Modern-Day Bus Accident: Segregation, Los Angeles

Passmoore, Works Of Alexander & I.V.

-On the MTA 304 to Santa Monica. What deters people from trying the bus? Ethnic stratification is probably to blame It’s a situation no urban planner had in mind. It’s an accident in the evolution of big cities. It is, effectively, racial segregation on America’s urban busses. When one group wishes to distance itself from another, we're left with a racially homogenous bus ridership. A perfectly good form of transportation is relegated to the sidelines. Places like Los Angeles are choked intolerably by automotive traffic. Busses are an obvious solution, but no amount of prodding will entice Caucasian Angelinos to give them a try. Affluent whites of the area see gas-guzzling cars as their god-given right, as evidenced by Jay Leno who regularly boasts on the “Tonight Show” of his car-collection excess. We must remove the social stigma associated with lowly bus travel. Perhaps the best way to go about it: tax automotive travel to the brink of impracticality. When only the richest people will be able to afford the luxury of transportation largesse, all the races will have no choice but to mingle aboard the bus network. Series Description: Related series: LA Union Station, House Of Hardwood, Santa Monica, Venice Canals, Rosemead.