An Elected Traffic Czar? That’s One Idea

Each day in Los Angeles, 5.4 million cars are jockeying for position on 722 miles of freeway. In addition, 1.5 million people are vying for space on RTD buses.

The critical responsibility of efficiently coordinating the travel of these millions of people is scattered among the Southern California Rapid Transit District, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, the Southern California Assn. of Governments, Caltrans, and 82 individual cities with their own public-works departments.

This fragmented transportation system encourages tunnel vision. Each agency concentrates on those areas where it has the most authority, jealously guarding its turf from invasion by competing agencies. Band-Aid solutions to “local” problems are implemented with little thought to their regional or future effectiveness.

In reality, there are very few “local” transportation problems. Street, freeway and rail facilities must be interrelated if we are to have the mobility essential for decent living. This critical coordination is now lacking.

Two agencies, for example, are responsible for rail transit in Los Angeles. The RTD oversees Metro Rail, among the most extensive subway projects ever proposed, while the county Transportation Commission is the lead agency for light rail. The agencies employ different rail transit technologies with tremendous cost differences.

Freeways fall under the jurisdiction of the Caltrans, a state agency. While experts have recommended using freeway medians for rapid transit, Caltrans engineers--who have freeways, not trains, on their minds--have shown little interest in such proposals.

There also have been recommendations for the streamlining of major surface streets to take pressure off freeways, through computer-synchronized signals, parking restrictions and grade separations over major cross streets. But surface streets are controlled by 82 individual cities and the necessary coordination has never existed.

It’s a wonder that, with so many decision-makers and so little coordination, anyone can travel in Los Angeles at all.

This year is 10th anniversary of the current transportation planning system. It was in 1977 that, under state law, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission was established. Even in 1977 the transportation system was inadequate. In 1987 it is antiquated.

Mounting problems at RTD have focused public attention on a transit district suffering from structural stress. Stories of high absenteeism, unlicensed bus drivers, fraud, a $90,000 Metro Rail ground-breaking party and thousands of dollars run up by board members on dinners and travel have raised legitimate questions about the ability of the district to adequately and responsibly serve the public.

Similar concerns were raised when the Assembly Transportation Committee and the state auditor general discovered abuses of overtime, travel claims and expense accounts at Caltrans.

In both cases the question is the same: How can we prepare to enter the 21st Century when existing institutions are not even coping with the transportation problems of this century? It is time to focus on integrating the disparate transportation agencies with a view to solving problems on a regional basis.

On Wednesday the Assembly Transportation Committee will be holding a hearing in Los Angeles, seeking recommendations on ways to bring our transportation system on line with our growing needs. We will look at new ways to manage our limited transportation resources and plan ahead for the year 2000, when millions of new residents will call Los Angeles home.

A number of solutions will be discussed. The answer to current problems may simply lie in replacing appointed officials with elected representatives on the RTD board. Some have suggested shifting the responsibility of the county Transportation Commission to the Board of Supervisors. Another possibility is to tie land-use planning to transportation so that development and transportation projects keep step with one another. Perhaps a solution would be the creation of a regional transportation authority with elected members to end piecemeal planning and ensure that policy is developed with a regional perspective.

Whatever the structure, one thing is clear. We must act today to be prepared for the future. If we don’t invest our resources in a comprehensive transportation network, Angelenos will be unable to move by the year 2000. If we want to enhance our quality of life, if we want to preserve our neighborhoods and still be able to move goods and services, then we had better speak up.

Allowing bureaucracies to protect their turf at our expense cannot continue. We must act now to safeguard the way of life we have worked hard for.