By looking at three Los Angeles examples of very short rail lines, writer Alissa Walker suggests that seemingly pointless but fun transit systems could be the best way to use transit to improve urban areas.
The first example is a trolley that runs through the Grove, a themed outdoor shopping mall in L.A. Its developer, Rick Caruso, suggests expanding the line to connect another nearby shopping mall. Point-to-point transit lines may be the future of public transit in L.A., according to Walker.
"It's actually a great idea: Building very short rail routes all over town based on very specific behavior, not necessarily as part of this massive Manifest Destiny-like campaign to get the subway to the sea. We make our big rail decisions for commuters, based on where they need to go each day to work. Why not create mini-rail that serves where the rest of us are going: the artists with flexible schedules, the tourists who need to see the sights even the shoppers, god bless them."
FULL STORY: A train to somewhere
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