South Bay transit corridor

Streetsblog » More Transit Expansion?: Metro Holding Meetings in South Bay

More Transit Expansion?: Metro Holding Meetings in South Bay

by Damien Newton on April 8, 2009

See link for map of newly proposed line.

It's funny. Los Angeles has a reputation for being the car-culture capital of America; and while I know the city's transportation culture is a lot more diverse than that; I have trouble arguing the point when I see things such as today's City Council Transportation Committee Hearing, which could be called the "how can we speed up cars in residential neighborhoods." But at the same time, pretty much the entire country is experiencing transit service cuts, or fare hikes and here in L.A., in large part because of Measure R, we're talking about the best ways to expand transit.

You could argue that we're just doing the expansion we should have been doing decades ago, but what's most important is that we're trying to do it now.

In the past week, I've announced hearings on the Regional Connector, the Subway to the Sea, the Gold Line Eastside Extension and the selection of a final route for Phase II of the Expo Line. If that's not enough, Metro recently announced a series of meetings along the South Bay to increase transit service. From their press release via the Daily Breeze:

The corridor stretches from Vernon and Huntington Park west through South Los Angeles to Inglewood, then south through El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Lawndale, Torrance and Carson.

Transit through the corridor could connect downtown Los Angeles with Los Angeles International Airport and Long Beach via a C-shaped curve through the county, according to a Metro map of the proposal.

Metro will gather public input on various transit options for the corridor, including a Bus Rapid Transit system, a light rail line and dedicated bus lanes.

The meetings won't begin until April 21, giving me a chance to catch my breath from this round of hearings, and for a complete list of dates and times, read on after the jump.

-- April 21 at 6 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club of the Los Angeles Harbor in San Pedro, 100 W. Fifth St.;

-- April 22 at 6 p.m. at the Redondo Beach Main Library, 303 Pacific Coast Highway;

-- April 27 at 6 p.m. at Inglewood City Hall, 1 Manchester Blvd.,

-- April 30 at 11:30 a.m. at the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles, 700 N. Alameda St., Room 2145;

-- and May 2 at 10 a.m. at Augustus Hawkins Nature Park in Los Angeles, 5790 Compton Ave. CNS-04-06-2009 17:23