Monorail Rapid Transit for Los Angeles

~.’,.,0l’,ro RA T’ REPORT STUDY i954 TO THE LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON A MONORAIL RAPID TRANSIT LINE FOR LOS ANGELES JANUARY 15, 1954 COVERDALE & COLP|TTS CONSULT!NG ENGINEERS NEW YORK RUSCARDON ENGINEERS GIBBS & HILL, INC, LOS ANGELES NEW YORK~ LOS ANGELES ~ I I’n II I’ II .I ¯ ~ fIll I II II III II I I III JIJIIj[lllll!l II I iil I’!’ ’1 I1_ ..... ~~~~,:;~ LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY 2233 BEVERLY BOULEVARD LOS ANGELES 57, CALIFORNIA DUnkirk 5- 1738 SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS ECONOMIC ENGINEERING REPORT of COVERDALE & COLPITTS for LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY FIRST: This report is made to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority pur- suant to the declared policy of the State of California to develop interurban rapid transit systems in various metropolitan areas of the State for the benefit of the people. (Chapter 1668, Legislative Session 1951, Chapter I, Section 1.1) The characteristics of Los Angeles as one of the great cities of the United States are different from those of any other city in the combination of its extent of area, the low density of its population, the high degree of automobile ownership and the lack of any system of surface-free mass rapid transit. SECOND: The monorail rapid transit route as proposed in this report and located within the area described in the act creating the Authority would, if adopted, be a proper beginning of mass rapid transit throughout Los Angeles County. THIRD: Monorail as an interurban railroad, rather than an urban distribution facil- ity, can be integrated appropriately with any future plan of rapid transit that may be adopted for the metropolitan area of Los Angeles County. FOURTH: Economic and engineering features of a modern elevated rapid transit system should be given comparative study. FIFTH: Action should be undertaken at this time by appropriate agencies exempting the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority from control by the California State Public Utilities Commission and exempting the property as well as the bonds of the Authority from taxation to conform with the established policy of the State in order to accomplish public acceptability of the revenue bonds proposed to be issued for the financing of the transit system under study. SIXTH: Appropriations should be made by the appropriate agencies of State or County for the further steps in engineering, financing and administration which necessarily must supplement the accompanying Feasibility Report. SEVENTH: Provided appropriate legislative action is taken and further reports are completed as required, the development of a mass rapid transit system by monorail for Los Angeles as herein described appears to be feasible. QUALIFICATIONS OF ENGINEERING FIRMS EMPLOYED BY LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY IN PREPARATION OF ECONOMIC ENGINEERING STUDY OF MASS RAPID TRANSIT Coverdale & Colpitts: A partnership, of 120 Wall Street, New York, is a company now celebrating its Fiftieth Anniversary with extensive engineering experience in the field of transportation, railroads, air lines, toll roads, bridges and tunnels. It has been consultant for bankers and industry in connection with the sale of securities, appraisals and management of corporations in the field of economic engineering. Coverdale & Colpitts was one of the firms recommended to the Board of Supervisors by the University Presidents Report of 1950. This firm has been the Consulting Engineers of the Department of Public Works of the State of California for 17 years. They are at present Consulting Engineers for fifteen States on highway, bridge or transit problems and are also retained by many private and public agencies throughout the nation. Gibbs & Hill: A firm founded in 1911 as a partnership and incorporated in 1923. Since its foundation, this firm has rendered service to more than 30 railroads and to more than 20 authorities and commissions dealing with transit and transportation matters. The firm has designed power plants throughout the world of a total cost of more than one billion dol- lars. It has electrified railroads, designed airports, factories and industrial plants. The organization has been actively making engineering analyses of monorail and other modern transportation systems for the past 15 years, including studies of car and motor power in the adaptation of this modern form of transportation to large metropolitan areas. Gibbs & Hill has maintained a fully staffed office in Los Angeles for the past five years. Ruscardon Engineers is a co-partnership consisting of Rush T. Sill and Donald M. Baker of Los Angeles, represented in this contract by Donald M. Baker, specialist in the field of hydrology, traffic engineering and engineering economics. Mr. Baker is a past president of the Los Angeles Gity Planning Co~ssion, the Los Angeles Engineering Council and the California State Board of Registration for Civil Engineers. Mr. Baker’s first study on transit in Los Angeles was made 20 years ago and still stands as the most thorough analysis of transit problems yet made. Since that time, Mr. Baker has been closely associated with all transit studies made in this area. Authority: The contract with Engineers provides that the Administrative Staff of the Authority shall upon request of Engineers advise upon matters of public policy, legality of proposed plans and shall make contacts with State, County and City Officers and with industry, for making available to the Engineers information pertinent to the Survey. The Authority has continuously participated in the coordinating activities of all partici- pants in this contract. In the Report the Engineers acknowledge the value of the services rendered by the General Manager and Secretary of the Authority. REPORT TO THE LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON A MONORAIL RAP~D TRANSIT LINE FOR LOS ANODE LES January 15~ 1954 COVERDALE & COLPITTS CONSD LT INC. EN~GINEERS NEW YORK RUSCARDON ENGINEERS GIBBS & HILL, INCo LOS ANG.ELES NEW YORK - LOS ANGELES TABLE OF CONTENTS T~ LOS ANG~ES Io~TROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY Frontispiece STATION NO. 7 - SUNSET B(~LEVARD PART i - ECONOi~C FEASIBILITY OF THE MONO~AiL SIST~vi 1-72 BY COVERDALE & COLPiTTS - J/~NUARY 15, 1954 PART II ~ TP~FFiC. POPULAT.iON AND ECONO~LIC DATA 1-88 PART III - MONORAIL SYSTEM DESIGN 1-20 ESTiF~TES OF CONSTRUCTION COSTS AND OF OPERATING EXPENSES BY GIBBS & HILL~ INCo ~ DEC~F~Z >i, 1953 Plate i = General ~mp of Metropolitan Los Angeles Sho~ng Location of Monorail Study Area and Proposed Route Pia~e II - Land Use - Metropolitan Los Ang~],.e~ Plate III - Postal Zones in Study A:’~a Plate IV --Traffic Flow 1948-1953 REPORT TO THE LOS ANGELES METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY ON A MONORAIL RAPID TRANSIT LINE FOR LOS ANOELES PART 1 ECONOM):C FEASIBILITY OF THE MONORAIL SYSTEM January 15, 1954 COVERDALE & COLPITTS C ONSU LTiN~ ENGINEER S IZ0 WALL STREET NEW YORK 5, No Y. COVERDAL~ & COLPITTS TABLE OF CONTENTS PART i ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF THE MONORAIL SYSTEM Pase LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL i iN~fRODUCTION 3 Scope of the Engagement 3 GeneraJ.Cow,side ratlons 5 ii BRIEF DESCRIPTIONOF TBZ PROJECT 13 13 The Monorail Structure 15 Stati 15 17 Speed 17 Y~leages a~dT~e between Stations 17 Parking ~ ~ 20 Signals 23 Inspection Facilities~ Shops and Storage Yards 23 Azterna~e Fo:~ of ~pid Transit 23 SOURCES OF TRAFFIC FOR TI~ PROJECT 25 ESTIMATEDTRAFFIC AND REVEhUCE 34 ESTIMATED COST OF CONSTRUCTION 51 Between Panorama and Long Beach - 45.7 Miles 51 Between North HolLywood and Compton - 28.6 Miles Vi ESTIMATED COST OF MAIntENANCEAND OPERATION 55 Vil CAPITAL REQUiP~MENTS AND CO~ENTS ON FINANCING 59 Line between Panorama and Long Beach 59 ~ne between North Hollywood and Compton 60 VIII CONCLUSIONS 64 COVERDALE & COLPITT$ TABLE OF CONTENTS - 2 TABLES Page 1950 Census 6 Transit Passengers - 1936-1952 9 Monorail Stations 16 Miles between Stations 18 Estimated Running Time between Stations 19 Proposed Parking Lots 21 Estimated Pacific Electric Railway Passengers from Monorail Area Entering Downtown Los Angeles Estimated Los Angeles Transit Lines Passengers from Monorail Area Entering Downtown Los Angeles 28 Estimated 24-Hour Traffic - Certain Highways - Los Angeles 3~ Comparison of Estimated Potential and Diverted Passengers S~mmary - Estimated Passengers and Revenue Estimated Total Traffic and Revenue - Panorama-Long Beach North Hollywood-Compt on Groups of Postal Zones for Study of Traffic &7-50 Estimated Cost of Construction and Other Requirements - Panorama-Long Beach 51 North Holiywood-Compt on Estimated Operating Expenses - Panorama-Long Beach 56 North Hollywood-Compt on 58 Estimated Operating Results and Amounts Available for Fixed Charge s - Panorama-Long Beach 59 North Holiywood-Compt on 60 COVERDALE & COLPITTS GEO. W. BURPEE GEO. H. BURGESS CONSULTING ENGINEERS JOHN E. SLA’TER A. R. FARNSWORTH MILES C. KENNEC)Y I:~0 WALL STREET GEO. V. T. BURGESS W. A. GORDON NEW YORK 5, N. Y S. FL BROWN January 15, The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authorit.y 2233 Beverly Boulevard Los Angeles, California D~r Sirs~ Complying ~ith your request as e~pressed in our agreement of April 15, 1953, we have made a study of the economic feasibility of the con- st~ction, maintenance and operation of a monorail rapid transit line between the San Fernando Valley and Long Beach and herewith transmit our report~ For the purpose of this study we have associated with ourselves, ~th your approval, Ruscardon Engineers of’ Los K~gele~ and Gibbs & Hill, Inco, Engineers and Constractors, of New York~ the former to study origins and destinations of persons within the study area~ other traffic matters, popu= lation and economic statistics~ the latter to estimate the cost of construction and of operation of the proposed monorail system° The repo~c, therefore, is presented in three parts as follows~ Part I = Economic Feasibility of the Monorail Sysbem - Coverdale & Colpitts Part II = Traffic, Populabion and Economic Data - Ruscardon ~gineers Part III - Monorail System Design, Estimates of Construction Costs and of Operating Expenses - Gibbs & Hill, Inco A mass of information has been accumulated and, although a small part only is reproduced in this report, it is all available for the use of the Authority.

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