As elected officials, our first obligation when assessing any piece of legislation is to ask, “What’s in it for my constituents?” That’s the test we applied to Measure M, the Los Angeles County Traffic Improvement Plan — and it passed.
We’re voting yes on Measure M, and we urge everyone in the South Bay to join us.
Measure M hits home. It tackles one of our greatest daily challenges — traffic congestion — through a smart mix of freeway improvements, transit and bus projects, and local road repairs. The results, according to independent analysts commissioned by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are astounding. Measure M would reduce the time we’re stuck in traffic by 15 percent and would create 465,000 new jobs.
In the South Bay, Measure M would make significant traffic-flow improvements all along the 405 Freeway South Bay curve; deliver annual funding for local transit operators like Torrance Transit and The WAVE and Beach Cities Transit in Redondo Beach; provide millions of dollars in annual funding to each of our cities for their own local pothole-filling and traffic improvement projects; and would extend the Green Line to Torrance, to name just a few of the measure’s benefits.
That’s why South Bay leaders like Congressman Ted Lieu, Congressman Alan Lowenthal and Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell support Measure M.
Overall, Measure M would modernize L.A. County’s aging transportation system and build a 21st century transportation network through improved subways, light rail, Rapid Bus, Metrolink, freeways and local roads. Measure M would add and accelerate transit lines and finally tie them together into a comprehensive system that would work with the improved freeway and local road network. Through Measure M, people will be able to ride on rail from Claremont to Torrance; from LAX to the San Fernando Valley; from Artesia to Westwood and many points in between. And each of our freeways would see improvements and traffic relief.
A Texas A&M analysis found that traffic congestion costs the average commuter in our region $1,711 in wasted fuel, lost productivity and other costs. All together, drivers in our area lose 622 million hours in traffic a year, for a total cost of $13.3 billion, according to the analysis.
Measure M comes at a time when the L.A. County population is set to increase by 2.3 million. With the transportation status quo woefully inadequate, there is no question that without Measure M, our current gridlock crisis would devolve into a full traffic meltdown.
Cars and trucks — especially those idling in traffic congestion — are of course a key generator of asthma-causing air pollution and smog. Measure M would make a dramatic positive impact on the air all of us breathe, and South Bay communities, with our proximity to the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and refinery operations, need that relief. Here in earthquake country, it’s also important that Measure M invests in critical earthquake retrofits of our bridges and overpasses.
Measure M is also specifically written to help those who need transit the most. It will invest in local access services and keep fares affordable for seniors, the disabled and students. That’s why the measure has attracted unprecedented endorsements from the AARP, the L.A. County Business Federation and the L.A. County Federation of Labor (joining historically Republican and Democratic interests); the Sierra Club and the American Heart Association. It’s quite a coalition, but is makes sense in the context of just how broad are the traffic-relief, economic and environmental benefits that Measure M would bring.
When we campaigned against each other in a state Senate race, we both heard that traffic was the No. 1 quality-of-life issue facing our residents. So it is our great honor to join together in support of the Los Angeles County Traffic Improvement Plan. Vote yes on Measure M.
Ben Allen, D-Redondo Beach, is a California state senator representing the 26th District. Amy Howorth is a member of the Manhattan Bech city council.
