PLATFORM : We Should Be First

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission said we’re one of three routes being considered for (rapid-transit) funding, but they put us third on the list! Because of the population and problems in the Valley, we should be first. They’re putting Pasadena and the South Bay ahead of us. We think there’s more population and more of a problem in the Valley than in those areas. The proposal to extend Metro Rail into the Valley is a question of how much money and political clout we can generate in Los Angeles and Washington.

Instead of building cute trolley-car lines, we’ve got to focus on where the problem is the most severe--in the San Fernando Valley. $877 million dollars would have been better spent building a line in the Valley rather than between downtown and Long Beach. They laughed at (former county Supervisor) Baxter Ward’s proposal (in the early ‘70s to implement citywide rail transit). If they had implemented it, it would have been much cheaper and would have alleviated the mess we have now.