The night before the press conference, he later claimed, his aides had presented him with a plan to begin groundbreaking on a subway within eighteen months. He immediately regretted making such an unrealistic promise. So as reporters in the press conference peppered Bradley with questions, he told them that his number one priority was 'to get Los Angeles moving on a rapid transit system,' and he criticized the 'twelve years of neglect and lackadaisical leadership from Sam Yorty.' By contrast, Bradley blurted, he would start construction of a high-speed rapid transit system 'within eighteen months' of the day he took office. Although he developed more confidence over the years, he often found himself caught between reading and trying to speak from memory as he looked out at the audience.

His career as a police officer had not afforded him many opportunities for public speaking, and early in his political career he would simply stand and read speeches word-for-word. Perseverance and overcoming adversity were in his nature.īut giving speeches was not. In 1963, he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council. He joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1940 and studied at night to earn his law degree. His family had moved to Los Angeles when he was a youth, and this ambitious young African American man became high school class president and an all-city football player. After all, Bradley was the son of a Texas sharecropper and the grandson of former slaves. As he had demonstrated throughout his life, he was tenacious and determined to see it happen. He made the creation of a subway system his top political priority and became its leading founder. Angelenos were facing higher fuel costs, traffic nightmares, and hazardous smog, and many viewed rail as the solution to these problems.īradley shared this belief in the benefits of rail. In this famous car town, transportation had become a dominant issue. A week before the election, Bradley called a press conference to emphasize his transportation agenda for the city. On May 23, 1973, Bradley, a Los Angeles city councilman, was in the midst of a bitter campaign for mayor in a rematch against incumbent Sam Yorty. At least, that is how Tom Bradley described it. In some ways, the Los Angeles Metro Rail began with a misstatement.

California anti gridlock law railroad