Agree that LA had a great transit system, combining PE and the streetcars (and later trolley buses). But all of that was privately owned and operated, and by the end of the Depression was worn out and being replaced by the automobile. WW2 gave the trains a reprieve, but there was no reason in the economy present after the war to keep the trains. Period. They were totally worn out and needed replacement, which came in the form of buses for the people who couldn't afford cars.

It was a system that needed to be destroyed in order to be reborn, much like Key System and the local trains in the East Bay became BART. Nostalgia for the "old days" is fine, as is a knowledge of the real history, but as a practical matter there was no way to make the old stuff relevant any more, despite conspiracy theories or otherwise.

Also interesting that LA now has a commuter train system that eclipses anything like it in the olde dayze, and Union Station at peak periods is busier than it ever was back then. Basically, LA is not the city that it was in the 1920s-30s - it's bigger, and has different needs, and for better or worse transit is now a niche provider behind automobiles.

It's amusing that Measure M resurrects many of the major PE lines. Not all, by any means, but many. Shows how the way the area originally developed still structures transportation need and populations. Freeways have nowhere near as much of a structural effect because there's no real incentive to build very close to them (given any option). The Measure and its Plan would also add lines that didn't exist in PE days, because there just wasn't a demand (there is now). If I lived in LA, I would probably vote for it; the extra sales tax won't bankrupt anybody, and it's the only practical way to pay for things any more. Then I'd join whatever local group is watchdogging it and lobbying for early work on what will help me.

Perfect is the enemy of Good Enough, but nothing's Perfect. Perfection is a process, not a product. Better is all you can really get, and that takes time and politics.