Reality check: The 1984 'traffic miracle'

Flashback to 1984. The Wall Street Journal captured L.A.'s fear of the Olympics ruined by bad traffic:

Stanley Buckmaster has nightmares about "Black Friday."  That is what he and other officials at the California Transportation Department call Aug. 3 - a day when sellout boxing, swimming and track and field competition run almost all day long in the Coliseum - University of Southern California area.  Given Los Angeles's almost fanatical attachment to the private automobile and a shortfall of 16,000 parking places in the area, traffic could be a big problem."

Of course, those fears were not realized. Olympic honcho Peter Ueberroth recently talked about the 1984 traffic miracle to the Chicago Tribune:

He was sitting in a helicopter above what usually is the most congested freeway interchange in downtown Los Angeles. Broadcasting from the chopper to local radio stations, he was able to count cars as they passed below. "Any city can plan around traffic, with a little cooperation from the public," Ueberroth said.

But The Times noted back in 1985 that it wasn't exactly a miracle: " [It was] no fluke but resulted to a large degree from employer policies during the Games (23% of major employers surveyed used staggered shifts; 33% permitted flextime)."

What do you think? Hit the COMMENT button and speak out!

Comments

[Eric Estrin]

It wasn't only freeway traffic -- surface streets were a breeze too. My recollection is that the city took a break from its perpetual road maintenance/construction projects to allow traffic to flow freely. As soon as the Olympics were over, the roads, which had never looked or performed better, suddenly needed more work.

[Gordon Cole]

Exactly what I've been saying for years! Mass transit will never be the answer to congestion relief in Southern California: It's going to take our employers being willing to actively encourage staggered shifts 9/80 and 4/40 work weeks, and (horrors) more telecommuting! The only way to liberate Southern California from traffic is to liberate the work environment and accept the fact that we can no longer afford an 8 to 5 society.

[Kate]

Actually, I think those employer policies may have been the real miracle. Also, wasn't L.A. during the 1984 Olympics a bit like Paris--all tourists and no locals, because the locals planned their vacations so that they wouldn't have to be in town during the Olympics? Ultimately, though, both those things are the public cooperation that Ueberroth cites.