What really makes people ride mass transit over driving? Is it the availability of the system or do the cities w/ the most successful transit agencies just make it a pain in the ass to drive? I think we are approaching a turning point in LA's car-friendly status particularly within the city's immediate urban core. It looks like it's going to be a painful and nasty fight no matter which way it all swings. So what comes first, the ridership on mass transit created by the incovenience of the car that in turn pushes only more mass transit? Or do we wait while the mass transit is still being developed and only after we have a world class rapid system do we ease parking restrictions?
Read Below:

http://www.citywatchla.com/content/view/704/
GuestWords - LA's Dirty Little Parking Secret
By Charles Tarlow
Los Angeles is in the midst of a severe parking crisis, but that is only the good news. The bad news is that our leaders, our City Department of Transportation, our City Planning Department, and our City Councilmen are about to turn Los Angeles into a Parking Hell ... at least for the population at large.

The problem is simple. There is no viable alternative to the car and there is insufficient parking for the cars that are in use.

Irresponsible development and zoning laws have exacerbated the problem. Developers do not always want to provide the needed parking for their projects and the City somehow always allows those projects to go forward. Businesses are allowed to expand without providing adequate parking. Our transportation corridors are at gridlock and cars are spilling out into our residential areas. Too often our trips consist
of driving around looking for parking as much as they do getting to our destinations. Not only does this burn gas and pollute the air, it changes the quality of life in our fair city.

So what do our leaders what to do about this? They want to remove all parking requirements from future development, jack up the price of parking to levels that will exclude lower income people, and force the population into public transportation that is woefully slow and ineffective at best, and non existent at worst.

I had the opportunity to observe a panel discussion on parking, sponsored by an architectural organization and attended by, among others, Mike Woo of the City Planning Commission, and Don Shoup, the professor who does not believe in free parking and in fact believes that we should price parking so that 15% of all parking spaces are available to those who are willing and able to pay for it. He said, and I quote; “ I have no sympathy for the poor ... rich people are the people with
cars anyway ... people will have to choose between two or three hours on the bus or paying for parking.”

This is the kind of arrogance we are up against. Mike Woo said; “The carrot isn't working (to get people to use buses), now it is time for the stick ... I want to create a parking crises that will force people out of their cars.” Well I've got news for you Mike; you don't have to create anything ... the crisis is already here.

To be fair, the idea of providing additional parking by building parking structures to service multiple sites was discussed and, I believe, this idea has merit. But I fear that our leaders will drop parking requirements from businesses and apartments before alternative parking structures are actually built.

It is also important to note that it does not matter how much parking is available if it is priced out of the reach of ordinary people. I am sure none of the participants on the panel took the bus to Barnsdall Theater, least of all Professor Shoup or Mike Woo. To them, the parking issue is, after all, someone else's problem ... at least it will be after they raise the cost of parking in Los Angeles.

There is a solution, but it won't happen over night and it won't happen at all if the City does not make the hard decisions. Draconian parking measures will do more harm than good. We need to invest in Mass Transit that works. If we can offer the people an affordable alternative to the car, they will take it. But until the city can provide that alternative, it is vital that parking requirements remain in place for businesses, restaurants, and new developments. If you want to do business in Los Angeles, you should be required to provide parking for your employees and your customers. If you want to build an apartment, you should be required to provide parking for your tenants.

The time to act is now. If you care about the quality of life in Los Angeles, write your Councilman. Write the mayor. Talk to your neighbors. Our leaders are on the cusp of making decisions that will destroy our quality of life and nobody is aware of it. It is LA’s dirty little parking secret.

We need to send a strong clear message to our leaders that requiring businesses and apartments to provide parking is a necessity until the city can find the will and the resources to build an effective affordable public transportation system. Providing parking solely to the rich is unacceptable. (Charles Tarlow is a neighborhood council activist in mid-city Los Angeles.) _

... none of the above (poll) :ohno:

A non-compact parking is a frickin right in L.A.!

Our transportation corridors are at gridlock and cars are spilling out into our residential areas.

IMO, part of the problem is the insane amount of restrictions on side streets. You have metered street parking on the main commercial strip, but as soon as you go down a side street, everything is permit only, even when the houses on those side streets have driveways! It's not even this restrictive in some east coast cities, where you have permit zones, but people without a permit can still park in those areas free for two hours.

Like many people here, I would love to see more transit as a major part of the solution. However, I believe that the automobile will always be a major part of life in LA. The best solution, right now at least, would be more parking structures around major business, commercial, and entertainment centers. Similar to what you have around the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and around Old Town Pasadena.

Like many people here, I would love to see more transit as a major part of the solution. However, I believe that the automobile will always be a major part of life in LA. The best solution, right now at least, would be more parking structures around major business, commercial, and entertainment centers. Similar to what you have around the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and around Old Town Pasadena.

LA has had many faces since its inception......the largest streetcar system in the world then one of the most extensive freeway systems in the world, now one of the largest(#1 or #2) LRT systems in the country....and is still building. LA is fluid no static, this is what most people miss about this city. It can become anything it wants to be within a matter of decades, all of the aforementioned developments have all happened within 100 years.
So let's talk.......I believe that more car convenience like more parking only makes it easier for the car to survive. Make it harder to own and operate an automobile and we'll see how fast people start catching the bus. Remember in NYC their isn't a parking minimum of 2 cars for every 1 household. Let's face it, in successful transit cities people are practically forced onto transit because of the high cost of personal freedom, and in this case it would be the ownership of an automobile.

I think Mr. Tarlow makes some good points and presents his arguments pretty well in this article, but there is one thing that I don't like.

"and force the population into public transportation that is woefully slow and ineffective at best, and non existent at worst."

These types of quotes have become so cliche and obviously prove that Mr. Tarlow has never even stepped foot on a bus in LA.

But really, LA's traffic problems aren't going to change until a new generation comes into this city and demands it. The car culture has perpetuated itself for so long because nobody expects anything different. Forcing people out of their cars is not going to fix the problem. The only that can fix the problem is a change in the status quo. The only thing that can change the status quo is a new mentality from people who were not born and raised into the current status quo.

Like Klamedia mentioned, LA is a very dynamic city and goes through huge changes atleast once every generation. I think we are currently in the midst of a type of paradox that should change this city for the better, we just need the traditionalists to start dying off, because without some sort of revolution (which no political leaders would ever let happen), there is really no overpowering them.