DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — I'm a few days behind the times here, but this week's Downtown News article on the upcoming DASH study quotes me.

"The geography is so much different from [the last DASH study] because of all the projects that have come online since then," said Eric Richardson, a member of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Transportation and Public Works Committee. "I don't think it's a major blowup of the whole system and that we have to start over, but instead we should look at how to take the resources we have and adjust them to serve the current population."

Still, the DOT is moving cautiously on the residential front, since many of the 19,535 condos and apartments planned or under construction won't open for two to five years. What's more, fluctuations in the economy and real estate market could present a different reality down the road.

What I went on to say after the bit that was quoted was that right now you need to design a system that provides a cohesive plan for future expansion. South Park in particular has so many projects in the plans, but you obviously can't start service to future construction sites and hope people eventually show up. That's just not fiscally prudent.

What you can do is develop your routes in such a way that they can be altered to serve the new developments without disrupting their character. Perhaps dot in a hypothetical new line, and prepare the other lines to connect with it a few years down the road. Planning and preparation are the important things here. I think the Needs Assessment process will be a very interesting one, and I'll definitely post more information here as I hear it.