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The number of people on buses and trains operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has also climbed.
The subway had 144,841 riders each weekday, an increase of about 7,000 from March '07.
Not everyone is convinced that traffic patterns have changed. And there are exceptions. The data show, for example, that the Santa Monica Freeway has mostly worsened.
Varaiya said that although the numbers indicated there may be a decrease in commute times, a more sophisticated analysis would be needed to tell if traffic was truly trending downward.
Jeff Baugh, an airborne reporter for KFWB-AM (980), agreed that traffic has seemed lighter, but he thinks it's because spring break for students lasts longer.
Marco Ruano, chief of freeway operations for Caltrans in Los Angeles County, said he did not have enough data to say that traffic had decreased. He also said that commute times shift as job patterns change and freeway improvements take hold.
He cited an improved 405-101 interchange that has helped the 405, in particular, and also said that increased use of ramp meters had improved speeds on the 210 Freeway.
"For some folks it might seem like they've noticed on a particular route that the commute is better, but on a systemwide level it's not necessarily so," Ruano said.
Steve Grothe, a consultant in the liquor industry, said his commute from Rancho Cucamonga to Cerritos remained stuck at 80 minutes each way via the 210, 57 and 91 freeways, with many trucks on the road. In Ojai, Al Stroberg said his drive to Westwood, where he works as an orthopedic surgeon, was still running 70 to 75 minutes.
There is one difference: He used to leave between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m., but now tries to get on the road by 5:15 to keep the commute from growing longer.
But Roberta Kramer, an attorney from Woodland Hills, said she was seeing fewer people driving, particularly at night. "If we go out on a Saturday night, I don't see the traffic," she said. "It doesn't look like L.A."
And Chuck Street, a pilot reporter for KTLA-TV Channel 5 and KIIS-FM (102.7), said that on Thursday he almost said on the air that traffic seemed lighter -- and even asked his flying partner whether gas prices had hit the magic number.
David Rizzo, a podiatrist who still makes house calls, has written a pair of advice books on escaping the death grip of Southland traffic. Rizzo's diagnosis: The freeways are flowing again -- on Friday he saw 75-mph speeds on the 105.
"It's not like we're married to our cars," Rizzo said. "When the price gets high enough we'll change, and it's the discretionary stuff that goes first."
steve.hymon@latimes.com
jia-rui.chong@latimes.com
Times staff writer David Reyes contributed to this report from Costa Mesa.
The subway had 144,841 riders each weekday, an increase of about 7,000 from March '07.
Not everyone is convinced that traffic patterns have changed. And there are exceptions. The data show, for example, that the Santa Monica Freeway has mostly worsened.
Varaiya said that although the numbers indicated there may be a decrease in commute times, a more sophisticated analysis would be needed to tell if traffic was truly trending downward.
Jeff Baugh, an airborne reporter for KFWB-AM (980), agreed that traffic has seemed lighter, but he thinks it's because spring break for students lasts longer.
Marco Ruano, chief of freeway operations for Caltrans in Los Angeles County, said he did not have enough data to say that traffic had decreased. He also said that commute times shift as job patterns change and freeway improvements take hold.
He cited an improved 405-101 interchange that has helped the 405, in particular, and also said that increased use of ramp meters had improved speeds on the 210 Freeway.
"For some folks it might seem like they've noticed on a particular route that the commute is better, but on a systemwide level it's not necessarily so," Ruano said.
Steve Grothe, a consultant in the liquor industry, said his commute from Rancho Cucamonga to Cerritos remained stuck at 80 minutes each way via the 210, 57 and 91 freeways, with many trucks on the road. In Ojai, Al Stroberg said his drive to Westwood, where he works as an orthopedic surgeon, was still running 70 to 75 minutes.
There is one difference: He used to leave between 5:30 and 5:45 a.m., but now tries to get on the road by 5:15 to keep the commute from growing longer.
But Roberta Kramer, an attorney from Woodland Hills, said she was seeing fewer people driving, particularly at night. "If we go out on a Saturday night, I don't see the traffic," she said. "It doesn't look like L.A."
And Chuck Street, a pilot reporter for KTLA-TV Channel 5 and KIIS-FM (102.7), said that on Thursday he almost said on the air that traffic seemed lighter -- and even asked his flying partner whether gas prices had hit the magic number.
David Rizzo, a podiatrist who still makes house calls, has written a pair of advice books on escaping the death grip of Southland traffic. Rizzo's diagnosis: The freeways are flowing again -- on Friday he saw 75-mph speeds on the 105.
"It's not like we're married to our cars," Rizzo said. "When the price gets high enough we'll change, and it's the discretionary stuff that goes first."
steve.hymon@latimes.com
jia-rui.chong@latimes.com
Times staff writer David Reyes contributed to this report from Costa Mesa.
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