David Lazarus, the Times' new consumer columnist in the Business section, didn't impress with his column endorsing one man's monorail plan as a solution to regional traffic.

  Thanks for the comments on the recent column in the L.A. Times by David Lazarus touting DOA regional transit plans. Damien Goodmon already had a write-up on his "vision" in May , so why does this guy with no credentials and a plan that is going nowhere deserve so many additional column inches? And with his recent grandstanding in re Expo line grade crossings at Dorsey High his credibility is about zero among transportation activists. I first saw Brian C. Brooks' monorail along flood control channels proposal when he was touting it at the 2006 Alternative Car Expo; it is an idea so bad it doesn't deserve even cursory attention, much less being treated as a legitimate proposal.

It is sad the Times seems DOA on transportation and its nexus with land use. There is a debate about the future of our region going on and it is a disgrace the leading media voice in the area isn't involved, either in its news coverage or opinion pages. The recent blast my colleague Kymberleigh Richards aimed at the Times I think is dead on: "The Times changes its transportation beat reporters so much, I’m not convinced anyone gets up to speed to know what they’re talking about."

Dana Gabbard
Executive Secretary
Southern California Transit Advocates