Transit Planners Seek Plans by Private Firms
The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission on Wednesday voted to invite private firms to submit proposals for building rail projects and toll highways on public land.
The program is patterned after one launched last month by Caltrans in which the lone Los Angeles County entry--a magnetic levitation rail line from Los Angeles International Airport to Palmdale--was not selected.
Commissioners said they hope the consortium that proposed the futuristic elevated train system will enter the plan in the county’s privatization program.
The mag-lev system, in which trains propelled by electromagnetic force ride on a thin cushion of air at speeds in excess of 100 m.p.h., would be built on pillars in the right of way of the San Diego, Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways.
Another project that officials hope to see proposed by private firms is an elevated monorail along the Ventura Freeway in the San Fernando Valley.
Commission staff members estimated that it will take four months to gather proposals from firms and analyze them for commission action.
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