When The Light Rail Returns To Pasadena
Eli made me aware that Gold Line service between Pasadena and LA opens today; he was going to the inaugural ceremony. That article features some neat quotes from present and former SoCal political leaders about mass transit; alas, it's also a reminder that this transit system is more oriented to serve rich bedroom-community commuters than poor short-hop ones.

Out-of-towners looking at the whole system map may not feel quite as sunk by the realization locals are bound to get that this rail setup is even more spread-out and useless than Boston's. Stops at Del Mar, Lake, Allen and Sierra Madre Villa, along the freeway?! That's fucking overkill, and won't be of much use to people in the residential areas; and then the route from there goes to desultory spots way off in the distance, with the other lines so spread apart that there's no way you could walk from one station to another. Still, the Gold Line will eventually go to Little Tokyo, which makes my selfish Other-consuming side happy. Maybe Little Tokyo will feel a little less like a ghost town.

Update: Eli took pitchers. The ones looking at traffic and freeways from the train are kind of neat, when you think about it. Posted by Gus at July 26, 2003 04:08 PM