PARKING

Eliminate parking minimums and establish maximums.

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Parking minimums are one of the biggest things holding Los Angeles back from more affordable housing and a less auto-dependent future. Los Angeles has almost 6 million parking spaces, or 1.5 per resident. In LA County, there are 18.6 million parking spaces for 10.2 million residents. Los Angeles requires arbitrary amounts of parking be built depending on a building's use, such as 1 space per 100 sq/ft for a night club, 1 for every 35 sq/ft of churches, or 1.5 spaces for one bedroom apartments; parking minimums are a widely recognized pseudoscience. However, this regulatory burden comes with grave costs: structured parking runs up to $50,000 per space, while underground parking can be closer to $70,000 per space. It is not unheard of costs racing above $100,000 per space on difficult sites. Parking requirements increase monthly rents by approximately 17 percent, whether or not you own a vehicle. But this actually underestimates the cost of parking, as many properties ripe for redevelopment become unviable since the rents cannot cover the costs associated with parking. If parking requirements were eliminated it could reduce construction costs by 30 percent. Eliminating parking around transit in particular makes sense. Since Seattle did so in 2012, it has resulted in 18,000 fewer parking spaces being created and savings of over half a billion. It has also coincided with a boom in transit usage and a plateauing of traffic congestion. Eliminating parking minimums is the quickest and easiest way to combat high rents, decrease congestion, decrease emissions, and most of all, save people money. Even the roadbuilders recognize parking minimums are bad policy.

Recommendation: Los Angeles needs to update its building codes to remove parking minimums and institute parking maximums, especially around transit stops. This change should also be made retroactively and via unbundling of parking. Unbundling parking would allow owners of current spaces to rent them to the public at large or continue using them for personal use. Critically, it will offer everyone the choice to pay for what they use. By making the change retroactive, many areas will all of a sudden have "too much" parking - which can justify removing on street parking and reallocating that space for other uses (such as bike and bus lanes).

BIKE LANES

Reallocate road space for bikes and active mobility.

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It has been said that "no one bikes in LA" but that is patently untrue. People do bike - but bikes take up much less space and go by silently compared to cars, making them less noticeable. Also, LA does not have a true network of bike lanes that made people feel safe. We have mostly "door zone" bike lanes that most people don't feel safe using, and that don't connect to other bike lanes that get people to where they want to go. Imagine a brand new 10 lane highway that went for a mile and then became a dirt road with potholes. How many people would drive on that road? That's the equivalent of what we're asking people to do when we give them unsafe bike lanes that don't form a network and just magically end for no reason.

Currently, less than 1% of people commute by bike in Los Angeles. We have some of the best weather in the world, making cycling possible year round. We have a relatively flat city, and the majority of trips in LA County are under 5 miles, or a casual 25 minute bike ride. All that's missing are the lanes.

Los Angeles needs to implement world class, curb level, protected bike lanes - the same that are common in European cities. If these lanes existed all over the city and formed a network, many people would choose to pick up groceries, take their kids to school, run errands, go to dinner, and get to/from work by bike. We don't give the majority of the population a fighting chance with our current strategy, but could take many cars off the road if we gave people a safe alternative. This would, of course, also clean up our air - in cities that have prioritized infrastructure for buses, bikes, and walking, the air has improved an average of 14%.

Recommendation: LA must implement a network of protected bike lanes quickly by removing on street parking OR re-allocating one vehicle traffic lane on each side of the street. The bike lane can be protected with concrete curbs (or parked cars when a vehicle traffic lane is used). This can be done by choosing every other major north/south and east/west arterial, deciding what space to re-allocate (parking or traffic lane), and then doing quick builds (here's an example from Culver City - 3 months for implementation). Longer term - or when money allows - raise the bike lanes to the same height as the curb, which would offer even greater protection.

BUS LANES

Create a comprehensive bus lane network.

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Buses are far more efficient at moving many people than cars, which usually carry one person at rush hour. Yet, we make our buses sit in the same traffic as cars. With an average speed of 10.8 miles per hour, this lack of priority means that buses can take anywhere from 50% to 300% longer than a private car, for the same trip. It's no wonder that Metro is losing ridership. Now imagine a different reality - where the bus has its own 24x7 bus lane. Buses would be flying past cars stuck in traffic at rush hour - prioritizing a cleaner and far more efficient mode of transportation. By the fifth or sixth time that a bus goes flying by you when you're stuck in your car, you might think about switching to the bus because you don't want to sit in traffic. Here's an example from Flower St in DTLA.

Recommendation: Los Angeles needs to implement a network of 24x7 bus lanes, reallocating a vehicle traffic lane to make them. This doesn't have to happen on all major streets, but enough to make a good east/west and north/south network. Physical curbs can be constructed to prevent private cars from driving or parking in bus lanes. Individual councilmembers should not be able to prevent a bus lane from going through their district, and stop the greater good for the majority of society.

SPEED ENFORCEMENT

Ensure slower streets, equitable ticketing, and reduced police violence & harassment.

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It is costly and also inefficient for armed police officers to be involved in traffic stops. It is especially detrimental to Black and Brown members of our community, who are often targeted by police. We believe that not only will it save money to remove police officers from traffic stops, it will also allow police officers to tend to more serious crimes, and make everyone feel safer. In crashes, there is an 80% chance of death when a vehicle travels over 40mph, but only a 5% chance if traveling under 20mph. Speed is the single biggest factor in determining if someone lives or dies after being hit by a car.

Recommendation: Implement automated speed and red light cameras all over the city, which issue tickets automatically for violations. The first violation can be a warning, and fines increase for each subsequent violation. Income should be taken into account when pricing the cost of violations, including heavily reduced fines for people making minimum wage (Finland does this well). If people driving knew they would get a ticket for running a red light or speeding, they would be less likely to do so, making the streets safer for all.

CONGESTION PRICING

Appropriately price road space and private car affordances.

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The cheaper it is to drive a car, the more people will drive. "Free parking" is not actually free, it's just subsidized by others. "Freeways" also aren't free, they have to be maintained. Congestion pricing - already in place in many cities in Europe for years - is making its way to North America.

Recommendation: Institute congestion pricing for access to our freeways, starting with freeways that have high quality, alternative buses (with their own lanes) or trains adjacent to them. Create lower or zero cost for people making minimum wage. Price parking at market rates and eliminate "free" parking city-wide. Set a goal of eliminating all street parking on major streets.

VISION ZERO

LADOT authority to fix dangerous streets.

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Vision Zero policies have been adopted in cities around the world. The goal is to prevent all traffic deaths, which is possible through safe road design and lower speed limits. The Norwegian city of Oslo has done this, and in 2019 they reported zero cycling and pedestrian fatalities. Los Angeles first adopted Vision Zero in 2015, and since then traffic deaths in the city have gone up 33%. The main reason is that city councilmembers - scared of upsetting people that drive - have veto'd road safety projects which reduce car capacity.

Recommendation: Pass an ordinance that says that anytime there are "X fatalities and injuries" on a street and it's put on the high injury network, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation has the authority to make any changes to the roadway it deems necessary to save lives. The community can be informed and consulted but it will be a conversation of "how" should we do this, not "if" we should make the street safer. Individual councilmembers will not have veto power over Vision Zero safety improvements.