Los Angeles is the densest (even denser than NYC) and one of the poorest metro areas in the United States

Yet tens of billions of investment in choo choos yields...nada? Hattip Instapundit.com

DEATH OF THE AUTOMOBILE — ANOTHER FANTASY? Southern California stuck in drive. “Southern California has long been a nurturer of dreams that, while widely anticipated, often are never quite achieved. One particularly strong fantasy involves Los Angeles abandoning what one enthusiast calls its ‘car habit’ and converting into an ever-denser, transit-oriented region. An analysis of transit ridership, however, shows that the region is essentially no better off than when the the modern period of transit funding began in 1980, with the passage of Proposition A, which authorized a half-cent sales tax for transit. In 1980, approximately 5.9 percent of workers in the metropolitan area (Los Angeles and Orange counties) used transit for their commute. The latest data, for 2013, indicates the ridership figure has fallen to 5.8 percent.”

Planners prefer transit, because it makes people easier to control — and facilitates graft regarding routes, station locations, etc.