Results for “la crescenta”

as it is, we’re already paying nearly $1 more per gallon of gas than they do in Arizona. We’re also paying some pretty hefty registration fees, insurance etc. you don’t want to burden a large group of people who can’t spend 3 hours on buses and trains getting to and from their miserable jobs. LA is really a giant suburb and not anywhere near dense enough to work like Chicago or NYC – it might get there but it will take 50 or more years minimum

Your perspective is skewed if you think that people in uber-liberal LA don’t ride the bus because a black person is sneezing on it. There are homeless people that make bus stops and buses their shelters, many of whom have mental illnesses and verbally accost or actually physically assault passengers.

No one drives in Los Angeles because they can’t afford Metro’s $1.75 fare (although all transit agencies should abolish transfer fees. Why should riders be punished because there’s not a direct route to their destination?) The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that it costs drivers $9,282 per year to own a car (gas, repairs, maintenance, registration, insurance, depreciation, &c). Getting a low-income Metro pass, on the other hand, costs just $912. Who are these riders who are saying to themselves, "I can’t afford to spend 912 dollars — so I guess I’ll spend 9,282"?

Metro needs only look at its own surveys to figure out how to improve service.

1. Two-thirds of those surveyed say they don’t ride Metro because the trains and buses don’t common often enough and are too slow. Give the buses dedicated lanes and run them more often. That will guarantee a massive rise in ridership.

2. Nearly a third of those surveyed cite safety concerns. Now, data shows that taking transit is safer than driving. Cars kill an average of two Angelenos per day and maim or injure 39. Cars pollute the air, land and water not just with greenhouse gases but massive amounts of brake dust and microplastics. The biggest killers in Los Angeles are heart disease, stroke, and lung disease — illnesses exacerbated by auto-dependent physical inactivity and pollution. That said, many transit users report unwanted sexual harassment on transit. At the same time, many riders are naturally wary of armed law enforcement provided by LASD (whom Metro contracted in the past) and LAPD (whom Metro contracts now). I think most riders would rather see a uniformed transit security officer on the occasional bus or train rather than kevlar-armored, gun-toting cops with bomb-sniffing dogs hanging out in stations.

3. Put restrooms in the train stations.

Seattle? They barely have two lines.

Yeah, there is effectively no enforcement. Practically no one pays a fine.

Which is why LA needs to focus on land use… Metro can only do so much when we continue to build everything primarily around driving (double-wide streets and gratuitous subsidized parking is not exactly a recipe for foot traffic and transit ridership.)

Ah, my favorite, MCM post and beam with a view, LA heaven. I like a lot

I get it. LA proper will never understand.

What exactly is the real proposal here? We already have free public transit in LA. It may not be de jure, but honestly, who.actually pays fares on Metro when there is zero enforcement?

La Metro and the great central planners should focus on making public transportation better – not just on making driving a car worse. I don’t think anything short of putting a gun to people’s heads will get them out of their cars. And I wouldn’t put it past the anti-auto people to try.