Get ready for November, when all of your transportation dreams may become reality. Sort of. The Lookout News reports on the "Transportation Symposium 2" held last week in Santa Monica to discuss the future of light rail projects on the Westside. A lot of today's hopes for expansion of light rail to Santa Monica and the Westside hinges on what voters do at the ballot box this fall, where $4 billion in bond money set aside for transportation will be on the docket.
Officials from Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Culver City and West Hollywood are hoping the bond money will help complete the Exposition Light Rail, linking Santa Monica and Downtown Los Angeles.As County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky notes, other crappier parts of the county like Claremont will have light rail long before Santa Monica and the Wilshire corridor, and they barely have enough people to support it. Now that former NIMBYs and general anti-light rail enthusiasts on the Westside have joined the call for light rail, all that's required is some money to fund the system.When it’s finished, 72,000 passengers are expected to ride the train each day.
Phase 1 of the project to bring the train west to Culver City is already funded and will break ground next year. If all goes well, it will be completed in 2010.
Now officials are scrambling to come up with $750 million more to bring the line the rest of the way to Santa Monica. Projected completion for Phase 2 is 2015.
· Transit Symposium Focuses on Light Rail [Lookout News]