In a city without a v. viable transportation system, would-be non-drivers daydream about an alternative LA –
For ex, check out how beautiful LA public transportation could be, if it was made in the image of one man’s imagination.
This mock-up of the real Hollywood dream was made by Damien Goodmon — which Sean over at blogging.la wrote about. Read through the comments, where the map creator weighs in on some bizzarro critiques. Want more? Read through the comments on Curbed LA.
So Damien sez there’s gonna be decals and T-shirts and a website made to propel the movement — Cool!
I wonder also if Damien could organize something similar to what a lil arts org did back in 2000. Heavy Trash — an anonymous art org of architects, designers, and urban planners — put up fake “Future Subway Station” signs to get some convos — and hopefully action — going on creating the Aqua line connecting the westside to downtown LA.
Ferris (from whom I first heard about the Heavy Trash project) said that the phone # listed on these signs for people who wanted more info was the number for the mayor. However, that appears not to be true, at least according to an LA Times article, which sez calling the number just played a recording that the Aqua peeps were busy.
Today, the Aqua line’s actually being built — tho it’s been renamed the Expo line after much controversy (some funny arguments for keeping it Aqua — scroll down a bit)…
And via MetroRiderLA, I see that Damien’s proposed system actually covers a smaller area than the London subway system — despite the fact that LA’s often believed to be too sprawly to get metro-linked effectively.
BTW — Below’re what the London and LA systems look like at the moment (via World Subways). Guess which one’s LA :P
Update, 5/11/07: The fantasy map now has a movement behind it!
Wow the L.A. subway system is like an inverted Blair Witch symbol!
Comment by Johnny K — October 2, 2006 @ 2:06 am
It’s all well and good for people to dream and make maps showing what “could be”, but here is the reality that none of them address.
THERE ISN’T MONEY FOR IT.
The reason so little rail has been built is that (1) the people who are wedded to their cars refuse to give up funds that are used for building more roads in order to fund mass transit and (2) organizations like the Bus Riders Union forced money into buses, even when there wasn’t a real need. (Did you know that the BRU claims that if there are more than four people standing on a bus, MTA should put another bus, which seats 43, on the street, to “alleviate the overcrowding”?)
Back in the 1970s, the late Supervisor Baxter Ward tried twice, both times unsuccessfully, to get the voters to pass a sales tax to fund a full 400+ mile rail rapid transit system in Los Angeles County. Adjusting for inflation, if the voters had been smart and approved Ward’s plan, that entire network of lines would have been built by 1995, at a cost less than what the Metro Red Line subway ended up costing in 2000 dollars.
All car owners care about is congestion and gridlock, and they think building more roads is the solution. They are wrong, but you cannot convince them of it.
Comment by Transit Advocate — October 4, 2006 @ 10:58 am
Dude — I’m a car owner, and I’m convinced we need better public transportation. Many of my friends feel the same, as many on the other blogs writing about this map do too.
And re: Ward’s attempts — Maybe the 3rd time’s a charm? Simply giving up cuz the task’s a big one would REALLY keep any kind of change from happening –
Comment by Siel — October 4, 2006 @ 2:49 pm
We have the charms: the Proposition A (1980) and C (1990) sales taxes.
The reason we don’t have the “dream map” system is that not all of the tax money goes to rail. A large chunk of it goes to fund bus operations as well, and there is also the local return money that L.A.’s 88 cities spend on their city bus systems. Only about a dozen of these are actually useful, though.
Much of the rail map was “salvaged” through Metrolink, but that’s only because construction costs are minimal and trains are oriented toward peak-hour commuters.
Comment by Wad — October 5, 2006 @ 9:09 pm
Well, we at least have the new transportation props coming up — Must make sure we all vote seriously –
Comment by Siel — October 6, 2006 @ 1:08 am
If those 1-series bonds pass, this frees up money for serious politicking at the county level.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants to use the money for the subway extension, but he’ll need at least 7 votes on the board to get that approved. Interestingly, the person who might support a subway extension is County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the same guy who wrote a law preventing local sales taxes to be used on tunneling. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich will lead the obstructionist faction.
Then again, if you witnesses how choosing a color for a rail line can melt down the decision-making process, L.A. will be caught napping and our money may go to the Central Valley and the Inland Empire to widen their freeways.
Comment by Wad — October 6, 2006 @ 3:38 pm
The aqua thing really was quite funny :P It’s quite interesting how people’ll get so worked up over something like that. I couldn’t care less about the names, as long as we got these public transit projects going –
Comment by Siel — October 13, 2006 @ 9:32 pm