Connect the World? The Bay Area Can’t Even Connect Its Trains

A New Light Rail System Underscores the Frustrations of California's Richest Region

The northern terminus of SMART, the new light rail system officially opening this weekend in the North Bay, is the Sonoma County Airport Station in Santa Rosa. But after my 8-year-old son and I disembarked from an Alaska Airlines flight, we learned that the airport is more than a mile away from the train.

We didn’t know how to bridge this transportation gap. My son wasn’t up for a long walk. There is as yet no shuttle from plane to train. The public bus that would take us in the train’s …

By Joe Mathews | August 28, 2017

Why Building More Freeways Makes Traffic Worse, Not Better

To Ease L.A. Gridlock, We Need Improved Mass Transit and Smart Urban Planning

By Jerry Nickelsburg | August 1, 2017

In 1865, British economist William Stanley Jevons wrote an influential essay entitled “The Coal Question.” Today his insights are interesting to me not as they relate to coal, but rather …

L.A.’s Revelatory Light Rail for Nerds

The Gold Line Has Become a Brain Train, Linking Educational Institutions From Pasadena to East L.A.

By Joe Mathews | July 17, 2017

My train line is smarter than your train line.

I’m a regular rider of “The Brain Train,” officially known as the Gold Line on the L.A. Metro system. The Gold …

Golden Gate Bridge Train Service? It’s Time to Get on Board

California's Iconic Span Needs Rail Transit, Both for Symbolism and for Sonoma's Sake

By Joe Mathews | April 6, 2017

If California is as serious about public transit as its urban leaders claim, why isn’t there a commuter rail service running over the Golden Gate Bridge?

There’s no good reason why …

Where the Buses are Clean and Safe and the Trains are On-Time

New Metro CEO Phil Washington Shares His Vision for Transit in L.A. County

by Joe Mathews | August 20, 2015

“Finish the job.”

That was the focused message of Phillip Washington, the new CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), before a standing-room-only audience a Zócalo/Metro event at …

Trains Are Great! But What L.A. Needs Are Bus Lanes

Seven Transportation Experts Push for a Bolder and More Inclusive Transportation System

August 17, 2015

“Nobody walks in L.A.,” or so goes the 1984 song by Missing Persons. That refrain is an exaggeration, of course, but L.A. is ranked below other cities in walkability and …

public transportation