Adding a lane to freeways to loosen congestion has been a traffic solution for 50 years, apparently out of habit or tradition, but not because it works. Environmentalists have insisted that highway expansion triggers the law of nature defined by Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams that “If you build it, they will come.” And they’re right. At least in LA, the most recent highway expansion has lead to double-digit percentage increases in traffic and, alas, plans for another expansion.

"We expected that the opening of the freeway would result in additional traffic on the 210," Ty Schuiling, county transportation planner, said. "…It's not enough to make the freeway crash and burn at this point." What? Clearly, the standards are a bit skewed when LA considers a project whose results are counter to its goals, but not ‘crash and burn,’ worthy of replication.

Even if LA's traffic science is wacky, you'd think they could respect common sense, but no. Home of the 405 and other sprawling freeways, a person could think they would have learned that building a new freeway, like the 210, does not really do anything to solve traffic issues. Schuiling notes they knew ahead of time that traffic would increase, and continued with the project anyway. Their own data now shows that traffic is up by 20% and merging onto connecting freeways is nightmarish.

LA’s answer to 210’s traffic increase is to widen it, evoking the incredulous-wide-eyed look from this author. The anti-rationality of further widening a freeway when it didn’t work the first ten times leads to suspicions that somebody with power has a stake in an asphalt company. There are lots, and lots, and lots of better transit options for LA to take advantage of with the millions they are about to sink into futilely widening 210:

1. Get a rail line. LA’s absence of a light rail is mystifying. They have the density for ridership, the regionalism for effective stops, smoggy environmental motivation obscuring skylines, and gas prices kissing $5.00/gallon. LA is primetime mass transit territory, if only the government would start working on buying the right of ways and launching the scoping meetings.

2. Though they have tried to enhance the bus service, they have leagues to go in that respect and lots of options for Bus Rapid Transit, or specialized bus lanes with limited stops, with all that freeway.

3. There is now fancy technology to make existing traffic more efficient via light timing schemes; they should use it. A lot of LA’s traffic occurs in predictable patterns that could be manipulated via metering lights and software that responds to real time conditions.

4. PRT and GRT: personal rapid transit, or group rapid transit, is the Jetson-y idea of having pods that carry people around on an above ground track or hanging wire, a la ski lift or mini-monorail. Personal rapid transit for personal pods, group rapid transit for larger pods. This is sort of a far-out idea for transit, which is why it would work in LA. LA also has destinations that are very popular but hard to get to and park at, ideal PRT or GRT conditions.

5.The transit district has to win hearts and minds via a serious publicity campaign. LAians are used to cars, and they need to be purposefully weaned off them.

LA shouldn’t expand freeways anymore. They’ve maxed out the utility of that idea. I am not more creative than the people in LA, and I just thought of five alternatives to highway expansion off the top of my head. Thankfully, there are lots of cool solutions like these waiting for LA once a strong leader manages to intercept the vicious freeway expansion cycle. 

Photo by Robert Corbin.