LOS ANGELES, CA, Mar 17 (MARKET WIRE) --
-- Check it out: www.metro.net/imagine/
-- Schedule and info: Draft Long Range Transportation Plan Press Release
at www.metro.net/news_info/metro_037.htm
-- Download: Imagine campaign artwork at
www.metro.net/news_info/metro_038.htm
With the release of its draft Long Range Transportation Plan for
publicreview last week, Metro today launched a major campaign to focus public
attention on how individuals can work with Metro to achieve a free-flowing
traffic
future for Los Angeles County.
Bus and rail advertising, web and newspaper ads and billboards that
starteddebuting today are steering the public to a new interactive www.Metro.net
web page
where the public can learn more about current and proposed highway and public
transit projects and options for funding them. The draft Long Range
Transportation Plan is posted on the web site along with notices of seven
public meetings that will be held through April to discuss the plan. Following
public review, the Metro Board will consider plan adoption in June.
Metro's Long Range Transportation Plan prioritizes dozens of new highway,
street
and public transit projects in virtually every corner of Los Angeles County.
Freeway gap closures, construction of carpool lanes, interchange improvements
and
truck lanes, traffic signalization on major streets, bikeways and pedestrian
improvements would complement new public transit projects including new busways,
freeway express bus service, and new rail lines crisscrossing the county to
handle the county's projected 2.4 million population growth by the year 2030.
The plan also looks at the cost of these projects combined with existing
transit operations and projected funding.
The plan includes funding for many baseline projects that will make a
difference in managing traffic such as State Route 138 widening, building the
Expo
light rail line to Santa Monica and a Crenshaw Corridor bus rapid transit or
light rail project. However, even more could be done if the strategic portion
of the plan, currently unfunded, is implemented.
This includes such projects as the Westside subway extension, extending
theMetro Gold Line to Montclair and a regional connector that would link the
Metro Gold, Blue and Expo lines in downtown Los Angeles and highway projects
such
as the SR-710 gap closure. It is estimated that there is a shortfall of
more than $60 billion to fully fund the Long Range Transportation Plan.
If the Long Range Transportation Plan is fully implemented, coupled with
changes in commuting behavior where more people opt for public transit, carpools
and vanpools or take more trips during off peak hours, traffic congestion would
be greatly reduced, according to Metro officials.
A lot has been done in the past decade to ease traffic in the Los Angeles
region.
In fact, the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) last Fall cited the
multi-pronged approach Metro, Caltrans and their transportation partners have
taken to
relieve congestion. While this region remains the nation's most congested, it
also ranks number one in terms of operational improvements that squeeze more
capacity
out of local streets and highways and number three in savings as a result of our
expanding public transportation system, according to TTI. The Long Range
Transportation Plan would further those gains but funding to fully implement
it remains a challenge.
Since Washington and Sacramento are strapped for funds, there has been a
grassroots movement among local business and community leaders and elected
officials to explore creative ways of financing the dream of hassle-free
mobility
with local monies which would ensure local control. Among options being
considered are public-private partnerships, toll roads, developer mitigation
fees,
higher parking rates, levying carbon taxes on polluting vehicles, levying
container
fees on port cargo and other ideas including putting a new half cent sales tax
measure for transportation on the November ballot.
Metro is facilitating public discussion of the mobility and funding
challenges in
unprecedented ways including offering a blog on metro.net/imagine. Metro
Board Chair Pam O'Connor also is scheduling a live one hour Internet chat at
noon Wednesday, March 19, on www.metro.net and will host a one hour live
call-in show on this issue between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Thursday, March 27,
simulcast live on Santa Monica CityTV and LA Channel 36.
To learn more about Metro's draft Long Range Transportation Plan and efforts
to make it a reality, go to metro.net/imagine or call the Long Range
Transportation Plan hotline at (213) 922-2833 to request a copy of the draft
plan or request more information.
Editors Note: Metro is the official name of the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan
Transportation Authority as adopted by the Metro Board of Directors in
December 2004. To be consistent, we ask that "Metro" be used when referring
to this agency. We ask for your cooperation in updating your style guides. If
you need to update your files with the current Metro logo, please call Metro
Media Relations at 213-922-2700.
Contact:
Rick Jager
213.922.2707
Marc Littman
213.922.2700
Metro Media Relations
www.metro.net/press/pressroom
Email Contact
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