The rhetoric is heating up as Los Angeles considers its most significant upgrade to transportation policy since 1999.
[Updated 8/11/2015] David Zahniser of the Los Angeles Times describes the city's Mobility Plan 2035 in curious terms—as a "new and controversial exercise in behavior modification."
As for the news: "Council members are on the verge of approving a sweeping new transportation policy, one that calls for hundreds of miles of new bus-only lanes, bicycle lanes and 'traffic calming' measures over the next 20 years. The initiative, dubbed Mobility Plan 2035, has sparked a debate over the ramifications of redesigning major corridors such as Van Nuys Boulevard, Sherman Way and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard."
The article goes on to present both sides of the political debate surrounding the proposed plan—with alternative transportation advocates focusing on the aspirational nature of the plan and opponents focusing on the loss of vehicle lanes devoted to automobiles.
Zahniser includes a soundbite to sum up the opposition. "Cars are just going to sit there," said Don Parker, a board member with Fix the City, an advocacy group fighting the plan. "So labeling it a mobility plan is just not reflective of what the plan actually does." The article includes a lot more detail about the current political debate. The City Council is expected to consider the proposed plan in a month.
Update: The Los Angeles City Council is scheduled to consider Mobility 2035 on August 11, 2015. Thanks to Niall Huffman for the news.
Update: According to a press release from the office of Councilmember Mike Bonin, the Los Angeles City Council has adopted Mobility 2035.
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