Rail Way: Transit Without Tears : A vital deal--and two vital ballot measures

Raising mass transit to the former glorious level of the beloved Red Cars will be a long process. L. A. County transit officials last week took a big step along the way, a step that could benefit commuters in every surrounding county.

After many months of negotiations, Southern Pacific Transportation Co. agreed to sell or lease the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission 245 miles of valuable rights-of-way. Someday those rail lines will be part of the commuter rail system that this region badly needs to help relieve increasing highway gridlock. Southern Pacific agreed to sell the rights-of-way, and 190 acres of adjacent land parcels, for $450 million, a bargain price 40% less than the original asking price.

MAJOR ADVANCE: Specifically how the rail lines will be used--where stations will be located, for example--is still to be determined. But by purchasing passage rights along some very busy transit corridors, the commission has filled in large gaps in the map of the region’s hoped-for mass-transit system. And from Ventura to San Clemente, most local officials agree that some kind of mass transit must be moving along those corridors soon, or we’ll choke on traffic and smog.

Most of the rights-of-way covered by last week’s agreement are old railroad lines that SP doesn’t use much any more. They converge on downtown Los Angeles from the Simi Valley, the Santa Clarita Valley, San Bernardino and the Westside.

The agreement will also allow purchase of a right-of-way to the Orange County line that can be linked to 4.5 miles already owned by the Orange County Transit District. That would open the door for major advances in commuter rail service from the south. But there’s a catch for Orange County: The $50 million to buy the right-of-way and build the necessary stations and other capital projects is in Measure M, a half-cent sales tax for transit and transportation projects on the ballot.

PROPS C AND M: L. A. County was able to purchase Southern Pacific’s rights-of-way because voters assessed themselves a half-cent sales tax back in 1980. Now Los Angeles voters are being asked to enact another modest transportation tax on Nov. 6.

Proposition C would raise the county sales tax another half cent for mass-transit projects. Under normal circumstances, we would be dubious about another sales tax hike so soon. Unfortunately, the need is there because the federal funds that once could be relied on to pay for major transportation projects like the Metro Rail subway are drying up. If Los Angeles is to maintain the momentum created by its new mass-transit projects, local residents must do more to support them.

From that perspective, another half cent is a reasonable investment. Probably nothing that has been done with Los Angeles’ transit tax money--even building the Blue Line trolley between downtown and Long Beach--will be as important as developing these rights-of-way. By enacting Proposition C in Los Angeles, and Measure M in Orange County, voters will help put these old rail lines to a new use as quickly as possible.