Matthew Yglesias writes about how a ballot initiative, a visionary mayor, and a quest for growth are turning LA, long considered “the great auto-centric counterpoint to the traditional cities of the Northeast,” into a serious mass transit contender. He attributes the transformation to three events: 1) Congressman Henry Waxman, the powerful House Democrat who represents LA’s Westside, went from being a NIMBY opponent of transit to a booster. 2) Antonio Villaraigosa was elected mayor in 2004. And 3) LA County voters passed Measure R, the half-cent sales tax for transportation, in 2008.

Moreover, Yglesias writes, LA is embracing bicycling, and encouraging transit-oriented development by rezoning Hollywood for more density, reducing parking for new development in the City of LA, reconfiguring Figueroa Boulevard as bike-and-pedestrian friendly byway, and considering adding a streetcar to the mix in downtown.

He notes that the 2009 American Communities Survey showed a 10.7 increase in transit commuting LA from 2000 to 2009, compared to a 3.6 percent increase in driving.

Read it all on Slate.