| Johnny Hates Metro Rail Because It Is Not Ambitious.
Apparently, Metro’s only concern is to better serve those residents of Los Angeles who don’t own cars. ‘Tis a noble effort, indeed. But a more ambitious Metro would also be trying to get present drivers out of their cars and furthermore, trying to keep future generations out of cars and on their trains. It is a popular belief that the residents of Los Angeles love their cars and that, because of this, the city might not need a large-scale public transit rail system. However, Angelenos don’t enjoy paying $3/gal for gas, spending hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic, automobile accidents, environmental pollution, tickets, finding and paying for parking, or paying for insurance more than anyone else in the country does. The fact is the residents of Los Angeles don’t have a realistic alternative to the automobile. From East LA to our famous Pacific Coast, a realistic alternative would be a mode of transportation that one could regularly use to get to work, school, places of business and leisure on time. In a city as sprawling as LA, a rail system could serve these needs best. Unfortunately, Metro is not planning to satisfy these needs because they do not feel the existing trains have enough riders. Would you ride Metro Rail if from Point A you could only get half way to Point B? Metro is not realizing the impact a more complete rail system would have on tourism. Imagine how many potential visitors to LA choose cities like San Francisco, New York or Chicago instead because they won’t need to worry about renting a car or spending precious vacation hours in automobile traffic. More Metro Rail would be good for tourism, which is even better for our economy. The current Metro Rail is an impressive beginning that wonderfully demonstrates the potential of a more complete, integrated rail system that might one day help Los Angeles earn the reputation of a functional, world class metropolis. Hopefully Metro will play a role in turning this potential into a reality…especially for poor Johnny.
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