The Uncomfortable Relationship Between Race and Public Transit in L.A.

As part of his series about walking across Los Angeles, writer Ryan Bradley delves into the complicated and controversial relationship between race and transit in the city.

1 minute read

May 31, 2010, 9:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


Los Angeles's large non-white population is also the main segment of its public transit ridership. But with a history of dedicating transit funding to white-dominated areas, the development of public transit in the city has been engulfed in controversy.

"Most everyone I've seen out walking hasn't looked like me, not just in the City of Compton (where the population is about 57 percent Latino, 40 percent black, and 1 percent white) but in the rest of Los Angeles County (where about seven out of 10 people aren't white either). To write about public transportation and walking in Los Angeles, specifically who's riding rails and buses and walking to stations and stops, I have to write about race in Los Angeles, and that can get uncomfortable real quick because, honestly, the history of Los Angeles is the history of constructing a white city in a place that isn't-never was."

Bradley discusses the conflict between the politically popular funding of rail in the city and funding buses which are used far more by a more economically insecure segment of the population.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 in Good

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 23, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

A bus stop in Philadelphia, where people wait under a glass shelter for a bus as it arrives.

Philadelphia Councilmember Proposes Transit Access Fund

The plan would allocate 0.5 percent of the general fund toward mobility subsidies for low-income households.

5 seconds ago - Streetsblog USA

Cyclists on an empty rural paved road with hills and sunset in background.

Texas Bill Would Ban Road Diets, Congestion Pricing

A Texas state senator wants to prevent any discussion of congestion pricing and could suspend existing bike lane and sidewalk projects.

1 hour ago - Houston Chronicle

New York City traffic on elevated highway at sunset.

USDOT Threatens to Pull New York Highway Funding

The Trump administration wants the state to kill New York City’s congestion pricing program despite its demonstrated success.

2 hours ago - Smart Cities Dive