It’s time for Los Angeles to get out of its gridlock. While Measure M will not be a panacea, it would be an important step toward reducing congestion and Angelenos’ reliance on cars.
If approved, Measure M would raise the sales tax in LA County by 0.5 percent, which is estimated to create an annual tax increase of $25 to $65 per individual.
The revenue would fund several transportation projects, including a planned rail-line connecting Westwood to the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles International Airport. It would also accelerate the Purple Line extension connecting Westwood to downtown LA to finish by 2024 instead of 2035. Additionally, Measure M revenue would also fund more immediate improvements, such as for the Metro bus system and for the city’s streets.
Public transportation is playing an increasingly important role in the lives of Angelenos. Measure R, a similar sales tax increase passed in 2008, funded the Expo Line extension to Santa Monica among other projects. After the Expo Line opened in May, ridership numbers have gone up and in June, an average weekday ridership increased by 58 percent, with the numbers remaining steady since then.
Measure M will continue and accelerate the progress made by Measure R. The changes won’t necessarily be immediate, but they will happen much sooner. After all, one can complain about the Purple Line not coming to Westwood until 2024, but it’s a much better scenario than waiting until 2035 under the status quo.
Some, including Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch, have opposed the measure, saying the measure will do little to benefit the county and calling it “backwards-looking”.
But, public transportation will and should coexist with improvements in the automotive and technological industry, whether that be a self-driving car or a carpool service such as UberPOOL. Just as it’s a mistake to believe that Measure M will be an end-all, be-all to our traffic problems, it’s also a mistake to believe the same about the self-driving cars. Improving transportation requires a full-pronged effort from multiple industries, and Measure M will help significantly with the effort.
One needs only to go on the 405, the 10, the 101, the 5 and other freeways in the city to know that the gridlock is the problem. Solving that gridlock requires efforts by the city, by the residents and by the technological and automotive companies. Measure M is a worthwhile proposition to help with that effort, and the board thus endorses it.
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