Los Angeles voters will decide the fate of Measure J Tuesday night, which extends the current tax (Measure R) supporting the expansion of public transportation projects.  

The current tax expires in 2039, and with the passing of Measure J, they would continue an additional 30 years, until 2069.  

Transportation projects under measure R currently include the extension of the Metro Green Line to LAX, the Gold Line to the San Gabriel Valley, and the subway on the Westside.

Angelenos riding the Metro at Aviation/LAX and Wilshire/Vermont stations weighed in on the measure and public transportation in L.A.

Brilliant Hart, 37, is a custodian from South Central who makes her commute to Santa Monica every weekday.  

She had no complaints in regards to where the lines currently ran, but had one major issue with the system.

“What [MTA] needs to do for commuters is have public restrooms because I see a lot of urine and feces on the station because there aren’t public restrooms,” she said. “Everything is fine with me with the MTA but restrooms would probably be a big solution.”  

Hart said that this measure matters to her and other commuters because “our lives depend on it.”

Alina Nasatir, 37, is an attorney who commutes from Santa Monica to Downtown when she does not feel like battling traffic in her car.  

She said that she supports public transportation expansion because “traffic is just unbearable here. The 405 is unbearable.  You can’t even go on the weekend, and it takes an hour to drive to the Valley.”

Nasatir said she voted in favor of Measure J because supports transportation that continues to make her commute easier.

“I would love to see some subways, but I know it’s (not) going to happen,” she added. “I would love to have subways because the rail is pretty slow.”

Although she was not optimistic about subways, she said she was confident the measure would pass.

Cascanon Francisco is a marketing and real estate agent who changes trains at the Wilshire/Vermont Metro station during his commute from Westlake.  

Like Hart, Francisco is concerned about the cleanliness of the Metro lines, saying that “litter at nights and during the week” is especially bad.  

Francisco said owns a car, but prefers to use public transportation when he can.

“I take the train to work but on the weekends I’ll drive my car,” he said. “It’s more convenient.”

Francisco said he believed it was important to vote for Measure J because people that use cars don’t tend to support public transportation.

“I think it needs all the support it can get,” he said.

Some commuters weren’t fully informed about Measure J and even though they had complaints about public transportation, they primarily favored a measure that would improve systems currently in place.

 

Reach Staff Reporter Alexa Girkout here. Follow her here.

Reach Staff Reporter Eric Ruble here. Follow him here.