4 ms·

Simple solution to both problems: build a lot more mass transit.

by melling 10y ago

Tempest1981 10y ago
How much will that cost? Measure B will help a bit, but brings our sales tax to 9%. Property tax is limited by prop 13. Should developers kick in more? Is 10-12% sales tax ok?
- melling 10y ago
  It's going to cost a lot more than 50 years ago when it should have done. Stupidity has a price. Of course, the problem could just be ignored for another 50. Maybe people will simply leave LA.
- scharfstevenm 10y ago
  Measure B is mainly roads, with little for transit. Does anyone trust VTA to manage mass transit development? Funds for transit should come from fuel taxes, vehicle license fees, and development fees. Sales tax increases are very regressive and a terrible way to pay for transit. But that's always what the Silicon Valley Non-Leadership Group favors because it avoids their members having to ante up for the transportation problems they create. Glad the NYT article author at least quoted me correctly. He was going to characterize me as "anti-growth," which is completely false. Growth is just fine as long as it's sustainable growth with transportation, housing, and school impact taken into consideration. But developers don't want to take a systems view and look at the long-term impact of their projects.
Spooky23 10y ago
Good luck raising the billions in taxes required.
CodeWriter23 10y ago
LA Transit has a "last 5 miles" problem. Many people live 5 or more miles from the stop. The local bus can add 30-40 minutes for what should be a 10 minute car ride. The park and ride lots are always full before 6:30AM, and account for 200 riders at the smaller lots and maybe 1000 at the larger ones. Parking is expensive to build too. Add to that, poor choices to build at grade reduce the effectiveness of light rail. In Pasadena the Gold Line crossing was put at grade across a major artery; should have continued underground for just another mile. This creates a daily traffic jam that lasts for about 2-3 hours. And then through Highland Park, the rail is at grade through a residential street, making it go 5 MPH and it has to obey traffic signals at the same priority as cars. The end result is a 35 minute commute time Downtown for a trip that takes 20 minutes in no traffic, 35 in typical rush hour traffic and maybe 45-50 worst case. People choose to drive instead just to save time...including my best friend who lives two blocks from a Gold Line stop.
scharfstevenm 10y ago
Wow, why didn't anyone think of that before?! Seriously, look at some transit maps: 1920 Silicon Valley: http://www.sociecity.com//wp-content/uploads/silicon-valey-streetcar-rail-lines-1920.jpg http://www.sociecity.com//wp-content/uploads/silicon-valey-s... 2012 Silicon Valley: http://www.sociecity.com//wp-content/uploads/silicon-valey-streetcar-rail-lines-2012.jpg http://www.sociecity.com//wp-content/uploads/silicon-valey-s... And these were for-profit, privately run lines in most cases. A good article at http://sociecity.com/rethink/death-and-life-of-american-streetcar http://sociecity.com/rethink/death-and-life-of-american-stre....

Simple solution to both problems: build a lot more mass transit.

by melling 10y ago

Simple solution to both problems: build a lot more mass transit.

Tempest1981 10y ago

How much will that cost? Measure B will help a bit, but brings our sales tax to 9%. Property tax is limited by prop 13. Should developers kick in more? Is 10-12% sales tax ok?

melling 10y ago
It's going to cost a lot more than 50 years ago when it should have done. Stupidity has a price. Of course, the problem could just be ignored for another 50. Maybe people will simply leave LA.
scharfstevenm 10y ago
Measure B is mainly roads, with little for transit. Does anyone trust VTA to manage mass transit development? Funds for transit should come from fuel taxes, vehicle license fees, and development fees. Sales tax increases are very regressive and a terrible way to pay for transit. But that's always what the Silicon Valley Non-Leadership Group favors because it avoids their members having to ante up for the transportation problems they create. Glad the NYT article author at least quoted me correctly. He was going to characterize me as "anti-growth," which is completely false. Growth is just fine as long as it's sustainable growth with transportation, housing, and school impact taken into consideration. But developers don't want to take a systems view and look at the long-term impact of their projects.

Spooky23 10y ago

Good luck raising the billions in taxes required.

CodeWriter23 10y ago

LA Transit has a "last 5 miles" problem. Many people live 5 or more miles from the stop. The local bus can add 30-40 minutes for what should be a 10 minute car ride. The park and ride lots are always full before 6:30AM, and account for 200 riders at the smaller lots and maybe 1000 at the larger ones. Parking is expensive to build too. Add to that, poor choices to build at grade reduce the effectiveness of light rail. In Pasadena the Gold Line crossing was put at grade across a major artery; should have continued underground for just another mile. This creates a daily traffic jam that lasts for about 2-3 hours. And then through Highland Park, the rail is at grade through a residential street, making it go 5 MPH and it has to obey traffic signals at the same priority as cars. The end result is a 35 minute commute time Downtown for a trip that takes 20 minutes in no traffic, 35 in typical rush hour traffic and maybe 45-50 worst case. People choose to drive instead just to save time...including my best friend who lives two blocks from a Gold Line stop.

scharfstevenm 10y ago

Wow, why didn't anyone think of that before?! Seriously, look at some transit maps: 1920 Silicon Valley: http://www.sociecity.com//wp-content/uploads/silicon-valey-streetcar-rail-lines-1920.jpg http://www.sociecity.com//wp-content/uploads/silicon-valey-s... 2012 Silicon Valley: http://www.sociecity.com//wp-content/uploads/silicon-valey-streetcar-rail-lines-2012.jpg http://www.sociecity.com//wp-content/uploads/silicon-valey-s... And these were for-profit, privately run lines in most cases. A good article at http://sociecity.com/rethink/death-and-life-of-american-streetcar http://sociecity.com/rethink/death-and-life-of-american-stre....