Modest proposals

Elite opinion in L.A. (and many other places) cannot let go of the idea of more subways. Writing in today's LA Times, Christopher Hawthorne suggests that, "... it's time to redefine exactly what cost-efficiency means in a city of Los Angeles." Actually, local know-nothings have been doing so for many years.

This is why it is good to have Gabriel Roth's Street Smart in print. Twenty of today's smartest transportation people assemble and survey some of the best thinking around when it comes to urban transportation.

Now if we could only get elite opinion to stop talking and start reading (and thinking).