Los Angeles used to have one of America’s best transit systems a century ago. Now, driving through gridlock is often faster than riding its trains. The city’s rail lines all dump into downtown, a design copied from New York’s subway. But L.A. isn’t New York – it’s a sprawling mess of suburbs, not a dense urban core. This outdated approach forces Angelenos to waste hours crawling through traffic instead of building a system that actually serves their neighborhoods.
New York’s subway works because millions live packed into apartments and skyscrapers. L.A.’s spread-out neighborhoods can’t support that model. Liberal planners keep pushing expensive rail projects that nobody uses, while ignoring cheaper solutions like bus lanes. They’d rather spend billions on vanity trains than fix what’s broken. It’s classic big government waste – throwing money at flashy projects instead of practical fixes.
The root problem? L.A. built its entire identity around cars while politicians killed private transit options. Now they’re trying to reverse decades of bad decisions with even worse ones. New rail lines take years to build and cost fortunes, but they only serve political agendas, not real people. Meanwhile, New York’s subway keeps limping along because it has no competition – just like government monopolies always fail when there’s no free market.
Conservatives know real solutions come from innovation, not taxes. L.A. should slash regulations letting tech companies create ride-share networks or private shuttles. Let entrepreneurs compete to move people faster. Instead, bureaucrats cling to their failing metro system like socialists clinging to outdated ideas. They’d rather control your commute than let freedom fix the problem.
New York’s subway is dirty and dangerous, but at least it goes everywhere. L.A.’s metro goes nowhere most people need. Building more rails won’t help when the city itself is designed wrong. You can’t force Europeans-style transit on American suburbs. Real conservatives understand that – we don’t remake society, we adapt to how people actually live.
The former L.A. Metro executive in the WSJ video talks about “local connections,” but that’s just more pork spending. Throwing cash at bike lanes and bus stops won’t untangle this mess. What L.A. needs is fewer politicians micromanaging transit and more freedom for drivers to find their own solutions. Cut the gas taxes, kill the red tape, and let Americans move how they want.
New York shows what happens when government monopolizes transit – crumbling infrastructure and rising costs. L.A. is following the same failed path. Both cities prove that when bureaucrats call the shots, riders get stranded. The answer isn’t more trains. It’s less government. Let private companies compete to serve commuters efficiently, without union delays or political payoffs.
In the end, L.A.’s metro will never match New York’s subway – and that’s okay. Conservatives don’t want cookie-cutter cities run by D.C. planners. We want communities built by free people making smart choices. Until L.A. stops letting activists dictate transit policy, Angelenos will keep sitting in traffic… and dreaming of the open road.
