ELEVATING THE MASS-TRANSIT ARGUMENT L.A.'S SOLUTION IS LIGHT-RAIL SYSTEM DOWN CENTER OF VENTURA FREEWAY.

Byline: Gerald Plessner LOCAL VIEW

NOW that the idea of solving Ventura Freeway congestion by doubling the number of lanes has been dismissed out of hand, Southern Californians must face up to the only viable solution, one that actually has a chance of solving the problem.

Los Angeles must build a mostly elevated rail mass transit system down the middle of the Ventura Freeway all the way from Pasadena to Thousand Oaks.

The project would take a generation and cost billions, but so would every possible alternative. The difference is that mass transit is the only idea that makes sense in spite of our love of the automobile.

The project should be completed in three phases: 1. Glendale to Tarzana; 2. Glendale to Pasadena; and 3. Tarzana to Thousand Oaks.

The first phase would connect with the Los Angeles subway at Universal City, giving Valley residents quick access to downtown Los Angeles, the Westside and even Long Beach.

When the Glendale-to-Pasadena phase is completed, it would connect with the Pasadena Gold Line, reaching as far east as Montclair, creating a truly metropolitan mass transit system along Southern California's most important travel corridor.

The system would provide transportation to connect the following communities: Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, Sherman Oaks, North Hollywood, Universal City, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa, Glendora and Montclair.

To support the system, bus lines must be developed to deliver passengers from both north and south of the freeway. An electronic pass system would enable commuters to pay a monthly or one-day fee. Passengers would board buses near their homes, transfer to the train and then to buses at their destination.

All this, and the trip home, would happen without multiple payments or delays.

Mass transit works best in cities where large numbers of people go from communities around the city to the urban core each day. In New York City, all subways and trains converge on Manhattan. In Chicago (where this writer was once a commuter who read newspapers each way), the subways and elevated lines converge on the Loop around and under downtown Chicago, and the trains come into stations around the Loop.

Los Angeles has no single urban core where millions go to work each day, but the Ventura Freeway ``string of pearls'' business and entertainment districts cause thousands of commuters to travel laterally across the Valley and back each workday.

If the service were timely and the price were right, many could be lured away from their cars, especially as they see other commuters passing them in new light-rail cars traveling above the traffic.

Although it would not affect truck traffic, it would remove thousands of cars from the freeway each day.

Opponents to any Ventura Freeway expansion will condemn mass transit as they will any other plan that impacts their neighborhoods. But we must agree that something must be done and every reasonable alternative will include increasing the capacity of the Ventura Freeway corridor. The development of mass transit as an alternative to individual automobile use is the most viable choice.

There will also be other proposals. A particularly silly one is the suggestion that a four-lane elevated road be build down the center of the freeway, providing toll lanes for those who wish to pay for faster travel.

One need only study the failure of the Riverside Freeway Fast Track system to recognize the weakness of such an idea.

Southern Californians will never pay to use a roadway next to a freeway. It just doesn't make Southern California sense!

And why spend all that money to build a structure to serve a small number of paying travelers when you can spend the same money to build a system that will serve a large number of commuters who will also pay for the privilege?

The completion of a light-rail system from Glendale to Tarzana, connecting with the Los Angeles subway at Universal City, would transform Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley into a truly 21st-century city.

Connecting it with the Pasadena Gold Line and extending it to Thousand Oaks and Montclair would transform the entire metropolis into a larger, more integrated community.

It's time to get started.