"L.A.'s future is up in the air" - Los Angeles Times Article by Ray Bradbury (Yes, that Ray Bradbury)

L.A.'s future is up in the air - Los Angeles Times

"SOMETIME IN THE next five years, traffic all across L.A. will freeze.

The freeways that were once a fast-moving way to get from one part of the city to another will become part of a slow-moving glacier, edging down the hills to nowhere.

In recent years we've all experienced the beginnings of this. A trip from the Valley into Los Angeles that used to take half an hour — all of a sudden it takes an hour or two or three. Our warning system tells us something must be done before our freeways trap us in the outlying districts, unable to get to our jobs.

In recent months there has been talk of yet another subway, one that would run between downtown L.A. and Santa Monica. That would be a disaster.

A single transit line will not answer our problems; we must lay plans for a series of transportation systems that would allow us to move freely, once more, within our city.

The answer to all this is the monorail. Let me explain.

…"

This isn’t Science Fiction, but fact… Our (Los Angeles) freeways are a dead end (pun intended). We have to do something and soon. The Governator is trying, but it’s a stop-gap. We need a fundamental review and rework of LA metro area (Ventura through Orange Country and San Bernardino) traffic ecosystem. And we need to start working on it yesterday.

Subways are okay when you have to build a system under LA skyscrapers, but elsewhere they seem kind of silly. Think earthquake recovery (re-digging tunnels versus rebuilding a dual line elevated monorail…).

We need a solution that embraces our distributed metro area. And helps us spread out even more …

And anyway, everyone knows monorails are cool and futuristic. Who in LA doesn’t want to be cool?

(via Metroblogging Los Angeles - Something Elevated This Way Comes?)