Traffic/Development

By David T. Vahedi

We sit in it every day. We feel trapped by it and controlled by it. Traffic is a problem we face each and every day and it only seems to get worse.

Some things we can do now include:

-- Build Park and Ride facilities in the San Fernando Valley, South Bay and East LA to take 10,000 cars off the road with shuttles that run every 7 minutes;

-- We have to stop giving a blank check to developers allowing them to build anywhere, anytime, anyway they want. We need responsible development that balances the need for jobs and the economy with our quality of life and traffic;

-- We need to require comprehensive traffic mitigation with any development with real impact and real dollars and solve problems before they become headaches for commuters and residents; and

-- We need to push for mixed use retail and residential development so people can live closer to work and where they need to shop and eat.

By doing all this, as well as supporting a truly regional rail and bus plan, we can relieve our traffic and give people a breath of fresh air.