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November
14,
2005 |
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L.A. County Leaders Unite to Battle Region’s
Traffic Congestion at Fourth Annual Mobility 21 Transportation Summit
Long Beach –
Transportation, business and community leaders from Los Angeles County
wrapped up the Fourth Annual Mobility 21 Transportation Summit held Nov.
14 at the Long Beach Convention Center by highlighting the need for more
funding and innovative ideas to overcome the region’s crushing traffic
congestion. Sponsored by the Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Los Angeles Area
Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Automobile Club of Southern
California, Mobility 21: LA County
Moving Together brings together elected officials, transportation
providers, business and the community to develop solutions to the
region’s traffic challenges. “Los Angeles is the gridlock
capitol of the world,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who also
chairs the Metro Board. “Sacramento and Washington have a vested
interest in helping us improve our highways, rail lines, airports and
public transportation because mobility is the linchpin of the economy,
and our economy powers California and the nation. “But, we also need to help
ourselves by finding creative local financing, working together as a
region to secure financing, and we must stress to our legislators and
Congress, the Governor and the President, that Los Angeles is critical
to the nation’s economy and that they must invest more in
transportation.” Over the past year, members of
the Mobility 21 Coalition have traveled extensively to Sacramento and
Washington D.C. to advocate for securing additional state and federal
dollars for transportation projects in Los Angeles County. At the federal level, Mobility
21 was instrumental in helping to secure an estimated $4.5 billion in
funding for highway and transit programs and projects. This will allow
the area to move forward with projects including carpool lanes, traffic
upgrades, rail line extensions, and other highway and street
improvements. However, there still remains a significant gap between
what Los Angeles taxpayers contribute to the state and federal
governments and what the county gets back in transportation funding
resources. “With 43 percent of imports
entering the U.S. through the Los Angeles area, our roads are literally
driving the nation’s economy,” said Rusty Hammer, president and CEO
of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. “But for every tax dollar
we send to Washington, less than 92 cents comes back to us to invest in
our transportation infrastructure. That just doesn’t add up. Now more
than ever, it is imperative that we get our fair share of transportation
dollars. That’s why the Chamber helped create Mobility 21 – we are
committed to building consensus and securing funds for our
transportation priorities.” At the state level, members of
the Mobility 21 lobbying coalition this year helped to preserve
Proposition 42 transportation funds from being used to offset the state
debt, but it is anticipated that the legislature will consider using the
funds again next year to balance the budget. “We know that major challenges
are still ahead on the mobility front, “said Metro CEO Roger Snoble,
“and that we will continue to compete for state and federal funding.
But, as demonstrated by the successes of the Mobility 21 coalition, we
need to maintain a unified effort if we are to reach our goal of
eliminating traffic congestion.” Even with the preservation of
state transportation funds this year, the region is already facing new
challenges, according to Dan Beal, director of public policy for the
Automobile Club of Southern California. “Transportation finance
received a needed boost with the state’s one-year restoration of
Proposition 42 funds in this budget, but the bad news is that
skyrocketing construction costs are eroding much of the benefit from
Proposition 42,” said Beal. “We need to permanently protect
Proposition 42 funds, and we will need creative solutions to ensure that
vital transportation projects are not further delayed by these cost
increases.” The focus of the summit’s
morning session included a panel discussion on creative financing
options to improve congestion with panelists inlcuding Nicholas Hann,
managing director, Macquarie North America Ltd., and Tim Ransdell,
executive director, California Institute for Federal Policy Research. Also included in the morning
session were concurrent breakout sessions on topics including
transportation and its role in the global economy, transportation and
quality of life in Los Angeles, and homeland security (see list of
session recommendations below). In addition to Los Angeles Mayor
Villaraigosa, a number of officials spoke during the afternoon including
U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary Maria Cino, and Leon
Panetta, former chief of staff to President Clinton and a former U.S.
Congress member who will give the keynote speech. Below are the recommendations
presented from each breakout session: Transportation and the economy Broaden the bi-partisian
Mobility 21 coalition to increase awareness about economic importance of
goods movement throughout the region, and critical role transportation
plays in the regional economy and quality of life. Focus the coalition
on the next generation of jobs and transportation infrastructure needed
to grow a more sustainable, vibrant economy. Develop new state and federal
transportation legislation so public-private partnerships can build,
fund and secure transportation system. Focus public-private
transportation infrastructure partnerships to facilitate timely movement
of goods and people to increase region’s opportunities, economic
competitiveness and overall quality of life. Quality of Life Develop a Quality of Life Index
that reflects a contextural shift in the paradigm of decision-making for
major transportation corridor studies and infrastructure investments.
Minimum indicators would include Environment, Equity and Economy as key
indicators for determining the value of proposed
improvements/investments. Develop indicators that measure
the quality of participation, process and education in public outreach
and education programs associated with major transportation corridor
studies. Use these indicators to establish a threshold for community
based support. Homeland Security Allocation of funds must be
based on strategic needs and not fixed allocations to states Risk assessment of
transportation projects justifies use of homeland security funds for
major infrastructure projects (i.e. 710 and port improvements) Reduce red tape within
Department of Homeland Security so that small companies can effectively
complete for funding and/or DHS needs to incorporate strong incentives
in procurement language that encourages big companies to partner with
smaller enterprises. -Mobility21- |