Los Angeles City Council have proposed a transportation plan they know will increase L.A. traffic, in the hope that drivers will abandon their cars and turn to other modes of transportation, such as bicycling, walking, or public transit.
A San Francisco-based bicycle advocacy group known as the Wigg Party is trying to have San Francisco adopt a similar law to one in Idaho which allows cyclists to treat stop signs like a yield sign.
President Barack Obama will head to San Francisco on Friday, en route from his 22nd visit to Southern California, to speak to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and attend several Democratic fundraisers. However, the Secret Service’s reluctance to share specifics as to what time and precise areas he will be in, for reasons of security, is likely to cause tremendous gridlock and painful traffic.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti spoke of the partnership between the city and the Waze traffic-avoidance app, which functions by allowing drivers to share information regarding traffic and the conditions of streets on which they travel. Last week, Garcetti announced the partnership in his State of the City address, and on Tuesday he added that the 1.3 million Waze users in Los Angeles will receive alerts about hit-and-runs and abducted children, as well as information involving construction, film shoots, and road closures, according to the Los Angeles Times. In return, the city will glean data from drivers in real-time regarding traffic patterns and roadway conditions.
Researchers are saying that “virtual traffic lights” that appear on a driver’s dashboard could revolutionize traffic patterns and make our drives faster and safer.
