Great article!  Thank you, Ansje, for bringing us a dispatch from such an important conference.  It would be impossible (not to mention an ecological disaster) for everyone that needs to hear the messages shared at the conference to be there in person, so it is fortunate that Ansje is sharing those messages with the rest of us.

I can't help but admit that I was curious why Ansje didn't take the train to LA.  I've taken Amtrack from Oakland to LA and gotten around LA just fine by bus.  (While the bus service is unsatisfactory for regular use by residents, particularly in low-income areas, it can generally get you to a conference site and back.) The train takes a few hours longer and costs a little more than driving, but, driving is not really so cheap if you include all the externalities (insurance, taxes for road maintenance, etc...)

A fair answer would be that our train and bus options are far less convenient than they should be, and therefore are not a good option at this time.  What can we do to change that?  Maybe we need to learn a thing or two from Rosalio Mendiola.