Approximately $2.1 billion was invested in the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s “K Line.” Another $1.04 billion was invested in the “Automated People Mover,” an electric train that will provide a direct connection between Metro’s transit system and the Los Angeles International Airport. This comes as the transit agency prepares for what L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has promised will be a “no-car” 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
With the 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates revealing that more than three in five people in Los Angeles drive alone to work, especially compared to the mere 6.3% who depend on public transportation, a proposal like this one is quite the feat.
“Transit is part of those efforts to improve the quality of life.”
— Patrick Chandler
Although the city could justify these expenses with the anticipated tourism coming to Los Angeles, the goal of projects like this one aim to go beyond meeting the demands for such an event like the Games.
“Transit is part of those efforts to improve the quality of life, to address air pollution, to address congestion, to address getting people to where they need to go,” said Metro Media Relations Manager Patrick Chandler. “They rely on Metro to get to where they need to go.”
L.A. Metro’s 2028 Mobility Concept Plan intends to establish what it is calling “a lasting legacy” that will provide “permanent benefits” to its existing and future riders. Part of this plan includes the “Twenty-Eight by ’28 Initiative,” which lists the K Line as one of five completed projects within the larger enterprise. Metro Media Relations has said that the K Line will be critical for the sporting event in that it will directly connect Metro Rail to LAX, which is where a majority of travelers attending the Games are assumed to be flying in and out of.
But for Edwin Garcia, who has been a LAX employee for 27 years, this could change the way he gets to work every day. Although he now uses a car for his commute, he used to rely on Metro to get to his job, and says this is the case for many of his co-workers.
But with the closest Metro stop currently located miles away, workers that use the transit system are forced to transfer to a shuttle that gets them into the airport. Garcia said this could add another 30 minutes to a person’s total trip time.
Photo courtesy of Edwin Garcia
Edwin Garcia's commute to work at LAX
“I had to take a bus to the Metro, then catch the Metro, then catch that bus I was telling you about. So it takes you forever to get to do all that. But now, with the new system, I might take the Metro,” Garcia said.
“Now, if you’re commuting to work on the Metro, you just come all the way in. You don't have to catch no more bus, wait an hour, none of that,” he said when talking about the future of the Automated People Mover.
But despite the K Line’s completion, Metro isn’t stopping there – it’s developed a plan to continue expanding even after the Olympics and Paralympics have come and gone with what’s called the “K Line Northern Extension.” Aside from the K Line Northern Extension’s ability to connect the C, E, D, and B Lines, four of Metro’s four major rail lines, to six others with the highest ridership within the county, projects like this one are anticipated to have a lasting impact on Los Angeles’ environment, economy, and traffic.
The Green Choice
METRANS Transportation Consortium Director Marlon Boarnet has been studying transportation for 30 years. Although his career began with a focus on urban economics, following the trajectory of policy attention in the U.S. shifted it to transportation’s environmental impact.
Boarnet said that the environmental benefits provided through public transportation options like those offered through Metro are highly dependent on a per-capita basis. More simply put, because a bus or train has the ability to carry more people than a single car, the overall emissions generated per person that rides the bus or train is far fewer than if each of those people were to drive their individual vehicles.
Although Metro’s draft of the K Line Northern Extension Environmental Impact Report points to the many ways in which their system is the sustainable alternative compared to other transportation options, Boarnet said that if we want people to choose to be “green,” Metro needs to also consider how to make that choice the convenient one.
“We don't want to put the responsibility for cleaning the environment on individual choices. That's too big of a burden,” he said. “I would not favor telling people, ‘Take transit because it's green.’ I don't want to encourage people to do that if it puts the burden of solving global problems on every individual person's shoulder.”
"It puts the burden of solving global problems on every individual person's shoulder.”
— Marlon Boarnet
Boarnet offered suggestions that have worked for other metropolitan areas similar to Los Angeles that have encouraged use of public transit, including ensuring 10-minute frequencies for trips by bus and train as well as system reliability where vehicles scheduled to arrive at certain times can be depended on to do so.
From Metro To Money
The completion of Metro’s K Line meant access to several new stations. Just a few blocks away from Hyde Park’s is Crenshaw Yoga & Dance. Owner Karl Lee Young has made it her business’ mission to not only provide members of the South L.A. community with fitness classes, but beyond that, access to wellness education at an affordable price.
While Crenshaw Yoga & Dance has exposed locals to the healing power of living an active lifestyle, Metro’s K Line has opened up the business and all it has to offer to an even larger cast of potential customers.
According to the National Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates, every $1 invested in public transportation generates $5 in economic returns. And from a business perspective, NAPTA says for every $10 million put toward capital investment in public transportation, $30 million is yielded in increased business sales, and for every $10 million put toward operating investment, $32 million is yielded in increased business sales.
While the transit agency considers the economic impact its system can have on businesses in the surrounding areas, Metro also acknowledges the challenges that they can be faced with when expanding into these neighborhoods. The purpose of Metro’s Business Interruption Fund is to mitigate the financial burden faced by businesses when these projects break ground.
According to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, Metro’s Board of Directors has approved the designation of $10 million per year to the Business Interruption Fund.
During the construction of Metro’s K Line, Young was one of the fund’s several recipients. Despite the inconvenience of all of the work being done right outside of Crenshaw Yoga & Dance’s doors for four years, Young says changes within the community like this one were necessary for its transformation.
Photo by Kayla Quintero
Metro's K Line passing in front of Crenshaw Yoga & Dance
“It needed to be done, so I encourage it, I actually like it, because now, the train passes by, now more people will know about the Crenshaw District,” said Young. “I think the train coming in will bring more awareness so people know how this district area is beginning to revitalize, lots of business coming, still a lot of time to grow.”
And Young has high hopes that part of that growth for the Crenshaw District and her business will come as a result of the K Line Northern Extension. “People will have their eyes on this area, people looking at it when they pass like, ‘Oooh, we never noticed this community.’ Eventually, it will be a really good thing,” she said.
Born in England, Young is familiar with the public transportation system in the United Kingdom. She says future plans like the K Line Northern Extension remind her of transit that has proved to be a great success in London.
“Heathrow Airport is right in there, and then you just take a train, you take it right into London, everywhere you go. So this one is going to be just like that,” Young said. “Because when you travel, you have to have people to drop you off at the airport, right? So now, you don’t need to. People in the north, they can join the K Line and go down everywhere, actually. I’m excited for this neighborhood.”
Overcoming Car Culture
Besides using community feedback to decide where an expansion of Metro’s system would be most beneficial, Chandler said the transit agency also carries out extensive studies to figure out which areas suffer the most from car congestion.
“We're looking at traffic on the freeways. We're looking at traffic on city streets,” he said.
Metro anticipates that the K Line Northern Extension will reduce auto use by approximately 127,500 miles traveled to 135,500 vehicle miles traveled daily.
But Boarnet argues that it’s no longer a matter of just looking at areas that are typically hit with traffic jams, but instead finding the most effective ways to make use of the land that’s left.
“L.A. does not have available land left, by and large. We are going to have to get more efficient. We're going to have to look to transit, both above ground and underground, because we just literally don't have room to add the lanes or freeway. We would need to accommodate the number of people who are in the area,” he said.
Boarnet added though that while a single freeway lane has the capability of moving approximately 2,000 cars per hour, per direction, a heavy rail subway system that offers trips every two minutes can move between 50,000 and 70,000 people per hour, per direction.
Aside from what the K Line Northern Extension is predicted to do for L.A. traffic, Los Angeles World Airports says that the Automated People Mover will be able to carry 200 passengers, with trains arriving at stations every two minutes, and traveling for a total of 10 minutes from the Consolidated Rent-A-Car facility to the West CTA Station. LAWA estimates that this will result in 117,000 fewer vehicle miles traveled per day.
As L.A. Metro continues to broaden its system, the number of Angelenos experiencing the advantages that come with these expansions will also continue to grow. And while those visiting for the Games are sure to enjoy this new era for the city, Garcia is looking forward to what it will do for all of its riders.
"It'll be for everybody. It'll be for employees and for travelers."
