LA Monorail - the Urban Legend

[Thanks to Metro's Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library]

The 1954 Monorail Proposal is the subject of Los Angeles urban legend. The 168 page report, officially known as "Report to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority on a Monorail Rapid Transit Line for Los Angeles" dated January 15, 1954 by Coverdale & Colpitts, Gibbs & Hill, Inc. and Ruscardon Engineers, contained three parts: economic feasibilility of the monorail system by Coverdale & Colpitts; traffic, population and economic data by Ruscardon Engineers; and monorail system design estimates of construction costs and operating expenses by Gibbs & Hill. The proposed system was featured in the July 1954 issue of Fortune magazine in an article entitled "Anyone for Monorail?" which explained both the engineering and local politics of the time.

• 1954 Monorail Proposal - Introduction (.pdf)
  
• 1954 Monorail Proposal - Part 1, Economic Feasibility (.pdf)
  
• 1954 Monorail Proposal - Part 2, Population & Economic Data (.pdf)
  
• 1954 Monorail Proposal - Part 3, Design and Operating Costs (.pdf)
  
• "Anyone for Monorail?" Article, Fortune, July 1954