Marc Joffe
Marc Joffe
Aerial view of the So-Fi stadium in Los Angeles in 2021, and behind it, a view of the Forum. The SoFi is an entertainment complex located in Inglewood, Los Angeles.
The Federal Transit Administration’s latest Capital Investment Grant dashboard shows that it intends to award over $1 billion for a people mover project in Inglewood, California. While the 1.6‑mile automated train line may be empty most of the time, it is expected to ferry thousands of fans to football and basketball games when the Clippers, Chargers, or Rams are playing. The impending grant undermines the narrative that federally funded transit construction is needed to halt the climate catastrophe. Instead, this grant appears to be more of a gift to wealthy owners of professional sports teams.
According to the FTA’s project profile, the Inglewood Transit Connector is expected to handle an average of just 4,300 rides daily, which is well within the capacity of buses. With a projected capital cost of $2.02 billion (50 percent of which will be federally funded), the capital cost per average daily rider works out to almost $470,000—that is several times higher than such other FTA-supported transit projects as New York’s Second Avenue Subway, and Chicago’s Red Line Extension.
Over the course of a year, the Connector will displace a relatively small number of car trips. And a large proportion of these trips would otherwise be completed by electric vehicles, which are far more popular with high-income Californians than drivers elsewhere. As a result, the greenhouse gas emissions savings from the project will be minimal, especially because they will be offset by emissions generated during the construction of 1.6 miles of overhead track.
Even local Representative Maxine Waters (D‑CA) has come out against the project, citing both costs and the threat to local small businesses. » Read More
https://www.cato.org/blog/federal-transit-administration-fighting-climate-change-or-subsidizing-pro-sports-teams