Traffic Relief
Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa
2008 Traffic Relief Initiatives
Traffic congestion is unfortunately a way of life for most commuters in Los Angeles. Since day one of this administration, we have been working hard to bring a modern, convenient, reliable and public transportation system to Los Angeles. We've expanded Rapid Bus service citywide, opened the Orange Line in the Valley and broken ground on the Expo Line and the Eastside Gold Line Extension. And we are working to secure funding for a downtown light rail connector, a Gold Line extension to Ontario, and a Subway to the Sea. My administration will continue its dedication to these long-term objectives, but Los Angeles commuters deserve immediate traffic relief. Now more than ever, as the City faces tight budgets and an uncertain economy, we have an obligation to deliver that relief in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. Over the next 12-16 weeks, the Department of Transportation and I will mount an aggressive campaign to implement a series of traffic relief measures that use existing resources in a smart, targeted manner to optimize traffic flow on our local streets and roads.
These common-sense measures include the following:
- New technologies and additional penalties for blocking intersections
- A Sunset Boulevard Tiger Team using new License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology to identify violators
- New traffic signal synchronization projects in Westchester and Mid-Wilshire
- Additional "priority express corridors" modeled after our Olympic West Pico East initiative
- Phase II of Operation Bottleneck Relief
- Faster, easier parking meter technology
- Infrastructure improvements and pothole repair
- Diagonal (or "scrambled") crosswalks
- Additional Left Turn Signals
- Incentives for public transportation, off-peak commuting and telecommuting
The City's transportation workers and I look forward to rolling up our sleeves together with the City Council to make lives a little easier for Los Angeles Commuters.
ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA
Mayor
DON'T BLOCK THE BOX
During the morning and afternoon rush hour periods, too many drivers try to cross busy intersections and end up stuck in the middle of the street. Unable to move forward, these cars block oncoming traffic - a violation of the California Vehicle Code - and create gridlock and traffic jams at some of the City's busiest intersections.
The Department of Transportation has identified 10 intersections displaying chronic blockages and causing unnecessary gridlock across the City, and will assign two traffic officers to each area. These officers will record license plate numbers and other identifying information of vehicles blocking each intersection. With the help of video cameras recording the violations, officers - including both peace and parking enforcement officers - will issue formal citations to the registered owners of each vehicle and impose penalties on all offenders.
TIGER TEAM IV
Every day, illegally parked vehicles create major congestion and bottlenecks during the morning and afternoon rush hours. These illegally parked vehicles reduce the number of lanes for commuter traffic, cause motorists to slow down, force drivers to swerve into other lanes, interrupt the flow of traffic and make buses alter their travel routes. Strict parking enforcement and immediate towing of illegally parked vehicles has proven to be a useful congestion relief tool along LA's busiest corridors.
As part of the City's comprehensive set of traffic relief initiatives, Mayor Villaraigosa will launch Tiger Team IV, which will focus its efforts along the four-mile stretch of Sunset Boulevard between Vermont Avenue and Laurel Canyon Boulevard. On top of the deployment of extra officers and tow trucks to this portion of Sunset Boulevard, LA DOT officers will use new License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology to identify violators, cite owners of illegally parked vehicles and investigate claims of automobile theft.
The first three phases of the Tiger Team on Wilshire, Ventura and Crenshaw Boulevards have towed more than 27,000 illegally parked cars and issued nearly 10,000 citations for rush hour parking violations.
SIGNAL SYNCRONIZATION
Signal Synchronization is a key tool in the City's efforts to reduce traffic congestion and cut commute times. Since initiating its signal synchronization programs, LA DOT has synchronized more than 3,200 (or 75 percent) of the 4,385 traffic signals Citywide - and the City is well on its way to completing 90 percent of all synchronization projects by 2010.
Following vigorous lobbying efforts by Mayor Villaraigosa and other City leaders, the State recently committed $150 million to LA for implementation of the Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control (ATSAC) and Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) programs, which automatically changes traffic signal timing throughout the day and manages traffic in real-time.
In the coming weeks, Mayor Villaraigosa will unveil two new signal synchronization projects in the Westchester and Mid- Wilshire areas.
The Westchester initiative covers 11 square miles and 136 intersections at a cost of approximately $4.9 million. The Mid- Wilshire proposal covers 12 square miles and 256 intersections at a cost of approximately $5.7 million. Both projects are scheduled for completion ahead of schedule.
Using a combination of the ATSAC and ATCS systems, commuters in every part of Los Angeles will enjoy 20% faster travel times and more than 30% reduction in traffic congestion.
Freer-flowing traffic will also reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 912,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year.
PRIORITY EXPRESS CORRIDORS
The Priority Arterial Program is a four-year City effort that examines the most effective ways to optimize travel times and reduce congestion along major corridors in Los Angeles. This program will involve a comprehensive analysis of each corridor, followed by signal timing improvements, consistent parking restrictions and possible lane re-striping for preferential traffic flow.
Since beginning in Fiscal Year 2005-06, the City has identified and improved 14 thoroughfares, with average travel times improving by as much as 33 percent on these roads. As part of the Mayor's traffic relief initiatives, the City will complete enhancements on the five additional corridors throughout the City.
In November 2007, Mayor Villaraigosa rolled out the "Olympic-West Pico-East" initiative - a smart, safe and innovative way to ease traffic flow on two of LA's busiest cross-town boulevards.
"Olympic-West Pico-East" is a two-phase project that will affect a seven-mile stretch of both streets between La Brea Boulevard and Centinela Avenue. Phase 1 ensures consistent rush hour parking restrictions along Olympic and Pico and boosts enforcement efforts of parking rules by LA DOT officers. Phase 2 alters signal timing to allow commuters to move more quickly along Olympic heading west and Pico heading east.
According to a LA DOT study, travel speeds westbound on Olympic Boulevard were improved by as much as 31 percent and eastbound on Pico Boulevard by 45 percent. That means commuters will spend less time facing stop-and-go traffic or enduring the slow crawl of cars clogging the I-10 freeway and most major streets.
BOTTLENECK RELIEF
Operation Bottleneck Relief identifies the most congested intersections in the City and seeks to reduce delays through signal-timing improvements.
Phase II of this initiative will evaluate and enhance the 100 most congested intersections in Los Angeles, providing additional relief and ensuring shorter commute times for drivers across the City.
Phase I of this program - launched in 2006 - examined 98 of the busiest intersections during morning and evening rush hour periods, analyzed all traffic data, optimized signal timing, and reduced overall delays by 32 percent - saving Angelenos a total of 244,000 hours during their daily commutes.
PARKING METER TECHNOLOGY
Under the Parking Management Program, Mayor Villaraigosa pledges to more effectively manage public parking in the City through a series of initiatives designed to improve customer service, enhance enforcement efforts and ensure greater reliability of parking meters.
At the center of this effort rests new, state-of-the-art "Park & Pay" meters, which feature step-by-step payment instructions and allow drivers to use a wide range of parking payment options, including debit cards, credit cards or cell phones.
In the first step toward modernizing the City's 40,000 existing parking meters, the Mayor and LA DOT will replace 5,000 on-street meters with advanced technology single-space meters and multi-space "Park & Pay" stations throughout the City.
This initiative follows the Mayor's announcement in December 2007 that LA DOT would install the new parking meters in 30 off-street metered lots throughout the City.
INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS
The Department of Public Works' street improvement program is designed to improve street and intersection capacity to enhance vehicle mobility and reduce congestion.
To this point, the City has completed over $200 million worth of capital projects through this initiative, and plans to expand these efforts to high congestion areas throughout Los Angeles.
HIGHLAND AND FRANKLIN
The next step in the street improvement program will focus on the intersection of Highland Avenue and Franklin Boulevard in Hollywood. This project will add right and left turn pockets, install new street lights, add landscaping, and upgrade traffic and leftturn signals.
Once complete, the Highland and Franklin initiative will reduce travel delays by up to 23 percent.
OPERATION POTHOLE
Over the past two and a half years, Mayor Villaraigosa has made filling potholes and repaving streets a top priority. Fixing potholes and improving the quality of City streets help reduce maintenance costs for local motorists and ensure a smoother daily commute for LA residents.
Through "Operation Pothole" and the hard work of the Bureau of Street Services, the City filled more than 540,000 potholes between July 2005 and July 2007 - far exceeding expectations and surpassing the goals set at the beginning of the Mayor's term.
At the beginning of Fiscal Year 2007-08, Mayor Villaraigosa pledged to build on the success of his first two years in office by filling a total of 350,000 potholes by June 30, 2008. With the Bureau of Street Services well on its way to meeting that goal, the Mayor will mark a major milestone in these efforts in the coming months.
SCRAMBLED CROSSWALKS
Key intersections throughout the City face a high volume of pedestrians on a regular basis, making it difficult for motorists to turn right and left, and endangering residents, shoppers and workers trying to cross the street.
In order to enhance pedestrian safety and improve traffic flow, LA DOT developed plans to install 10 all-way crosswalks at some of the City's busiest intersections.
These crosswalks place pedestrians and vehicles on separate signal cycles, allowing people to walk across the street without having to dodge oncoming traffic.
This proposal also gives pedestrians the option of crossing an intersection diagonally.
LEFT-TURN SIGNALS
Left-turn signals are an easy, low-cost and effective way to reduce congestion, improve traffic flow and decrease the chance of traffic collisions. Following an extensive study, LA DOT engineers estimate that leftturn arrows reduce traffic collisions by up to 66 percent and cut excessive wait times at left-turn pockets.
Through the Mayor's ongoing left-turn initiatives, the City is helping commuters avoid traffic accidents and reach their destinations on time. Of the 460 left turn arrows programmed in the City, 218 - or 47 percent - have been installed since Mayor Villaraigosa took office in July 2005.
Following the successful completion of the 30-30 Left Turn Arrow Initiative - when LADOT crews installed 30 left-turn signals in 30 days - Mayor Villaraigosa launched the "Right to Turn Left" initiative. Through this program, LADOT will build, install and activate 100 left turn arrows throughout the City between January 2, 2008, and June 30, 2008. The total cost of this initiative - supported by previously allocated funds - is $3 million.
PROMOTING PUBLIC TRANSIT
Since taking office, Mayor Villaraigosa has made promoting and expanding public transit options a top priority in his transportation agenda.
As part of this effort, he has encouraged LA residents to utilize the metro and bus systems throughout the City.
In the coming months, Mayor Villaraigosa and City Council members will work with the business community to develop incentives for employees at the City's principal job centers to use public transportation, commute to and from work during off-peak hours and take advantage of telecommuting opportunities.