Los Angeles' population will grow by 2.4 million by 2030, resulting in a total of 7 million cars on the roads each day. Already, congestion in Los Angeles is one of the worst in the nation, and the city's rapid transit surely does not have enough connections or lines to serve the entire city or region. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of commuters who use public transportation in Los Angeles County is 7% (10% within the borders of the city of Los Angeles), far lower than in other major American cities: 30% of San Franciscan workers use transit, 25% within Chicago, and 54% in New York City. With the region's growing population, the city will not be able to support itself without future investments in transportation. Mobility, as stated by Roger Snoble, the Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), is a key aspect in determining the future economic success of a city. The MTA wants both transit users and car drivers to imagine the future of transportation in the region as the agency funds and constructs its future infrastructure projects.
Los Angeles' MTA, which funds highway improvements in addition to running mass transit, released its "Imagine" campaign, in which the agency seeks public commitment to fulfill its Long Range Transportation Plan. The agency is seeking input from the community to know what Angelenos want in the future of mobility.
Currently, the Los Angeles Metro Rail only has 62 stations for all of its 10 million residents within the Los Angeles County. Even though two new light rail extensions are under construction (Expo Line to Culver City and the Gold Line Eastside Extension), millions will still not have access to a rail alternative to driving. Los Angeles' urban planning doesn't help either, as its low-density sprawl makes it difficult to provide rapid transit service to every part of the city. In addition, because areas are so spread out, riders are sometimes required to drive to a kiss-and-ride lot to take the train; many, however, once in the car, just decide to continue driving. Finally, there are only 446,000 jobs in downtown Los Angeles, meaning that the other 4.4 million employed in the county work in other areas outside this so called "central business area." Commutes, therefore, do not form in a traditional downtown/outbound pattern to and from a single, dense, central location - the patterns tend to be a bit more random. Not every destination will be able to have an easy connection to a rail line. Commutes may need more than two transfer to complete the journey. It is obvious that the Metro Rail will not be able to cover the whole map, like Tokyo orShanghai's future network,in order to provide everyone with an easy subway ride between home and work. The transit agency will need to invest in other means of transportation, in addition rail transit, to keep the county moving.
A system of 450 miles of Metro Rapid bus lines is expected in the future. These lines provide faster trips on corridors which do not have the high ridership for rail. Cheaper to implement, Metro Rapid's key features include signal priority, where the street-lights turn green when the bus approaches, frequent service, fewer stops, and simple route-layouts.
The MTA's draft plan also includes a major investment to expand the current system 464 miles of carpool lanes to 626 miles. New interchanges will allow carpool lane users to use a separate connector between highways. Carpoolers will no longer need to merge back into mixed traffic and cross several lanes to exit. The transit agency also wishes to use Intelligent Transportation System technologies to monitor the flow of traffic and inform the public to take different expressways if congestion occurs. Maximizing the capacity of the current highway system is key as widening the roadways into built urban areas is expensive and a complete political mess.
57% of the funding for this $152 billion long term transportation plan will come from sources other than government funding. $87 billion may come from farebox revenue, advertising or real estate. Congestion charges is considered as well as local taxes, higher parking fees, and taxes on polluting vehicles. The funding for all the proposed goals of the MTA seems murky and is not yet 100% determined. There are dozens of projects on the MTA's wish-list that do not yet have the cash secured for construction.
They are certain that there will be substantial debate when proposing new fees and taxes to fund these projects. While the MTA's goals are set, the transportation authority hopes that people "imagine a traffic-free future" as it prepares for the 21st Century.
