Cost and Inconvenience Argue Against Monorail
* The voters who favored the monorail system were about 10% of the eligible voters. 1990 was one of those years in which fewer than half of those eligible actually bothered to vote.
The reason there has never been a fatality on a monorail is because there are so few passenger miles per year traveled, and because the average speed is about 25 m.p.h. The “existing right of way” Supervisor Mike Antonovich mentions in his letter of Jan. 8 has not yet been approved by the agencies of jurisdiction.
There are two basic problems with a monorail for the Valley corridor. First, the cost of facilities, training and operating are higher when a system is not standardized. Buying a fleet of vehicles is less expensive than buying smaller orders of differing types from varied manufacturers. Second, if a rider on the Red Line is forced to exit the train and walk to another platform and wait for the next monorail, travel time is adversely affected, the rider is inconvenienced and patronage is discouraged.
Mr. Antonovich has always disliked rapid transit, and any program he promotes should be viewed with some skepticism.
JOHN HARTMAN
Los Angeles
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