Gridlock on the Highways Above, Streets Below

Main Topic

You Can't Get There from Here Anymore ()

Local planners say that Southern California will grow by 5 million people in the next 20 years, but past predictions of gridlock already are coming true on our streets and freeways. LA Times columnist Steve Lopez wrote about traffic "insanity" on the Westside of Los Angeles. The result was what he calls a "traffic jam of angst" in the form of reader response, not just from LA, but from Orange, Ventura and San Bernardino Counties. If you're stuck in freeway traffic, what would you pay to cut into an open lane and be on your way? Should the passengers required for carpool lanes be licensed drivers, who at least might have left their cars at home? Should Southern California finally have a real plan for growth, rather than helter-skelter development without regard to increased congestion? We look for solutions to LA’s most infuriating problem with public policy and transportation experts, and the man whose column created the bottleneck blog.

Guests:

• Steve Lopez: columnist for the Los Angeles Times, @LATstevelopez
• Richard Katz: board member of the MTA
• Ted Balaker: policy analyst for the Reason Foundation

Links:

• High-occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane
• Proposition 1A: Transportation Funding Protection (2006)

Reporter's Notebook

LA's Overcrowded Classrooms ()

The teachers' union is threatening to strike against LA Unified School District over salaries and crowded classrooms. Youth Radio's Evelyn Martinez goes to Roosevelt High School, but she's not sure the strike will improve her situation.

Guests:

• Evelyn Martinez: student at Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles