Metro Rail Subway

* Call me a newborn subway enthusiast. I took advantage of the free glimpse into the underground last Saturday and was in awe of what the MTA has accomplished. For years I have read the skeptical and critical reports of the “subway to nowhere” and I can kick myself for letting the media define my perception of the Red Line. Congratulations to the marketing genius of the MTA to open the system to hundreds of thousands of people to consider how they might make public transportation a part of their lives.

We hopped on at Hollywood and Highland, an exciting portal given the evidence of Hollywood’s revival everywhere you look, and rode the train to North Hollywood. We enjoyed a terrific two hours savoring the NoHo Arts Festival and rode the train back--in a mere eight minutes! We are hungry for more, and will take the subway to visit downtown and places beyond.

I was impressed with the presence of the red-shirted staff. They were everywhere--cheerfully guiding people in and out of the stations, on and off the trains and patiently responding to questions.

MIKE MORRISON

Los Angeles

*

For anyone who has been driven insane by the futility of L.A. traffic, the Red Line is one beacon of hope, an example of what could be. Sure, it cost a bunch, but it actually works. There are a lot of close-minded Luddites out there who scoff at the idea of L.A. having an extensive subway system, but it is the only thing that will free us from the chains of congestion. If the MTA can learn from its past mistakes and get costs down, we should immediately extend these lines throughout the city. Our freeways are already useless during peak hours, and the quick fix of adding lanes is a short-term solution at best.

SAGE VANDEN HEUVEL

Los Angeles

*

Mayor Richard Riordan states, “Quite honestly, I would not have started it [the Los Angeles subway], but once you started it, you’ve got to finish it.” No, you don’t. Throwing good money after bad may be good politics, but it is economic gibberish. If we had applied the same rules to the public’s money that we apply to our own investments in our private lives, we would have bailed out of the subway project long ago, and the Los Angeles rail system would be a much smaller, much less costly failure.

JAMES E. MOORE II

Associate Prof., Civil Engineering

Public Policy & Management, USC

*

It is already being predicted that the new and expensive subway will be a failure, because people won’t ride it. Well, they would if it went far enough. Originally, the subway was supposed to extend to Warner Center, cutting across the Valley and providing an alternative to the crowded Ventura Freeway. As it is, it just doesn’t give access to enough riders. I hope extension of the subway will be considered to give us a real mass transit opportunity.

ROXANE WINKLER

Sherman Oaks

*

Wow, the subway had 100,000 boardings on Monday (June 27). At $1.35 each, ignoring operating costs and assuming we have the same number of riders 365 days per year, we will have our investment paid off in only 95 years. And I was skeptical.

JOSEPH AREEDA

Los Angeles