LACMTA Green Line
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The Metro Green Line is a light rail line in Los Angeles County that connects the cities of Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lynwood, South Gate, Los Angeles and Norwalk. It operates mostly in the median of the Century Freeway (Interstate 105).
It offers access to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) via a free shuttle bus from the Aviation Boulevard station.
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[edit] History
As part of the consent decree signed by Caltrans in 1972 to allow construction of the fiercely opposed Century Freeway, provisions were made for a transit corridor (without designating the type thereof) in the freeway's median. In the original Metro Rail master plan of the early 1980s, this corridor was designated as a light rail line.
One of the reasons for construction was that the Green Line would serve the burgeoning Cold War industries in the El Segundo area. Unfortunately, by the time the Green Line opened in 1995, the Cold War was over, and the aerospace sector was hemorrhaging jobs. Furthermore, during the 1980s, the bedroom communities in the Gateway Cities region of southeastern Los Angeles County were rapidly losing their population of middle-class aerospace workers (primarily whites and blacks), a process that radically accelerated in the early 1990s. The working-class and poor Latinos who filled the vacuum generally had no connection to the aerospace sector. This rationale for Green Line construction was a principal argument cited by the Bus Riders Union when it contended that MTA was focusing its efforts on serving middle-class whites and not working-class minorities. As a result, ridership has been below projected estimates, currently averaging over 37,000 daily weekday boardings.
At the time the Green Line opened, the line used train cars made by Nippon Sharyo. In 2000, the Nippon Sharyo train cars were replaced by train cars made by Siemens.
The Green Line's western alignment was originally planned to connect with LAX, but the airport was in the planning stages of a major remodeling during the line's construction. Los Angeles World Airports wanted the connection to LAX to be integrated with this construction, but there were concerns that the overhead lines of the rail would interfere with the landing paths of airplanes. In addition, citizens of neighboring communities to LAX opposed the expansion of the airport, and owners of parking lots surrounding LAX were fearful that a train operating to LAX would detract from business, since there is ample free parking at numerous points along the Green Line. As a compromise, a free shuttle from Aviation transports riders to LAX.
The Green Line's eastern terminus also suffers from the fact that it stops two miles short of the heavily used Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink station, where several Metrolink lines operate. Local bus service is provided between the Metrolink station and the Green Line terminus, but schedules are not coordinated with Green Line arrivals. Because of this, and the Green Line's re-routed western alignment away from LAX, critics have labeled the Green Line as a train that goes "from nowhere to nowhere." [1]
Light rail advocates and Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl have suggested that, if the Green Line is extended to LAX, it should go all the way up Sepulveda or Lincoln Boulevard through Westchester and Mar Vista to meet the Expo Line in Palms (Sepulveda option) or Santa Monica (Lincoln option). The most recent plan for modernizing LAX, put forth by former Mayor James Hahn, was scrapped after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took office in 2005. Mayor Villagraigosa has indicated support for expansion of MetroRail in general, but not specifically regarding any expansion of the Green Line.
[edit] Possible extensions
At present, the Metro board has determined that there is not enough ridership to justify an extension of the Green Line from its current eastern terminus to the Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink station. However, such an extension is listed in Metro's long range plan, last adopted in 2001.
As MTA owns the former Pacific Electric right-of-way along Sepulveda through the Rancho Park district, more optimistic advocates have even suggested that, as part of an extension to Los Angeles International Airport, the Green Line go all the way into Westwood along Sepulveda, where it would become a subway and meet the proposed Red Line extension at a stop near UCLA.
[edit] List of stations, from East to West
| Station | Metro Rail Services | Other Connections | Date Opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-605/I-105 (Norwalk) | Green | Metro Bus: 111, 115, 121, 125, 270, 315, 460, 577X, 622 Norwalk Transit: 2, 4, 5 Long Beach Transit: 172, 173 |
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| Lakewood | Green | Metro Bus: 117, 265, 266, 622 | |
| Long Beach | Green | Metro Bus: 60, 251, 360, 622 Metro Rapid: 751 |
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| Imperial/Wilmington | Green Blue |
Metro Bus: 55, 120, 121, 124, 202, 205, 305, 612, 622 LADOT DASH: Watts |
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| Avalon | Green | Metro Bus: 48, 51, 52, 53, 352, 622 | |
| Harbor Freeway | Green | Metro Bus: 45, 81, 120, 381, 444, 445, 446, 447, 450X, 550, 622 Metro Rapid: 745 LADOT Commuter Express: 448 Torrance Transit: 1, 2 Gardena Bus Lines: 1 |
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| Vermont | Green | Metro Bus: 204, 206, 209, 622 Metro Rapid: 754 Gardena Bus Lines: 2 |
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| Crenshaw | Green | Metro Bus: 126, 210, 622 Metro Rapid: 710, 757 |
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| Hawthorne | Green | Metro Bus: 40, 119, 126, 212, 312, 442, 622 Metro Rapid: 740 |
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| Aviation | Green | Metro Bus: 120, 439, 622, 625, 626, Culver CityBus: 6 Santa Monica Big Blue Bus: 3, Rapid 3 Municipal Area Express: 2, 3, 3X LAX Shuttle: G |
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| Mariposa/Nash | Green | Metro Bus: 232, 622, 626 Torrance Transit: 8 (Southbound) |
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| El Segundo/Nash | Green | Metro Bus: 124, 622 LADOT Commuter Express: 574 Municipal Area Express: 2, 3, 3X Torrance Transit: 8 (Southbound) |
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| Douglas/Rosecrans | Green | Metro Bus: 125 | |
| Marine/Redondo | Green | Metro Bus: 126, 215 LADOT Commuter Express: 574 Beach Cities Transit: 102 |
[edit] External links
| Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (website) | |
| Metro Buses | Metro Local – Metro Rapid – Metro Express |
| Metro Busways | Orange Line – Harbor Transitway – El Monte Busway |
| Metro Rail | Red Line – Purple Line – Blue Line – Green Line – Gold Line – Expo Line |
| Connecting rail | Amtrak – Amtrak California – Metrolink |
| Other information | Union Station – Transportation of Los Angeles |
