Opening the Traffic Plugs

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley works downtown, so he knows firsthand how one car, parked illegally at a curb, can snarl rush-hour traffic. He has a plan to pull those plugs on the traffic flow downtown and elsewhere by making it more expensive to ignore the law. We wish him well.

The mayor wants to start by putting 10 more traffic officers on six busy streets. He also wants to double the number of cars that are towed out of the way during peak hours. That in itself should discourage violations, but Bradley also wants to raise the fine for violations in tow-away zones from $28 to $53. The larger fine may be a steep price to pay for a parking space, but it may be the only way to keep traffic flowing.

Bradley’s aggressive traffic-enforcement program is scheduled to start Aug. 27 in six sections of Los Angeles--a recognition that downtown isn’t the only area strangled by traffic. Ten traffic officers will be reassigned from other duties to get the program moving until the Los Angeles City Council can approve the mayor’s request for $735,000 to make the program permanent. The council should quickly approve.

The mayor and the council moved fast on another deterrent to illegal parking, the Palma AutoBoot, late last year. A metal clamp on one wheel immobilizes the cars of motorists who have ignored at least five parking tickets until they go to court and pay up. The boot has boosted parking-ticket revenues in five months, although a few violators have managed to get out of it. But the boot is no answer to rush-hour snarls. Freezing a car in a curb lane in fact only creates longer delays for commuters.

Massive traffic jams have become a Los Angeles trademark. Bradley is on the right track with his plan to make the financial risks of illegal parking a lot steeper. The council should follow him down that track at its earliest opportunity.