I realize it was a holiday, but it still seems to illustrate the ludicrousness of the splurge—all while north-south transit options on the Eastside continue to be nearly nonexistent and while riders on all bus routes at all times continue to wait inordinate amounts of time to get to their destinations because buses don’t have their own lanes.

Anyway, just sayin’ (again).

There is definitely a learning curve. Living in Highland Park along the crossing-guard-free section, I am surprised and glad to say there hasn’t been an accident all year. In the first years there were many, but drivers, people, chickens and dogs have seem to come to reckon with the train.

That being said, there is no way in Hell the conditions Metro has in Highland Park would have been acceptable in Southpas. The Marmion Way section would have been tunneled for sure.

OK, I’ve said too much. I just wanted to be the 63rd commenter and say THANKS for keeping this blog ad-free.

The above comment is a classic case of “the pot calling the kettle black”. A rudimentary observation of the commenter’s prior posts will reveal he uses similar tactics with similar results.

……………

For example?

As far as Afghanistan goes, do you not believe we should be there? Should that war be ended, outright, in your view? Regarding the prison industry, do you believe non violent drug offenders should do prison time? Do you believe marijuana should be legalized for all adults? I’m asking you these questions because they all tie in to big government, government spending, etc. It all costs money.

Regarding road paving, I’m not sure how much money the private contractors get, the cost of asphalt, paint, etc. has to be in the millions. The labor is cheap, that’s obvious. You made your point about state workers and their wages. But big government expansion doesn’t stop there. Do we really need to pave roads right now that aren’t severely damaged? Don’t you find it funny that with the fiscal trouble the state is in, they have money to do these unnecessary repairs? Heard you loud and clear on state workers and the cost of their payroll. But you didn’t really answer the question on private contracts to unnecessary construction/repair projects. Come on, Mr. Small Guv. Let’s hear where you stand.

I don’t like big government wasting money on a fruitless drug war. Yes we wasted billons in Iraq, and now we are wasting billons in Afghanistan.

I’m pretty sure the private contractor fixing our roads is still less cost than a state payed employee. A private contractor won’t keep a lousy employee around like our state government, the state employeee unions see to that.

Try barking at another tree, Mr. Thomas, and I agree with the comment above. I have read your comments before, and Rob Thomas seems to be pretty bitter about something.

You make very good points and you are also changing my mind on some things. Keep in mind that I don’t think I was fighting with you, just browne and RobThomas

As far as inequality goes, I think the highway system has more to do with it than transit. I actually wrote a term paper on how the highway system created an unequal transportation network, and mentioned the Eastside as an example of an area that got shortchanged.

“The original goldline was going to have 2 stops in la city limits, and a dozen in pasa and southpas.”

Which two stops would those have been?