American Dream

The best thing the Los Angeles Times can say about the Gold light-rail line between LA and Pasadena is that the few people who ride it "love its uncrowded cars" because they can always find a seat, even at rush hour. The $900 million line carries half its projected ridership, and in an effort to attract riders by speeding it up, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has just alienated other passengers. Not only that, but ridership declined 8 percent in 2005 and so far in 2006 carrying 2 percent fewer people than last year.

MTA decided to try running some "express" trains that would stop at only five of the line's thirteen stations. But, like most light-rail lines, the route has no passing tracks so express trains cannot run at the same time as locals. This means people at the stations that the trains don't stop at have lengthy waits between trains. "I'm getting frustrated," says one. "I'm going to drive."

It turns out that the line was only built for reasons of political equity: one part of the LA region demanded that it get its "fair share" of rail pork. MTA didn't even want the line, and had cancelled it, only to have it revived by political pressure. Now, says an MTA spokesman, "We don't have enough funds to operate the service we have."