Will Monorail Go to Tomorrowland? If You Wish Upon a Star

By 9 o’clock Tuesday night, just about everybody in attendance at the Irvine Transportation Commission meeting was getting a bit fidgety.

After 2 hours of discussion about such mundane matters as on- and off-site parking and the advisability of dual right-turn lanes in a business complex, city officials and audience alike were stifling yawns and squirming in their seats.

Then Jiminy Cricket started to sing, and the whole room came to life.

“When you wish upon a star,” warbled the world’s best-known conscience from somewhere within a video monitor, “makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you.”

Survey after survey has shown that what Orange County’s heart desires is a way out of our nearly perpetual traffic jam. Not coincidentally, whooshing across the screen as the cricket chirped was a vehicle that one famous local entrepreneur proposed as a solution long before we had a problem: the Disneyland monorail.

“Thirty years ago, amid the bountiful citrus groves of Orange County, a visionary imagineer named Walt Disney saw the future of transportation and gave it life,” intoned the video’s narrator as Jiminy faded into the background.

“He created North America’s first monorail, at Disneyland. Today, Orange County once again stands at the threshold of an exciting new advancement in transportation technology. A new generation of imagineers from private industry will focus global attention on . . . John Wayne Airport. It’s there that McDonnell Douglas Realty Co. will build and operate North America’s first public monorail system.”

In some ways, the McDonnell Douglas Realty project does sound like what the cricket would call a dream come true. “Developed entirely without cost to the taxpayers . . . effortless, safe, virtually silent, pollution free, at the leading edge of technology,” the prerecorded pitch goes on, concluding with a direct appeal to whatever government authorities happen to be watching:

“It’s a choice between the present and the future, and the choice is yours. Progressive government leadership working closely with the private sector at no cost to the taxpayers will make Orange County an even better place to live, work and travel.”

But wait. Don’t start lining up for a ride just yet. This monorail, which has yet to receive final approval, will only carry you 2,400 feet--less than half a mile, and a mere fraction of the 27-year-old Disneyland system’s 2.5-mile loop. Its three-section cars are also teeny by comparison. And slow: At a top speed of 30 m.p.h., they will shuttle a maximum of 60 passengers at a time from the airport’s new terminal across the street to Douglas Plaza and back. That’s it. Handy for the 5,000 to 6,000 folks who will eventually live and/or work at Douglas Plaza, but probably not a major life-style enhancement for the rest of us.

Still, the mini-monorail has drawn an inordinate amount of public attention because of the possibilities it represents. This week the Orange County Transportation Commission decided to take a serious look at linking the system to the new Irvine Amtrak station, an idea that had already occurred to the city. And there is talk of eventually extending the line to Newport Center, South Coast Plaza and elsewhere in the county, maybe even tying in to a full-size monorail more like the Disneyland loop itself.

But is a monorail a realistic possibility? Or is it merely part of a Tomorrowland that will never happen?

Brian Pearson of the Orange County Transit District says, in effect, forget it--at least for now. “There’s clearly a fascination with the idea of the monorail,” he says, “but there is no monorail vehicle now on the market that is suitable for an urban transit environment.” Besides which, he says, the monorail is “slow and antiquated compared to a more modern rapid-transit vehicle.”

But the president of the company that designed the airport system is a believer--albeit a recent convert--in monorails of all sizes, and he says the idea is realistic.

“People have always wondered, after going to Disneyland or Walt Disney World, why we couldn’t use a monorail,” says Thomas J. Stone, president of the Transportation Group Inc., the company behind the proposed mini-monorail. TGI also holds the license for the extensive monorail system at Walt Disney World, a far more advanced system than Disneyland’s.

Stone, a veteran transportation consultant, says he wondered the same thing. But until about a year ago, he says, “I used to just dismiss it without even looking at it seriously.”

Monorails have long had two serious drawbacks, although the Disney folks haven’t been wont to mention them. For one thing, there was no way to switch a train from one track to another, which limited the range of a system. For another, there was no easy way to evacuate passengers in the event of a breakdown or other emergency.

Stone says his company has come up with solutions to both problems, although he concedes that TGI’s 10-second switch isn’t quite as fast as the 9-second ones in some Japanese systems.

To solve the evacuation problem, TGI has developed a “low-cost, rather unobtrusive walkway system that parallels the guide beam,” Stone says. “So we’ve overcome the two strikes monorails had against them.”

Still, Pearson says that “in my view, there are a lot of vehicles on the market that are probably more suitable.” Probably the best example, he says, is the fully automated light rail system in Vancouver, Canada.

In any case, Pearson says, Orange County is hardly in a position to shop for such a system, and there are no plans to develop one here soon.

How does the monorail compare in cost?

The proposed airport system will cost McDonnell Douglas about $3.5 million, Stone says. That works out to $8 million to $10 million per mile, comparable to a ground-level system such as the San Diego Trolley at $10 million to $12 million a mile.

But ground-level systems can’t go very far before they run into major streets, where they must be raised to avoid blocking traffic. That’s the case with the planned Los Angeles-to-Long Beach light rail system, Stone says. The high number of so-called grade separations means that line will cost $35 million to $40 million per mile.

A larger, faster monorail would also cost about $35 million to $40 million a mile, Stone says. “And when you get into a subway, the costs escalate dramatically, from $100 million to even $300 million per mile.”

Urban freeways cost about $100 million a mile as well, although one interchange itself can cost that, Stone says. “But we’re to the point where we’re not going to build many more freeways. There just isn’t room.”

Stone is quick to admit that even in a best-case situation, “monorails are not a panacea. There is no panacea. Even when we do regional rapid transit, even if it’s supplemented by smaller feeder systems, it’s not going to solve the problem. We’re going to need car pools, van pools, busways, staggered work schedules. Transit is only one component of the solution.”

But even if monorails are feasible on a larger scale, will a tiny 2,400-foot line really make a difference? Stone believes such small systems are essential to the larger picture. “In and of itself, this (airport) project is not really significant. But it is for what it represents.”

So what’s in it for McDonnell Douglas Realty?

Company president Robert Young says the line will be “a luxury amenity” for employees and tenants at Douglas Plaza. “It will be a great service to our office building people to be able to come down an elevator, get on a monorail and in 2 1/2 minutes be in the center of an airport terminal.”

It will also make the place more marketable, Young says. “We think we’ll lease our building faster and be able to get higher rents.” But it won’t be a moneymaker. “At a 50-cent fare, we’ll probably come close to breaking even, but it will never be a profit center for us.

“A lot of developers put in sculptures and fountains. This is our fountain.”

The monorail will be showy, and Young admits, “it’s going to be a lot of fun.” But McDonnell Douglas also has a more practical purpose in mind.

“It will be a research-and-development project. We could study (mass transit) for the next 20 years like they did in L.A., or we can put in a piece of good-looking, sensible hardware, and I believe we’ll learn more in 2 years of practice than in 20 years of paper and study.

“Also, what we as developers have to realize is that if we don’t privately do something, then development in Orange County will cease. You can’t develop unless you can move the people around. And the public route just takes too long.”

Still, a private system will need public help to go more than a short distance, Stone says. “If you’re doing it privately, you won’t go far before you find a property owner who doesn’t want to participate. At some point, the government does need to take a leadership role.

“We think people are ready to do something. In Southern California, you’ve reached the point where traffic is just no longer acceptable. That’s why people are so excited to hear that someone is taking the first small step.”

All Aboard?

Does an Orange County monorail system sound like a good idea to you? Life on Wheels would like your opinion on both the proposed airport line and the possibility of a larger system.

Looking for Mr. Goodwrench

A good auto mechanic can be nearly as important to Southern California drivers as a family doctor. A bad one can leave you veritably crippled. If you have a favorite auto mechanic, tell us about him or her. If all you have are horror stories, we would like to hear those too.

You’ve Got the Answer

Suggestions for solving Orange County’s traffic nightmare are starting to show up in our mailbox and at the offices of the Orange County Transportation Commission. If you have a suggestion, small or large, send it to us and we will pass it on to the 100 Traffic Solutions project.

Send your comments to Life on Wheels, Orange County Life, The Times, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif., 92626. Please include your phone number so we can contact you. To protect your privacy, Life on Wheels does not publish correspondents’ last names when the subject is sensitive.