The Solution

(Image of Curitiba from www.trekearth.com)

The solution to L.A traffic is absurdly easy and inexpensive: bus-only traffic lanes on major corridors and freeways. The best way to get people out of their cars and on the bus is to make riding the bus faster than driving. Right now, even on the freeway, you can be stuck going under 15 miles per hour at almost any time of the day. If buses are allowed to zip past this traffic, you can bet more people will want to be a passenger.

The first step is to create exclusive lanes for the dozen or so rapid bus lines. These lines run down major corridors such as Ventura, Wilshire and Vermont and stop only at major intersections. Although they are meant to be "express," during peak traffic times they are no faster than regular bus lines. A bus only lane on Wilshire might mean traveling from Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade to Downtown L.A. in under a half hour.

Yes, of course this would make traffic worse for car drivers, but that's the point. Make traffic worse for the car and better for the bus and people will choose the bus.

Perhaps the problem with this plan is precisely its simplicity. It does not have the glamour of a rail system that our mayor is so high on. But it is a couple billion dollars cheaper, and it could be implemented in a few months rather than a few years.

This is not a new idea. A lot of press has been given to Curitiba, Brazil with its extensive bus system that acts like an above ground subway system. But many cities in the U.S. and Europe use exclusive bus lanes. 15 years ago when I lived in the medium sized city of Clermont-Ferrand in France, they used exclusive lanes, multi-part buses, and bus stations much like light rail stations.

Last Fall the Bus Riders Union initiated a campaign to create the bus-only lanes on major thoroughfares. What happened? The city council would not even allow lanes on a small portion of Wilshire. Apparently, businesses along Wilshire are concerned it would push customers to areas where there is more street parking. They have a point. Lanes must be created on all corridors in order to be fair to all businesses. On the other hand, parking in most L.A. shopping districts is ridiculous, so it might actually encourage people to shop more on Wilshire!

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate our Mayor's enthusiasm for mass transit, and I don't discount the value of an inspirational vision. Once exclusive lanes are created for buses, they could over time be replaced by light rail. Even Clermont-Ferrand, a city of less than 140,000, where Michelin Tires is the principle industry, now has an electric tram!