Road Congestion and Air Quality

Your article (Aug. 24) on the subject of road congestion and air quality is of particular interest to the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC), the agency charged with the responsibility of solving Los Angeles’ congestion problem. Simply put, reductions in overall automobile trips lead to decreased emissions resulting in less pollution.

Your article, however, addresses a new computer model commissioned by the California Air Resources Board that indicates that pollution from automobiles would increase when cars are traveling at speeds of 35 m.p.h. or faster. The very acceptance of the new model itself is still under review by environmental regulating agencies.

The LACTC, through its 30-Year Plan, places a heavy emphasis on the need to decrease automobile trips as a means to both reduce congestion and, at the same time, eliminate overall emissions that contribute to poor air quality. These two goals will not be achieved unless transportation options outlined in the LACTC’s 30-Year Plan are built to provide the incentives to get people out of their cars.

The first transportation option, which debuted two years ago, is the successful Metro Blue Line. The Blue Line doubled anticipated ridership estimates and carries more than 35,000 passengers each day. A recent study commissioned by the RTD, the operator of the Blue Line, found that 25% of Blue Line riders are new riders. If you take into account that single-occupant drivers on the freeways account for 79% of all drivers, the Blue Line alone removes 6,912 vehicle trips each day, eliminating more than 10 tons of hydrocarbons annually.

When other elements of the 30-Year Plan are taken into account--expanded rail, bus and high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) programs--the region will benefit from the overall reduction in vehicle trips per day. The 13-mile El Monte busway, for example, is responsible for removing nearly 25,000 vehicle trips each day, eliminating more than 100 tons of hydrocarbons each year! Keep in mind the 30-Year Plan calls for more than 300 miles of HOV lanes on our freeways.

Lastly, the LACTC is in the process of implementing an aggressive transportation demand management (TDM) program aimed at encouraging commuters to use buses, car-pools, van-pools and alternative forms of transportation to get to and from work each day.

The TDM strategies can work only if there are reliable alternatives like the Metro Blue Line and dedicated HOV lanes that commuters can rely on.

NEIL PETERSON

Executive Director

LACTC