They invented the ‘car of the future’ for L.A.. Here’s why we never got it
Your morning catch-up: The ‘perfect car’ that wasn’t, ‘dangerous heat’ to broil SoCal this week and more big stories
- Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
Los Angeles was buzzing 50 years ago over what backers insisted was the perfect vehicle for our car-dependent city.
It combined the privacy and versatility of a car with the network of a mass transit system, built around the conviction that Angelenos were never going to surrender their daily commute over to a bus or a train.
Forget the fact that by now everyone knew car exhaust was a major cause of the smog that plagued the region. Forget that drivers were still recovering from the long lines and empty gas tanks of the Arab oil embargo. Forget that traffic gridlock was worsening.
Introducing ‘personal rapid transit’
A few days after the end of bicentennial celebrations in 1976, a USC instructor named C.G. Burke published a provocative story in the L.A. Times pitching the city on “personal rapid transit” as an alternative to the region’s nascent plans for a subway and light rail network.
Burke touted a system of elevated guideways running down many of Los Angeles’ major roads, above auto traffic. Instead of trains, users would enter an electric-powered personal pod and essentially punch their destination into a computer. There was room for several passengers. But it was designed for solo travelers to mimic the experience of car travel.
The emissions-free PRT sounded good on paper. The goal was 232 miles of track and 89 stations. The emission-free cars had stops every few blocks but also express lanes for longer commutes, with the pods topping out at 60 mph.
Burke and other backers were pretty open about why PRT was better than regular mass transit.
“Public transportation need not be a form of punishment, forced on an unhappy urban population,” she wrote.
Politicians and academics who were skeptical of traditional rail made a full court press over it that year, complete with a scale model showing the little pods zipping along the guideways like something out of “The Jetsons.”
“It’s the only system that works in this city … It’s the only system that is more desirable than the automobile,” L.A. Councilman Joel Wachs told a TV interviewer shortly before Burke’s article was published. “Like a car, it is private and goes nonstop and is safe.”
The dream of L.A.’s ‘perfect car’ did not last long
There was great skepticism about the technology and the costs and its very feasibility. No one could quite imagine a city where elevated guideways ran above many major streets. Mayor Tom Bradley was a big booster of rail, hoping to finish a subway down Wilshire Boulevard while he was still in office.
But the anti-rail sentiment continued for decades, and set L.A.’s quest for modern mass transit back dramatically.
L.A. finally got its Wilshire subway.
But not in 1976.
Excitement around transit is finally moving the needle
Looking back on the excitement over the “perfect car,” it’s remarkable how much the debate about mass transit has changed in five decades. Voters have taxed themselves to build a growing rail network around the county.
Solo car commuting still dominates, and rail and bus ridership is nowhere near where it needs to be. But there seems to be a widespread recognition that we cannot survive in our cars alone. I know a lot of people like me who don’t use mass transit regularly but want the network to expand.
The big debate these days is not whether to build but why some new lines are taking so long to open. The massive delays with the LAX people mover system has sparked frustration and outrage, including exposés in the right-wing press. But I don’t see people questioning whether it should have been built. You’d have to be a shut-in not to know how far behind L.A. is when it comes to airport mass transit.
The closest thing we have to the doomed PRT is Waymos and other self-driving cars. They are electric. They are for solo users. You type in a destination and get delivered there. The potential for how self-driving taxis might transform urban life has not been explored as much as it should. As author Andrew Miller recently told the New York Times, they could bring a world of cheap, safe travel with far less need for parking or a hellscape of worsening congestion, transportation inequity and even fewer mass transit options.
Sound familiar?
Today’s top stories
California courthouse weddings get competitive
- Reserving wedding dates at the state’s most popular courthouses and city halls has become a competitive process.
- Municipal buildings in Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Beverly Hills are among the most popular venues in the state.
‘Dangerous heat’ to broil SoCal
- A dangerous heat wave will grip SoCal through Friday, with widespread triple-digit highs from San Luis Obispo to San Diego counties and extreme heat alerts expanding Tuesday.
- Forecasters warn of 95- to 110-degree temperatures in valleys such as Woodland Hills and Antelope Valley, with warm nights, high humidity and heightened risk of heat illness for vulnerable residents.
Permanent daylight saving time is on the table
- Congress is again weighing legislation to put the nation on permanent daylight saving time and end the twice-yearly clock change.
- In 2018, California voters approved Proposition 7, which gave the Legislature the authority to impose year-round daylight saving time — but only if the federal government allowed states to do so.
What else is going on
- Back-to-back earthquakes rocked the area north of Los Angeles near two of California’s most significant faults, sending shock waves across the region.
- UC abruptly suspends its plan to reconsider SAT in admissions.
- Can we predict cliff collapses along the California coast? A new study shows it’s possible.
- An L.A. County resident has been hospitalized with a rare and serious symptom of West Nile amid an explosion of virus activity nationwide.
- Short thousands of bilingual teachers, California schools turn to high school students.
Commentary and opinions
- Two Mexican immigrants named Lorenzo built modest American Dreams, yet geography, timing and politics left one retired in Anaheim and the other shot dead by ICE in Houston, writes columnist Gustavo Arellano.
- In his latest column, Michael Hiltzik writes about Trump giving the green light to California’s dumbest water project.
This morning’s must-read
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general expressed concern that the industry-reshaping deal could spell doom for movie theaters.
Other must-reads
- These high schoolers show how “majors” are not just for college students.
- With AI character Tilly Norwood set for feature-film debut, Hollywood debates what it means to be an actor.
For your downtime
Going out
- Restaurants: Here’s how a $38 Armenian brisket sandwich ignited debate over culture and cost.
- Dining: A meal with an animated Mona Lisa? Immersive dining goes high tech — but will L.A. eat it up?
Staying in
- Movies: Watch Sam Neill’s legacy in 7 movies, from Australian thrillers to “Jurassic Park.”
- Television: The comic book store will never be the same: Here’s how the latest “Big Bang” spinoff was born.
- 🍒🍇🍓 Here’s a recipe for chaos fruit salad.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
A question for you: What’s the craziest beach setup that you’ve seen?
Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
And finally ... the photo of the day
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Kayla Bartkowski at The Huntington Gardens. A rare double bloom of two large corpse flowers drew thousands of visitors on Monday, hoping to catch their infamous stench.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Hailey Branson-Potts, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
Kim, an attorney and former San Francisco supervisor, is running against State Sen. Benjamin Allen for the role of running California’s long-beleaguered Department of Insurance. In this episode she talks to Rebuilding L.A. host Kate Cagle about why she should get the job.
The Hillside Strangler murders terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. The killers were a pair of sadistic cousins. One confessed. The other was set to stand trial—until L.A. prosecutors flinched.
Modern LA earned its first smoggy nickname 450 years ago, as the “bay of smokes.” At the La Brea tar pits, we take a short walk through a long history with curator Regan Dunn, who explains how and why the first Angelenos would have set fires that filled the broad bowl of LA and foretold the curse of smog.
