EDITORIAL PRICEY PIPE DREAM SUBWAY ISN'T BEST USE OF TRANSPORTATION FUNDS.

JUST months ago, the idea of building a subway from downtown to the beach fell into the category of cockamamie ideas from the past that were discarded once they were exposed to the harsh light of reality.

Besides the pockets of explosive methane gas under the land, residents of the adjacent neighborhoods just didn't want Wilshire Boulevard tied up for so long. And after all the waste building the subway to nowhere, the taxpayers of Los Angeles County drove a stake into the heart of this fantasy by banning any more underground tunnels.

Astonishingly, the subway Dracula has found a new life, ready to suck the blood of our public treasury once again. Thanks to the political friendships and commitments Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has developed along the way to his fame and position, the specter of wasting billions on a subway for the few rather than public transit that serves the many looms again.

One such friend, longtime Rep. Henry Waxman, who once cared so much for the public safety he got a federal law passed banning subway construction through the Fairfax District, is ready to flip-flop on the basis of a flimsy report.

The political power structure of Los Angeles that does such a good job of looking after itself and not the city is ready to derail Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's massive infrastructure bond issue intended for economic development by grabbing a huge chunk for this boondoggle.

That's unfortunate, because supporting the subway plan essentially means supporting no public transportation projects in any other part of the city for a very long time.

Best estimates for the extension of the Metro Red Line put the price tag at nearly $5 billion by the time it's finished, a figure equal to what it cost for all the light rail lines and the Valley busway put together. Prior experience with Los Angeles' public works project finances, however, would suggest that the actual cost once the subway is completed would be much, much higher.

Nor would the horrendous congestion of the Westside be immediately relieved. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority estimates that the earliest the first three-mile leg to Fairfax would open would be in a decade.

There's a better way. They are called busways, and those commuters riding the Orange Line every day can attest. Problem is busways aren't sexy. They are workhorses. But the success of the Orange Line shows that they get the job done - quickly and cheaply.

There are 10 million people in Los Angeles County and they are all desperate for public transportation improvements. Dedicating so much to one project that panders to the wealthy Westside interest is unfair, and plain bad budgeting.

Sure, a ``subway to the sea'' sounds nice, something the Chamber of Commerce could sell to tourists and to justify the public subsidy of a downtown convention hotel - a sum almost equal to the cost of the Valley subway.

The time, energy and money being devoted to this pricey pipe dream ought to be put to better use.