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Southland Transit Agencies Hail Traffic News Reporters as “Part of the Solution” to Region’s Giant Traffic Jam • PBS television host and the region’s official Rideshare spokesman Huell Howser welcomed traffic reporters to 11th Annual Golden Pylon Awards Sept. 19 in Hollywood. Awards spotlight achievement of broadcast traffic reporters who help keep the traffic moving by pitching Rideshare and other public transit options. Presentation follows release of much-anticipated Texas Transportation Institute’s 2007 Annual Urban Mobility Report, the nationally known study on traffic congestion in the nation's 85 largest metropolitan areas. Event is a prelude to Rideshare Week Oct. 1 -5. (Sept. 19, 2007) The Southland’s official Rideshare spokesman and PBS television host Huell Howser handed out coveted Golden Pylon Awards to Southland traffic reporters at an awards luncheon today, honoring the true grit reporters whose on-air traffic talk keeps the region’s traffic moving by promoting rideshare options such as carpool lanes, vanpools and public transportation. Illuminating a stellar effort in unraveling the region’s huge traffic knot, gleaming Lucite trophies in the shape of a traffic cone pylon went to five reporters who report on the daily traffic grind for numerous broadcast outlets. They are: • Ginger Chan, AirWatch/Clear Channel Traffic • Humberto Jimenez, California Highway Patrol officer broadcasts traffic reports for a number of media, including Univision, Ch 34, Radio Mexico, KFRN Family Radio, KIRN Radio Iran • Lori Ryan, AirWatch/Clear Channel Traffic “Thanks to traffic reporters, the word is getting out,” said Rideshare spokesman Huell Howser, producer and host of local PBS television series including Calfornia’s Green, an environmental program highlighting innovative local solutions to environmental challenges. “Traffic reporters face the worst of our traffic woes every day on the front line. Their fast, accurate road condition reports and strategically placed promotion of rideshare options help thousands of commuters avoid traffic snarls each day.” By promoting public transportation options in the face of the daily traffic grind, traffic reporters are becoming part of the solution to congestion, said Howser, who urges commuters to heed the call to carpools, vanpools and other means of public transportation. “I’m inviting every solo commuter in Southern California to leave their car at home and share the ride,” he said. Howser offers ridesharing tips and “Tales from the Fast Lane” at www.commutesmart.info, where commuters can find a carpool partner, a vanpool, and get fast, on-line routing for bus or train. The Awards ceremony is sponsored by five regional transit agencies: Metro in Los Angeles County, Orange County Transportation Authority, Riverside County Transportation Commission, San Bernardino Associated Governments and Ventura County Transportation Commission. The Golden Pylon Awards is a traditional prelude to Rideshare Week – Oct. 1 -5 – a statewide campaign aimed to encourage thousands of commuters to ‘share the ride’ to help reduce traffic and smog. Currently 77 percent of commuters drive alone to work, and traffic congestion increases by 3 percent each year. The awards underscored the release Sept. 18 of the Texas Transportation Institute’s 2007 Annual Urban Mobility Report, which noted that traffic congestion continues to plague American cities of all sizes, creating a $78 billion annual drain on the U.S. economy in the form of 4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel. Citing 2005 statistics, the report noted the Los Angeles/Long Beach/Santa Ana area still leads in annual delays for travelers, amounting to 72 hours and 57 gallons of wasted fuel per traveler. That's 490.5 million wasted hours stuck in traffic, 384 million gallons of gas, and a congestion cost of $9.3 billion in 2005. On the positive side, the report noted the Los Angeles/Long Beach/Santa Ana region leads in savings produced by operational treatments, such as ramp metering, incident management, signal coordination, and arterial street access management programs, and ranks third in savings generated by public transportation. “Public transportation stands out as a proven strategy that helps alleviate traffic congestion and saves energy,” American Public Transportation Association President William W. Millar said in a statement released in response to the report. "According to the report, in the 437 urban areas studied in 2005, public transportation saved 541 million hours in travel time and fuel usage would have been 340 million gallons greater. Without public transportation, congestion costs would have been $10.2 billion more in that year." Metro-172
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