Metro's Westside Subway–Unsuprisingly–Will Do Little For Congestion

Metro's Draft EIS/EIR for the Westside subway extension reveals that the subway will--perhaps unsurprisingly--do little to cure congestion on arterials and freeways on the Westside, although it will add another option for traversing the Westside and will increase accessibility to employment centers.  The subway study area generally extends east from downtown LA--through some of the densest parts of LA--to Santa Monica, and includes pieces of several jurisdictions.  Furthermore, as the draft EIS/EIR notes, Westwood and Century City have higher employment than many mid-sized downtowns elsewhere.

Served by already congested road networks, both Westwood and Century City, along with other major activity centers in the corridor are projected to grow, further straining the transportation network.  The corridor already has highest number of bus boardings in Southern California and, in existing traffic congestion never mind future conditions, even the "Rapid" lines along Wilshire (the 720 and 920) prove to be misnomers.  The EIS/EIR projects that by 2035 buses may slog down the corridor at 8 to 11 mph.  As buses become increasingly unreliable and slow due to congestion, they become less and less competitive with private vehicles.  The EIS/EIR concludes that, "The improved capacity that would result from the subway extension is the best solution to improve travel times and reliability and to provide a high-capacity, environmentally-sound transit alternative."

AB 909: Reducing Penalties for Rolling Rights on Red

A bill by Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo seeks to reduce the base fine for drivers who roll through red lights to make right turns.  Assembly Bill 909 would reduce the base fine for such violations from $100 to $35 (the fines are considerably higher after all assessments are made).  Hill and supporters are defending the California stop and claim the existing law was not intended to target rolling right turns, but drivers running red lights through intersections.  They contend that red light cameras and ticketing rolling stops are not about increasing safety, but about raising revenue.

What’s the real issue? Neighbors for Smart Rail rail against, well, rail

Phase 1 of Metro’s Exposition Corridor light rail (currently under construction—expected completion in 2012) will extend from 7^th Street and Metro Center to a station at Venice and Robertson. From Venice and Robertson, Phase 2 is planned to continue through west Los Angeles and Santa Monica, ultimately reaching its terminus at Colorado and 4^th Street in downtown Santa Monica. The Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for Phase 2 was certified in February of this year, giving Metro the green light to commence design and engineering for the preferred alternative. Design and engineering for Phase 2 is expected to begin by the end of this year, with revenue service beginning in 2014-2015.

This latter phase is aligned primarily along the right-of-way for the defunct Pacific Electric Red Line; however, this right-of-way passes through the affluent neighborhood of Cheviot Hills. The neighborhood association and some residents in Cheviot Hills oppose the Expo line along the PE right-of-way, and front lawns in the neighborhood are peppered with signs advertising reasons why the Expo is a bad idea. (Ironically, the Pacific Electric trains that once ran along the right-of-way are part of what made Cheviot Hills and the surrounding communities attractive in the first place.)

Sirinya's Live Blog "Changing Lanes: Bold Ideas to Solve LA's Traffic Problems", part of The Rosenfield Forums

Program for today's event; Picture is thanks to Juan's Nexus One.

Sirinya here live-blogging from "Changing Lanes", the second Rosenfield Forum (a UCLA event), which has brought together transportation scholars and policy leaders to talk about solutions to Los Angeles's transportation problems.


NOTE: This will be fully updated by Monday. For now, these are my notes. Enjoy!!!