The End of the Line Is a Beginning

The Metro Red Line begins service to the San Fernando Valley this weekend with enough fanfare to rival the opening of a new aqueduct. And considering the time, money and heartbreak that went into building the subway, maybe the comparison is apt.

If water brought by the Los Angeles Aqueduct fueled the city’s explosive growth, the subway, almost 100 years later, attempts to solve the freeway gridlock such growth produced. Or so it was envisioned. Rather than water from the Owens Valley, this newest engineering feat ferries passengers between North Hollywood and downtown’s Union Station. It’s a considerably less ambitious undertaking, admittedly, and one that disappoints even its supporters.

Critics point to the cost overruns and delays--not to mention the sinkholes and other disasters--that made the $4.7-million Metro Rail the most expensive 17 miles of subway in American history. Such was the disgust that Los Angeles County voters in 1998 banned the use of local transit sales taxes for any future subway construction. North Hollywood, then, will likely be the end of the line, a prospect that subway enthusiasts (and yes, there are some) find disheartening.

The critics stand ready to pronounce the subway an even greater failure if ridership fails to meet projections, as has been the case in the sections already opened.

As is, the Metro Red Line likely won’t meet expectations. A 17-mile subway is no match for the region’s vast distances and huge population. In the Valley and across Los Angeles, rapid transit will coax commuters from their cars only if it’s convenient--and truly rapid. That means making the subway part of a broader plan, one that includes feeder routes such as the new rapid bus service along Ventura Boulevard and dedicated busways or light rail lines such as those proposed for the Burbank-Chandler and Van Nuys corridors.

It means innovations as small as “smart” fare cards that take the fuss out of finding the right change and as large as development that clusters jobs and housing near public transportation. This weekend’s opening festivities, then, mark not the end of the line but the continuation of efforts, large and small, public and private, to solve the city’s transportation problems.

For today, though, enjoy the hoopla of the NoHo International Theatre and Arts Festival along Lankershim and Magnolia boulevards. Check out the designs--works of arts in themselves--of the brand new North Hollywood, Universal City and Hollywood / Highland stations. If you haven’t yet, take advantage of this weekend’s free subway fares between North Hollywood and downtown.

For one day at least, put your skepticism about the Metro Red Line aside.

There it is. Ride it.