It's an old story but the hole gets deeper. The idea was to "get people out of their cars." Or perhaps to line the pockets of cronies.
Be way generous and find creative accounting ways to cut the cost figure in half. It's still a disaster.
| What $15 billion (spent on rail transit in LA) buys* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1985 |
|
2012 |
|
Change |
|
|
|
|
Bus only system |
|
Bus and rail |
|
|
|
|
| All unlinked
trips (million annual unlinked) |
497 |
|
465 |
|
-6.44% |
|
|
| Bus |
|
497 |
|
353.4 |
|
-28.89% |
|
|
| Light rail |
|
na |
|
46.5 |
|
|
|
|
| Heavy rail |
na |
|
55.8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| LA county
population (m) |
8 |
|
10 |
|
25% |
|
|
| LA county
immigrant population (m) |
0.64 |
|
3.5 |
|
447% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* Capital costs only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sources: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
$15 billion spent:
http://ti.org/RailCapitalCost.pdf |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MTA unlinked trips:
http://www.ntdprogram.gov/ntdprogram/ |
|
|
|
|
|
2010 county immigrant pop:
http://www.caimmigrant.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/LosAngeles.pdf |
|
1985 immigrants:
http://www.censusscope.org/us/s6/m4480/chart_migration.html |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ADDED
"The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money" — Margaret Thatcher
But what about "sustainability"?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posts
