Los Angeles, like Seoul or Tokyo, wants a modern subway system with punctual service. Highways are choked with traffic, parking is a luxury, and with the climate crisis worsening, public transportation seems like an obvious solution.
But the reality is starkly different.
L.A. doesn’t just struggle with subways—it is fundamentally incompatible with them.
1. A City Built for Cars, Not People
Unlike Seoul or Tokyo, which developed organically around pedestrian and transit infrastructure, Los Angeles was engineered by car manufacturers and real estate developers in the early 20th century. It’s less a city and more a sprawling patchwork of highways and low-density suburbs.
There’s no singular “center” to connect. Downtown L.A. isn’t the hub for most jobs; they’re scattered across Santa Monica, Burbank, Pasadena, and beyond. In such a decentralized, car-dependent sprawl, subways are inherently inefficient.
2. The Red Car Conspiracy: A Deliberate Dismantling
Ironically, 100 years ago, L.A. had the most extensive electric rail system in the world—the Pacific Electric “Red Car” network, spanning over 1,600 km. But in the 1940s and ’50s, a coalition led by GM, Shell, and Firestone launched a campaign to dismantle it.
They bought the rail companies, ran them into the ground, and replaced them with buses and freeways. In 1949, a federal court found them guilty of monopoly charges.
L.A. didn’t just lose its subway—it was robbed of it.
3. The Cost of Building is Astronomical
L.A. Metro continues to expand, but at an outrageous price. While Seoul can build 1 km of subway for $200–300 million, L.A. often spends $800 million to over $1.2 billion for the same.
Why? Powerful labor unions, strict environmental regulations, endless community opposition (NIMBYism), and bureaucratic gridlock slow everything down. The result: projects take decades and deliver half the value.
4. A Subway System for the “Other”
In Seoul or Tokyo, the subway is for everyone: businesspeople in suits, students, moms with strollers, retirees. It’s a public utility.
In L.A., the subway is seen as a last resort—used by those who can’t afford a car. Riders often include unhoused individuals, drug users, the mentally ill, or gang members. The middle and upper classes avoid it entirely.
“The subway isn’t for people like me”—this unconscious belief drives the system’s continued neglect.
It’s not just discomfort—it’s a social stigma.
5. A City That Abandoned the Idea of Shared Space
A subway isn’t just trains and tunnels. It’s a shared civic space—a reflection of how much a city respects public order, hygiene, and community.
Los Angeles has abandoned that idea. Crime is rampant, cleanliness is an issue, safety is a daily concern, and politicians rarely prioritize solutions. With no civic pride in the system, no budget, and no will, the subway can’t thrive.
Conclusion: L.A. Didn’t Just Fail to Build a Subway—It Lost the Right to Have One
Subways are more than rails; they are symbols of collective responsibility. A city gets the transit it deserves. L.A., in many ways, has chosen fragmentation over community.
It isn’t that the city can’t build a subway. It’s that it has forgotten how to be a city that deserves one.
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