Commuter Trains

All of our elected officials are incredibly blind to the solution to our traffic problems. They do not see that the only solution to both traffic and pollution is to drastically reduce the number of cars in Southern California. The answer does not lie in computerized signals or massive freeway additions. We need commuter trains running down the centers of our freeways. Our lives are already arranged around freeway routes and accesses and overpasses already exist that could provide access to trains.

How many who commute to downtown Los Angeles would not be thrilled to ride a speedy train to their jobs? I would gladly avoid the San Diego Freeway and ride a train from Torrance to the San Fernando Valley to visit family.

Trains seem like such an obvious solution to me and my family that I cannot imagine why our elected officials do not give them serious consideration. Could it be that they are being blinded and perhaps bought by oil companies, insurance companies and auto makers?

Imagine a transit system that enabled each family to require only one car. Imagine our insurance and gasoline savings not to mention saving the cost of a car. Now, imagine the huge auto, oil and insurance industries supporting such a system. Well, never mind, I guess it’s really quite beyond the scope of human imagination.

KAREN D. HAMSTROM

Torrance