Rose-tinted Red Car nostalgia is common in the post Roger Rabbit era. It was a poor private solution to what would later be a big public problem, and you can read a more neutral take on its demise at 99% Invisible [0].

I lived in LA for quite a few years and they opened the expo line through my neighborhood (Culver City) towards the end of my time there. It was transformational. It wasn't the fastest way to get downtown (assuming no traffic), but it meant you could have a drink without worrying about getting home. You could have a nice afternoon walking around without searching for parking. You could see an event at Staples Center and easily get home when it was over. Now the line goes all the way to Santa Monica, bringing more and more people into the fold.

I get that it is not as extensive as other systems, and parts of it share passage with cars, but it would have never gotten done as an underground system [1], and it works quite well as a complement to local bus lines.

Basically, LA Metro is actually building the infrastructure people imagine Red Car to have been. It takes decades because it is a big project and we are not good at building infrastructure quickly anymore [2], but it is a long-term investment in helping the city grow.

[0] https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-70-the-great-... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_Subway [2] https://patrickcollison.com/fast