Housing

Public Transit Does Not Have to Reduce Traffic Congestion to Succeed

There are plenty of other benefits that have nothing to do with drivers.
A test run of an Expo light rail train in L.A. takes place in summer 2015.LA Metro

Construction on the second phase of L.A.’s Expo light rail line is expected to be finished this month, with an opening scheduled for 2016. The project comes with high hopes of reducing traffic congestion in America’s most notorious car town. That goal was outlined in the environmental analysis for the original leg of the line, from Downtown L.A. to Culver City, and was reiterated by Mayor Eric Garcetti this summer in discussing the extension to Santa Monica:

It’s common, if not almost required, for major transit projects in the U.S. to carry promises of traffic relief. In a practical sense they’d be foolish not to. Most Americans still drive from here to there, and winning the favor of the majority is the job of the politician. So we see all sorts of public transportation efforts tout the benefits they’ll have on congestion: from light rail to metro rail to bus-rapid transit to bike-share.