On my way to LAX today, my thoughts regarding the lack of viable public transportation in Southern California (SoCal) were further solidified. I would like to make a plea with each and every person that happens across this humble entry to plead with your elected representatives to change this. We need a sustainable, useful, usable, convenient, cost-effective, comprehensive public transportation system in SoCal.
If you have spent any time on the various freeways in SoCal, you will have noticed that we have greatly exceeded their capacity. The freeways and Interstates are congested at all hours of the day, and night. During peak hours, they are utterly useless. The freeways have become the primary conduit for, not only people, but freight traveling to and from the numerous, sprawling metropli that are slowly expanding into each other. Soon, there will be no discernable break in the artificial landscape we have constructed. It will be one giant, man made, concrete and asphalt blight covering all of Southern California.
There are currently plans underway to spend enormous amounts of money adding more freeway. I would argue that there is a fundamental flaw with this strategy. There is a law in nature that nature will fill in any void, that, given enough time, all available resources will be consumed. This behaviour is especially true of mankind. We have an uncanny ability to quickly expand our use of resources to consume all that is made available, and then some. By adding more freeway to what exists, we will only be encouraging ourselves to use the freeways more. By adding lanes, we will only alleviate congestion temporarily. Eventually, as is our habit, we will fill up any additions to the point that they too are rendered useless.
The only solution that I can see, is to eschew the practice of encouraging the use of automobiles and large trucks to transport or ourselves and our freight for a more efficient system of public transportation. Specifically I would like to see a massive expansion of commuter rail, and not just within the limits of any particular city. I would like to see a comprehensive, all encompassing system of light rail, freight, and high speed rail constructed.
To illustrate my point, let’s use this morning’s trip from Rancho Cucamonga to LAX [map]. I woke up (way too early), got dressed and hopped into my car (a nice, eco-friendly Honda Civic). Once we managed to make it to a freeway, we hurried along for a bit until we reached the 210/57 interchange. This is where we ran into our first bottleneck. Luckily, we exited the freeway not too far from this to meet up with the rest of our party and travel along in an airport shuttle. The shuttle driver, being the savvy daily driving person that he is, was able to get us to LAX in near record time and we managed to breeze along at a decent speed, expect for those areas where lanes ended, or merged with other lanes.
While this trip doesn’t seem to illustrate my point of needing a robust public transportation system, consider what I think would be a better alternative. Wake up considerably later, take a bus to the local light rail station, wait a few minutes for the train to arrive. Once aboard, we get to relax as we are shuttled to our first destination, the high-speed rail terminal. After debarking our light rail commuter train, we then board a high-speed, express train that runs straight to LAX, with no stops! We sit in relative comfort as we speed along at 200 MPH towards the airport sipping lattes and enjoying each other’s company in a stress free environment. What took an hour and a half on the freeways should take no more than an hour, including waiting for trains. Instead of sitting in exhaust fume laden traffic, we get to move through the cities with ease. Instead of contributing to conjestion, pollution and the overall stress and frustration of the motoring public, we are able to travel the nearly 65 miles without consuming one drop of oil (assuming the use of an alternative fuel bus, electric trains and power plants that do not use oil products).
This seems like such a better solution that it is a no-brainer. If I worked in Los Angeles, I would be stomping my feet and pumping my fists in anger that this system does not exist. It is insane that we continue to force a square peg into a round hole. Eventually, we are going to have to remove ourselves from the 1950’s. Single family homes, suburban sprawl and a never ending flow of commuter traffic are the ingredients for the disaster that we are living in.
Maybe I should move to France where they have had the TGV for over two decades?
