Share Your Pain

Regarding the Hummer:

Many have asked if Jaime de la Vega's choice of wheels is being financed by taxpayers. The word from Matt Szabo, press secretary to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, is no. Szabo says de la Vega has never requested or received reimbursement for car expenses.

Regardless, it's hard to believe he's still got it, and even harder to believe the mayor hasn't called him aside and told him to wake up. De la Vega might be able to get away all this if he were some kind of transit genius. But the guy was pro-bus under Mayor Dick Riordan, he's pro-train under Villaraigosa, and we can only hope the next mayor doesn't like the horse and buggy.

Comments

[Scott Zohlman]

I always thought the idea of having helicoptors with huge magnets pick up up cars which are broken down or involved in accidents and move them to place where they are not interferring with traffic. I know it sounds over the top but its really frustrating waiting for cars to be removed especially that shouldn't be on the road in the first place.

[Greg Golden]

Tony Stengel (Jan.30) has too many problems for one blog.... sorry.

[Tony Stengel]

Of course the roads are awful. Los Angeles is BROKEN! And the traffic is just one symptom. It is nearly impossible to get an illegal car removed from my street or to get illegal dumping removed. When the city works in my neighborhood the forget to take their signs and even leave behind flashing barriers. As a motorcycle rider I am very aware that our roads have pot holes that rival some third world countries that I have visited. When I finally get home there is no place to park as my neighbors are living dozens in a single homes with cars in the yard, on the street blocking my driveway, trash everywhere etc. The cost of living is high, wages are low and benefits almost non-existing. The police will come out in force if you are murdered but if it is a crime less than that, good luck! The LA Time is also broken. I did not get Fridays paper and was told that they "ran out". Ran out?! How do they run out of papers for subscribers? The Times "customer service" is broken too. Complaining is easy (unless it is to the Times customer service India division) but I have suggestions. Every politician should think "QUALITY OF LIFE" This should be their main concern. It covers most of L.A.'s ills. In Singapore they have all cars marked with devices that collect tolls. This could be used to make sure only licensed insured drivers are on our roads. It would be naive to think that illegal immigration does not play a part in the decline of Los Angeles. I am barely getting by, but would gladly pay more for a head of lettuce if need be! The Highway Patrol could start ticketing the thousands of unsafe, inconsiderate drivers that do not bother to use turn signals to change lanes and make turns. The revenue could go to fixing L.A. and would reduce accidents and road rage. The companies that conspired successfully to destroy public transportation in the 1950's are still in business. They should be held accountable. A more far sighted plan might be to leave the old highways to trucks and build new roads that could accommodate cars that use magnates or even jets of air for propulsion. All we are lacking is the will and I fear we will not act until we are chocking on our filth and congestion. We are already the most polluted city in America! I implore our leaders to get together and think "quality of life"! Everything should start from there. Meanwhile I am still waiting for last weeks LA Times.... and Saturdays TV Times.... and a return call from customer service.... and....

[James Spencer]

In the Diamond Bar area is a major traffic congestion problem, particularly in the afternoon.

The 57 Freeway, North, approaching the 60 Freeway has long been a bottleneck, often with the traffic being backed up beyond the 91. This is caused by 5 lanes of traffic coming down into 3 and then 2 when another lane exits at Grand. There is currently construction at this interchange which should at least help the problem.
The main alternate to the 57 going through Brea Canyon is exiting at Tonner Canyon Road and going to Brea Canyon Road. Traffic stops there as the Tonner Canyon Road traffic joins the traffic coming out of Brea as Brea Blvd. becomes Brea Canyon Road, a 2 lane curving road next to the freeway. About half a mile after the merg it usually moves reasonably eventually reaching Diamond Bar Blvd. where the alternate turns right, taking Diamond Bar Blvd. either to Grand where many turn right to go to Chino Hills, or continuing on and eventualy going back to the freeway. This is often bumper to bumper from just past Pathfinder all the way to Grand.

My suggestion to help ease this problem is extending Tonner Canyon Road east into Chino Hills. This would be going through a former Boy Scout camp and it is important to maintain the area as a wilderness, but this could be done with careful planning.

Thank you.

Jim Spencer, Walnut

[Karl Arsch]

Oh, i've got an idea:

On Mondays, you may only drive if your license plate ends in `9'. On Tuesday, if its ends in `8'. You get the picture. Anyone doubt that'll ease traffic?

What? You think that's not really feasible because people need to go places even when it's not `their' day...

I see your point. Yet, it's about as sensible as proposing to keep immigrants, uninsured, or one-legged drivers off the road.

The name of the game is not to randomly reduce the number of vehicles, but to make sure everyone gets where they're needed when they're needed there.

Duh!

db

[Daniel Buring]

You can propose additional lanes, more lights, fewer speed limits and endless tunnels all you want. The point so many people miss is: YOU'RE NOT SITTING IN A TRAFFIC JAM, YOU *ARE* THE TRAFFIC JAM!

If you look to any functioning public transport system around the globe, you'll find a receipe that sounds paradoxical at first: to make traffic ease up, you have to make driving harder.

Here's a simple proposal: Make one lane one any, yes, *any* major thoroughfare a dedicated car pool/bus lane between 7am and 10am, and 3pm and 7pm, and radically increase the number of busses. We'd all be better off for it.

db

[Thomas Oatway]

Remember the day when illegal immigrants stayed home from their jobs to protest government immigration crackdowns and the border fence legislation? It was reported that the freeways in the metropolitan area were almost deserted. That demonstrated the impact of unchecked populatiion growth, and specifically illegal immigration, on traffic in Los Angeles and other surrounding counties. This suggests an obvious solution: restrict traffic on freeways and main thoroughfares to registered, insured vehicles driven by legal residents. This could be accomplished electronically. Any vehicle that passes a checkpoint could be stopped and towed. This measure may be considered extreme by some, but it is arguably lawful, and would be highly effective. And cheap to implement.

[Tom Lloyd]

Thanks for not posting my comments from last week.
I work at home. I'm unsympathetic to your troubles. I told myself when I moved here in 78 that if I got a job further than 30 minutes from home, I deserved to sit in traffic. I've maintained this attitude for ever.
Get hep slave drivers. Empower yourself. Find something you can do to make money at home and stop bitching!
Yes...it's that simple. Stay home!

[C. Duque]

I used to be a commuter from the West San Fernando Valley to Century City. My current commute is now down the hall into my home office using the telephone, computer and overnight delivery services to do business. I have removed myself from the problem but obviously this is not possible or available to everyone.

My wife still commutes into the Westside roughly 18 miles taking 45 minutes on a good day and 1 to 1-1/2 hours or more on a bad day. This is a colossal waste of time, resources, and mental energy which is bad for both business and our family.

The Orange Line was recently completed which takes travelers across the San Fernando Valley floor along what was once a rail line but diverted to wasted space. The new buses are double long, use clean fuel and are quiet. But they do not offer any relief for commuters into the Westside or the central City.

I have several propositions to help alleviate the current deplorable conditions by removing large numbers of cars from the roads. First, telecommuting should be used whenever possible and encouraged by businesses and communities by way of financial incentives to the businesses and the commuters. Too many workers drive into an office and walk into a room or cubicle and sit by themselves all day. You can do that from home with much less headache and undoubtedly higher efficiency. We have the technology. We should use it. Office space rotation could be used to reduce the need for actual head count space per day for those that do need physical face to face contact.

Second, create links between the existing lines such as the Orange Line and the major destinations. As an example make Sepulveda Blvd. through the Sepulveda Pass a bus only throughway during peak traffic periods with no private vehicle access unless you are a resident or carpooling. Increase the number of buses from the valley into the city enough that there is no waiting upon transfer from the Orange Line. For those that really do need their car at work, leave your car at work. Most families have more than one car, both of which sit in the driveway at night anyway. I for one would be more than willing to drive my wife to the Orange Line station if it meant she could avoid sitting in traffic and actually do something useful while riding an efficient, quiet and speedy bus.

Third, many of us remember the dream traffic during the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984. A simple but effective staggering of business hours created this temporary relief and it is beyond my comprehension why it wasn't permanently instituted.

For anything to change for the better it is going to take compromise and a willingness to change and be a part of the solution rather than a continuing part of an increasing problem.

[Ernest]

I dont see how certain am morning radio persomalities disagree with a monorail system. If it works for NYC and Chicago why not for LA. Monorails system can be placed on major streets like Wilshire blvd running from west LA to downtown and Supelveda Blvd from the Valley to the LA basin.

[Virgil Harrington]

A train ferry, for cars going all the way through the Los Angeles ares, would ease the load on the major freeways and interstates. The railroad tracks are already in place in some directions.

[Steve LaRock]

New freeway center divider with very little room for error.

Over the past few years, the center dividers along most of LA's freeways have been modernized and replaced. From what I've read, this new center divider is safer, it takes up less space and it looks much nicer than the one it replaces. But at night, driving in the center lane is very scary because the new gray center divider blends into the highway too well and it is very difficult to see. So, Dear Caltrans, help us see the new, flush center divider and appreciate your fine work. How about adding an unbroken, reflectorized strip, placed about 4 feet from the ground, along the entire length of our new center dividers (those little reflector nubs currently added along the top aren't helpful at all).

[Brian Higgins]

Rush hour 8:30am westbound on Ventura Blvd. The company that cleans the bus stops parks and blocks the right-hand lane. This has traffic backed up to almost Kester Ave. Why can’t they made a right turn and park on Sepulveda Blvd? There is little traffic northbound on Sepulveda at that hour. The only reason not to do it would be that it made sense.

[Greg Golden]

Steve Lopez is correct about the Hummer: Not only is it an obscene symbol in modern traffic, but is really a bad example coming from a public official. Let me digress though: I drive 20 miles each way on these freeways, alone, no carpool. When I look around at how crowded the roads are, I just remind myself that I AM PART OF THE PROBLEM. Remember that, fellow driver. Once in a while, take the bus and then you can just CLOSE YOUR EYES to all of it.

[Ralph Sellers]

Everyone seems to believe that the problem with traffic is the amount of cars on the freeways, but, if you really think about it, that only plays a very small part. The true problem is that people has actually forgotten how to drive. For instance, when people come upon a hill (Sepulveda Hill) on the freeway, why is it they don't know how to press on the gas to get up the hill at the actual speed limit. Then the flip side to that, is once they get up the hill, it seems as if they are too afraid to go down the hill at the required speed limit and instead have to ride their brakes all the way down. People need to actually remember what was taught to them in driving school. Stay with the flow of traffic. Even when merging onto the freeway, you should be going the speed limit, not below it.

Then of course you have the people that will drive in the fast lane and they are going 45 in the 65, what is that all about. Why do you think they post signs that say, slower traffic move to the right.

Another problem is we have too many looky loo's. If there is an accident on the other side of the freeway, it does not concern nor interfere with the way you are going, then why are you slowing down because, you see emergency vehicles. They are on the other side of the freeway, they are not going to come on your side. The same applies, when you are driving in the carpool lane or the fast lane, if the accident is on the side of the freeway, why are you slowing down.

And lastly, you have the people that will have 2 or more people in the car and will not use the car pool lane, even when they are not going to get off of the freeway for an extended amount of time.

[D.J. Sage]

And this would cut down on traffic congestion too....
Bush wants us to cut the amount of gas we use.
The best way to stop using so much gas is to
deport 11 million illegal immigrants!
That would be 11 million less people using our gas.
The price of gas would come down.

[Peter Sokoloff]

I wonder if Mr. Lopez would have written the article attacking Jaime de la Vega's choice of personal vehicles if Mr. de la Vega drove a Ford Explorer of Chevy Trailblazer or Jeep Grand Cherokee. I doubt it. The preceding three vehicles are all midsized SUV's like the Hummer H3 that Mr. de la Vega drives. All have similar CAFE mileage ratings to the H3. But if such had been the case, it wouldn't have made good press. Mr. Lopez's after the fact defense that the name brand Hummer screams excessive consumption and thus justifies his article and position is just wrong. We have come to expect slanted, misleading and deceptive reporting from publications like the National Enquirer...but the Los Angeles Times? I believe that Mr. Lopez owes Mr. de la Vega and his readers an apology for such shoddy reporting.

[Carla Johnaon]

Several things come to my mind. 1. We need to vastly increase the number of CHP officers to ticket the drivers who change lanes without warning, tailgate at speeds above 65 mph, and especially who move freely into and out of the carpool lane in non-designated areas. I think people sometimes drive more slowly because of these maniacs. 2. Lower the cost of Metrolink tickets. When gas prices increased, my husband and I looked into his taking the metrolink to Riverside daily. We did the math and realized that gasoline would have to cost over $5.00 per gallon for him to break even financially. His Honda is cheaper to drive on a daily basis than the train is to use. 4. Signage needs to improve so drivers know more in advance when they need to make a transition to another freeway. A sign reading "405 Santa Ana" does you no good if you don't know local geography. If I hadn't grown up driving LA freeways I would get lost constantly. 5. The Gold line east from Pasadena needs to be completed. 6. How 'bout turning the freeways into parking lots and installing trains going both ways instead?

[Ronald van Ammers]

1 lower the cost of public transportation by 10% per month until there is no increase in ridership
2 improve signage for surface streets and on freeways. Color code lanes and signs.
3 ask Google to do a transportation map for LA that integrates MTA, MEtrolink, LADOT, and all the other public transportation systems in LA
4 pay for the preceding by raising gas taxes, registration and parking fees, and charging employers according to the distance their employees travel

[Mike Cline]

Although trains are ideal for mass transit in most cities, the L.A. region lost its opportunity when most of the Red Car rights of way were relinquished. The bad new is that L.A. can never build enough train lines to provide effective mass transit. The good news is that buses can easily and inexpensively provide highly effective mass transit for the L.A. Basin--given a slight allowance of political courage. All that's required is a grid of bus-only roads/lanes throughout the region. Not new roadways--existing pavement removed from Each north-south line, and each east-west line, would be no more than one mile apart. Thus no one would have to walk over a half mile--which will work even in L.A. Forget the fancy bus stations and other unnecessary frills so beloved by politicians and their pet contractors. Aside from existing pavement, all that's needed is benches, signposts, and electronic transmitters to change minor traffic signals to green as buses approach. Simple, easy, cheap, effective and completely unglamourous. They'll never do it.

[Patrick Keady]

Mayor Villaraigosa.....Please start a Telecommuting Plan for our city

Over the past 4 years I have phoned into the office 65% of the time.
Let's figure out how to get more people doing this.
The technology, corporate and employee willingness is there already.

In a year
I save over 850 gallons of gas (and equivilent carbon output)
800 hours of time driving to and from work

Call me...we can do a Web Meeting

[Benjamin T. Campana]

Bottlenecks can be avoided if those drivers who uses an exit lane or lanes going to different freeway and then merge at the very end to the original freeway they should be travelling will get a hefty size tickets, so that they don't repeat their offense. These people create blockage at the freeway they are travelling and can cause accidents to unknowing drivers following them when they suddenly slow down and try to merge.

Also, if we send all Raider's fans with Raider's stickers on their vehicle to Oakland where their favorite team plays, it will be a lot lighter for us who loves our local teams more.

[Vanessa Reyes Smith]

HERE IS A COPY OF A LETTER I RECENTLY TO MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA...TAKE A LOOK...

I wanted to step forward and offer a few ideas on other huge problem in this city and that is TRAFFIC.

I commute to work from Hermosa Beach to Santa Monica, 13 miles one-way. In addition to that 45 minute commute each way, I do spend a great deal of time on the roads and therefore feel that I am in some way an expert of the Los Angeles city streets. I was thinking that you might be able to use people like me but not me to identify problem traffic areas so that your team in the transportation department can prioritize areas and ease traffic flow.

Here’s the plan:
Establish a full force PR campaign to enlist the help of local residents to identify one of their most frustrating traffic snarls. They can submit these locations via email and there might be monthly or bi-monthly announcements of traffic light changes or road changes. This announcement can be via email as the form of updates or via the media (print and electronic). It might be a simplistic plan but I think it might give you and the team in City Hall a positive and pro-active voice in the community.

Here are a few of my personal thoughts to help ease the flow:

• Walgrove Avenue in West LA. Southbound side should have a no parking 4-6 zone as the parked cars make the intersection of Venice and Walgrove a nightmare. This is a very frequently used southbound route and is backed up at Venice.
• 405 Southbound carpool lane should be closed until the full route can be completed. The problem with the lane as it is is that it ends right at the four-level interchange which at best is going from 5 lanes to 2 lanes already.

• La Cienega southbound at Centinela. The median should be narrowed to allow a longer - in length and duration - left hand turn light and lane. At present, the left hand turn folks block the number one lane of traffic which backed up La Cienega to Rodeo Road.
• Cotner at Olympic westbound needs a left hand turn signal to the 405.
• Daily, Sepulveda should be converted from 6-10AM and 4-7PM to a reverse traffic system as the majority of people are coming into the city in the morning and going home to the Valley in the evening. If you take one lane from the opposing traffic lane, it might ease that 405 flow.
• 405 at Rosecrans West needs a light east of the overpass at Rosecrans. At present, the traffic is backed on the freeway in order to turn right.
• I know this is Mr. Schwarzenegger’s area, but the work to widen the 405 should happen 10PM-6AM Monday through Sunday. Workers of course should be given a graveyard shift differential but the work has to continue to happen at a break-neck rate.

In conclusion, I thought I would offer my thoughts. I hope you strongly consider them.

[JoAnn Couper]

I spend 50 % of my working hours in the car. The most common problem I encounter is people who don't realize that if they take their foot off of the gas; the car will actually slow down. The reason there is soooooo much unexplained stop and go traffic on the freeway is that people seem to have a love affair with their brake pedal. When one person brakes; the guy behind him brakes and so on and so on......if they would just remove their foot from the gas; it would slow them down and not cause the chain reaction of mindless brake pedal surfing !!!!

[Gary M. Barnbaum, CPA CMC]

If an amusement park can build a functioning monorail system, and do it 50 years ago, why can't it be done in the city of Los Angeles?
Not only that, but they already have built in rights of way - the sides of the freeways.
Further, if they build it people will come, once they see the trains whizzing by, while they and everyone else is sitting in their cars, stuck in traffic.