The recent photo essays in the New York Times and Fast Company featuring stunning photos of NY MTA subway cars being dumped into the sea inspired us to tell our own similar story from half a century ago. The July,…
Category: Primary Resources
Primary Resources
50 Years Ago This Week: Planning The El Monte – Century City Backbone Route (Complete With Nuclear Fallout Shelters, Large-Capacity Helicopters And A Beverly Hills Subway)
In May of 1961, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority unveiled its plans for the Backbone Route — the 22.7-mile-long first leg of yet another rapid transit proposal for Los Angeles. After Wilshire Corridor stakeholders squelched the idea for a Los Angeles monorail system…
Online Access To Environmental Impact Reports & Statements: Metro’s New Digital Library Of Los Angeles Transit Project Documents
Among the most vital core resources that tell the story of how Los Angeles’ transit projects were planned are those contained within our environmental impact report and environmental impact statement documents. Now, many of them are found in our new collection of online EIRs/EISs which date back…
Union Station Is Born: The Story And Photos From The Citywide Fight Over A Central Rail Terminal
Happy Birthday to Los Angeles’ primary passenger rail facility, which celebrates its anniversary today. Union Station is not only a beautiful neighbor of ours here at Metro’s Gateway Headquarters, but a part of the family now as well. The anniversary…
Jumpstarting The Transit Space Race, Transit Climate Action Strategy & The Next 50 Years
If you’re looking for current information on the state of public transit projects across the United States, there might be no better resource than Jumpstarting The Transit Space Race, 2011: A Catalog And Analysis Of Planned And Proposed Transit Projects…
50 Years Ago, This Chick Promoted Easter Shopping Via Public Transit
We couldn’t resist sharing a look back at this newspaper advertisement from April, 1961. This chick with a change belt “posed” as a coach operator to promote taking the bus to get all your Easter shopping done. The ad was…
Future Stations Of The Past: Downtown’s 1968 “Metroport” & Express Service To LAX
After profiling past plans for both a subway and aerial station at Wilshire & La Brea earlier this month, we turn our attention to Los Angeles International Airport and efforts to transport passengers there from downtown more than 40 years ago.…
50 Years Ago This Week: The Story And Photos From The Last Day Of Red Car Service & First Day Of Bus Service To Long Beach
This past weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the last “Red Cars” running between Los Angeles and Long Beach. The Los Angeles Times ran an article a few days ago reprinting the April 8, 1961 story of how “Red Cars will…
“Creating Our Own Story”: How Metro Transportation Library & Archive Has Shared Collections And Information Since 1937
April 10-16 marks National Library Week! Every April, The American Library Association sponsors a week-long celebration of libraries. This year’s theme is “Create Your Own Story,” one that is quite fitting for us. As a library, we have always been challenged…
Future Stations Of The Past: 1980s Plans For A Wilshire / LaBrea Subway Stop & Overhead Metro Rail
This look back at plans for a Wilshire / La Brea Metro Rail station is the first in an occasional series focusing on “future stations of the past.” We want to begin sharing images and plans for stations already built, under future consideration, or off…