SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA URBAN TRANSPORTATION: FINANCIAL NECESSITY MAY BE THE MOTHER OF INVENTION

Southern California has long been a captive of the automobile and excellent freeway system, but public urban transportation has served a vital role for commutation and mobility disadvantaged groups. That role is becoming more difficult. The region holds over ten million citizens and is projected to grow to thirteen million by the year 2000. However, current urban transportation is near capacity. Freeway systems are saturated at commuting hours. Such growth in travel would be almost impossible to absorb, and current national federal transportation and general governmental policies promise to make urban transportation much more expensive to the provider and user. The paper documents and analyzes attempts by Southern California urban transportation public agencies to confront and deal with the dilemma of shrinking resources and increasing travel demand. Major initiatives are underway to: increase non-federal financial sources, productivity, employer-based ridesharing; build new light-rail systems; tap private development tax generation; permit private road development and maintenance; and consider toll roads and freeways. For Southern California, each of these activities is quite new. When considered together, they represent a radical change in public transportation official attitude about the role of the private sector and the need for a true public-private partnership to provide an adequate urban transportation system. Under true financial emergency conditions stimulated by a sluggish economy and national government philosophic changes, innovative and lasting public-private cooperation is being forged for the second largest metropolitan area in the United States. (Author/TRRL)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0860501116
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Public Transport. Proceedings of Seminar M held at the PTRC 10th Summer Annual Meeting, University of Warwick, England.
• Corporate Authors:

  PTRC Education and Research Services Limited

  110 Strand
  London WC2,   England 
• Authors:
  • Shaw, P L
• Conference:
  • Planning & Transport Res & Comp, Sum Ann Mtg, Proc
• Publication Date: 1982

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 1-13

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Financing; Light rail transit; Private enterprise; Public transit; Ridesharing; Taxation; Toll roads; Transportation planning; Urban growth; Urban transportation
• Geographic Terms: California; United Kingdom
• ITRD Terms: 1119: Car pooling; 8525: Conference; 224: Cost; 285: Demand (econ); 237: Economic efficiency; 244: Financing; 265: Growth rate; 3847: Maintenance; 335: Population; 744: Public transport; 3665: Road construction; 268: Tax; 2702: Toll road; 1284: Tram; 313: Urban area; 8122: USA
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I10: Economics and Administration; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00381672
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 0-86050-111-6
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 30 1984 12:00AM