The Transit Route to Take

One of the biggests boosts for rail mass transit service in Orange County came out of Los Angeles last week when the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission approved a Los Angeles-to-Long Beach light rail line.

The next logical step is for Orange County transportation officials to work out a connection to the Los Angeles line in Long Beach, with rail service to and from strategic Orange County locations. That could give Orange County and Los Angeles County residents direct rail service between downtown Los Angeles and such points as the Anaheim Convention Center-Disneyland and stadium area, South Coast Plaza, Irvine industrial area, Santa Ana Civic Center and Knott’s Berry Farm.

That pattern of service could siphon off enough travelers to give the county’s overcrowded and sluggish freeways the kind of relief that they have needed for a long time.

For years both counties have independently been studying some kind of commuter rail service as an alternative to freeway use. Los Angeles obviously is running on a faster track than Orange County is. It has already approved the line to Long Beach, and its residents several years ago voted a half-cent tax increase to cover the costs of establishing mass rail transit elsewhere in the county.

Orange County is stuck at a crossroads on rail transit. In a recent annual survey of the attitudes of county residents, done at UC Irvine, a majority of people responding said that they wanted public transportation improved. But they opposed any local tax increase--which wasn’t real news, considering the election results last June when voters rejected a 1-cent sales-tax increase that would have gone exclusively for transportation, including a rail project.

Orange County needs to have a balanced transportation plan. The automobile will always be the preferred form of transportation for most people here, as it is all over the United States where people have a choice. That’s why the freeway system must be maintained and enlarged where needed. But a balanced plan also means a greater use of other ways to get from one place to another--alternatives like new high-occupancy vehicle lanes for buses, vans and car pools, and improved public transit, including a rail system.

Orange County transportation officials have talked about a rail line from the central county area, such as the county civic center or South Coast Plaza, to the Los Angeles County line. Rail service beyond the county line all the way to downtown Los Angeles would be even better.

Orange County needs a better track record. Working with Los Angeles officials to connect the counties by commuter rail would be the logical route to take.