LA Traffic: A Thing of the Past?

May 9, 4:18 PMLA Public Policy ExaminerJason Gravitch

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As a former New Yorker, I truly appreciate LA’s openness.  Lawns and green spaces are the norm, not the exception, and you don’t have the sense of being hemmed in by walls of concrete and steel.  If only our city planners could do something about the intolerable traffic.  Mass transit is the ideal solution, but on the average weekday, only 275,000 people ride LA’s subway, compared to 5.2 million weekday riders in New York City.  

Most people I know don’t ride the subway because it doesn’t go where they want to go.  In an attempt to radically alter the way Angelenos get around their city, Los Angeles has undertaken a significant expansion of the subway network.  

Currently, three major light rail projects are under construction.  The Orange Line Expansion will tie the San Fernando Valley into the existing subway network and Amtrack/Metrolink.  The Gold Line Extension connects east LA neighborhoods such as the Arts District, Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights to the existing subway grid at Union Station.  The most ambitious project is the Exposition Line, scheduled to open in 2010.  Phase 1 runs from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City, and will be integrated with a network of bike lines and pedestrian walkways.  Phase 2 will extend the line all the way to Santa Monica.  (See the attached diagram of the new rail lines.)

It remains to be seen whether or not a light-rail system can succeed amidst LA’s sprawl and car culture.  A concentrated metropolis is the ideal environment for a mass transit system, and even New York City has trouble operating their MTA at a profit.  Also, the distances involved in LA pose major challenges in terms of engineering, opposition from civic groups, and funding.  But the advantages in terms of your commute time and the environment are obvious to anyone who’s ever cursed LA traffic.

International News:

Pakistan continues to be a question mark in President Obama’s foreign policy.  The U.S.  military is in close contact with Pakistan’s generals regarding the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, the fear being the nukes could end up under Taliban control.  The big question is:  How pervasive is radical Islam in the upper ranks of the Pakistani army?  I doubt whether the upper ranks of the Pakistani army are certain of that answer either. 

Militant Islam has long been an integral element of Pakistan’s military, and the delicate balance is in peril.  If the Pakistani army’s current offensive fails to check the Taliban advance, and pressure builds for American intervention, look for escalations in Iraq and Afghanistan as the Jihadists try to spread our forces thin and hamstring American military capabilities.  

Summer is here.   In Los Angeles, people get vibrant.  In Israel and Palestine, people get impassioned.  Expect there to be a slight to moderate uptick in hostilities as Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister) and Avigdor Lieberman (Foreign Minister) assume control of Israel’s government.  Netanyahu rejects the notion of a two-state solution, and instead wants to focus on economic development and institution building in the West Bank. 

While economic development is Netanyahu’s strong suit, it’s difficult to imagine that Netanyahu (beholden to Israel’s right wing and ultra-Orthodox parties) will prioritize economic development in Palestine.  Also, any development in Palestine will require funding by international donors, and given the global economic downturn, adequate funding may not be available.  Instead, Iran will likely be the focus of Netanyahu’s government.  If President Obama is unable to check Iran’s nuclear ambitions, it will be very difficult for America to pressure Israel to make progress on the Palestinian front.