Pluses, minuses of Orange Line busway

I was surprised by the negative tone of the Oct. 18 article “Is a Busway the Valley Way?” In particular, Joel Kotkin really missed the boat in stating that the Orange Line “doesn’t go anywhere you would want to go.” I say to Kotkin: “Go west, young man.”

We all seem to be concerned only with heading east for employment in downtown Los Angeles. In fact, there are thousands of commuters who reside in the east San Fernando Valley and travel west to other destinations.

For college students, the Orange Line has stations at Valley and Pierce colleges. There is a station at the Van Nuys Civic Center serving our courts, city departments and state and federal agencies.

The Valley’s largest employment center is Warner Center, with thousands of jobs. A number of my business associates who live in the NoHo area are planning to take the Orange Line to their jobs in the Warner Center area.

The Orange Line will not solve the severe congestion on the 101 Freeway. But it will give thousands of commuters a safe, quicker alternative for work or play. It is not light rail or a subway, but it is one small step to help make Los Angeles a more livable city.

JACK MCGRATH

Valley Village

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The Orange Line is the product of a group of myopic politicians who could not see further than the original cost of construction. The fact that you still have to interact with cross traffic and waste at least 10 minutes to transfer to the subway to get downtown or to the Wilshire corridor will keep large numbers of professionals from ditching their cars and abandoning the 101.

Extend the subway along this route, but terminate it at the Chatsworth Metrolink station, and we will have the start of a first-class system that will have great success and a large ridership.

CHARLES ROZNER

Northridge