RE: "Biking works for local trips but L.A. is too spread out for this to work. "

On Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 9:00 PM, Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Biking: If Portland can do it, why can't L.A. can ...":

L.A. is nearly 4 times the size of Portland and with a larger commuter work force. Biking works for local trips but L.A. is too spread out for this to work.



Posted by Anonymous to L.A. traffic sucks: Let's fix it! at 7:00 PM

nando replies:

See, this is the problem. If you look at everything from an "all-or-nothing,""black-and-white," "the glass-is-half-full-or-half-empty" perspective, then you'll miss the "something's," the "shades of grey," and the "bottles" from which you could "fill that glass"!

Extreme situations call for extreme solutions or any solution that helps. In such a situation, everything and anything helps; every little bit helps. Obviously, this reader hasn't read the blog. The blog calls for a mosaic of solutions, because, obviously, NO one single solution will ever work or will ever be implemented.

No one is suggesting that you bike from Santa Monica to Hollywood. But if I remember right, the MTA Rapid Red buses do have bike racks on front. You could actually load up your bike onto the bus on the bike rack, ride all the way to wherever the Rapis Bus (or any other bus) takes you, and then bike from there to wherever you need to go. It is perfectly do-able! I myself did it in Austin. And people are actually doing it in L.A.

Also, this kind of "solution" will only work, obviously, at the local level. Santa Monica could have its own Portland-like (or Paris-like) biking program. Westwood should have its own. Beverly Hills should have its own. West Hollywood its own, and so on and so forth... Thinking city-wide and in centralized, LA-mandated terms, will, of course, defeat any such idea. The best ideas start locally and spread out as word-of-mouth and benefits make the rounds.

This is the kind of defeatist mentality ("Biking works for local trips but L.A. is too spread out for this to work. ") that keeps any solution or solutions from being tried or implemented.

Back in the 16th century, the Spanish conquistadores actually thought that California was an island! One of the early Spanish explorers started the idea and it just got perpetuated until they discovered that, hey, it wasn't true at all. Will Durant once wrote that "everything is impossible until it is done" (Obama anybody?). So don't ever say that "L.A. is too [whatever] for this to work. " Try it. Give it a real good try. And then go from there.

I think this whole nation (especially under this new visionary Kennedy-like administration) and this whole world are going to be moving in that direction: the direction of trying what has never been tried before, the direction of finding solutions to problems that had never thought possible before. That's the only way this earth will be able to support a 6 billion or a 10 billion or a who-knows-how-many billion population world that owns who knows how many millions or billions of automobiles.

Think about it.

Biking: If Portland can do it, why can't L.A. can do it?

Here we go! Read all about "Bike City, U.S.A."

The key to making biking part of the community?

Simple.

Make biking part of the local economy!

If Portland can do it, why can't L.A. do it?

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IHT:

"Driving the Portland economy with pedals and two wheels"

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Vive la France! The "Vélibs" riders

The newly elected President of France, Nichola Sarkozy, nicknamed "Sarko, l'Americain," ("Sarko, the American") is in love with all things American, so it's now safe again to say, "Vive la France!"

And "Vive la France!" indeed! For this is a wonderful idea!

Check it out!

Journeys | Paris
"Finding Liberté on Two Wheels"
By ERIC RAYMAN
Published: October 14, 2007 in The New York Times
Paris’s self-service bicycle docking stations make it easy even for fresh-off-the-plane Americans to explore the city in a way that you can’t by foot, by Métro or by taxi.

Magnifique!

These "Vélibs", as the bikes are called, and "Vélibiens", as their riders are called, are a great idea! (...kind of like those push-carts one rents at airports to haul one's luggage to the car rental. Same concept, basically.)

This French idea might even play in Peoria: ooh-lah-lah!

But will it ever play in car-city L.A.?!?

How about tapping one or two of those Silicon Valley zillionaires who don't know what to do with all that money to finance it?

Here's an idea for you.

If they set up shuttle services between the major and most touristic cities (Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Venice), and they set up these "self-service bicycle docking stations" in each city, tourists and locals could ride the shuttles and once they got there and off the shuttle buses, they could simply grab one of these bikes and off they'd go!

The actual impact on traffic might be insignificant. But the improvement on quality of life, especially for tourists, might be enormous...

Yes, I know what you're going to say: "This ain't Europe. They will rip off the bikes or their parts out there." All I gotta say to that is an old cliche: "where there's a will, there's a way..."

It's worth trying...

Traffic and technology: satellite radio

Mel Karmazin, President & CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio was on Charlie Rose last night.

Very interesting, to say the least. Actually, very enlightening.

What does an interview with a media executive have to do with traffic in L.A., you might ask?

Well, for one, Mr. Karmazin talked, among many other things, about his admiration for Ted Turner and for his idea to start a 24-hour all-news cable channel (CNN). I don't know if any of you has realized it yet, but satellite radio is to terrestrial radio what cable TV was to network TV in the 80's: the floodgates of information (e.i., content) are about to open wide on radio like they did on TV when cable came on the scene. The possibilities to disseminate information are enormous. And information (an enlightened public, a well-informed public, and intelligent public) is the key to improving ANYTHING in this country. Traffic can never improve as long as drivers are unaware of what's going on around them in real time.

So I thought: what about a satellite radio channel dedicated to traffic?

I looked on the Sirius website and sure enough, they've got one: SIRIUS Traffic. You need to be subscribed to Sirius satellite radio and you need a compatible navigation system. Other than that, "SIRIUS Traffic provides real-time information on accidents, traffic flow, construction, and road closures for only $3.99/month, when added to your existing SIRIUS Satellite Radio subscription."

If you subscribe to Satellite Radio through SIRIUS, adding traffic might be a good idea.

Traffic is not the only thing that needs to flow for congestion to improve in L.A. and elsewhere. INFORMATION is equally important. And what better way to make information flow than technology?

Technology is one of the key ingredients to any creative solution to the traffic problem. Satellite Radio may well be part of that creative solution. Consider it.

A philosophy of activism: What are we going to do about it?

We can talk about traffic all day long in a thousand posts, but it won't make that much of a difference if no one ever does a thing about it. So we need not only creative solutions to a very difficult problem, we also need a philosophy of activism. What are we going to do about it?

Commeting on the 54th verse of the Tao in a chapter called "Living As If Your Life Makes a Difference," Dr. Wayne Dyer, in his book "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao," writes,

"Choose an area to concentrate on making a difference.

"Don't entertain doubt about your impact on the world; instead, develop a VISION for Earth and convince yourself that you are perfectly capable of contributing to this VISION. whether it's grandiose or small. See a world without hatred, disrespect, or violence; where the environment is respected and cared for; and where cancer, AIDS, starvation, child abuse, weapons of all kinds, or any other detrimental or demeaning scenarios disappear.

"The anthropologist Margaret Mead addressed this idea in the following observation: 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.'" [p. 264 - emphasis mine]

There are a lot of people out there who say that anybody who feels this way or acts this way is probably just a "dumb shit." Well, isn't that what the Pharisees (perhaps in other words) called Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago? "hey, look at that crazy 'dumb shit' going around saying he is the 'son of God.'" Whether you believe he was or not (I personally don't), whether you believe he ever existed or not (I personally am not sure), the impact this man --or his name and what he preached-- has had upon the world is undeniable. His impact has lasted for over 20 centuries--over 2,000 years. And like that rock musical says, "In 2,000 BC, Israel had no mass communication!" How did he ever make it SO BIG?!? To begin with, he had 12 darn good activists and some who could write like it's no one's business. So even in this age of unfrettered mass communication where you--or anybody--can upload your videos to YouTube and broadcast yourself to the whole wide world in minutes; even in this age of raging cynicism where "Who cares!" is the anthem of the day; it's still true that anybody who has ever changed the world, for better or for worse, was called a "dumb shit" at one time or another. We are in very good company here.

Whatever contribution--large or small, important or insignificant--I am making with this blog, I am happy to be making it.

For good or bad, for better or for worse, ideas--great ideas--have a way of taking a life of their own and becoming unstoppable. If there is any good, any good at all, in anything we are saying here, someone will find it and use it to make a difference.

My heart goes out to Los Angeles and its people. Their lives should, or could, be so much better... Whether it will never be what it once was, it doesn't matter. If 20 million people demand that it become something better TODAY before it becomes something worse TOMORROW, believe me, IT WILL. And all it takes is ONE person to start making a difference. The rest is up to YOU...

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SPEED CORRIDORS: East-West

Most of the panel discussion at the L.A. Press Club focused on "mobility," "capacity" and "flow" on the freeways in L.A. I believe that this is a misplaced and misguided emphasis. We have to get away from this idea that the only way to increase mobility and traffic flow in the L.A. area is by increasing flow on the freeways. The idea that the only way to increase mobility is by increasing flow on the freeways is a totally misguided idea. DO NOT believe it.

Any solution to the congestion in L.A., especially on the Westside, will have to include increasing traffic flow on the streets as well, as an alternative to the freeways.

The only way to achieve increasing traffic flow on the streets is by creating temporary SPEED CORRIDORS.

The only way to create SPEED CORRIDORS is by keeping the lights GREEN on ALL major roads going east-west from Sunset to Venice (Sunset Blvd., Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica Blvd., Olympic, Pico, Venice Blvd.) for at least 5 minutes or longer at certain intervals from 7:00am to 9:00am in the morning going east to west, and from 4:00pm to 7:00om in the evening going from west to east. This would create unbelievable flow that would get most cars and buses in and out of the Westside (west of he 405) every morning and evening at a very fast rate.

It is this mass migration of workers going east to west in the morning and west to east in the evenings what creates unbelievable congestion on I-10 and all major roads east-west from Sunset to Venice.

By creating these SPEED CORRIDORS, you would be creating an alternative I-10, which cannot possibly handle such an unbelievable volume of cars without getting jammed. You would be creating an alternative to I-10 without increasing capacity on the freeway and without building another freeway.

It's a great idea. BELIEVE IN IT.

Detractors of this idea would counter: "Well, what about traffic going north-south? While the lights are green for east-west traffic, north-south traffic would be getting jammed on all those roads running north-south that cross the roads you mentioned. And what about pedestrians? They'd be stuck waiting for 5 minutes or longer for the light to change to cross the road!"

My answer is that this idea of SPEED CORRIDORS cannot be implemented without creating a few overpasses for north-south traffic and some skywalks for pedestrians (see my posts WHY L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION #3 and WHY L.A. traffic sucks: Open Discussion #6: Pedestrian Under/Overpasses for more on this issue).

The idea of tolls on freeways as a solution to congestion would be not only self-defeating, tax-regressive and eventually useless, but it would also be COUNTERPRODUCTIVE: ALL those who are unwilling or unable to pay the tolls would simply spill out onto the streets and roads to avoid paying the tolls, thus creating even more congestion, congestion of unbelievable proportions on the streets of L.A. To believe that tolls are going to change behavior and keep people from driving as single drivers in one car is an illusion. Whoever said that freeways are the only way to "get there"?

Since, according to Tom Rubin, former Administrator for Public Transport in Southern California, "we" (whatever that means!) have decided NOT to increase capacity on freeways, ANY solution to the traffic congestion problem in L.A. MUST include increasing flow on streets and roads as an alternative to the freeways. There's NO question about it.

Any solution, or set of solutions, that focuses on freeway flow at the expense of street flow is part of the problem, NOT part of the solution.

ANY great and creative solution, or set of solutions, for the traffic congestion in L.A. and other metropolitan areas, will have to consider flow EVERYWHERE, NOT just on the freeways.

L.A. is like a 500-pound individual whose arteries are clogged and whose blood is not flowing like it should. This "individual" needs to slim down, start exercising and increase blood flow to ALL parts of the body.

It is that simple a solution.

Whether this "individual" will have the willpower and determination to change or continue to stumble along at the current sluggish pace, is another question.

If you were one of those "blood cells" inside this "individual", what would you say?

Would you say this?

DAMN LOS ANGELES TRAFFIC! [From: ACCDzek]



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Technology used right to make a difference in traffic

Just yesterday, I read this article on Yahoo News about the technology being used on campuses to alert students in case of an eventuality, an emergency or impending danger on campus.

(See Texting, Facebook used to alert students).

How does it work? Simple. Here's a quote from the article:

"NEW YORK - When a masked freshman came to campus at St. John's University with what police said was a loaded rifle sticking out of a bag, the school alerted students via cell-phone text messages within 18 minutes.

And when a suicidal gunman was reported to be on the loose at the University of Wisconsin, the school sent out mass e-mails and took out an ad on Facebook to warn students."

This is American ingenuity at its best. This is what it's all about.

Actually, the campus, St. John's University, "purchased its inCampuAlert text-messaging system from a California company called MIR3 Inc. over the summer." So the system was developed in California.

Here's a good one for you--well, for the powers-that-be, the politicians, and the taxpayers.

Why not set up a system in the whole L.A. area to alert drivers or suggest routes?

Actually, I was driving around L.A. one day a month or two ago, when I heard a radio station, STAR 98.7 to be exact - www.star987.com- asking listeners to sign up for their traffic update to your cell phone via text messaging.

And this website - www.traffic.com- offers all kinds of traffic alerts and ways to get them from a hotline to text messaging.

And -- what'd'y'say, what'd'y'know! -- Rand McNally, the map company, is also getting into the act with traffic alerts direct to your cell phone: www.randmcnally.com/traffic

So it is already in place, it seems, and radio stations and websites like traffic.com seem to be the pioneers here, the frontrunners on using technology to keep the public informed.

Perhaps the L.A. transit authorities could set up the system in conjunction with the radio stations or supplement their existing one.

We've talked about electronic bulletin boards on freeways that display important information. I noticed that there are many of those cropping up everywhere, especially along the 105 and the 605. That's a good sign of improvement. But this system would be (or is?) a lot better. You would get an update right on your cell phone before you leave for your destination or as you get on your way and adjust your route accordingly.

Like we've said over and over on our postings here on this blog, this problem has no single solution but multiple solutions that working together in concert will make an impact on traffic. Technology, used creatively and effectively, must be a key ingredient of that multi-layered solution.

This is the first in a series of posts on how technology--existing technology, not pipe-dream futuristic stuff--can help improve traffic. A lot of the technology is already available. It's up to YOU and the powers-that-be to make it happen...
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DRIVING TIPS: SMART FOXES vs. HERDS OF SHEEP.

DRIVING TIPS: SMART FOXES vs. HERDS OF SHEEP.

How do you get from A to Z? Driving tips to bypass heavy traffic and get there on time. SMART FOXES vs. HERDS OF SHEEP.

The powers-that-be in L.A. need to start finding ways to redirect traffic to UNCLOG freeways and main roads (see my post "WHY L.A. traffic sucks: that "monster," the 405 freeway..."). And angelenos need to stop being herds of sheep clogging the freeways and main roads and start thinking of CREATIVE ways to bypass traffic. There are OTHER WAYS of getting there. Believe me. Forget your high school geometry. In L.A., the shortest distance between two points is NOT a straight line.

Suppose you are in Marina del Rey (Washington at Pacific) and you need to get to West Hollywood by 6:00 and it's 5:00pm. How do you make it?

Take I-10 East, exit La Cienega North and voila`?!? That'll take you two hours, if you're lucky! That's the herds of sheep way. That's WHY is is CLOGGED. What's the SMART FOX way of getting there?

Some people swear by Venice, others swear by Olympic. The truth is, neither is a good alternative unless they implement my idea of turning them into "virtual freeways" by keeping the lights GREEN for a longer period of time (5 to 10 minutes).

Here's what you do.

You are on Pacific and Washington Blvd. right by the ocean. And you're starting to despair (I'll never make it!!"). Take it easy. Have no fear, italianesco is here, and will tell you how to get there in no time at all.

Go East on Washington Blvd. Make a left on Lincoln. Go past Venice Blvd. And then--careful! don't miss it!--make a right on PALMS. Yes, PALMS!! Go east on Palms. At Penmar, Palms jogs. So make a right on Penmar and then an immediate left right back onto Palms. But STAY ON PALMS! After Walgrove, Palms widens a bit and starts getting wonderful. And the most important thing: up to now, NO traffic! NO traffic at all!!

And here's the truly, really WONDERFUL THING ABOUT PALMS: unlike a lot of other small streets, Palms has an OVERPASS over the 405!!! Can you believe it? An overpass!!! Go right over it, and once you are on the other side of the 405, you're half way there!

Stay with us. It gets interesting...

Once you get to I-10, guesswhat? Palms has an UNDERPASS under I-10!!! An underpass! Can you believe it? Whoever did Palms was a GENIUS! Palms is L.A. DONE RIGHT. If ALL the streets that cross the 405 and I-10 were like Palms, there'd be hardly any traffic problem on the Westside. (see my post "WHY L.A. traffic sucks #2: bad (or not exactly forward-looking) design")

After I-10, you wonder, "Where in the world did lovely Palms go?!? It was great!!" Well, guesswhat? It turned into National. And National is a heavy-duty traffic street. Stay away from it! Make a left onto Castle Heights Avenue. Then make a right on Cattaraugus Avenue. Then make a left on S. Robertson Blvd. A bit of traffic here, but don't panic! As soon as you get to Olympic, MAKE A RIGHT! Here--way, way, way East of the 405--three-lane Olympic ROCKS!! Go East on Olympic and then make a left on Crescent Heights, and you've made it!! We got you there!!! And right on time! (ahem... Give or take a minute, of course... In L.A. you NEVER know...)

So that's the SMART FOX WAY OF GETTING THERE! You get on the roads that rock, not on the roads that suck! If you'd rather be stuck for two hours on I-10 East or Venice or Olympic like a herd of sheep, be our guest!! Hope you have plenty of good music with you or a good audio book, or, since you're not really going to be driving but going bumper to bumper, then, yes, why not? go ahead and talk on your cell phone all you want for two hours. At least, it'll keep you sane... That's what sheep do when they are in a herd, anyway, go "beehhhhhhhhh!!" The SMART FOX will get there quicker than you and win the prize... No "sense of entitlement," no rudeness, just smartness. That's all it takes...


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WHY L.A. traffic sucks: that "monster," the 405 freeway...

WHY L.A. traffic sucks: that "monster," the 405 freeway...

Setting aside for a moment L.A. drivers addicted to driving and addicted to driving while talking on their cell phones, let's turn our attention for a moment to that "monster," the 405 freeway. Let's focus first on traffic going south--from the Valley to points south. On this stretch of the 405 from, say, the Ventura/101 exit in the Valley to the Century Blvd/LAX exit, the 405 is ALWAYS clogged. Perhaps not 24/7 but certainly from, say, 6:00am to 9:00pm MON-SAT (let's give Sunday MORNING a respite. But dare venture onto the 405 anytime Sunday afternoon or evening, and see what you're in for!).

WHY?

Simple. The 405 has at least 4 to 6 lanes (in some stretches) in each direction--plenty of lanes to carry quite a bit of traffic. BUT, as it approaches the I-10 junction, those 4 or 6 lanes narrow down to a TINY bottleneck of TWO measly lanes as the far right lane becomes the "Exit Only" ramp to enter I-10 West and the second right lane turns into the "Exit Only" ramp to enter I-10 East. The designers of this freeway probably assumed that most of the traffic from the north was going to go into one of these three directions--South, I-10 West, I-10 East--in equal proportions. Well, guesswhat? They guessed wrong. DEAD WRONG. MOST of the traffic is actually going south (LAX, for one!). And not only that. RIGHT BEFORE the 405/I-10 junction, FIVE (5) of the major East-West boulevards--Sunset, Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic and Pico--feed into the 405 hundreds of cars, thousands of cars, from the East and from the West. And ALL OF THIS almost RIGHT BEFORE THE 405/I-10 junction where the freeway narrows to a bottleneck of a mere TWO lanes and so many cars have to negotiate where they are going: South on the 405? East on I-10? Or West on I-10?

Right after this two-lane bottleneck, the freeway widens again into more lanes. BUT guesswhat? the ramps from I-10 East and West feed even MORE cars into the 405. So you have a jam before the bottleneck and a jam after the bottleneck. And this jam is not disolved until you reach the Century Blvd/LAX exit.

This is TERRIBLE DESIGN. I don't care WHO did it, I don't care WHEN they did it, I don't care WHY they did it, it is TERRIBLE, ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE DESIGN. Whoever created the 405 created most of the traffic problems on the Westside. (See my April 26, 2006 post: "WHY L.A. traffic sucks #2: bad (or not exactly forward-looking) design"). And this jumbled junction, right before FIVE (5) of the major East-West boulevards--Sunset, Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic and Pico--feeding into it, causes a major backed-up bottleneck traffic jam GRIDLOCK all the way to the Ventura Blvd. exit in the Valley. It is ridiculous. It is ABSURD. It is one of the reasons -- perhaps not the only reason, but certainly one of the MAIN reasons, if not THE MAIN REASON-- the 405 is ALWAYS jammed. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or a civil engineer to figure this one out. Anybody with a modicum of intelligence can figure out what the problem is by driving through this juction. Now that the problem has been created--who knows how long ago--the hard part is, HOW to solve it.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT? SOLUTION: REDIRECTING TRAFFIC

There is construction work on the 405 from Wilshire all the way to Century Blvd. It looks like they are trying to widen the freeway and improve some entrances/exits (and/or put in those ridiculous ineffective HOV lanes. Does anyone know?). Depending on WHAT they are trying to do and HOW LONG it will take them to complete it (anyone's guess!), anyone expecting the 405 to get any better anytime soon is dreaming.

The solution, again, must be to redirect some of that north-south traffic ELSEWHERE, and that "elsewhere" can only be either onto Sepulveda or onto Sawtelle. That in turn cannot be done without creating an unbelievable jam at the five or six major roads--Sunset, Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic, Pico, Venice--that intersect Sepulveda and Sawtelle. The 405 needs a break! But it can't be given a break at the expense of all those other major roads. What to do?

OVERPASSES OVER WILSHIRE, SANTA MONICE, OLYMPIC, PICO AND VENICE ON SEPULVEDA AND/OR SAWTELLE

My idea of turning roads into virtual "freeways" by keeping the lights GREEN for a longer period of time would not work here. Those major roads--Wilshire, Santa Monica, Olympic, Pico, Venice--need to be turned into virtual "freeways" themselves or East-West traffic will continue to be jammed as it is. Overpasses might be one possible solution, if not the only viable solution. Redirecting traffic has to become one of the KEY SOLUTIONS to traffic problems in L.A. The major freeways and major roads cannot handle the current volume of cars hoisted onto them. Enlarging all the freeways, or even building new ones (major ones), is, if not politically, certainly financially impossible. Building a comprehensive subway system or a monorail in earthquake-prone California is, if not politically, certainly financially a long way off (it ain't happening tomorrow! I can tell you that much!). It is time for CREATIVE solutions to intractable problems that work NOW--RIGHT NOW. It might not be pretty (overpasses tend to uglify intersections) but gridlock is even uglier--and unhealthier. SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE.

THE 90 MARINA DEL REY FREEWAY

The 90 Marina del Rey freeway is a great example of what could be done to redirect traffic. If you are coming North on the 405 and heading towards Marina del Rey, Venice or downtown Santa Monica, The 90 Marina del Rey freeway is a very wise, if not the very best, alternative. TAKE IT. You'd have to be crazy to stay on the 405 when you can take the 90.

Driving Tip #1:

Once you get to Lincoln, make a right and go as far as Washington Blvd. Make a left on Washington and you'll get anywhere in Marina del Rey you need to go. You're going to Venice? Make a left on Washington and then make a right on Abbot Kinney and you'll get anywhere in Venice you need to go. You're going to downtown Santa Monica? Make a left on Washington and then make a right on Aboot Kinney. Stay on Abbot Kinney until it "tees" with Main. Make a right on Main. Make a left on Rose (DO NOT GO THROUGH THE REST OF MAIN!! Too many lights and too much pedestrian traffic! Nielssen rocks!). Make a right on Nielssen Way and stay on Nielssen until it turns into Ocean Blvd. and you'll get anywhere in downtown Santa Monica (Third Street Promenade) you need to go. This way you will have bypassed all the traffic and gotten to your destination a lot more quickly than by staying on the 405 (I did this ALL THE TIME!).

This is the kind of CREATIVE redirection of traffic that needs to be done all over L.A. to unclog the freeways and major roads and get traffic flowing.

This is the other possible solution based on the same premise of redirecting traffic: build more SHORT freeways like the 90 Marina del Rey freeway.

Whoever had the idea of building the 90 Marina del Rey freeway had an excellent idea. L.A. needs a lot more such excellent ideas!

With this "get there quick" tip, we're going to start a series of helpful "how to get there quick" tips all over L.A. (you're welcome to contribute!!). Finding creative ways of "getting there" by redirecting traffic is the only way to get freeways and major roads UNCLOGGED and find some "breathing room" in L.A.--at least for the time being, until the city faces what it has to do to seek more permanent solutions...
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Photo: FOCUSING ON THE SOLUTION, NOT ON THE PROBLEM!
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WHY L.A. traffic sucks: Open Discussion #6: Pedestrian Under/Overpasses

calwatch has left a new comment on your post "WHY L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION #3":

Actually, they thought of pedestrian underpasses years ago. You see some pedestrian underpasses remaining in the older parts of Hollywood and on the east side, where they are common under Huntington Drive. The reason they were all chained up and fenced was because people were living in them, and so were only opened during school hours, except bullies would use them to accost their prey. Finally they chained them all up and no one uses them even during school hours.

Posted by calwatch to L.A. traffic sucks: Let's fix it! at 5/03/2006 11:44:57 PM

italianesco replies:

I'm sure that when it comes to traffic, there's little new under the sun. Perhaps what's going to work is applying the same old idea in a highly INNOVATIVE way.

I really don't know what to say to this. This is a social (potentially criminal) problem, not a traffic problem. It's interesting how you can try to solve a traffic problem and end up creating the environment for a social problem. If this rules out "pedestrian underpasses" (I need to compile a glossary of traffic terms!), then what about "skywalks" (or more technically, "pedestrian overpasses," I suppose)?

Do you know where there is a nice one? There is a nice "skywalk" connecting the Westside Pavillion on the eastern and western sides of Westwood. It was probably conceived with the convenience of the shoppers in mind not that of traffic. But I'm sure that, indirectly, it helps traffic around that intersection. You park for free at the mall and then have access to the mall extension across the street without crossing the street or getting back into your car back and driving. Whoever thought of that had an EXCELLENT IDEA. L.A. needs a lot more such excellent ideas...
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Photo of skywalk courtesy of the Minneapolis/St. Paul: Skywalk System. Interesting page if you're interested in the topic of skywalks, their effectiveness in redirecting pedestrian traffic and the issues involved.
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