譯/王麗娟
When the extension of the Expo rail line opened here in May, it was almost as if the city had stepped into another century. Suddenly, it was possible to go from downtown to the Santa Monica beach by train, escaping a drive that could take two hours. The inaugural runs were packed with people, carrying beach chairs and recording the 15-mile, 45-minute long ride with cellphones.
The $1.5 billion, aboveground Expo project is not the only piece of the transit transformation unfolding here. An 11.5-mile extension of the Gold Line, running from Pasadena to Asuza, just northeast of downtown, opened this spring. If not as glamorous as a train to the Pacific Ocean, it was certainly appreciated by people in the San Gabriel Valley, who otherwise have to navigate the traffic of Interstate 210.
此間（洛杉磯）的博覽輕軌線延長段5月通車時，這座城市幾乎有如步入了另一個世紀。忽然間，搭軌道列車從市中心前往聖塔莫尼卡海灘變為可能了，不必再開上可能長達兩小時的車。剛開始的車班擠得滿滿的，人們帶著沙灘椅，以手機錄下長15哩，歷時45分鐘的整個車程。
造價15億美元的地上博覽線計畫，不是此間為了運輸轉型而開展的唯一工程。黃金線一條長11.5哩，從帕薩迪納到阿蘇薩市的延長段，就在市中心的東北方，也在今春開通。這線列車就算不如通往太平洋的列車那般風光，聖蓋博谷的人們肯定還是讚不絕口，否則他們只有忍受210號州際公路的交通一途。
And all of that is likely to be dwarfed by an initiative that is expected to go before the voters in November, pending a final vote by the county board of supervisors, that would impose a countywide 1-cent transit sales tax, raising $860 million a year. The tax would finance 40 major transit projects over the next 40 years, including 100 miles of new rail lines and what has been a touchstone for mass transit advocates (and frustrated commuters) for decades: A train tunnel under the Sepulveda Pass, connecting the Los Angeles basin with the San Fernando Valley.
There may be no part of America more identified, for better and for worse, with the automobile than this city. But this burst of activity, and the considerable interest it has stirred here, suggests that a fundamental reconsideration of Los Angeles may be at hand, a shift to an era when mass transit — subways, light rail, buses — could be as central to getting around, and perhaps even to this region's image, as the car.
然而前述種種在一項提案面前只怕都要相形見絀，此案預期會在11月交付選民公投，公投之前須先通過郡監理委員會的最後表決。提案內容為在全郡徵收1美分的運輸營業稅，每年籌得8億6000萬美元稅款。稅款將在未來40年資助40項主要運輸計畫，包括鋪設100哩新鐵路線，以及數十年來大眾運輸倡導者（以及沮喪的通勤族）的試金石：一條在塞普爾韋達通道底下的列車隧道，連接洛杉磯盆地與聖費南多谷。
無論是好是壞，美國沒有其他地方比洛杉磯這個城市更認同汽車的存在。不過，這突然出現的一連串行動，以及它在這個城市所引發的高度興趣，意謂洛杉磯徹底改頭換面可能就在眼前，洛杉磯將進入另一個時代，就交通工具，或許甚至就這個地區的形象而言，地鐵、輕軌、巴士等大眾運輸系統可能變得跟汽車一樣無比重要。
"For the car capital of America, if not the world, this is a bold new chapter," said Eric M. Garcetti, the mayor, who has been pushing the sales tax measure. "It doesn't ignore cars. But it really builds out a mass transit network that gets you from Point A to Point B."
"New York has opened one new station in the past five years," said Garcetti, a Democrat. "We opened a dozen. We have a lot of catching up to do. But we are finally saying we are going to do it."
一直在推動銷售稅案的洛杉磯市長艾瑞克．賈西迪說：「洛杉磯即使不是世界的汽車之都，也是美國的汽車之都，對它而言，這是大膽的新篇章。這不是不看重汽車，而是真正打造一個大眾運輸網絡，讓人們可從甲地到乙地。」
民主黨籍的賈西迪說：「5年來紐約闢建了一個新車站。我們建了一打。我們還有得趕的。不過我們終於能說，我們就要付諸實踐了。」
說文解字看新聞 文/王麗娟
美國加州洛杉磯市有汽車之都（car capital）之稱，亦即居民幾乎全以汽車代步，所有基礎建設（infrastructure）與各種設施（facility）也以配合汽車的使用為出發點。不過，近來洛城已出現公共交通運輸系統轉型（transit transformation），本文甚至指出，洛城可能轉入（shift）多數民眾使用大眾運輸系統（mass transit）的新時代（era），並成為洛城的新形象（image）。
台灣的大眾捷運系統（Mass Rapid Transit，MRT）人人稱道，簡稱捷運。mass意為大眾、人民、群眾，rapid 為快速，transit為通路、運輸線、公共交通運輸系統。
文中的navigate，除有駕駛行走於州際210號高速公路之意，navigate口語上還有設法穿過、經過這條公路意思，意指驅車走這條公路，應比起搭鐵路來得辛苦。navigate也作導航解釋，除用於陸面駕駛，也可用於航海、航空，如Who first navigated the Pacific Ocean?（誰率先橫渡太平洋？）
