Los Angeles is on the verge of precipitous change. For decades, autocentric growth has sent the city down a path of wildly unsustainable and inequitable development. The orgiastic construction of freeways throughout the 20th century divided and destroyed neighborhoods, created well-documented environmental issues, and fostered reckless sprawl. To address these problems, the city is now embarking on a decades-long program of investment in its public transportation system. The purpose of this article is to make this program easily understandable, outlining and explaining all of the existing, proposed, and under-construction rail projects in and around the Greater Los Angeles area.

A few notes before diving into the maps:

Rail transit alone is necessary but not sufficient to solve the social and environmental problems embedded in the built environment of Los Angeles. Also necessary is densifying the city, specifically around Metro stations. Various proposals to upzone around high-frequency transit stops have been put forward, most recently by State Senator Scott Weiner [D-11] with SB-50 (which has since failed). Without fostering more dense land usage around new transit lines, Metro’s massive capital investment will significantly underperform on its promise to transform the city for the better.

Furthermore, due to the sheer immensity and sprawl of the region, buses will likely always play an important role in the transportation system of Los Angeles. The rail and BRT system under construction will cover the vital arteries of the city, with buses serving as the veins and capillaries. If planned properly, regularly scheduled buses will provide seamlessly timed transfers to rail, and vice-versa. Like a pulsating heart sending blood throughout the body, buses and trains will regularly and frequently converge at shared hubs across the city, to then be dispersed across the system after enabling quick and easy transfers. Switzerland has famously used this “pulse” system for years, enabling seamless transfers between modes all across the country.

Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods, 2060

Many reading this will dismiss the necessity of drastic change (as they have perhaps already done at the ballot box, voting against the many transit-initiatives that have appeared before voters), but the fact of the matter is that there is little time to heed opinions based on propaganda or the unconsciously ingrained car culture. (Examples of such disingenuous media in Los Angeles include information put out by hysterical organizations such as “Stop the Purple Threat” and “Livable California”.) The time for NIMBYism has passed. The climate is changing, and automobiles are among the highest contributors of greenhouse gas. The switch to transit is not simply nostalgia for the past, but rather a mathematical necessity: more people in fewer vehicles means less CO2 released.

Moreover, this system will help to heal the socio-economic and racial balkanization of the Greater Los Angeles area. By physically connecting the stratified communities of LA County, Metro will play a vital role in repairing the historical wounds of the region. Historically isolated communities such as Inglewood and Crenshaw will be connected with jobs centers around the county. Children for whom a journey to the beach, to Griffith Park, or to Los Angeles’ many cultural institutions was previously an impossibly complicated and impenetrable knot of long bus rides and transfers, will now have easy access to the opportunities of the region.

The shift from a built environment based on automobiles to one based on transit will be difficult, expensive, and long. But in the end it will be worth it. Communities will be more just, the air cleaner, and the economy stronger. And while some of us may be significantly more grey by the time these projects open, as the saying goes: the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second best time is right now.

Now onto the maps.

Note: this was written before the start of quarantine; it has yet to be seen how recent events will affect Metro’s plans. Regardless, keep in mind: Density Is Normally Good for Us. That Will Be True After Coronavirus, Too.