Funds Added for Eastside Subway
Times columnist Frank del Olmo got it wrong in defending the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board’s vote to seek $44 million in additional federal funds to extend the Red Line subway further into East L.A. (Commentary, Feb. 23). Rail is the wrong kind of transit, not only for the Eastside, but for all of L.A.
According to the MTA’s own figures, the Red Line East will cost taxpayers nearly $61 for each and every new trip generated by the subway. That’s six times the current eligibility limit for receiving federal funding to even study the feasibility of a rail line! At a cost of nearly $28 per new trip, the highly touted Red Line West also well exceeds the federal limit. While no official MTA cost data yet exist for a Valley subway, rest assured that it too will far surpass federal standards.
By contrast, the total cost per trip on the MTA’s bus system is $1.79. If the MTA scrapped all of its further rail projects and instead focused on improved bus service (including busways to relieve freeway congestion), millions more passengers would be served using the same limited transit dollars. That’s a plan that would truly help all commuters.
ROBERT W. POOLE JR.
President, Reason Foundation
Los Angeles
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