A FAST Solution

Unless you have been asleep the last 50 years, you probably have heard that Los Angeles has a bit of a traffic problem.  The glorification of the "car culture" has taken a toll on Angelinos and its visitors.  Road rage is even more on the rampage, parking is a constant hassle, and residents who thought they were safe often deal with speedsters who are always trying to find that perfect surface street shortcut.  Once you are out of the West Side, you really notice LA's decaying infrastructure:  potholes that look as if they should be in Chicago, parking meters that often do not work, and street lights that have not had their timing checked since, perhaps, Eisenhower was president.  So what is a stressed out commuter to do?  For a city its size, Los Angeles actually has few highways, so we will not see any new ones soon.  We hear constant talk about a subway to the sea, but most of us will not be in any physical condition to ride it by the time it opens.  One issue in LA is that you have so many constituencies and layers of government.  One organization, however, is working hard to find a holistic approach, intertwining many short-term solutions to ease the traffic that is such a deal breaker for many residents and potential employers in the Southland:  FAST.

• Improve signal timing:  I am always amazed that for such a "progressive" city, how backward LA is.  Signal timing is awful, especially in the older parts of Los Angeles.  Many cities have found that they can alleviate traffic just by synchronizing city lights, crucial for huge thoroughfares like Wilshire, Ventura Blvd., and Sepulveda. 
• Peak hour curb parking restrictions:  Let's free up those lanes during rush hours, allowing for bus-only lanes.  Business owners may hate this idea, but based on my experience, parking is such an ordeal here anyway.  Maybe the locals will, ahem, have to walk to their favorite coffee house.
• Paired one-way streets:  Another proposition local business owners are against, but in the case of streets like Pico and Olympic, it is necessary to get commuters to highly congested areas like Century City.  And while we're at it, why don't we just ban left turns?  Many city streets are too narrow for left turn signals, and during rush hour, this often backs up traffic.  If you need to left, go around the block--this could reduce emissions instead of having countless cars idle waiting three or four rounds to make that dangerous left turn.
• High occupancy or toll lanes (HOT).  Some may see this as elitist, but I know plenty of people that would pay extra to use an express lane during commuting hours.  Revenues could then be used to invest in public transport and other infrastructure projects.
• Deeply discounted transit passes for commuters:  I know plenty of commuters would take transit if a financial incentive existed.  This will not solve the problem of commuting from the east side of LA to Santa Monica, but for people who work downtown or along Wilshire, I think plenty of folks would go for a cheap transit pass if employers had the incentive to dole them out.
• Dedicated bus-only lanes:  Why not extend public transport in congested neighborhoods with dedicated bus-only lanes, and pairing them with express freeway service in HOT lanes?  It's not ideal, but approaches like this work in areas like Seattle and Houston.

A California Holiday