Metro Green Line

Ground was broken at the site of a future station in the El Segundo area Monday for the $886-million Metro Green Line, a 23-mile segment of a proposed 300-mile rail transit network to be developed over the next 30 years. The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission said the Metro Green Line--the first fully automated rapid transit rail line in the United States--is scheduled to begin operation in 1994, with an expected 25,000 passengers a day.

We didn't just survive "Carmageddon" last weekend, we basked in it. Neighbors had dinner together. Angelenos strolled to their local coffee shops and biked around town. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky gushed that Los Angeles residents "have turned Carmageddon into Carmaheaven. " People waxed wistfully that we should do this every weekend. Well, no, we can't do it every weekend. Just as Carmageddon was a construction success because time was built into the schedule for things to go wrong (nothing did)

Under pressure by influential lobbyists, the Rail Construction Corp. board on Monday approved two key Metro Green Line contracts, but again pleaded with county mass-transit commissioners to rethink the use of driverless cars on the increasingly complex and costly system.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl called Tuesday for a $2 hike in fees at public parking lots near Los Angeles International Airport to help fund an extension of the Metro Green Line. Rosendahl, whose district includes Westchester and LAX, introduced a motion asking city officials to develop a plan to extend the light-rail line to Parking Lot C, just north of the airport. Under the proposal, the city would issue bonds to pay for the light-rail extension, then pay back the debt using proceeds from the higher parking fees.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the City of Norwalk are studying whether to extend the Metro Green Line 2.6 miles through Norwalk. The extension would link the Green Line, which is scheduled to end at the San Gabriel River Freeway (605) in west Norwalk, with the Orange County Commuter Rail Line to the east.

Japan has quietly and indirectly raised with the Bush Administration its concern over Los Angeles County's rejection of a contract with the Sumitomo Corp. to build vehicles for the Metro Green Line, a Japanese government spokesman told The Times on Thursday night. In an interview, Masamichi Hanabusa, the official spokesman for Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, said that Japanese diplomats have "reminded" the Administration that international trade agreements require the U.S.

A month after President Bush visited Los Angeles to praise the Metro Rail Green Line as proof of American technological know-how, county officials Monday acknowledged serious problems with the project by delaying the award of two contracts vital to developing its futuristic, driverless cars. The decision by Rail Construction Corp.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl called Tuesday for a $2 hike in fees at public parking lots near Los Angeles International Airport to help fund an extension of the Metro Green Line. Rosendahl, whose district includes Westchester and LAX, introduced a motion asking city officials to develop a plan to extend the light-rail line to Parking Lot C, just north of the airport. Under the proposal, the city would issue bonds to pay for the light-rail extension, then pay back the debt using proceeds from the higher parking fees.

The City Council on Tuesday sought a study of the environmental consequences of connecting the proposed Exposition Line light-rail system with a possible extension of the Metro Green Line to Los Angeles International Airport. The Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority broke ground this week on the first phase of its project from Exposition Park to Culver City.

Area mayors and City Council members on Monday named 15 rail cars after cities and communities along the Metro Green Line route, which is scheduled to be operational this summer. Cities and communities adopting Green Line cars were Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Gardena, Lynwood, Paramount, Downey, South Gate, Bellflower, Norwalk, Watts, Westchester, Willowbrook and Athens.

REGARDING Jane Engle's article on the changes at LAX ["Straightening Up So LAX Can Fly Right," Travel Insider, Dec. 31]: I believe that one of the most-needed improvements to LAX would be to connect the Metro Green Line to the airport. That way, people can board a Metro train at any stop and, without boarding an additional bus or tram, can make it to a central spot where they can wheel their luggage to their terminal and check-in point. This would reduce traffic on the 405 and 105 freeways as well as around the LAX loop.

Los Angeles officials are drawing a new route aimed at finally closing perhaps the biggest gap in the region's mass transit system: A lack of a rail line flowing directly into Los Angeles International Airport. Planners envision a new light rail line that would run along Crenshaw Boulevard and Florence Avenue between Exposition Boulevard and the airport.

The City Council on Tuesday sought a study of the environmental consequences of connecting the proposed Exposition Line light-rail system with a possible extension of the Metro Green Line to Los Angeles International Airport. The Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority broke ground this week on the first phase of its project from Exposition Park to Culver City.

The City Council on Friday unanimously approved a motion to revive efforts to extend the Green Line rail tracks to Los Angeles International Airport. The proposal by Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes LAX, would reestablish the LAX/Metro Green Line Interagency Task Force, which worked more than a decade ago to connect the rail system to the airport, said Aaron Gross, Rosendahl's deputy chief of staff. Gross said the plan is in the early stages.

The city should pursue extending the Green Line rail system to Los Angeles International Airport, two City Council members proposed Wednesday. Councilmen Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes LAX, and Bernard C. Parks called on the city airports agency to look into the extension to reduce traffic congestion. The head of the agency said last week that she opposed the extension. "This is an idea that can no longer wait," Rosendahl said.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers created a massive traffic jam in Norwalk on Friday, shutting down portions of two freeways for more than two hours after a backpack abandoned at a Metro line station was thought to be potentially dangerous. Authorities said they determined that the backpack, which was blown up by a sheriff's bomb squad, did not contain explosives or other hazardous substances. "But our response was appropriate," said Lt.

The City Council on Friday unanimously approved a motion to revive efforts to extend the Green Line rail tracks to Los Angeles International Airport. The proposal by Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes LAX, would reestablish the LAX/Metro Green Line Interagency Task Force, which worked more than a decade ago to connect the rail system to the airport, said Aaron Gross, Rosendahl's deputy chief of staff. Gross said the plan is in the early stages.

They heaped scorn on Angelenos in 1995 when we introduced a light-rail route that bypassed the region's biggest airport. MTA's Green Line trains, originating in Norwalk, pulled up two miles shy of LAX before veering south toward Redondo Beach. "A train to nowhere," critics called it. Since then, New York, Newark, N.J., San Francisco and Minneapolis have created airport-to-city rail links. Amtrak just opened a station near Milwaukee's airport where fliers can board trains to downtown. And LAX?

Like many commuters, Aileen Chaj takes the Green Line out of necessity rather than convenience. Her trip on the light-rail line -- which runs down the middle of the Century Freeway -- takes only about 20 minutes each way. But that is only one leg of a grinding 1 1/2-hour commute each way that involves catching a bus near her home in South Los Angeles that takes her to the Green Line station.