We have to talk about LAX's people mover

Being a transportation journalist in the U.S. means consistently reporting on projects that are delivered years late and billions over budget. Writing about transit infrastructure in particular requires a dogged inquisitiveness, some necessary outrage, and enough optimism to believe your elected officials are still capable of delivering a better future. You have to push for accountability without supplying convenient talking points to the racist anti-California Twitter-bot chorus and whatever MAGA reality show contestant is in charge of the federal government that week.

But what's happening with LAX's people mover — nearly four years late and almost double the original cost — is beyond anything I've ever experienced as a reporter. (And that's saying a lot coming from someone who's written about California high-speed rail.) Yesterday's latest Los Angeles Times headline began pretty typically: "LAX people mover launch postponed again" — sure, okay. But it was the second part of the headline that puts this project in category of its own: "city officials duck questions on the delay."

In last week's Hot Links, I included an image posted on Reddit that purported to be the charred people mover tracks in the aftermath of several "blast incidents," technically known as arc flashes, or flashovers, that occurred during testing. A few days later, Fox 11 broadcast alleged video of the flashover, with commentary by Timothy Borchers, a people mover expert witness. "This is one of the most severe flashovers that I’ve ever witnessed," he said. "The size, the intensity, and the duration of the flashover is quite extraordinary." What's more, Borchers said, the protection and control devices didn't appear to work. If the people mover had stalled over the flashover, "that car would have been incinerated. Not in minutes, but in seconds."

LAWA — Los Angeles World Airports, run by commissioners appointed by LA's mayor — didn't comment, referring Fox 11's reporters to a "myth vs. fact" PDF dated October 23 which says flashovers are "not uncommon." The same page also seems to claim the Reddit photos were AI: "Some images of the SkyLink track online show piles of rubble and damaged tracks. Unfortunately, these doctored photos have been reposted without verification of authenticity. Trust only photos from official sources." But the same flashover video was then shared by ABC 7, and this time LAWA decided to comment: "We cannot confirm the source of this video although we have detected altered content circulating online. We can confirm an arc flash occurred late last month."

That's the same tone LAWA took last Friday when they posted an Instagram carousel that talked to us like we were toddlers — "Building a train through one of the world's busiest airports is complicated" — which I described as living in a Richard Scarry horror story.

KNX did manage to get LA Mayor Karen Bass on the record, but her answer was strikingly similar in content and tone to LAWA's children's book: the people mover is right there, the people mover is just doing more testing, the people mover will be finished soon. Which mayoral challenger Nithya Raman promptly turned into a campaign ad then held a press conference with her plan for getting the people mover back on track. But Bass added one more detail: if the people mover is not finished as promised, she said, the contractor will "suffer very severe financial consequences." (That contractor she's talking about is LINXS, a partnership consisting of a half-dozen private companies which is already suing the city; watch Nick Andert's excellent video for the whole story.) But this was not a flex as much as it was a tell. Because one of the biggest problems here is that, like so much else in LA, we've outsourced the literal task of keeping the city moving to private companies who don't seem to work very well with our public agencies for some reason. Meanwhile, the city has awarded even more contracts to these same private companies for the unnecessary roadway expansion that I dubbed the LAX-pressway.

And why bother asking LAWA questions? They won't answer them, although you might get a passive-aggressive mention in the next FAQ. LAWA did publish a lengthy response to this month's lender report, which they assert contains "numerous inaccuracies and deficiencies," but none of that changes the December 8 long stop date. I'm thinking about all the Metro projects I've covered where there have absolutely been delays, but also regularly scheduled hard-hat tours for press, experts available for technical updates, and testing windows that opened for passenger service right on schedule. Right now it feels like our own city spewed out White House press secretary-level propaganda one week out from Election Day to boost the prospects of a statistically unpopular incumbent.

Although the myth vs. fact page claims "no opening date can be confirmed," the LA Times reports that the earliest possible date for completion is now February 5, just a week before the Super Bowl returns to LA. Which isn't anywhere near the scale of the Olympics and Paralympics; we'll get along fine without a people mover, like we did during the World Cup. (Please, just add more FlyAways.) But here we are, about to host yet another megaevent that will turn the global spotlight onto a city that still can't manage to power on 2.25 miles of tracks looming overhead as passengers arrive at the terminal. And all of us transportation reporters will have to write stories, once again, explaining why. 🔥

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Going up

Another 2028 milestone has been met at the California Science Center where the Endeavour awaits your awestruck gawking in its own little nook of the all-new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which ZGF, MATT Construction, and Arup somehow designed and built around the vertical space shuttle. I don't want to ruin the experience too much, although I do see spoilers out there already, but I can tell you there is a 115-foot slide that deposits you on the bottom floor of the gallery and my biggest piece of advice is to wear pants unless you want to go home with a souvenir on your upper thigh. Get tickets now, it's free aside from a ticketing fee for reservations, and everything opens November 13. I very much appreciated Sam Lubell's review that ties it all together within the larger context of the 2028 spotlight: apparently we can go to space, but we can't fix Expo Park's sorry sidewalks.

The Garment Worker Center is calling on LA28 to do more after the announcement of its Made for Two-Eight program working with local businesses, starting with Homeboy Industries, to make official LA28 products. (Applications opened on RAMP LA yesterday.) The full platform, named Wear LA, demands that LA28 fully commit to locally made, ethically manufactured apparel and provide total supply chain transparency. There's also recommendations for more oversight from the city (ahem), including appointing a garment industry liaison. Something the Wear LA platform points out that's useful to think about as we watch the rollout of official merchandise from LA28 sponsors Nike and Ralph Lauren: these companies "have signed deals valued at up to $200 million with LA28 to produce U.S. athletes’ apparel and footwear, yet these brands are not required to purchase from local and ethical manufacturers." 🦋

A 9-6 vote was one short of the 10 votes needed in LA's City Council this week to halt a license plate reader pilot from the company Axon as part of a bigger package of surveillance tech LAPD "needs" for 2028. Watch Hugo Soto-Martínez's remarks about why this is such a brazen civil liberties violation. The contract would put hundreds more readers on LA city streets, in addition to the ones already installed by another company, Flock, which are currently not collecting data as LAPD works out a new contract. Last week, Stop LAPD Spying sued Councilmember Traci Park for failing to release records related to dozens of Flock readers she'd installed in her district. While this particular motion didn't have the votes, Bass could veto the council's action and put an end to the Axon deal. Will she?

If you care about transportation like Torched cares about transportation, then you'll want to be at CoMotion LA '26, taking place November 18 and 19. Torched is a media partner and I'm also hosting a very exciting panel-in-motion session with Paralympian Candace Cable and FASTLinkDTLA’s Hilary Norton. I have TWO PASSES for Torched subscribers at the 🔥🔥-level or higher. If that's you, and you want to join me at CoMotion, simply reply to this email. If you miss out, or that doesn't somehow motivate you to upgrade to a 🔥🔥-level subscription, I also have a Torched code for 15 percent off.

I knew the moment I saw the new LA28 slogan, "Stars Align," that we were in for all the worst entertainment industry clichés, including more of Casey Wasserman's Hollywood sign fetish. (We're never going to escape that awful fake sign with the rings, will we?) The sizzle video features the Red Hot Chili Peppers, now LA28's house band, and the most literal editing ever. If they say tears, go tears! If they say wave, go wave! Although I do like the reference to the 1984 "Stars in Motion" logo. This is the second version of LA28's slogan, by the way; the original was "Follow the Sun." 🦋

What Torched subscribers are reading

• A lawsuit filed against the city by Hollywood Lake residents for failing to protect them from tourists seems like a portal into our megaevent future. Hey, now they can blame Casey Wasserman?
• Neighbors peers into LA's public compost program
• The Lucas Museum's park could use more native plants
• LA has been in mediation with disability advocacy lawyers for failing to fulfill its landmark sidewalk repair agreement: “As a result of the city’s repeated breaches of the settlement agreement, to this day residents and visitors to the city of Los Angeles who have mobility disabilities are denied full and equal access to sidewalks and other pedestrian walkways"
• "The city lost $102.9 million because it couldn’t hire 25 people"
• "Nearly half of California’s K-12 students attend a school with less than 5 percent tree canopy in spaces where kids spend time," according to a new report on California's schoolyard crisis
• frank.news checks in with public pool regulars during our endless heat waves
• LAist's new series on MacArthur Park, which includes a very important installment on the federal raids in the park
• Libby Rainey asks how Nithya Raman as mayor could shake up 2028, which includes some comments from me 🦋
• And everyone's writing one final piece about IOC sponsor Airbnb's attempt to buy LA's elections. Read Robin Urevich at Capital & Main, Liam Dillon at Politico, and me right here at Torched 🦋
• And now Airbnb is trying to purge the news cycle of bad press, including a brand-new celebrity-studded gala this week held right here in — you guessed it! — LA 🦋

Journalism in action

I love speaking to fellow journalists and I was particularly honored to join The LA Reporter/LA Squawk Box's Liz Chou on a Journalism and Women Symposium panel moderated by Sana Siwolop earlier this month. Thank you to the legendary Barbara Selvin for the invite. And speaking of fellow journalists, on November 18, I'm hanging out with LA Times sports writer Kevin Baxter and LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano for a journalist roundtable at Chapman University.