Bel-Air upper crust rail against proposed LA metro trains that could rumble under their mansions every two minutes amid 'earthquake' fears

Bel-Air's wealthiest are 'up in arms' over 'brain-dead' LA Metro's proposal to run trains underneath their mansions every two minutes - which they fear will cause devastating earthquakes.

Metro is reviewing five Sepulveda Corridor Transit Project proposals, which looks to extend its public transportation system and would connect the Valley to West Los Angeles in a short 20-minute subway journey and the Valley to UCLA in six and a half minutes. 

Out of the five proposals, several suggest digging through the Santa Monica Mountains to go underneath the earthquake-ridden enclave to provide a direct stop to UCLA - an approach several residents told DailyMail.com was 'moronic.' 

If those proposals were approved and built, automated trains would run 70mph underneath their neighborhood every two and a half minutes and would have the capacity to run every 90 seconds 'when needed.' 

'Of course, no one wants subways under their home,' Chuck Meyer, who has lived in Bel-Air for nearly 30 years, told DailyMail.com. 'Our community is up in arms at the arrogance Metro has… Before you build new toys, fix the ones you've got!’

Bel-Air residents are worried that building tunnels under the Santa Monica Mountains and their wealthy community could cause more earthquakes in the already 'very active area,' Meyer said. 

'They fundamentally know the land is unstable,' Fred Rosen, the former CEO of Ticketmaster and 40-year resident of Bel-Air, told DailyMail.com. 'Who's going to ride underground where the earth shakes? 

'The stuff Metro puts out is bulls**t. They're a brain-dead, anti-public organization that has no interest in being held accountable by anyone.' 

LA Metro's Communications Director, Dave Sotero, told DailyMail.com over the phone that they have yet to face an underground safety issue on any of the subway extensions and they don't predict this will cause any problems either. 

However, four LA Metro staff members, including Sotero, told DailyMail.com that they are still conducting 'analysis' on 'all these issues,' and their findings will become available in early 2025 when the environmental report is released - a feat Bel-Air residents are confident won't be done in time. 

Chief Planning Officer, Ray Sosa, says there are 'emergency evacuation plans' that will be in place, such as being able to move a train to a different track. But as to how exactly Metro will guarantee safe extraction if a natural disaster would potentially cause rubble to land on top of the train, they're still evaluating those circumstances. 

Meyer told DailyMail.com that Metro has only surveyed two areas of Bel-Air by the John Thomas Dye school and on Stone Creek Road. And he doesn't believe that's enough, especially for an area that suffers small earthquakes weekly and is settled between landslide zones. 

He also worries that residents would feel the ground shaking, as one does on the sidewalks in New York City when its underground system rumbles through. But unlike the Big Apple, which saw a rare earthquake in April, Los Angeles is shaken by them regularly, including a 4.6-magnitude quake earlier this month.

Bel-Air is surrounded by liquefaction zones - or areas where landslides are known to happen - according to the California Department of Conversation. Landslides can trigger earthquakes and vice versa. 

'No one is going to let them build there,' Rosen told DailyMail.com. 

The subway will run through hillsides, rock formations, water tables, and quake zones, according to the President of the Bel-Air Association, Jamie Meyer, and her husband, Chuck. 

But the affluent residents' complaints go beyond just the increasing worry their homes could be affected by a natural disaster caused by trains shaking unstable ground.

The UCLA Problem  

The Bel-Air group also say the entire reason Metro is even considering and pushing to dig tunnels under their homes is to have a direct stop at UCLA.  

'It's a huge community project for the benefit of UCLA,' Former KB Home CEO, Bruce Karatz, 78, told DailyMail.com. 'It's kind of crazy [to go under a mountain].' 

Rosen doesn't understand why they have to go under his neighborhood when Metro can go along I-405. The justification for the project is to get traffic off the dreaded freeway and onto public transportation to help alleviate aboveground problems. 

'Why aren't they going under the 405? Why a residential area?' Rosen, who is not against public transit, questioned. 

Rosen, the Meyers, and Karatz are all proponents for the monorail, which would go along the 405 aboveground and would only add an additional 10 minutes to the journey. 

They're also fine if the subway system went underneath the 405, rather than their luxury neighborhood that holds some of the world's wealthiest people. 

However, the monorail option does not include a direct stop at UCLA, which is a 'huge job center' in California, according to Pam Krebs, Metro's public relations executive officer. 

The four staffers said plenty of people wanted a direct stop at UCLA when they were collecting - and continue to collect - public input. LA Metro has received more than 7,000 submissions of comments and has held over 22 public meetings with county residents. 

However, despite the mass interest in a direct stop, Sosa said the organization is 'not leaning toward any particular alternative' at the moment. 

Krebs reiterated that they are looking for the 'best method' of providing public 'transportation for the county,' not just one particular neighborhood. 

Regardless, Rosen is positive the promised 20-minute journey is falsely advertised and the organization is 'lying.' 

'It's the Valley. Where are they going to park?' he asked. 'No one is within walking distance in California.' 

He estimates the journey is actually around 40 minutes long after driving, parking, walking to the station, and then getting on the 20-minute subway ride. For an extra 10 to 20 minutes, commuters could stick to their own cars and avoid the 'unique' individuals who ride public transportation, the native New Yorker said. 

LA Metro staffers agree, the numbers could change by the time an announcement of an official line is made as they nail down which stops will be included, where the tracks will need to curve, and more. 

As for how long they estimate the average commute would be, they wouldn't say, but they acknowledged that people would more than likely have to commute to the stations. However, taking the system would alleviate traffic on 'one of the worst [traffic] corridors in the country,' Anthony Crump, Metro's executive officer of communications, said.

'Everyone will benefit from [the transit project],' Krebs told DailyMail.com, saying that by removing cars from the freeway, it will help even those who choose not to ride the system. 

Rosen, 80; the Meyers, and Karatz, told DailyMail.com that Metro has never contacted the community to get their thoughts on the proposals that would directly affect them, but the organization disputes this. 

'We're here to listen to everyone,' Krebs told DailyMail.com. 

Public Safety  

Bel-Air wealthiest aren't done with this list of complaints around the project, as they worry about public safety on the transit system - and so does Metro's station staff. 

Juan Pablo Flores, 33, was arrested last week for attempted murder after he allegedly carried out an unprovoked and brutal attack against a woman. He allegedly punched her before dragging her over the freeway divider and into traffic at the Allen Metro station, according to The Los Angeles Times. 

The Metro system saw transit crime surge 65 percent in the first three months of 2024, according to Metro data. 

More than 60 aggravated assaults have happened on the rail, and 150 battery cases, data shows. The biggest crime rail commuters face is trespassing with 836 cases between January and March of this year. 

Bus lines fare slightly better with only 32 aggravated assaults and 83 battery cases, Metro data shows. 

Although overall violent crime is down on most lines between February and March, Union Station, the K-line, and the E-line all saw significant ups with 45.5, 200, and 60 percent, respectively.  

'They have a lot of safety problems,' Jamie, who has lived in Bel-Air nearly her entire life, told DailyMail.com. 

Krebs says the heightening crime numbers are nothing to worry about, because it's a direct reflection of their actions of adding extra officers from the LAPD, LA Sheriff's Department, and Long Beach Police on the trains and on platforms, which has helped keep trespassers and homeless people out of the system. 

'Crime on the Metro is lower than in LA County,' Krebs said. She also says there's a difference between feeling unsafe and being uncomfortable. 

'As a woman that rides the system, there's been points I felt uncomfortable, but not unsafe,' she told DailyMail.com. 'I see what people are talking about.' 

In a statement, Metro said it 'share[s] the concerns of Metro employees and riders about the recent increase in severity of crime on the Metro system.' 

'Our employees deserve a safe workplace, and our customers deserve a safe ride, so nothing we are working on is more important than addressing public safety on our Metro system,' it said in an emailed statement. 

Krebs, Sosa, Crump, and Sotero all said they feel safe on the transit system. They all said they take it fairly regularly, including Sosa, who rides the A-line daily. 

'Rarely has there been a time I didn't see police on the train or on the platform or nearby in my experience in the last six months,' he told DailyMail.com.  

In addition, LA Metro has gotten nearly 2,000 homeless people into housing in the 2024 fiscal year and have 25 allocated beds at 24-hour homeless shelters that are dedicated for those found on the Metro system. 

The organization is also building joint venture restricted housing on its property that will serve various salary levels, including tons of low income, to help people - especially the homeless - have a place to stay that has easy access to transportation. 

The Budget  

Bel-Air residents' biggest gripe with the project goes beyond just digging through a mountain and shaking up their neighborhood, but with the budget. 

Metro only has an $8billion budget for the project, which Rosen claims is three times lower than what the expected cost of the project will be. 

The Ticketmaster stronghold was told by a former project head that it would cost $2billion per mile - an estimate Metro would not confirm - and the entire length of the new line would be 14 miles, meaning it would potentially cost Metro roughly $28billion to fund the project. 

'The level of incompetence is staggering,' Rosen told DailyMail.com. 'All they [Metro] do is waste money. It's idiotic.'

However, Metro says the entire budget hasn't been figured out yet. Although it does have $8billion for the project, they may receive federal funds to help finance the project due to the expected ridership numbers. 

'It's a starting point,' Sosa said of the $8billion. 

'We're still working on a cost estimate,' Crump told DailyMail.com. 

Legal Disputes  

When asked how the subway would benefit the people of Bel-Air, the four affluent residents didn't think it really would, considering they live so close to the proposed end of the line. 

'That's the question,' Jamie said. 

And if Rosen has anything to do with it, they'll never have to find out the answer as he plans to keep their dismay in court for at least five years - a feat he estimates will cost him between $5 and $10 million. 

Karatz has donated between $5,000 and $10,000 to Rosen's efforts. The Meyers have contributed as well, but declined to publicly disclose the amount. 

'Why walk perpendicular to a group that can raise millions?' Rosen questioned. 'It's more than me being Ticketmaster or living in Bel-Air.' 

Rosen believes that if Metro wants to build under their community, Bel-Air ought to be a 'stakeholder,' but when he asked Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins - whom he no longer talks to - it took a chain of 50 emails to get to no conclusion, he said. 

'They're an absolute failure,' he said. 

The money Rosen is raising is largely going toward getting information, as the group claims that Metro is refusing to fulfill their FOIA requests and had a hearing on it last week. 

They're essentially 'buying information,' Jamie said, and the rest of the money will go toward future litigation costs. 

Rosen said Metro will 'only answer what they want to answer' and the 'whole thing is preposterous.' 

Although the former New Yorker declined to reveal the exact amount he's raised, he told DailyMail.com that it's in the 'seven figures' range. 

As for Metro, it insisted it has followed their request and the law. Court documents, obtained by DailyMail.com, show the organization has provided 25,000 pages of information to Keep Bel-Air Beautiful, which filed the petition. 

Jamie, however, said most of the documents are severely redacted with very little to read. 

'In response to KBAB's requests for documents regarding the Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project, Metro provided many responsive documents, and legitimately withheld or redacted some documents pursuant to various exemptions recognized under the Public Records Act,' Metro said in a statement to DailyMail.com. 

'These exemptions are at issue in pending litigation initiated by KBAB, which will ultimately be resolved by the Court.'

In an August 14 order, Metro was cited as complaining of Rosen's 'abusive conduct' and the community's 'distaste for the potential of a public transit facility in Bel-Air's backyard - home to some of the wealthiest Americans' as part of the reason they've denied full access to KBAB's request for information,' Superior Court Judge, Stephen I. Goorvitch noted. 

Goorvitch ruled Metro has not provided 'sufficient information' to justify their 'claims of exemption' and must provide a reason behind why the information was redacted by October. 

'The fact that I was quote "mean" to Metro - how many times can you ask the same questions and be ignored before you become really frustrated and angry?' Rosen said in an email to DailyMail.com. 

'They are a public agency using public funds - but transparency and accountability seems to have been both ignored and forgotten by the agency - the real question is what are they afraid of the public finding out?'