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Los Angeles, California, is the center of an intercity hub, transporting passengers and shipping intermodally between sea, land, and air ports. It has an even busier intracity commuter system made up of freeways, roads, buses, light rail and subway. Though Los Angeles has a reputation for gridlock, it has one of the busiest transportation networks in the world.
Intercity Most international visitors to Los Angeles arrive by air at Los Angeles International Airport. Visitors from within California, nearby states, or Mexico often choose to drive instead.
When approaching Los Angeles International Airport from the east, nighttime airline travelers will glimpse the lights of the greater Los Angeles area for over 30 minutes before landing. The greater Los Angeles area sprawls over 120 miles from Ventura to San Bernardino.
L.A.'s Union Station is the major regional train station for Amtrak, Metrolink and Metro Rail. Amtrak operates a somewhat less than hourly service to San Diego and less frequent services to the north, including the Coast Starlight to Seattle, once a day, a 34 hours ride. There is also daily service to Chicago and three times a week to Orlando, Florida.
Freight is hauled by the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads.
For visitors arriving by car or bus, the major routes are Interstate 5, Interstate 15, U.S. Highway 101, and Interstate 10. Interstates 5 and 15 connect to all cities to the north and south. Highway 101 runs west towards Santa Barbara before veering north towards San Francisco. Interstate 10 connects to all cities to the east.
The Port of Los Angeles has the highest volume of container shipping in the United States. Together with the adjoining Port of Long Beach, they are the third busiest sea port in the world. In 2002 the Alameda Corridor project was completed. The project increased the capacity of rail shipping leading north out of the port by creating a trench that removed 200 grade crossings. Alameda Corridor East leading to inland shipping yards is now under construction
There are ferries serving the offshore island community of Avalon, California, but the ferries are too slow to be routinely used for intercity transportation; they are mainly used for day excursions and to move supplies to Catalina Island.
Intracity Rush hour on the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles A typical traffic jam on the Santa Monica Freeway, near the Robertson Boulevard exit The City of Los Angeles is served by a large network of freeways, streets, and local and regional public transportation systems.
Freeways and rush hour There are a dozen major freeways that crisscross the region. California's first freeway (though probably not the nation's first) was the Pasadena Freeway, otherwise known as the Arroyo Seco Parkway. It opened in January 1, 1940 and links downtown Los Angeles to downtown Pasadena. It is quite dangerous because there is no shoulder, the lanes are narrow, the turns are sharp (and not always properly banked), and the ramps are quite short and offer little room for acceleration to freeway speed. More recent freeways are straighter, wider, and allow for higher speeds.
Major freeways of Los Angeles include: the Golden State (5) freeway -- the main North-South Interstate highway, and its alternate San Diego (405) freeway; Ventura (101) freeway -- the freeway alternate for California route 1; Santa Monica (10) freeway and Pomona (60) freeway -- the two East-West freeways connecting and extending beyond the major North-South routes; Century (105) freeway, Simi Valley (118) freeway, the Foothill (210) freeway, and the Long Beach (710) freeway. Angelenos are noted for referring to freeways by name ("The Golden State Freeway") or with the definite article ("the 101").
Rush hour, the period of peak traffic congestion, occurs on weekdays between 6 AM and 9 AM, and in the evening between 3:30 PM and 7 PM. Traffic can occur at almost anytime particularly before major holidays (including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and three-day weekends) and even on regular weekends when one otherwise would not expect it. Experienced Angelenos know that they need to factor traffic into their commute.
One freeway, the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10) is so congested and so accident-prone that Caltrans has added Accident Investigation Sites along it.
Streets, street layout, and the boulevards The city has an extensive street grid. Arterial streets connect freeways with smaller neighborhood streets, and are often used to bypass gridlocked freeway routes.
From downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach, in a straight-down vertical pattern, east-west streets are numbered (starting with 1st Street in downtown, to around 230th Street in northern Long Beach), and north-south streets are named. There are many exceptions to the numbered streets, but the above pattern is generally used.
Many arterials have been labeled as boulevards, and many of those mentioned below have been immortalized in movies, music, and literature.
The major east-west routes include: Victory, Ventura, Hollywood, Sunset, Wilshire, Santa Monica, Beverly, Olympic, Pico, Washington, Venice, Adams, Jefferson, and Exposition. The major north-south routes include: Topanga Canyon, Lincoln, Sepulveda, Van Nuys, Westwood, Beverly Glen, San Vicente, Robertson, La Cienega, Laurel Canyon, Crenshaw, and Glendale.
There are many other famous L.A. streets which carry significant traffic but are not labeled as boulevards. Examples include: Bundy Drive, Barrington Avenue, Centinela Avenue, Mulholland Drive, Pacific Coast Highway, Slauson Avenue, Avenue of the Stars, Highland Avenue, Melrose Avenue, Florence Avenue, Normandie Avenue, La Brea Avenue, Grand Avenue, South Central Avenue, and Alameda Street.
Los Angeles is notorious for chronic underfunding of street maintenance (which is difficult due to the city's enormous size), resulting in an unusually large number of potholes and high vehicle maintenance costs for city residents. Potholes were a major cause of the secession attempt of the San Fernando Valley in 2002.
Car chases Los Angeles is also infamous for its car chases, or police pursuits, which can last several hours because of the region's many interconnected freeways and the large street grid. Some local television stations will break into regularly scheduled programming to cover a chase by helicopter. Car chases can end when the suspects gives up, tries to run on foot, when their vehicle runs out of fuel, or when the police use spike strips or a PIT maneuver. Police helicopters are equipped with infrared technology and extremely bright search lights for the the apprehension of fleeing suspects at night.
Perhaps the most infamous L.A. pursuit was that of O.J. Simpson. The Simpson pursuit was notable for its low speeds and large crowds which gathered around the pursuit path.
Because of the inherent dangers of car chases, the LAPD has changed its policy in favor of refraining from them; when a chase reaches unsafe speeds and the initial crime was nonviolent or minor, they prefer to back off and to attempt to apprehend the suspect at a latter time. While this strategy has been used several times, an entire chase is still sometimes performed.
On foot Contrary to the assertion of the popular song that "nobody walks in L.A.", some areas of Los Angeles are full of people walking, especially in the central portion of the city and various high-density commercial districts. In such areas, walking is often faster than driving, because of the city's severe shortage of parking. The city government now requires developers to build large parking garages for new buildings whenever feasible, and many Los Angeles businesses (including supermarkets and exercise clubs) offer valet parking to their harried patrons.
L.A. sidewalks are often as cracked and potholed as the adjacent streets. According to the L.A. Daily News, the city did not fund routine sidewalk maintenance between 1974 and 1999 (although it did fix a few of the most hazardous ones). The city has a backlog of 4,600 miles of sidewalk known to be in need of replacement, but current funding levels are sufficient for replacement of only 52 miles per year.
Mass transit The primary regional public transportation agency is the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, commonly referred to as Metro or MTA. Metro operates the city's rail network composed of four above ground light rail systems (Red Line, Gold Line, Blue Line, Green Line), and one underground subway (following the Red Line), as well the regions extensive bus system. Los Angeles has 73 mile of rail connecting disperse area from Long Beach to Pasadena, and Norwalk and El Segundo.
Scheduled to open in August 2005 is the Orange Line (http://www.metro.net/orangeline): a bus rapid transit system that runs from Warner Center/Woodland Hills to the North Hollywood Red Line station. What makes the Orange Line unique and superior to any other existing Metro Line is that 13 miles of its 14 mile stretch use a dedicated road, only for buses to use, with pedestrian and bicycle paths on the sides. This provides congestion-free travel, and is understandably expected to gain more ridership and be in competition with a light-rail system.
Metro is one of the pioneers in the field of Bus Rapid Transit with its Metro Rapid bus system. The bright red buses stop only at major intersections and are equipped with transponders to change traffic lights to favor the bus thus speeding passengers along more quickly. Metro local buses are now painted in an soft orange.
The City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) runs several circulator buses in high density commercial areas such as Downtown. Many routes have a limited amount of stops in less dense areas, but have an ultimate target of such high density areas, and usually use a freeway for most of the trip.
There are several smaller municipal bus operators partially funded by Metro, that serve specific areas. Notable are the City of Santa Monica Big Blue Bus which are painted a bright cerulean blue and the Culver CityBus that operates a bus distinguished by its solid green color.
Before the age of automobiles, streetcars dominated Los Angeles and was the original contributer to the cities famous suburban sprawl. From 1901 to 1961, the Pacific Electric Railway served vast portions of L.A.. The Pacific Electric Railway is the "Red Car" referred to in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which has a sub-plot based on the alleged General Motors streetcar conspiracy to eliminate alternatives to automobiles.
Bicycle travel Because of the mild climate, there is little need to carry the variety of clothing that cyclists require in other less temperate climates.
Bicycle travel in Los Angeles has become increasingly popular since the "bike boom" of the 1970s -- a period of time in which Los Angeles city and county authorities began painting bicycle lanes alongside the traffic lanes of major thoroughfares, and creating bicycle-only bike paths in others.
Hazards and rewards Bicycles may travel either in the street with vehicles or on the sidewalk except when there is a danger to pedestrians. Cyclist must follow all the same rules as motorized vehicles. In most cases within the City of Los Angeles it is legal for a cyclist to "take a lane" if he or she can do so safely.
It is up to the cyclist to make sure that they make themselves be seen. There are a number of ways a bicycle rider can make themselves be seen: taking a lane or owning their space (though a bicycle can fit in a small space, using the entire width of the lane can make them more noticeable; bright or contrasting clothing; lights and reflectors; hand gestures, signals and eye contact; turning the bicycle at an angle while stopped at a light (to present a wider more visible profile) etc. The cyclist should also be conversant with the California Vehicle Code
Bicycles and rail travel The mass transit facilities are usable by bicycle. All Metro buses have bicycle racks at the front of the bus for the attachment of two bicycles. The loading mechanism works by placing both wheels inside a pair of rails and pulling a spring-loaded arm over the front wheel and releasing it. One may lock the wheel of the bicycle to the bike frame in order to discourage theft. Do not lock the bicycle to the rack.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority: Metro allows bicycles on trains except during rush hour in the direction of peak traffic. Rush hour is between 6:30-8:30am and 4:30-6:30pm. In practice this exclusion is rarely enforced.
Bicycles are allowed on the Metrolink (http://www.metrolinktrains.com/) commuter rail system which connects the core of the city to the suburbs. There is storage for two bicycles at the rear of each carriage. A Metrolink ticket is also valid for any Metro bus, subway, or light rail train in Los Angeles County.
Bicycling Groups (links) L.A.C.B.C. (http://www.labikecoalition.org), the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition is a non-profit 501(c)3 volunteer organization which lobbies for infrastructure and regulatory improvements in the city on behalf of its members. Among recent success have been the gaining of access to MTA subway/light-rail during off-peak hours for bicycles and the partial construction of the L.A. River Bikepath.
C.I.C.L.E. (http://www.cicle.org) (Cyclists Inciting Change through Live Exchange) is a grassroots volunteer group which provides a website for cyclists to meet each other, exchange information about cycling in Los Angeles and arrange group rides and commutes. The primary focus of the group is to host discussion boards for these activities.
The Bicycle Kitchen (http://www.bicyclekitchen.com/) is a grassroots volunteer organization which provides access to equipment and expertise in bicycle repair and maintenance. It's an epicenter for bicycle coolness!
C.O.R.B.A (http://www.corbamtb.com) is the Concerned Off Road Bikers Association, which lobbies for access to single-track in the Greater Los Angeles area, provides education to mountain-bikers and constructs trails.
Innovations Art Center College of Design, an institution in nearby Pasadena, has helped to make Southern California a center for car design. Toyota, Honda, BMW, Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and General Motors all have design studios in the region.
Roadbed paving and freeway design research studies have been conducted to benefit the city's needs. The automatic railroad gate crossing known as the "wigwag" was invented locally for the Pacific Electric Railway. The Arroyo Seco Parkway was the first freeway in the west. It leads to the first four-level stack interchange in the world, opened in 1952. Botts Dots, raised pavement markers, were developed by a Caltrans engineer to give a lane marker which can be felt as well as seen, a major improvement in rainy weather when painted markers are hard to see. The Sig Alert was a special warning system to notify motorists of major traffic disruptions. Though the original system is no longer used, the term is still used.
The major car factory in the region was the General Motors plant in Van Nuys, which built Chevrolets from 1947 to 1998.
Non-ground transportation technologies have also been pioneered in the area, including work in aviation, rocketry, and space exploration.
Pollution Among the costs of the area's extensive transportation system is pollution. Air pollution in the form of smog, has plagued Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Basin and San Fernando Valley hold in the fumes from automobiles, diesel trucks, shipping, and locomotive engines, adding to fixed sources like oil refineries.
In addition the groundwater is increasingly threatened by MTBE from gas stations and perchlorate from rocket fuel. Some consider urban sprawl to be a result of the city's transportation system.
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