Road to Recovery? Local Residents, Groups Must Place
Priority on Traffic Woes

6/23/2008

By ROB CARPENTER and DAVID MURPHY

Los Angeles is at a crossroads. Our transportation system is a stunning failure:
We have had the worst traffic in the nation for 20 years, we waste $10.7 billion
annually, and we continue to have the worst smog in the nation, primarily
because of gridlocked vehicles. Let’s face it: L.A.’s traffic is already the laughing stock of the country and it’s only getting worse. We simply haven’t built enough infrastructure. The fact is that Angelenos, businesses, civic groups, environmental organizations, labor leaders and others must insist on a transportation system that works for all of us and is accountable to all of us – and we must do it now. Our civic pride, quality of life, economic vitality, and environment are all at stake.

This is why we founded Building LA’s Future: Ending Gridlock in Los Angeles. As
politicos and social entrepreneurs whose experiences range from the White
House and Congress to the Valley Industry and Commerce Association and
Teach for America, we recognized that the private and civic sectors have failed to
make traffic solutions a priority, thus ceding power to naysayers and
obstructionists. And while we both could have comfortably worked in secure,
well-paying jobs elsewhere, we love L.A. too much to sit on the sidelines any
longer. This is why we launched a non-profit movement to dramatically increase
the sense of urgency to tackle gridlock through short- and long- term solutions.
This movement, by necessity, should bring together political, business, civic,
environmental, and labor leaders and organizations to fight for a fully built-out
mass transit system and for adequate funding to improve our crumbling
infrastructure. But this won’t be easy.

We have seen naysayers and skeptics block progress. James Madison warned
in Federalist 10 about the powers of small factions who are “adversed to the
rights of other citizens or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the
community.” And modern-day Angelenos have seen needed infrastructure
projects sidelined for far too long – and far too often. There has been no
significantly powerful voice representing the majority of us who need solutions to
our traffic problems. Ironically, although traffic impacts all of us, transportation
issues have been without their own powerful, organized constituency.

Collective effort

It will take a collective effort from leaders like Assemblyman Mike Feuer (whom
we honored earlier this year as California’s first “State Traffic Fighter of the
Year”), BizFed Chairman David Fleming (who recently called for a major
investment in transit infrastructure at our CEO Breakfast Summit on
Transportation) and elected officials like Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. But we must
unite – business leaders and neighborhood council members, homeowners and
environmentalists – to fight for the good of the whole. Angelenos are tired of the
finger-pointing, and we are tired of the misinformation and misappropriation of
funds. We want action, we want change and we need it now. But this won’t
happen overnight. Only a collective, top-down and grassroots, bottom-up effort
that harnesses the energy and creativity of the private, public and civic sectors
can move us forward. Without it, we fail. With it, we prosper.

Los Angeles is at this crossroads. We can continue along the status quo and
watch traffic get dramatically worse. Or we can unite for change. But the question
is how do we build this movement? It starts by giving up our collective defeatism
that L.A. must accept permanent gridlock: It is time we say, “Enough is enough.”
We can do this. We can get a fully built-out mass transit system, just like London,
Washington or Hong Kong. We can improve gridlocked freeways and improve
streets. But we must insist that our elected officials, business groups,
environmental organizations and labor organizers all make investment in
transportation solutions the urgent priority it needs to be.

We must write letters to the editor, speak to our legislators, attend town hall
meetings and discuss solutions to our gridlock mess. The only way we can
reform the system is with a collective commitment to make this a top priority.

We have a unique opportunity and obligation to solve this crisis. We can choose
action or talk, consensus or acrimony, success or failure. It is our choice. It is our
crossroads. Will we begin to build L.A.’s future? That, of course, only you know
the answer to.

Rob Carpenter and David Murphy are social entrepreneurs and co-founders of
Building LA’s Future: Ending Gridlock in Los Angeles.