Jonathan,
I was hoping you'd include Land Value Tax.
An annual levy on the location value of town and city sites encourages
landowners and land speculators to put their land to good use.
This in turn creates new opportunities for homes and jobs at greater
densities - benefiting mass transit and helping to avoid unnecessary urban
sprawl which creates longer commuting and increased transport costs.
Dave
Dave Wetzel; Vice-Chair; Transport for London.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan E. D. Richmond [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 17 April 2005 11:00
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [UTSG] LA Times Special Section on Transportation
For anyone interested, the Los Angeles Times has a special set of editorials
today on the theme of how to solve congestion for that city. They contacted
me recently and asked me to provide an answer in 500 words, no easy task!
Don Shoup, Jim Moore, and Bill Fulton also have columns.
One thing that was interesting is that I supported Don Shoup's position on
parking in my column -- because it is in line with the other things I want
to do and makes a lot of sense -- but The Times deleted that agreement.
Perhaps they wanted us to all sound different. However, building consensus
on sensible ways to go is really the only way to reach agreement on what to
do.
Best,
--Jonathan
To read all columns on transportation, go to:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/?track=mainnav-sundayopinion
THINKING OUT LOUD / TRAFFIC
Derail Trains and Ding Drivers
By Jonathan Richmond, Jonathan Richmond, a visiting fellow at the Asian
Institute of Technology, Thailand, is the author of "Transport of Delight
-- The Mythical Conception of Rail Transit in Los Angeles."
To defeat gridlock, Southern Californians must elect better-educated
politicians and together accept sometimes-painful solutions.
Like a beautifully wrapped toy train at Christmas, shiny new light-rail
projects offer an excuse to cut ribbons. But this symbolic mode of
transportation will lead Los Angeles nowhere.
L.A. is too dispersed for a rail system to take most people where they want
to go, nor can rail's relatively low rider capacity influence urban
development in significant and desirable ways. Meanwhile, rail's huge
construction costs and operating subsidies divert resources from more
suitable transit projects. Advocates of rail transit say it would siphon
excess traffic from roads and freeways. But the proportion of travelers
riding rail is invariably minuscule, and any increase in freeway speeds is
fleeting, as new drivers fill the available space.
The same is true of another perennial favorite among vote-seeking
politicians: road building. At first, new boulevards and freeways cut travel
time, but as soon as drivers notice the renewed convenience, they'd motor
onto the added asphalt and restore congestion. That's why the main goal of
L.A. public transportation should not be to reduce congestion but to provide
more mobility. That means supplying transit service to as many people as
possible.
For example, L.A.'s small Metro Rapid bus system is speedy, well-managed and
attracts riders. It holds the promise of far more extensive service than
rail at a fraction of the cost. Planning agencies should extend the system
regionwide, keep fares low and give priority to these buses when deciding
how to move traffic. As more resources become available, sections of the
network could be upgraded to dedicated right-of-way rapid bus transit.
But the only way to dramatically improve traffic flow in Los Angeles is to
charge tolls. Ideally, as traffic congestion worsens during the peak hour,
transportation agencies will charge higher tolls for road use, with lower
fees at other times. This would encourage motorists either to travel at
less-congested hours or take routes that cost less.
Singapore has adopted this approach. The government determines the high
congestion spots on city streets and freeways and installs gantries over
them. When motorists pass a gantry, "they feel the pain," a system designer
told me. The beep they hear signifies the value of their prepaid toll card
falling. Coupled with high auto costs, this pricing scheme has eliminated
most congestion in Singapore. Public transportation is available for those
who cannot afford cars.
Converting L.A.'s highways into a pay-as-you-go system might seem a
political pipe dream. But motorists in many states, including California,
already pay freeway and bridge tolls. There are also creative ways to charge
for road use without seeming punitive. The high-occupancy-toll lanes on the
Riverside Freeway offer motorists an opportunity to escape congestion at a
price, which improves overall traffic flow, paid and non-paid. This approach
should be extended as much as possible so drivers would have the option of
buying a faster trip when they really need it.
Economics teaches that nearly everyone is better off when tolls create
freely flowing roads and that a comprehensive, high-quality bus system takes
more people to more places at lower subsidy cost. These ideas are harder to
grasp than a glamorous rail system.
The challenge for L.A. politicians is to learn the hard concepts, and then
change voters' thinking on how to make the region run more smoothly.
-----
Jonathan E. D. Richmond 02 524-5510 (office)
Visiting Fellow Intl.: 662 524-5510
Urban Environmental Management program,
School of Environment, Resources and Development
Room N260B 02 524-8257 (home)
Asian Institute of Technology Intl.: 662 524-8257
PO Box 4
Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120 02 524-5509 (fax)
Thailand Intl: 662 524-5509
e-mail: [log in to unmask] Secretary: Kuhn Vantana Pattanakul
[log in to unmask] 02 524-6368
Intl: 662 524-6132
http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/
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