The South Brentwood Residents Association hosted the traffic symposium at its 41st annual meeting.
By Marylin Krell
As part of its 41st Annual General Meeting on April 27 at the Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist, the South Brentwood Residents Association held a panel discussion entitled, “Are we there yet? The Future of Transportation in L.A.”
Moderated by Brentwood News’ Jeff Hall, the panelists included Assemblymember Richard Bloom, Councilmember Mike Bonin, Move L.A.’s Denny Zane, General Manager of the Department of Transportation Seleta Reynolds and Jody Litvak of Metro.
The discussion focused primarily on the impact of the newly approved Measure M, which assesses a local half-cent sales tax to fund tens of billions of dollars of public transportation projects over the next 40 years. This, in addition to the money available from Measure R, which was passed in 2008 to “improve the environment by getting more Angelenos out of their cars and into the region’s growing subway, light rail and bus services.”
Among the points discussed were:
- Measure M funds will be used toward reducing traffic deaths of pedestrians and cyclists, which have dramatically increased this year;
- Some of the Measure M funds will be used to reduce bus fares, particularly for students;
- If L.A. hosts the 2024 Olympics, transit development will be accelerated;
- The Purple subway line that will go under Wilshire will have a stop at the VA property in West L.A. The station will be located at Wilshire and Bonsall;
- Self-driving cars will not significantly reduce the gridlock in L.A;
- Metro will be updating bus routes to provide better service where most needed;
- Metro is making strides to improve the travel between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside of Los Angeles. Metro will evaluate transit modes such as bus rapid transit, light rail, and subway that will possibly connect the Metro Orange Line in the north with the Metro Purple Line and/or the Metro Expo Line in the south.
