Slowing Down a Good Idea : Proposed purchase of rail rights comes under questionable state scrutiny

Ask the average Southern California person whether this region needs a well-developed rail transit system and there’s not going to be much argument. But there seems to be some argument from the California Transportation Commission, which looks to be picking a fight with the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission over its plans to purchase rail rights of way from Southern Pacific. Why?

The extensive rights of way are being offered to the LACTC at what would certainly appear to be a fair price: $450 million. The land would permit the county to begin to weave together the kind of dense rail infrastructure necessary if this area is ever to overcome its dependency on the motor vehicle. The issue of rail transit has been studied to death. Voters have repeatedly expressed their view that rail is an option they want.

For its part, the LACTC and its knowledgeable execuive director, Neil Peterson, have been working hard to find a way for the county to obtain the many rights of way needed to lace together a 280-mile network connecting Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Santa Clarita, Moorpark and other points. So in threatening to slow down the deal, the chairman and three other members of the state commission are showing that they are out of touch with what is needed in these congested and polluted times. Their right to review the deal is not in question, but any sort of willful effort to slow down the process--or intrude themselves in an area that needs as many friends as it can get--will not be appreciated by the public.

The political system is under tremendous scrutiny right now by the electorate. One common fear is political stagnation, resulting in part from overlapping jurisdictions and authorities that interact to create policy gridlock.

Improving the transportation infrastructure is vital. If California is to escape the “no exit” of its mass transit problem, it will take a team effort, not bureaucratic fighting for turf and authority and prerogative.