Kymberleigh Richards

Re "Give L.A. a free ride," Current, Feb. 25 I agree with D. Malcolm Carson's proposal to make all buses and subways free. Rather than funding his proposal through an increase in the sales tax, I suggest a more appropriate source of revenue would be an increase in the gasoline tax. EDUARDO SUBELMAN Los Angeles Carson's solution to our region's transportation problem is a well-intentioned but unworkable plan to replace Metro...

Re "Get us back on the road," editorial, Oct. 9 In your endorsement of Measure R, you state: "The official opposition [tends] to favor a regional distribution scheme in which funds would be split evenly. That's not just parochial, it's naive." That kind of statement represents the treatment we get in the San Gabriel Valley. The Gold Line extension through the San Gabriel Valley never had a shot with the Los Angeles City-led influence on MTA decision-making. I think what is parochial and naive is the idea that the City of Los Angeles is going to implement a regional system.

In a move that puzzled some riders and transit advocates, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted Thursday to rechristen a 14-mile bus corridor in the San Fernando Valley as the Metro Orange Line. The name change "pays tribute to the Valley's rich history when it was once among our nation's leading orange and citrus-growing regions," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the MTA board chairman, in a statement.

"Taking the rapid out of transit," Current, Feb. 5 I recently spent three months in London, where the Tube was my main method of transportation. There is no way that could have happened in Los Angeles, where the rail system goes nowhere of importance -- Dodger Stadium, museums and LAX. According to Turner, pressure from commuters and lack of backbone from politicians are reasons why the Red Line does not go all the way down Wilshire Boulevard -- just one example of why the city lags behind others in public transportation boardings.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has suspended for the duration of the mechanics' strike a plan to cut back its contractor-run bus service, keeping buses running on nine routes and eventually on as many as 22, officials said Friday. The private contractor-run lines, which are not affected by the MTA mechanics' walkout, represent only a fraction of the agency's 183 bus routes. Before the strike, cuts to the contractor lines had been scheduled as early as Sunday.

The LAPD's Thin Blue Line newspaper offered up some of the "interesting questions" posed by applicants to the Police Academy, including: * Is there an LAPD Academy in Riverside? * Hey, I really liked the movie "SWAT" -- how do I join? * How many felonies are you allowed to have? * Do you have a police job where you don't have to work in the sun? Not sure if the last one refers to a doughnut shop. Proof that ancient astronauts visited Earth?

I take exception to the conclusions drawn by Charles J. Thomas in his letter of Dec. 18. He is laboring under the misconception that transit centers (the "hub" in "hub-and-spoke") are places where riders will have to wait for interminable lengths of time to make connections. An examination of the full transit restructuring study indicates that service is to be reconfigured in such a way that all lines serving a transit center will arrive and depart on timed schedules so that riders can connect without long delays.

On June 7 you ran a Voices piece, "Transportation of Tomorrow Exists Today." On June 8 you ran "Valley's Silver Bullet Hits Mark," featuring Gerald A. Silver ("the most public face of opposition to freeway expansion"), and "O.C. Doesn't Want to Leave the Suburbs." The latter two articles are why the first article doesn't stand a chance. Today, Silver and his ilk are heroes to a small but vocal number of Valley residents, and the citizens of Irvine are patting themselves on the back for voting to delete their portion of the 11.4-mile light-rail system.

As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority forges ahead with plans to build an east-west busway across the San Fernando Valley, opponents are renewing their push to stop the $330-million project because of fears that it would disrupt community life and threaten the safety of pedestrians and motorists. "We're not against transportation," said Diana Lipari, chairwoman of Citizens Organized for Smart Transit. "We just think it's a waste of money and that it's unsafe."

Turning aside protests from residents who live along the 14-mile route, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday approved a key environmental report for a proposed east-west busway in the San Fernando Valley. The MTA board also allocated $1 million to study the feasibility of a north-south Valley busway. In addition, the panel voted to vastly expand Los Angeles County's rapid-bus network, from two lines to 25.