A metropolis well-known for its choked freeways and crawling commutes has a brand new declare to fame: the longest light-rail line on this planet.
That’s in accordance with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which opened a 1.9-mile subway tunnel underneath downtown Los Angeles final week. The tunnel caps a $1.8 billion undertaking that may now enable riders to journey instantly between Long Beach and Azusa, a journey of practically 50 miles, or between Santa Monica and East Los Angeles.
The new hyperlink, known as the Regional Connector, consists of three new underground stations and hyperlinks three light-rail traces, lowering journey instances by eliminating the necessity for a lot of riders to switch.
Transit companies throughout California and the nation are attempting to reinvent themselves after the coronavirus pandemic drastically modified commuting patterns and ridership. Los Angeles leaders hope that by making use of the light-rail community extra handy, they’ll lure new riders, ease site visitors and reduce air pollution.
“It remakes transportation in Los Angeles County,” Bart Reed, government director of the Transit Coalition, a public-transit advocacy group, stated of the brand new hyperlink. “Anywhere you go, driving is often slow. The truth is that trains are a mobility solution in Los Angeles.”
I rode the newly prolonged A line just lately, from Long Beach by way of downtown Los Angeles, throughout Pasadena and into Azusa on the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. The complete journey took slightly below two hours at speeds reaching 56 miles an hour. Train vehicles have been principally uncrowded.
At a time when transit budgets are being squeezed throughout the nation, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, referred to as Metro, is increasing gentle rail partially due to a collection of voter-approved gross sales tax will increase meant to fund such tasks, courting again to Proposition A in 1980.
“We’re following the will of the voters,” stated Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles County supervisor and a Metro board member. “We’re making a major investment in building out a modern transportation system that connects people to where they want to go.”
With Los Angeles scheduled to carry the 2028 Summer Olympics, officers consider that increasing the light-rail system will higher join cities throughout the county, probably the most populous within the nation, whereas lowering avenue congestion and carbon emissions.
“There is no other choice, because we’re not going to build new freeways,” stated Ara Najarian, a Glendale City Council member and the chair of Metro’s board of administrators. “We want to get people out of cars and into safe, reliable transit.”
The growth additionally comes at a time when drug overdoses on the trains have been growing, and a collection of vacationers aboard Metro trains have been attacked. Violent crime on public transit in Los Angeles County is up about 10 p.c from final 12 months, and drug-related offenses have surged 301 p.c, in accordance with Metro figures.
Ridership stays beneath prepandemic ranges however has begun to extend steadily. About 23.4 million riders used Metro trains and buses in April 2023, 10 p.c greater than in April 2022, in accordance with Metro officers. Buses account for greater than two-thirds of complete ridership.
As my practice traveled again to Long Beach, it was rush hour, and lots of extra riders got here on board. Metro “ambassadors” — guides carrying lime-green shirts — stood in pairs at station platforms and on practice vehicles, with black pouches of doses of naloxone, a drugs utilized in opioid overdoses, affixed to their belts.
“They have to do something about crime and people being attacked,” stated Judy Louie, 69, a Sierra Madre resident using together with her sister to downtown Los Angeles. “It’s appalling.”
Other passengers stated a quick and dependable light-rail system had potential in a sprawling area the place automobile tradition reigns and public transit is commonly seen as uncomfortable or inconvenient.
“There’s a stigma,” Bill Teweles, 72, stated.
Traveling to Little Tokyo, Teweles stated he believed the brand new Regional Connector would make navigating downtown simpler whereas attracting new riders, easing site visitors and serving to the surroundings.
“I’m an optimist,” he added.
For extra:
Douglas Morino is a journalist primarily based in Los Angeles.
Where we’re touring
Today’s tip comes from Jackie Leventhal, who recommends discovering new sights in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco:
“San Francisco’s largest park is well known to many. The park’s mainstays — the Japanese Tea Garden, de Young Museum and many lakes — are well traversed. However, you can walk unguided and discover many other tidbits waiting for you to see. We found a lush fern grove, the first children’s playground in the country, blooming magnolias, the meditative AIDS Memorial Grove and the Janis Joplin Tree. Bikers, skaters, musicians make every stroll a unique happening.”
Tell us about your favourite locations to go to in California. Email your recommendations to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We’ll be sharing extra in upcoming editions of the publication.
What we’re studying
The 25 most influential works of postwar queer literature.
Tell us
We’re nearly midway by way of 2023! What are the most effective issues which have occurred to you to this point this 12 months? What have been your wins? Or your surprising joys, massive or small?
Tell me at CAToday@nytimes.com. Please embrace your full identify and the town the place you reside.
And earlier than you go, some good news
Things are wanting up for a California creature that after appeared destined for extinction.
The Santa Cruz kangaroo rat was for many years thought to exist solely in a tiny pocket of sandhills in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County. But scientists have just lately recognized new populations 25 miles away, The Mercury News experiences.
“It was unbelievable,” stated Ken Hickman, who detected the elusive subspecies close to Los Gatos. “People have been looking for them for years.”
Thanks for studying. We’ll be again on Monday. Enjoy your weekend.
P.S. Here’s in the present day’s Mini Crossword.
Soumya Karlamangla, Johnna Margalotti and Maia Coleman contributed to California Today. You can attain the crew at CAtoday@nytimes.com.
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Source: www.nytimes.com