Why is Los Angeles Traffic so Bad and How Can We Make it Better?

Over the years, traffic in Metropolitan Los Angeles has been getting worse, and it shows no signs of improvement. Not only has this cost drivers their valuable time, traffic has also increased collisions and air pollution. It seems that adding more lanes will not improve this scenario, so what can?

It is important to address the root causes of this traffic. The network of highways in the Los Angeles Area is very susceptible to damage. And because the network is so interwoven, a single collision can create traffic for miles. Also, the traffic is rooted in the congestion in the downtown area. A great deal of commuters head toward the downtown center. And since most commuters rely on the highway instead of side streets, the highways headed toward the downtown build up more and more congestion. From this, the congestion from the downtown area to the rest of this interwoven freeway system.

So what can engineers do? First of all, engineers can improve the freeway system to make sections of the freeway independent from the others. This means engineers can add more exits and entrances in order to allow drivers to easily leave and exit sections of the freeway. In addition to this, engineers can add overpasses in order to reduce traffic caused by weaving. But in order to encourage people to leave the freeway through these exits, engineers need to improve the street system in Los Angeles. Improving synchronization of streetlights and investing money to create stable roads will make side streets more reliable. This will reduce congestion in parts of the freeway system, which will decrease traffic in the system as a whole. For example, if more people enter the downtown area through the side streets, the traffic in the downtown area will decrease, which will allow for people in the surrounding areas to have less drivers following the same exact freeway route as them.

Improving the Los Angeles traffic is a long-term project. However, it will be at the benefit of the people and the economy. Speeding up the flow of traffic will allow goods to be more easily transported. Even if this improvement is marginal, slightly improving the flow of millions of good may end of saving billions of dollars. Also, improving this traffic will improve the safety of citizens, and will have numerous environmental benefits.