The worst congestion in the world

While I was going to school at UCLA, the car-culture was very apparent to me. The city also felt incredibly spread out, and it would sometimes take me more than an hour by bus to get downtown. I did not own a car the entire time I lived in LA, and I felt very limited. I quickly became bored with Westwood, the neighborhood that UCLA is in, and the only neighborhood that was within walking distance of my apartment and I had to rely on my friends to drive me to the beach or other neighborhoods. I was surprised when I read in Sorenson’s article, “Moving Los Angeles”, that despite Los Angeles reputation for sprawl, it is actually quite dense when compared to the nation’s 14 largest metropolitan areas. In class, we talked about how Los Angeles is the only major city that has become denser since the 1960s. Los Angeles is not as dense as New York City, but it is quite dense at a regional scale. The suburbs are denser on average than suburbs in other cities. Reflecting on this more, I realized that Westwood was quite dense too. The majority of my friends and classmates lived in four to five-story apartment buildings on relatively small lots without courtyards or open spaces. It became clear to me that there must be another explanation for Los Angeles’ congestion other than density.

Figure 1. Ten Most Populous Areas, 2010.

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010.

Sorenson argues that the congestion in Los Angeles is not caused by the sprawl but the fact that it is polycentric. The city has multiple city centers, unlike New York City, where the majority of business is concentrated in Manhattan. High-density employment and retail centers are scattered throughout the city. Angelinos are inclined to drive in between these city centers because they are miles apart. From my own observations, not many people work and play in the neighborhood they reside it. My friends who lived in Westwood would often drive to Beverly Hills or Santa Monica for work. Santa Monica, Century City, Culver City, Beverly Hills, and West Hollywood were all neighborhoods that were within a half-hour drive from Westwood. Walking to any of these destinations was unpleasant. Santa Monica, the closest neighborhood, was six miles away. The only way to walk to it was along Sunset or Wilshire Boulevard, two loud, heavily trafficked boulevards. I am also in the minority that would be willing to walk six miles to go to the beach.

As Los Angeles’ metropolitan area continues to grow, the traffic congestion is getting worse. In the 2018 CNN article, “Los Angeles' notorious traffic problem explained in graphics”, Andrea Lo argues that while walkable neighborhoods, such as Playa Vista and the beachside area of Santa Monica, are becoming more popular, Los Angeles still tops the list as the most congested city in the world. Since Los Angeles County is so spread out, transit is undesirable to many people because overall travel times by transit are still greater than by car. Another issue is car ownership. LA had 7.8 million vehicle registrations in 2016, whereas New York had only 2.6 million. The car culture clearly continues to dominate.

Moreover, The median household year income in Los Angeles is $54,432, however, drivers in L.A. pay expensive driving and parking costs. L.A. drivers faced $14,834 of driving and parking costs in 2017 and about 30% of the costs are parking costs (INRIX, 2017). Although parking is expensive, people still continue to drive.

Table 1. Cost of Driving Index – U.S. City Results in 2017

Source: INRIX, 2018.

Figure 2. Traffic in LA

Source: Palma, Sky, 2015.

A lot us may be asking, what are planners doing now to try to fight the congestion problem? In 2016, Angelinos voted to pass the $120 billion Measure M ballot to expand transit capacity and improve highways throughout the region (Lo, 2018). The target of the project is to reduce time spent in traffic by 15% by 2057. Brian Taylor, the director of the Institute for Transportation Studies at UCLA’s Luskin school of Public Affairs, argues that expanding transit will not solve the problem (Lo, 2018). He states that even if transit is expanded, driving will still be a more attractive way to drive around the city.

REFERENCES

Brasuell, James. 2012. “Los Angeles is the Most Densely Populated Urban Area in the US.” CURBED LOS ANGELES. Retrieved from https://la.curbed.com/2012/3/26/10385086/los-angeles-is-the-most-densely-populated-urban-area-in-the-us

CBS Los Angeles. 2017. “Survey: LA Ranks #1 Most Stressful Commute in US.” CBS Los Angeles. https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/11/06/survey-la-ranks-1-most-stressful-commute-in-us/

Lo, Andrea. 2018. “Los Angeles’ notorious traffic problem explained in graphics.” CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/27/americas/los-angeles-traffic/index.html.

“LOS ANGELES, CA.” DATAUSA. https://datausa.io/profile/geo/los-angeles-ca/

“New INRIX Study Finds Parking is the Largest Cost of Driving: Average U.S. driver faced a total driving cost of $10,288 in 2017.” INRIX. Retrieved from http://inrix.com/press-releases/cod-us/

Salvo, Christina. 2018. “Los Angeles driving, parking costs among most expensive in nation.” ABC 7 NEWS. Retrieved from https://abc7.com/traffic/socal-driving-parking-costs-among-most-expensive-in-nation/3320048/

Sorenson, P. 2009. “Moving Los Angeles.” Access, 35. Fall.

Written by: Sophie Appell

Edited by: Kyuri Kim