I have recently returned to the land Down Under from almost a month in the Up Over. I found myself on both coasts, attending TRB,1 meeting colleagues, visiting family, and of course casually studying transport, and have comments on traveling below.
LAX: A Gateway to Chaos
We had a connecting flight in LA. To be clear … Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is a mess.
The passage from the international terminal to Terminal 7 is an improvement over being forced outside, even if we ascended and descended multiple times through what are clearly works in progress. Still, a rent-a-cop strongly suggested (but was ignored) that we travelers go outside and cross the road to save time, trading convenience for poor air quality. To be fair, it probably was faster.
Dull, Duller, Dulles.
Our flight connection was to Washington Dulles.
Due to construction works on the DC Metro, we would have had to use 4 different Metro Lines and two and half hours to get from Dulles to Glenmont, the station nearest our intended destination. On the other hand, an Uber was about $70 and under an hour.
Driving in the DMV
The DMV is the official nickname for the District, Maryland, Virginia area. I do not think I am happy about this nomenclature. It is also Delaware erasure.2
Speed limits in Montgomery County are lower than before, 30MPH on arterials is now common if not standard, and BBC robot-like traffic cameras enforce compliance. Some useless bike sharrows have been painted, but no one uses them in winter. Snow clearance is better in the suburbs than in DC, but snow piles at crosswalks are a recurring problem.
Gaithersburg has no truck with Laurel
Maryland’s Inter-County Connector (MD 200) feels empty most of the time, despite being open for more than a decade. The tolls are relatively low, but the highway connects second or third order trading centers like Gaithersburg and Laurel, which have little interaction. Trade occurs as places specialize, not so much within replications of otherwise identical suburbs.
It’s always Winter in Washington DC
From my point-of-view, it’s always Winter in Washington: Grey, dry, cold, death, agoraphobic. Now, that is because I come once a year for TRB, and I know intellectually this must not be true, but on the other hand, to be is to be perceived.
The Purple Line
Taking the Metro and driving around, one sees The Purple Line, an LRT that may one day connect Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton, if it’s ever finished. The Purple Line Light Rail has been under construction for what seems like forever. I watched the planning for this project when I worked at MNCPPC-MCPD more than 3 decades ago. Decades ago, in the 1980s the Georgetown Branch was a functioning freight rail line. Upgrading it incrementally for passenger use would have been more practical, and obviated much of the NIMBY complaint that has delayed it so long.
Places
Downtown DC feels abandoned. Metro ridership is down, and the Mall was mostly empty. Work-from-home trends and the time of year contribute, but the vibrancy is gone. Perhaps the Federal back-to-work orders will reverse this.
Suburban shopping malls are also deader than I remember. Costco, however, seems unaffected.
Back to Los Angeles
Driving in LA
I drove more in one week in Los Angeles than I have in the past five years in Australia. The freeways are congested at all hours, with an unusually high percentage of trucks. The road numbering system is a headache. The I-5 and I-10 are straightforward enough, but the three-digit interstates feel randomly assigned, and state highways are no better. The mix of names and numbers adds another layer of confusion.
The rental car, a Dodge Hornet hybrid, (not my choice) didn’t help. The controls were confusing, the check engine/service engine light was inexplicably on, and the braking and acceleration felt jerky, likely due to the hybrid system switching modes. The “I’m about to collide” warning is useful, but the overly sensitive lane change indicator doesn’t reset automatically, adding to the distraction. The passenger-side mirror needed adjustment, and the steering wheel controls required too much attention to operate safely.
The fundamental problem with rental cars is that drivers are simultaneously unfamiliar with the area (and thus navigation) and the vehicle (and thus control), and every vehicle having a different interface and sensitivity to touch is not helpful.
Public Transport: The LA Metro
The A (Blue) Line is slow, not grade-separated, and runs on streets in some areas. It was free during the recent fire emergency. Midday ridership was sparse, with cars mostly empty aside from a few eccentric passengers.3 The cars were clean, and suburban stations showed some effort in design.
The E Line from USC/Expo was more crowded, which I caught after my Waymo trip, saw about 50% of seats occupied. Transferring at Pico was straightforward, and the trains were in better condition.
Masks and Misgivings
So many service workers in Los Angeles still wear masks. The continuing presence of COVID-19, RSV, flu, and wildfires underscores an ongoing sense of, or performance of, vulnerability. I am sure this is contributing to, and a result of, the general crack-up.
The Urban Divide
Little Tokyo is lively and hopping, but walk a block in the wrong direction, and the area becomes sketchy. Better street lighting would help. The number of people living on the streets in LA was astounding. Every 1980s Cyberpunk novel is real and come to life.
The Libraries
For a city that doesn’t read, the libraries in Long Beach and South Pasadena were both excellent and well used.
Back to LAX
The rental car center will eventually be a welcome improvement, but today is not that day. Navigating the airport bus shuttle system is unnecessarily complicated. Passengers are instructed to go from the garage to the fifth floor to catch the shuttle, but since the people movers aren’t operational yet, they must return to the ground floor. While Sydney Airport has signs for the way things used to be which have not been removed (I’m looking at you, ride-share pickup area), LAX has signs for things yet to be which should remain covered.
My TRB strategy ... walk the Posters Hall. Don’t attend presentations unless your name is on it, and don’t attend committee meetings (as a non-US resident who will not need to lobby for government funds from federal officials). This maximises the number of people you can talk to and number of ideas you can absorb.
To be fair, that is more Delmarva.
I know we are not allowed to talk about who uses transit, but who uses transit definitely determines who else uses transit, I suppose there is a polite way of saying these things, but it is definitely not a PC thought. No judgment on my part as to who should use transit, (which is obviously everyone who is allowed to be out and about and pays their fare), but it affects total ridership numbers.
FIN
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Transportist to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.