Light Rail Project Is Full Steam Ahead

The Exposition Light Rail, at the moment a source of commuter aggravation and tangled traffic as construction continues, is expected to eventually ease those headaches for Culver City residents. 

Culver City Patch got the scoop on the project from Gabriela Collins, the government and community relations manager for the Exposition Construction Authority. 

Culver City Patch: How is the finished light rail going to impact the environment, including traffic? 

Gabriela Collins: The purpose of the Exposition light rail system is to provide an alternate form of transportation through the corridor between Culver City and downtown Los Angeles. Currently, there isn't an east-west transportation system to safely take people between these communities. When the rail is finished, it will help people take kids to school. And the amount of traffic will be turned over to the light rail system.

Patch: How can the city afford this if there are so many budget cuts and cash problems? 

Collins: There haven't been any problems with funding the construction, since the project is already fully funded. It's the expo authority handling the construction and phase one is fully funded. It has been under construction since 2006, and the project has state and local funds already allocated.

Patch: How do you plan to keep passengers safe? 

Collins: As part of building the light rail, we have a number of safety implementations. For example, we have closed-captioned systems for people who cannot hear. There is a television system inside, which is connected to the downtown information center. There are ways where people can press an emergency button to stop the train. There are also transit police that will patrol the system.

Patch: If this brings a profit, what does the city plan to do with the extra revenue? 

Collins: Basically, these systems aren't really profitable. It's a public transportation system for the city. It brings in revenue, but as for the amount of revenue that comes in, you'll have to ask Metro because they are the ones who are managing the profits.

Patch: What is your plan for making this rail convenient for people to ride?

Collins: The way that system works is that the transit system will make these railway stations more easily accessible to folks. A year prior to opening, if you look at various bus routes you will see that there will be many ways to get to the station using Metro transit. 

Patch: What is your plan for actually getting people on the train? L.A. is such a car culture.

Collins: I think the culture is changing as people are starting to become more environmentally friendly and as the Metro lines are expanding. By building the mass transit orange line, Metro exceeded its ridership number for its public transit system. We also see that by building lines such as the light rail, we are providing more environmentally friendly and more efficient ways for people to move around Los Angeles.

Patch: How will it be handicap accessible? 

Collins: There will be ramps for people to be able to access station platforms. The places where people board the trains will be at the same height as the station platform.

Patch: What is the projected finish date?

Collins: The first phase, from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City, open from downtown to La Cienega will be finished by summer of next year. And the last station to the west, at Venice, will be completed by the end of next year.

Patch: How much will it cost to ride?

Collins: That will eventually be determined by Metro, but currently the price for a one-way ticket is $1.25 for the light rail.

For more information on the Exposition light rail, visit the project's website at buildexpo.org.

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