As a Canadian who only sometimes visits LA, I have no idea why I am so invested in LA transit development - but here I am

Definitely talk about Amtrack/Metrolink! Heavy rail should complement Metro rail and provide a higher speed alternative into the city! Especially with the sprawl seen in LA.

The 'unhinged rants from Bel Air NIMBYs' section was by far my favorite. Lost my shit at the tidal wave/tsunami in Stone Canyon theory lmfao

It didn't take hundreds of years to build Los Angeles as an automobile dependent hellhole, but it will take hundreds of years to fix it.

Any day we get a LA Metro update from nandert is a GREAT day!

It’s a good day when the one and only Nandert post a LA metro update!!

Regardless of their timelines, it is very bold and respectable of LA to put so many transit projects in planning/construction. Tons of different cities in the country can learn from them, especially their northern neighbors in the Bay Area!

the cops saying the monorail won’t be feasible is very “heartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point”

I cant think of another channel that goes so in depth in its local region's transit projects! I appreciate your service

I think an Amtrak/Metrolink/CAHSR combo video would be cool. There's probably not a whole lot to talk about with Amtrak, but metrolink would be super interesting. I know there are all kinds of plans like electrifying the system, infill stations, and the Arrow Rail plan, but its so hard to find info about Metrolink projects. And HSR would be interesting to hear about too, like how that will work at Burbank Airport and at Union Station especially, hopefully they start construction on that all in the next few years...

45 minute nandert video let's goooooooo Edit: You should start a patreon, I'd happily contribute to help get more videos out. They are so informative, I can't imagine how much research goes into these. Honestly I would only know maybe 5% of this info without your videos, they are important for people to see.

I just noticed text got pushed out of alignment literally 14 seconds in. This is what happens when you don't QC your exports people, haha

just rewatched one of your videos. glad you came back when the world needed you most

Great update! I think a vid for CA HSR that mentions Metrolink/Amtrak utilization of the network is probably the most needed vid rn so that people can learn that the misinformation of HSR being dead a few years back was false

A reevaluation of what exactly is going on with CAHSR would be great. As would a look at Brightline's Vegas to somewhere vaguely LA-ish project.

I love your videos, please make more! All of L.A. County needs to see this! Also, I’m willing to bet that Seattle’s Sound Transit will have more track miles in service by the time the Sepulveda Line is completed hehe 😜.

It sucks that the Sepulveda subway has hit such resistance, since it would be a huge relief on the 405 between West LA and the San Fernando Valley, and as such won't be ready by the Olympics even under the apparently best circumstances. It would have provided a fast connection between the Olympic Village at UCLA and SF Valley venue. Hopefully LA Metro will throw something together, like a temporary bus only lane on 405 during the Games, to provide faster transit to and from that venue and the Olympic Village and Purple Line. It has to be the case that everyone can quickly and conveniently get to all the venues using public transit, be it Metrolink or LA Metro trains and buses. Hopefully LA Metro is still on track to at least achieve that, and should be prioritizing between now and Summer 2028 which routes will do that so it can focus primarily on those.

As someone who spent many hours trying to figure out how to take transit from Burbank to Disneyland, but ended up just driving there because it was simpler; I would be interested in your thoughts about Orange County transit.

I'm excited to see a lot more content! A ton of urbanism channels have sprung up in the past year and I think you provide both a great hyperlocal look at these projects along with concrete suggestions and ideas.

3 subway lines only! We need Vermont to be a subway and to extend the purple line to the ocean! Light rails suck lower capacity, slower, not grade separated. We should only build subways!!!!!

Would love to hear your thoughts on both Amtrak/Metrolink and affordable housing & parking minimums, and I'll listen to anybody talk about CAHSR

LA Metro was such an important part of my life up until the pandemic. It's too late to be helpful for me, but I desperately want people to not have to deal with what I had to. Getting from Inglewood to Burbank was a nightmare

It’s such a nice surprise when Nandert shows up on my notifications.

Seriously, with all of the litigation around transit in California, lawyers are profiting while projects are getting delayed and the tax payer ends up on the hook for the cost increases. Something needs to be done because that's just insane.

NEW NANDERT DROP LET'S GOOOOOOO Edit: Interested in topics 1 & 7 for the next video, but your vids on any topic are always appreciated!

Praise be there is a new update! Thank you so much for this Nandert!

I love rewatching your videos. You've got a certain type of quip in your writing and it complements both your research and animations well. I've watched each of your metro videos 3+ times and each time I learn something that I've missed because you manage to pack in so much! Please keep up the good work, you are a major player in making LA a better place to live by keeping us in the loop for what's going on and cluing us in when it's particularly important to comment to metro. Thank you.

It’s great how despite making a deeply informative and clear video you still manage to make it hilarious.

An OCTA video would be great! My biggest thoughts watching this video is that something is seriously amiss with the Crenshaw Line. It must be making somebody more more to keep building than it would ever make to open. Major construction completed so long ago, and Metro is barely acknowledging the problems. A breakdown on what we do and don't know about the delays would be appreciated.

Thank you Nick for acknowledging Crenshaw was initially planned to open in 2018. Many folks dispute this, but I was reporting extensively on Crenshaw back in 2012-2014 for Curbed and that was Metro's claim. Also thanks for the video!

if freeway caps are still under discussion/are a potentiality, would def love to hear about what’s going on with those

thank you for making these videos! I love having a one-stop shop for both news and future prospects, and your presentation is engaging and informative :)

As someone who use the B line and my bike to transport to Little Tokyo from North Hollywood. You're doing God's work for informing Angelenos about all the projects going on.

LA is a big and spread out city that has always had problems with crazy traffic so expanding public transit in the city is long over due...To this day, many areas of the city have enough train lines where a car is not needed but there still needs to be more expansions. And thank God more extensions are on the way

I suggest you push the Amtrak/Metrolinik video off until after the San Bernardino Arrow (Redlands passenger rail project) is operating (October 2022?). I assume the introduction of DMUs to Metrolink's network and portfolio of vehicles would give more variety to what you can say. Waiting also gives more time for the SCORE projects to get closer to completion. Maybe Metrolink will move some of the non-funded SCORE projects off the back burner (that's probably too much optimism)

Yes Yes Yes! Finally! I love these videos. Also, how do you make those maps and animations, they look amazing?

The Krenshaw line has been terribly designed and mismanaged. It should instead be a branch of the Expo line so they could easily connect the initial opening segment to downtown and eventually Downtown to LAX. But it’s not as bad as the foothills gold line extension which should have instead been replaced by upgrading the Metrolink service in that area.

Thank you for these! You rock!

Very well produced and informative video as always. Especially considering your bout with COVID :( thank you for this great content. As a newer LA resident, I’d love to see a deeper dive into the CAHSR, especially the segment going through LA County. Close second place would be the WSAB, which I think would be a great addition to the network.

I really think Metro and San Bernardino county should focus on improving Metrolink service to 15 minute headways between El Monte and Redlands instead of extending the gold line from Pomona to Montclair. A few years ago, they said they could do it for $500 million. While it would be more today with inflation, and increase operating costs, it would be cheaper to build than the rest of the gold line extension, which is almost $1 billion now. It would force some trips to have a transfer, and Metrolink would need to figure out a better (cheaper) fare structure, but it would do so much more to improve mobility within the inland empire.

Some questions about Metrolink. What would it take to increase service to 15 minute intervals? Is it only a matter of adding more trains? Or does it also include infrastructure upgrades? Also, why isn't the red line being extended to the Burbank airport Metrolink station? Wouldn't that be relatively low hanging fruit? Relatively short distance to Noho station and extremely useful to have a rail connection there. The parking lot at the airport would be a more logical park and ride station.

“Sex Dungeons” 😂

The East San Fernando Valley line being possibly pushed back would be so disappointing. It's the project I can't wait for the most

we will never forget the gold line. R.I.P 2003-2020

Metrolink would be great. I want to go full RER on that thing and electrify it and get fares simplified

1 and 3 would be very amazing and informative! Love your content btw, extremely well detailed

Honestly I would love to see all of those suggested video topics.

Honestly, I really do want the Wash/Flr rebuild to happen much much more sooner. Not all people wants to wait for the long and slow process to get from station to station for over than 5 minutes. If I could be honest, First, I really wish LA Metro could get a lot faster through their projects, their scheduling is really wacky. And Second, I also do hope that they add in more security to every single line and station especially for the A (Blue) Line due for a ongoing spike rate of crimes. Lastly third, I do want Metro to clean every single rail car, it is such a big mess going inside the rail cars. It's often rare to see any good/mint condition to the cars these days.

Next videos -- I'd be interested in 1, 3, and 4.

CAHSR video please. Phase 2 routing in particular.

You gotta do Metrolink and CAHSR! With the SCORE program, LINK US, and CAHSR actually being funded, this seems like the next big thing that should be covered. It’s important for Angelenos to know that things *are* coming along and should continue to support them.

Do talk about affordable housing! I'm from NELA and it seems we're winning against NIMBYs here, with strictly low-income complexes and even shelters popping up recently. However, I'm not sure if that's enough, or what is happening in other parts of LA.

Please give an update at the end of 2023, your videos are so well produced.

A video on the LAX station or the Califonia High Speed Rail would be awesome. Loved the video!

A long video, but SOOO much info and effort put into it. Thank you so much! 👍

Great videos like always! Next videos: 1, 2, and 6.

yo its the guy

Cautiously optimistic for all this! Sucks the 710 extension got nixed for being "car related" at the very least it'd help clear the blockage from not having finished the freeway in the first place- specifically for the large freight trucks that have to find different ways to leave Long Beach.

It’s a shame that the blue line to Long Beach started mid nineties , and around the same year Shanghai had constructed 600 mile + subway lines….that’s a shame!!!!!!

Simple guide for estimating how long it takes to construct things in america, I call it the 3-10 rule. 10 years to plan 10 years to fund/approve 10 years to build

CAHSR as next video please! And maybe daydreaming of Metrolink electrification using Caltrain know-how and EMUs

Excellent work! Thank you for taking time to put this together.

would love a video on OC transit and what potential metro lines could look like

I'd say trams (streetcars) aren't terrible from my experience using them in Europe like in Florence, Brussels, Helsinki, etc. But a lot of the new streetcars in the US seem to be purely for pushing development in an underserved or upcoming area (with Portland Streetcar being the outlier) instead of serving a dense corridor that would benefit from something than just enhanced bus service or BRT but not dense enough for a metro line

Is “full brt” a matter of infrastructure or service patterns? Would a bus line with a dedicated lane, grade crossings, and pay before boarding for the entire of its route running 5-10 minute frequency be considered full BRT?

Excellent video. I'm working on a lot of these projects!

The goat has returned to inform the good people of LA!

The commitment, faith, hope, tenacity and patience of Americans in general and Angelinos (transit supporters) in particular is really commendable and admirable ! Seen from Europe it really seems like a lost cause... Between the crazy inflated costs, extremely slow planning, utterly complicated funding, decades long building, dubious choices and Olympic level NIMBYism... I'd be long fallen into depression and madness, strapped in a straitjacket, screaming and banging my head against the wall between loops of stereotypic body rocking movements. Really, I admire your patience and faith in supporting and waiting for public transportation in LA (or other US cities). I'm not being sarcastic, I'm truly saddened and rooting for you here. How come a world city like LA is so poorly equipped with transit? It is unbelievable and unacceptable ! I know it's a hen vs egg question but that surely doesn't help with low density urban sprawl and car dependency / addiction. Current new developments are definitely a step in the right direction but they feel way overpriced, undersized and underwhelming. Why using LRT ? With short 2-3 car trains ? That's a weird choice for 15-25 mile long structuring lines to say the least. And 6 minute headway on peak hours? Come on! 11 years for the Regional Connector bit ? 🤯 How is that future proof ? Some European cities are not that much better equipped (looking at you Marseille) but many more are crisscrossed by miles and miles and miles of modern, high capacity, often high frequency and great public transportation systems. Some modest size cities (pop. 100K-300K) have extremely efficient, mostly underground metro networks : Rennes, France (2 lines over 15 miles, 28 stations, 65 to 90 seconds headway on VAL & CityVAL systems) ; Lausanne, Switzerland (2 lines) ; Bilbao, Spain (30+ miles over 2 main lines, a 3rd small one and 48 stations) ; Karlsruhe, Germany... Dozens and dozens of cities have dense tram networks, each covering most of their town's turf with sleek and comfy trains running on dedicated lanes, often "green paths", etc. The big players, Paris, London, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin or Milan are transit heavens. Several of them invest big in eye watering expansions of their already extensive and dense networks : Paris' humongous Grand Paris Express expansion project, currently being built, doubles the length of the metro network with 4 new fully automated driverless lines (including a 75km long ring line entirely deep underground circling the core) and several extensions, 90% of which is underground. Combined with many other simultaneously developed projects like RER line E West extension (region wide express metro with long underground central section) ; Cable line C1, a public transportation gondola line serving an isolated corridor, a handful of real busway BRT lines, new and extended tram lines... that's 360 kilometers of new mass transit lines between now and 2030. London and its recently opened Crossrail, a.k.a the Elizabeth line (London's version of Paris RER line A). An East-West express heavy metro line linking 30 stations and repurposed and renovated suburban lines together by a 13 mile long newly built central twin tunnel under the core of London and adding 10 huge new underground stations. Barcelona and it's new large express "double" metro line L9/L10, already partially opened. A 30 mile long, 52 stations, somehow tangential automated driverless line with branches and a pioneering "single bore" system putting stations inside the very deep tunnel bore and tracks stacked on 2 levels, one for each direction. These cities' officials take their mass transit systems very seriously, it's their arterial systems, allowing their streets to breathe. Angelinos, living in a world city, deserve a world-class transportation system ! The massive traffic jams suck the life out of them, they need and deserve better from the transportation agency. If only the authorities put as much funding, foresight and willpower into mass transit as they do on freeways, or better, instead of freeways... it would be a game changer ! I'm baffled by the low ridership of LA Metro rail : 175K on weekdays in 2022, whereas Rennes, the French city I mentioned with a population of roughly 225K city proper / 365K metro area, managed to move 225K+ passengers on its metro network on workdays in 2022... And I'm pretty sure a lot more people would like to use public transit in LA but given the numbers, it's either very impractical or undersized and saturated, or probably both. Invest, invest, invest! I'm rooting for you Angelinos.

Great to see another update on metro projects! I'd like to see a video about either amtrak/metrolink or orange county transit. I really don't know much about orange county transit and I'd love to hear what metrolink has in store for improvements.

Fantastic update! I would love to see your thoughts on Amtrak/Metrolink ... I live in the San Diego area so Metrolink to Union Station and then a transfer to metro is just about the only way I use any of the system myself. It's also the reason I would love to see that dam green line extension to Norwalk station happen sooner rather than later! (I refuse to use the letters, they will always be colors to me)

When I visited LA - I was shocked how horrid the PT was there.

AAHH! A NEW VIDEO! I'm gonna watch the FUCK out of this!

God. Thank you so much for making videos like these

The next video you should do is about the WSAB.

this video may be a little old at the moment but the NIMBYism in la will always be timeless 😮‍💨

Orange County transit and Metrolink would be great to see. New Anaheim resident (from Los Feliz) and would love to learn about future projects and how Orange County and LA county (hopefully) connect someday.

just wanted to say thanks for making this video man. very informative, i appreciate the work you put in

I absolutely would love to see #2 and #7!! As a gateway city native it’s honestly so so so exciting !!

I'd love to watch something about Orange County transit! also this was just an awesome video great job

I think the affordable housing is my wan but the Orange County transit has to be a nightmare story to cover

Babe wake up, Nandert just dropped a new video!

Was just thinking about what was said about phasing Crenshaw North to the Purple Line. Now I'm no transit planner so I don't know if this is worth any concern, but without Sepulveda phase 2, I wonder about the possibility of three separate heavy rails (Red/Purple/Sepulveda) funneling people into the lower capacity Crenshaw light rail line potentially pushing it near or at capacity right out the gate, essentially rendering the line useless for some stops and limiting the number of potential transfers at the Expo Line while everyone else heads to Inglewood, LAX and beyond.

You should totally do a video on the WSAB line. I think the ideal solution would be to merge WSAB with the A at Slauson, abandon the tracks on Washington and reroute the A to Union Station via Alameda, extend the tunnel north with a new underground station in Chinatown, and interline it just north of Chinatown with the line to Pasadena. This would make redundant the current viaducts, surface platforms, and tunnel portal around Union Station and Little Tokyo, which, let's be honest, are compromised designs with many inherent flaws. Such a move would reroute money from the Washington/Flower grade separation, save money from precluding a fourth track on Long Beach Blvd, speed commutes into and through downtown, and double capacity on the E line. The transfer connection at Little Tokyo would have to be underground and direct, but it's doable. Metro is transforming its route configuration with the Regional Connector, it can do it again with the WSAB.

The biggest thing that may eat up state money is BART SV phase 2. Assuming they gain some common sense and go with the much cheaper 4.5B dual bore over 9B+ single it’s still going to try and get every bit of state money possible

It is so interesting hearing about the Bell Air anti transit attitude. The whole time I'm thinking about how South Lake and Colleyville TX refused to be a part of the Texrail project. Rich people just don't want any mass transit in their towns at all at all costs.

I live in Eagle rock (I apologize for the behavior of my people) a couple days ago i was driving down colorado when i passed a pickup truck with "RECALL KEVIN DE LEÓN" plastered all over it. now I'm not a big fan of De León but it makes me happy to see the nimbys squirm.

Would love to see a video on LAX, Freeway Caps, CAHSR, or Amtrak/Metrolink (in that order)

I'd like to see either HSR, Affordable housing or Freeway cap parks.

Amazing work as always! For the next one I’d love an update on CAHSR - with the latest round of approvals, this project feel more real than it has in quite some time. And I know there’s not too much to say at this early stage but any thoughts about the LA-San Diego segment (most likely alignments, stations, timeline, integration with Metro and Metrolink, etc.) would be greatly appreciated.

this was great, thanks! would love to see #1 or #2 next

Waiting for that 2023 update. Regional connector finally done!!!

Would love to hear whether or how well Metrolink electrification could add to the LA transit network, and if something like regional rail in international cities with high frequencies, or like what CalTrain is proposing in Northern California, would be helpful or feasible

Regarding the San Gabriel Trench/Alhambra Sub, RailPAC would like to see the Sunset Limited moved to the BNSF San Bernardino Sub that goes through Fullerton and Riverside vs. the current alignment and in theory, the Alameda Corridor-East project should enable more trains along the Los Angeles Sub because currently, UP operates the two subdivisions as a directional couplet. However, I think that should be done anyway to free up capacity for more express rail service e.g. a train to Cal Poly Pomona, Ontario Airport, and on to the Coachella Valley.

The Crenshaw north thing really bums me out. Such an important area squandered

dang what a great video! That was insanely informative and perfect depth overviews! I wish I could have annual updates like that for the bay area, Seattle, Chicago, NYC... {sigh}

Update to the Regional Connector and the K Line: K Line: Officially opened on Oct. 7th, 2022. Metro's still planning with the Northern Extension. Regional Connector: It's still 90% according to LA Metro's website. They expect to finish the Regional Connector around January or February.

I always get excited when you drop another Metro Update.....fantastic work as usual. I'm gonna be greedy and say all the options please but perhaps a CHSR update, in a similar vain to you Metro ones.

5:45 As someone who lives near this area I can agree with the fact that if these two stations were built it would generate the most amount of any potential ridership. This part of the evening drives to la every day because there is no Transit option and having a train that avoids traffic would be nice

Amtrak/Metrolink and Orange County Transit

Should set up a patreon for these amazing videos. So much effort and details are going into these that you should get support for them