SUBWAY FUNDING HAS LEFT VALLEY IN THE PITS; PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IS QUICK METHOD OF UPGRADING RAIL SERVICE.Byline: Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San THE $350 million-per-mile subway has siphoned taxpayer dollars away from more efficient, more realistic transit options. This tunnel vision tunnel vision n. Vision in which the visual field is severely constricted. tunnel vision, n a defect in sight in which a great reduction occurs in the peripheral field of vision, as if one is looking through that is bankrupting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is the reason we do not have a regional transportation system. The revelation of new cost overruns on the Hollywood Red Line subway project approaching $100 million is another in a long series of wake-up calls. It is time for Mayor Riordan and the other members of the MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. Board to join with me in calling for a full grand jury investigation into MTA finances. The agency has been cooking the books, and the taxpayers have a right to a full accounting. Over the past decade, Proposition A and C funds have raised over $1 billion each from communities in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and the San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. . Over $2 billion have worked their way across the valleys and into the pockets of downtown vested interests vested interest n. 1. Law A right or title, as to present or future possession of an estate, that can be conveyed to another. 2. A fixed right granted to an employee under a pension plan. 3. . What has the San Fernando Valley gained from its funding of a few miles of downtown subway? We have seen sinkholes, a sinking freeway, sinking streets and the MTA itself sinking into bankruptcy. A public-private partnership, creating and operating rail systems, is prepared to invest $1.5 billion to begin construction on an at-grade rail transit system, built in the median of the 101 and 134 freeways. It can be operational in five years. This will connect with the Red Line at Universal City and provide service to downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or and the San Gabriel Valley, with the ability to have a regional component to Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties. Adding another representative from the other 87 cities will be an effective way to end the four-vote stranglehold the city of Los Angeles
The creation of a San Fernando Valley transit zone, based on the successful Foothill Transit Zone operating in the San Gabriel Valley, is a fast and efficient method of upgrading bus service in the San Fernando Valley. The Foothill Transit Zone operates with clean, graffiti-free buses, lower operating costs and higher rider approval than comparable MTA lines. Policy is set by the cities served, and operations are managed by a public-private partnership. The San Fernando Valley deserves nothing less. A regional transportation system will become a reality. But it will require rational, efficient planning. Our goal must be to focus on the end result and not be stuck in the business-as-usual mode that is sinking the MTA. |
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