Los Angeles deserves plaudits for many of its environmentally progressive initiatives – among them, fuel-efficient municipal vehicles [1] and a pledge [2] to generate 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2010. But much of this progress is rendered moot by the city's horrendous traffic-congestion problem, which stems from a sub-par – if not totally inadequate – public transportation system. Happily, The Governator [3] and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa [4] are working on (or at least talking about) tackling the problem.

“The [LA] freeways that were once a fast-moving way to get from one part of the city to another will become part of a slow-moving glacier, edging down the hills to nowhere,” carped sci-fi visionary Ray Bradbury in a recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times [5]. “[Today] a trip from the Valley into Los Angeles that used to take half an hour — all of a sudden it takes an hour or two or three.”

Bradbury calls for the installation of a highspeed monorail —an alternative to the LA's much-bedeviled plans [6] for a user-friendly underground subway. Bradbury’s vision is not completely out of step with that of Mayor Villaraigosa, who has proposed a (very idealistic and somewhat vague) plan to expand rail service in the city [7]. Better yet, late last month Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threw his weight into the debate, proposing a $222-billion infrastructure plan [8] that includes a hefty investment in bolstering Los Angeles’ rail system.

Photo credit: The Los Angeles Times [9]