At the end of this entry I've provided links to Southern California stories I've written on my newest website, Josh's Travel Blog, plus more photos and videos from my journey.
Perhaps in no other city in the world is the disconnect between reality and fantasy and the present and future so pronounced than in Los Angeles, California. Partly it is due to the Hollywood dream factory creating a skewed image of the city. It also has to do with the lofty goals the city has put forth to make the City of Angels a heaven of sorts for mass transit, biking and walking.
But the reality right now, right in this very moment is of a city that doesn't work. A city in gridlock. A city confused about its identity. A city whose civic leaders want to change its identity to a green utopia but whose citizens are skeptical of these plans while they sit for hours in traffic on the 405 freeway or crowd onto a midnight bus along Wilshire Boulevard.
I am an optimist and believe that L.A. will change for the better eventually. Why? Because all it has to do is look at its past. At one time, before the freeways destroyed neighborhoods and polluted the air, Los Angeles had the best public transportation system in the world. Yes, you heard that right. The best public transportation system in the world.
Sometimes hope and faith in a better future requires us to dig into the past.
But for now, the picture below is the reality for Angelenos who choose to drive or have no choice but to drive. A typical day on the 405 freeway heading south through the Sepulveda Pass. L.A. Metro is working on a massive road widening and improvement project, including adding a 10-mile high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane. But will it help relieve congestion or just put more cars on the road? And would investing that money in a subway or light rail line through the Sepulveda Pass make more sense?
Some engineers and academics believe adding ride sharing lanes is an outdated solution to traffic problems. Click here for a good story on this topic in The Daily Breeze newspaper.
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And some Angelenos don't have a car and take the bus instead. In a decade there could be a subway line speeding passengers underneath Wilshire Boulevard through Miracle Mile, Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood. But this is the reality right now. This is a typical crowded, bumpy bus ride along Wilshire Boulevard.
OK. So you want to get around West Los Angeles but don't want to sit in traffic for an hour, spewing carbon emissions into the atmosphere from your idling vehicle. And riding in a sardine can and getting bounced around like a rag doll on the bus is not appealing to you.
How about walking in L.A.? Yeah sure, there is that song "Nobody Walks in L.A." from '80s band Missing Persons. But things have changed since the 1980s right? I mean in every other city in the world it is completely normal to walk on the sidewalk. Millions of people do it every day.
 
So walking is not an easy option either in L.A. And no you are not tripping on acid. That is sadly the condition of many of the sidewalks in L.A. There are many symbols of how we have neglected basic infrastructure in America -- from broken escalators in the Washington Metro system to the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. But the picture above says it all for me. We can't even keep the sidewalks smooth in wealthy West Los Angeles.
So what is a poor Angeleno to do besides never leave his or her apartment? Driving sucks. Riding the bus sucks. Walking sucks.
But there are two good old-fashioned alternatives that work splendidly in every European city I visited this summer. The first is the bicycle and the second is the heavy rail subway and light rail tram on a dedicated line.
Biking L.A.'s big boulevards and quiet residential streets is a surprisingly easy and efficient way to get around town. And the city recently approved a massive bike plan that will add a 1,680-mile bikeway system and lots of bike friendly policies. L.A. has been dominated by the automobile for a long time but the city is making a concerted effort to become a bike friendly city.
Here is a new bike friendly policy I noticed while riding the Purple Line subway. Bikers are now allowed to bring their bikes on trains at all hours, including rush hour. This is a more progressive policy than many other transit systems, including Washington Metro, which bans bikes on trains from 7 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For the parts of L.A. that are served by heavy or light rail (most places except the Westside and San Fernando Valley) it is easy to get around during hours of operation. I recently rode the Blue Line light rail train from downtown Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles, and while it passes through South L.A. and the working class minority neighborhoods of Compton and Watts, during the daytime it is a pleasure to ride.
And then I transfered to the Purple Line heavy rail subway, which currently ends in Koreatown but will eventually be extended to the VA Hospital west of the 405 freeway. No big crowds. No traffic. No potholes. Just an enjoyable air-conditioned ride underneath the streets of L.A.
Sometimes fantasy meets reality and the future meets the present, or at least we get a glimpse of the future. Car city. Smog city. L.A. is ripe for change. L.A. must change. L.A. will change and it will be interesting to see the transformation into a greener, more sustainable city.
Josh's Travel Blog Southern California Story Links:
L.A. Scene
And here are photo slideshows and videos of sustainable transportation options in Southern California, including light rail, subway and bus in Los Angeles; the Solana Beach Amtrak and Coaster train station in North San Diego County; and video of an Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train traveling through North San Diego County and South Orange County. |
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