About Us

The Metro Transportation Research Library and Archive is one of the most comprehensive transit operator-owned library resources in the United States. As the only multi-modal transportation library in Southern California, we serve Metro employees, the general public, governments, and research institutions locally, nationally, and internationally. Our collection is comprised of over 60,000 books, technical studies, environmental impact reports, maps, historic images, film, and other media formats from our existing agency as well as several of our predecessor agencies including Los Angeles Railway, Pacific Electric Railway, Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, Southern California Rapid Transit District, and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

HISTORY

Our library and archive’s origins date back to the days of Metro’s public transportation ancestors, the Los Angeles Consolidated Electric Railway (1895) and Pacific Electric Railway (1899). Our interactive “family tree” of direct predecessor agencies and Los Angeles transportation history timeline provide context to L.A.’s complex transit and transportation history from the 1870s to the present. 

In late 2001, our physical space on the 15th floor of Metro Headquarters was formally renamed The Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors. Our name commemorates the distinguished career of Dorothy Peyton Gray (1943-2001), the first longtime Metro librarian, who transformed a collection of planning documents into the nationally recognized transportation research institution we are today. Thanks to her incredible efforts, we continue to impact transportation through collecting, preserving, and providing access to research, resources, and historical assets throughout Los Angeles and Southern California. 

SERVICES

We partner with numerous local, national, and international organizations, including in the National Transportation Library and Transportation Research Board, to improve the availability of transportation-related information for federal, state, and local governments. Engage with our resources by …

• Exploring close to 50,000 resources in our online catalog, which provides links to thousands of full-text articles and documents. 

• Engaging with our Flickr photostream, which contains over 11,000 unique contemporary and historical images. 
• Checking out our YouTube channel, which brings together our own historical video collection as well as relevant external content – providing a comprehensive look at Los Angeles transit and transportation through moving images.  
• Searching Metro’s Board of Directors Archive (1993-2015)  and Predecessor Agencies’ Board Archives (1952 – present) 
• Searching Metro Board Box and Correspondence (1993-present)
• Searching Metro Press Releases (1994 – present) 
• Searching Metro’s Employee News Magazines and Predecessor Agencies’ Employee News (1918 – 2009) 
• Searching California Highways and Public Works Magazine (1924 – 1967) 
• Searching Electric Railway Journal (1884-1931)
• Searching Metro CEO Briefs and Every Voice Counts (2005-present)

We also provide timely access to information supporting transportation policy, research, operations, and technology transfer through our curated newsletter, Los Angeles Transportation Headlines, delivered to subscribers each workday. 

MISSION

As part of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency, our goals as a library align with the organization’s overall strategic plan, Metro Vision 2028, which outlines strategic goals for 2018–2028 along with the specific actions Metro will undertake to meet those goals.