An above-ground solution for Wilshire traffic
A dedicated bus lane for the Metro Rapid Line 720 would cost less in time and money than digging a subway to Santa Monica.
By Michael Woo and Christian Peralta, MICHAEL WOO, a former L.A. city councilman, is a member of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission and teaches urban planning at USC and UCLA. CHRISTIAN PERALTA is managing editor of Planetizen.com.
November 18, 2006

THERE'S NO question that we need alternatives to sitting in L.A. traffic, and the Wilshire Boulevard corridor is as good a place as any to start.

While the continuation of the Red Line subway along Wilshire championed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and others is a worthy goal, the project's $5-billion cost is staggering. Even if the money is found, the 10 years it would take to construct is too long to wait for a solution to our worsening congestion there. Why not improve what's already working on Wilshire: Metro Rapid Line 720, which boasts about 50,000 boardings a day between East L.A. and Santa Monica?