Going car-free in Los Angeles is a feasible option thanks to our ever-growing Metro system—love it or hate. Unfortunately, it turns out the "hate it" crowd may have a lot to complain about, statistically speaking.
If we build it, they will come. For many years, that was the mantra of rail transit planners. Just build the rail line, and development will happen around the stations. And then more people will ride, and the system will be a good investment.
Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this week signed into law AB 726, which would authorize Metro to utilize double articulated buses on the Metro Orange Line in the future.
In a statewide survey of rail stations, including the Bay Area's BART and MUNI, the Los Angeles Metro system averaged a C for their efforts in creating stations that encourage ridership and serve as hubs of transit-centered communities. The grading, done by UC Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy and the Environment and nonprofit Next 10, took into account 11 criteria including walkability, the land uses of surrounding areas, and resident ridership levels at Metro's 88 rail stations, says a release for the study.
A new scorecard grading California transit rail stations on how well they encourage rider-ship gives Sacramento a "C." The grading is based on how well station areas connect to amenities and create walk-able areas.
Transit stations operated by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System have been judged the worst of the state’s six major rail transit systems for such qualities as ridership and proximity to job centers, while its Gillespie Field Station was graded the lowest overall in the state.
