be an easy sell. People are on hard times. Nobody wants higher taxes.
We have done without mass transit so long we can't imagine what it would be like to have a viable alternative to the car. And that is our challenge.
We need to communicate the enormous impact a modern mass transit system would have on our city and our lives. We need to inspire people to make the necessary sacrifice to fulfill that vision.
Subways are not the answer.
They are expensive and cannot serve the needs of a city as spread out as Los Angeles. Above ground systems are
more affordable and have the flexibility to meet the needs of our city.
There are many systems to choose from. Modern computer controlled cars suspended from or running on top of rails could provide nonstop transportation that is impervious to gridlock, faster than buses and trains, and more convenient that the private automobile.
If we price the fares properly, gridlock would be a thing of the past as people would only use their private cars for trips that would take them to places outside the reach of Mass Transit.
We the people do not want more taxes. We do not want to pay for one more unnecessary thing. We don't trust our politicians and we are reluctant to vote for anything that will raise our taxes. But we need mass transit. We need it badly.
We need it to stop the gridlock. We need it to stop the “Congestion Pricing” cronies. We need it to protect our individual mobility. Fast affordable Mass Transit will save us money and improve the quality of life for everyone in Los Angeles.
We don't want to pay for it, but we will if we understand what we are getting in return.
To the Mayor and the City Council I say, “Get your act together”. Put a Mass Transit Plan on the table. Convince us it is necessary to have higher taxes. I know promoting higher taxes is a political risk and you don't want to do it ... but you have to. We don't want to pay for it ... but we have to. (Charles Tarlow is a community activist and a member of a neighborhood council in the mid-city area. Tarlow is a regular contributor to CityWatch. He can be reached at:
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