Metrolink and Public Transit
The Snyder/Villaraigosa article is wildly misleading. Without trunk-line rail service, a “first-class bus system” is an oxymoron. Long bus routes (longer than five miles) cannot maintain schedules; they are inherently slower than automobile traffic, more costly per passenger-mile than equivalent rail service.
Adding to the 2,500 RTD bus fleet would not add appreciably to aggregate patronage; subsidies would go through the roof. If you like subsidies at the $400-million level, you’ll love the impact of their proposal.
The gross inadequacies of L.A.’s bus-only transportation system helped to produce the April riots. The poor of Los Angeles already have a “first-class bus system”; it does not serve them well.
The $400 million we pay in bus subsidies is negligible compared to automobile subsidies. We pay these through increased retail prices, property and sales taxes and decreased paychecks. The subsidy for so-called “free” parking alone in Los Angeles probably exceeds $10 billion per year. In short, the Los Angeles transportation “system” is the worst of all possible choices. The Snyder/Villaraigosa proposal would make it even worse.
STANLEY HART, Chairman Transportation Committee Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club
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