CALIFORNIA COMMENTARY : On a Clear Day, You’ll Take Metro Rail : The Blue Line opens the door to an emerging era of convenient and efficient public transit for Los Angeles.

I have just walked into my office. It’s a clear, bright Tuesday. A visitor is talking about the comfort and ease of her commute.

The woman says she breezed into town hassle-free on the train. While she must travel through the most densely developed territory in our area, she can get to work in the same amount of time everyday, often beating car commuters. This has lowered her blood pressure.

She is relaxed. She has options: light rail, “real” express-bus service along “busways,” such as the one on the Harbor Freeway, plus the Metro Rail subway and bus service near her home.

You see, the year is 2010 and, because of a decision we made 20 years earlier, more transportation options are available today than ever before. Because of the determination then, the transportation network is energy-efficient and convenient, despite population growth.

Back in 1990, the voters of California--especially those in Los Angeles County--determined that they wanted an improvement over the inundated highway network of the past. They supported three ballot measures and said “yes” to building a transportation system of impressive dimension and ability. Such a futuristic conversation will occur because in the year 2010 about one in every four commuters in Los Angeles will use public transit--by choice. More than 200,000 men and women, professional and blue-collar alike, will commute by transit. Advantages of rail transit, such as cost-savings and reduced air and noise pollution, will have gained more appreciation.

For work and school trips, rail transit has equalled and in some cases even surpassed the automobile in speed, convenience and accessibility. Many families will be able to get along with only one car, finding creative ways to spend the money saved from not paying for the extra gas, insurance, parking and monthly car payments.

As a practical matter, the money will need to be found locally. One way to generate the funding would be to encourage the private sector to support transit the same way it supports the auto. The encouragement could come from changes in tax and zoning codes. For example, the notion that parking can be provided to an employee tax-free, while a transit pass provided by an employer is taxed as income, is wrong.

Local land-use ordinances that allow imbalances of jobs and housing that result in overly long commutes could also be changed. New laws need to be adopted that encourage more development that is sensitive to pedestrians and transit. In commercial areas, stores and offices should no longer be widely separated, making walking inconvenient. With these changes, noontime errands would no longer require a car.

By the year 2010 rail systems will have been built in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, Pasadena, Long Beach, the Westside, Mid-Cities and Orange County. Buses on major routes can be electrified. All of these options will run clean-powered vehicles, as will the remainder of the bus fleet. The next step will require a local investment in operations and a regulatory environment that ensures an optimal return on this investment.

Los Angeles is our home. We recycle. We share a ride. We share the responsibility for ensuring the integrity of our air, our health and our mobility. Los Angeles business and political leadership must tackle these decisions soon, or we will be building stranded trains.