What will be the dominant form of transportation in 20 years and are there any plans to close any streets to cars? Also what will happen to the suburbs, freeways, and single-family neighborhoods?
2006-12-14 12:25:55 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ United States ➔ Los Angeles
People in LA love their cars. I can't see public transportation taking over anytime soon...not even in 20 years. Can you imagine the noise level on a public bus/train with everyone shouting to hear their cell phone calls?
2006-12-15 08:05:04 · answer #1 · answered by Loli M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's kinda ironic when you look up the history of Los Angeles. The city before the 1950's actually had good public transportation. However, there was a deal made with either the rubber companies or oil companies (can't remember which) that helped finance freeways in Los Angeles and the public transportation system was dismantled to make way for the car craziness. I believe there will be a major shift in the way we work and live in the next 20 years. With the population increasing as quickly as it is, I think we will actually start living on a 24-hour work cycle to alleviate traffic. Now it takes an hour to go 15 miles - can you imagine what it will be like in the year 2050 with 9 billion people on the planet? I think companies will start having staggered work shifts along with increasing public transport. I also think LA will start to build up instead of out - like they are in Chicago.
2006-12-15 21:31:01 · answer #2 · answered by rrmorris45 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You clearly don't live here.
In fact, there are no plans. CalTrans is a bloated, overpaid, inefficient bureaucracy that has done very little to alleviate congestion and keep roadways in repair in the last oh, 30 years or so.
The best solution is to open up bidding transportation projects, like they did after the '94 earthquake. That got the freeways rebuilt in record time.
They keep lobbing for mass transit, but mass transit just won't get people out of their cars, as the city is just too big.
I predict more and more businesses will leave the city in droves, move to the suburbs, if they they stay in the state at all, and the inner cities will deteriorate even more.
In other words, more of the same.
2006-12-15 13:18:08 · answer #3 · answered by chieromancer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not in LA, it's too spread out. They might put in trains between the suburbs and the major commercial centers, but I'd wager that 20 years from now it will still be all about the automobile or something equivalent.
2006-12-15 17:43:32 · answer #4 · answered by lcraesharbor 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Great question ... but my money is still on the automobile. Perhaps one fueled by solar, hydrogen or garbage ... but the culture isn't likely to change significantly barring a major catastrophe.
2006-12-15 00:06:53 · answer #5 · answered by kentata 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Probably the train for mass transit.
2006-12-15 09:16:23 · answer #6 · answered by vickeymcgee 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋