Skip to content

From Streetfilms: Los Angeles — The Great American Transit Experiment

Clarence Eckerson is back with a look at major transit expansions in the City of Angels.
From Streetfilms: Los Angeles — The Great American Transit Experiment

Los Angeles is in the midst of building an unprecedented number of rail transit projects. Some are slated for potentially high ridership parts of LA’s urban core. Others are more dubious.

Today, transit use is down. Bus ridership is falling sharply. Rail use is flat despite strong ridership on the Expo Line, the city’s newest rail transit. L.A. is taking steps to reorganize its bus routes, but needs a variety of major street and service policy changes to make buses more attractive.

Also missing in L.A. are efforts make the city more walkable and more dense that correspond in scale to the massive rail building program. The city and region also still heavily cater to cars when decisions about transportation priorities need to be made.

“What we as a region have not yet done is have the sort of political fights that really make a transit system effective. Which are not fights over money but fights over space,” says UCLA professor Mike Manville.

Photo of Gersh Kuntzman
Tabloid legend Gersh Kuntzman has been with New York newspapers since 1989, including stints at the New York Daily News, the Post, the Brooklyn Paper and even a cup of coffee with the Times. He's also the writer and producer of "Murder at the Food Coop," which was a hit at the NYC Fringe Festival in 2016, and “SUV: The Musical” in 2007. He also writes the Cycle of Rage column, which is archived here.

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.

More from Streetsblog New York City

Exclusive: Wider Bike Lane Coming This Spring To Sixth Ave. in Manhattan

May 20, 2026

Mamdani’s Path to Low Traffic Neighborhoods Could Run Through Queens

May 20, 2026

New House Infrastructure Bill Cuts Transit And Isn’t Great on Active Transportation: Advocates

May 20, 2026

Wednesday’s Headlines: The Fire This Time Edition

May 20, 2026

Mamdani Budget Bodes Beaucoup Bucks For Bikes And Buses

May 19, 2026
See all posts