Why is LA traffic so bad?

Watch over 2,400 documentaries with Curiosity Stream for free for a month by signing up at curiositystream.com/citybeautiful and using the code, "citybeautiful" at checkout.
I'm on Patreon! Consider supporting this channel: / citybeautiful
Vox's great video on induced demand: • How highways make traf...
This video is a synthesis of several sources, including:
- L.A.’s Invisible Freeway Revolt: The Cultural Politics of Fighting Freeways: journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/...
- The Day that People Filled the Freeway: Re-Envisioning the Arroyo Seco Parkway, and the Urban Environment in Los Angeles: escholarship.org/content/qt93...
- Planning for Cars in Cities: Planners, Engineers, and Freeways in the 20th Century: www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/1...
- When Finance Leads Planning: Urban Planning, Highway Planning, and
Metropolitan Freeways in California: journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/...
- ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/docu...
- www.latimes.com/health/la-he-...
- www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/...
- media.metro.net/2020/LRTP-202...
Produced by Dave Amos in sunny San Luis Obispo, California.
Edited by Ryan Alva in Los Angeles, California.
Audio by Eric Schneider in cloudy Cleveland, Ohio.
Select images and video from Getty Images.
Black Lives Matter.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

This question is literally the reason I became an urban planner. I was sitting on the 405 in LA, driving from Encino to the Westside wondering why traffic was so bad and what I couldn't afford to live next to work.

[@VAALLDDOO2]

1. Better public transport & make it free /as cheap as possible 2. Turn freeways into tolls, it will discourage some driver to drive

[@burkehealey]

clearly the answer is they just didn't do enough landscaping : )

[@CityPlannerPlays]

@@val4414 It's a housing problem that LA is trying to solve with transportation, imo. Affordable housing needs to be within reasonable distance to workplaces. And transportation options need to be available - something I never really had in LA.

[@CityPlannerPlays]

@@val4414 Mixed use is certainly a part of the picture, but it isn't the only problem. Ultimately, a place like LA - like many American cities - has a lot of single family homes in areas that would be ideal for apartments or condos. Unfortunately, NIMBYism, zoning codes and laws that incentivize not changing property can make increasing the density in these areas incredibly challenging. So cities end up trying to come up with transportation solutions to land use problems. Rarely a good fit.

[@williamhuang8309]

@@CityPlannerPlays "City Tips- US Edition" Meanwhile in New Zealand: Let's build homes over 30-50km away from the actual workplaces and have them travel through an already clogged up highway system! Questionable decisions indeed.

[@allen7585]

What’s sad is LA and many other cities are perfect for biking and mass transit due to good weather. What a missed opportunity. Meanwhile, us up here in the northeast ride our bikes in the snow and wait for the bus in the middle of blizzards because our cities were originally started pre-automobile.

[@kaitlyn__L]

I know!! Public transport is so lovely in Spanish and Portuguese cities for this reason. LA could be freaking amazing. Americans hardly seem to consider the leisure opportunities either - everyone can get drunk, or sleepy after a big meal, or whatever. Pub crawls don’t exist in America in the same way as they do in the UK because there always has to be a designated driver or tons of money spent on taxis. Ridiculous.

[@GlacialLake]

Would be so great for motorcycles too

[@Ciph3rzer0]

@@kaitlyn__L so many people here are indoctrinated into thinking driving and cars is freedom, but after living in a city with no car for 5 years it's clear how much of a financial and time burden it is.

[@aicofrena505]

Okay but if you lived in downtown and have to go to long beach that's not a good option same thing in san diego great weather but if you have to go from el Cajon to down town then biking isn't an option both cities perfect weather too much distance

[@blondegirlsezthis8798]

well yes and no. It's HOT there. Not pleasant hot. Desert hot. it is not designed for bicycles either. If LA is navigable by anything it's by helicopter

[@adambennett805]

Imagine if the federal government gave $9 for every $1 spent on public transport

[@MrJstorm4]

Every year that would cost thousands of dollars nationally

[@adambennett805]

@@MrJstorm4 and roads dont?

[@thegrowl2210]

@@MrJstorm4 What about the millions lost because of money wasted on cars, car infrastructure, lost time, healthcare costs, poor taxability due to parking regulations, etc?

[@adambennett805]

@@MrJstorm4 nationalised rail brought in £1bn in a year (case in point, East Coast rail, UK)

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

@Adam Bennett Transit only makes sense when you have enough density, is relatively cheap and is safe to use. For many cities one or more of those things isn't true.

[@braedengriffiths4249]

Having driven in LA, NYC, and Toronto, I can assure you that road rage induced strokes are a thing.

[@screamingcatchannel9624]

I live near Toronto, the traffic is bad so often.

[@groundzero_-lm4md]

@@screamingcatchannel9624 Every time I drive in Toronto, I regret it.

[@qmawpxvecxydiwixytvieowizhehsi]

😂 and Philly. 👌

[@qmawpxvecxydiwixytvieowizhehsi]

😂 and Philly and Miami. 👌

[@screamingcatchannel9624]

@@sm3675 I lived there long before Covid too, awful, every highway, 404, 400, Don Valley Parkway, Gardner Expresway, QEW, the only ones within city limits that I havent had many problems myself were the 427 and 409.

[@BiffaPlaysCitiesSkylines]

Sounds like they need to turn traffic despawning on 😁👍

[@redmckenzie820]

They didn't use lane mathematics either!

[@Robbedem]

LA needs more roundabouts!

[@aidanw9378]

A metro or monorail system should help :P

[@badbradmx]

Hugo doesn't seem to be going anywhere!

[@dashknow5082]

We need Traffic Manager President Edittion

[@RedwoodGeorge]

My grandfather lived in San Fernando and had a side-hustle renting horses to movie production companies in the 30's, 40's and 50's. When cowboy westerns fell out of favor he pivoted and started renting fancy cars to the movies - same gig, different mode of transportation.

[@maticbukovac6966]

Sounds like he was a flexible thinker ;)

[@Coolsomeone234]

What an entrepreneur

[@roteschwert]

Just a businessman doing business

[@xalahuj]

Fun fact: the movie industry term for a cowboy western back in the day was an "oater".

[@davehughesfarm7983]

Damn that first gig would have been awesome..I have mentioned that senario to my wife..

[@opalyankaBG]

I'm European. I visited LA 3 years ago on a student exchange programme. I was advised I should definitely rent a car during my stay as public transport's not useful. I hated the traffic while there!

[@liamness]

This is part of the problem I think, there is a stigma against public transport. Even when it is the appropriate option people seem to advise against it.

[@Ray03595]

@@liamness It's a self-fulfilling problem though as long as there isn't investment in public transportation. The public transportation is bad, so people use cars, and gov. spends on maintaining the roads, instead of alternative modes of transportation, so ppl keep using their cars.

[@thecashier930]

@@Ray03595 same is true for bikes sadly. As long as there is no bike infrastructure there are no cyclists. And anyone thinking about it will be told "no, don't do that it's horrible and unsafe" And if there are no cyclists, no bike infrastructure gets built.

[@dantompkins2584]

You should've researched LA Metro lightrail metro rapid bus foot hill transit Santa Monica transit

[@jasperyu7504]

@@thecashier930 Bicycles are legal to ride on sidewalks in the City of Los Angeles, given that you ride with reasonable care and speeds. ladotbikeblog.wordpress.com/bikes-on-sidewalks/

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

We see here an example of Parkinson's Law: when a system's capacity is increased, it's volume will increase to fill it.

[@zekaifan4544]

Yet there’s nothing innately evil about this. For example, Moore’s Law makes our lives better not because the unused computing power just sitting there on a chip, but because software developers constantly fill and demand the increased power. Without this loop, there wouldn’t be Internet, let alone KZbin where I watch an HD video about traffic produced by a team with much fewer people than there’re in a TV station at the comfort of my home.

[@JamesDavis-mb1jw]

🤣 Funny. Since 1. City planners often play catch-up instead of planning for the future due to cost. It’s hard to justify a ten lane freeway when you only have a million people. 2. Population grows. Cities often approve large developments without first increasing the infrastructure to support it. Case in point. No new dams built in CA to support the growing demand for water as the population increased. Instead, it’s all about cutting and conservation. Or “stealing” from other sources.

[@christianp5486]

It's true. If we have no roads, we'll have no traffic.

[@damiennewyorker8105]

And do not forget that Los Angeles has virtually doubled in population because of the influx of undocumented workers.

[@damiennewyorker8105]

@Andrew H that's the hidden data the never gets referenced or acknowledged you cannot have an honest conversation about Los Angeles traffic without stating those facts

[@Cyrus992]

Answer: Single Use Zoning, Traffic feeding into large collector roads/boulevards, and lack of efficient mass transit thanks to the streetcar scandal

[@AlRoderick]

"I bought the red car so I could dismantle it!"

[@lohphat]

Conspiracies aside, the Pacific Electric was privately held. It was really a sales and marketing tool to sell land in the LA basin once it did it's job, it was just a losing a business expense. The REAL problem which killed it was cheap fuel -- cars were more flexible and affordable so why ride a train for 70 minutes when you can drive there in 20? Cheap subsidized fuel is the economic root of all evil as it encourages the wrong behavior and investment. If we had $9/gal fuel, we'd take the train first.

[@Cyrus992]

@@lohphat You know there was a lawsuit regarding this matter

[@tylermc11795]

@@Cyrus992 The street car still would've went away if there were no such thing as cars. It was designed to sell land and the operation was not profitable beyond a certain number of years. The only answer would be if another company bought it then raise rates or if the city took over its responsibility

[@Cyrus992]

@@tylermc11795 But there still could have been other types of transport that could have replaced it

[@namenamename390]

Imagine if every freeway in LA had a tram or metro line running in the median, maybe at the cost of one lane in each direction. This would already be incredibly impactful. It might also work in other cities that were sliced through by highways.

[@pilotgrrl1]

Works well in Chicago

[@awsomemodels]

Yea public transport is the best way to reduce traffic jams .

[@Robbedem]

@@awsomemodels Yep, on average, a commute time will take the same, independent on the type of transport. So by reducing the time it takes for people to get to work by improving public transport, traffic jams will reduce to.

[@DaniMrtini]

Exactly!

[@middletransport]

I mean, it’s the stations in the middle of a highway median are very hostile to riders and usually people are not living near a loud highway, so the line doesn’t necessarily have high ridership. See: LA Metro C (Green) Line in the median of I-105, L (Gold) Line in the median of I-210, VTA Blue line in the median of CA-85 and 87, among others.

[@SMATF5]

Fortunately, Metro lines have been expanding within the city and county, but with limited commuter train service, it's still a nightmare to commute into the city from somewhere like Santa Ana or Van Nuys.

[@businessasusual4421]

They need to fix homeless problem. Too much stink and homeless people in those trains. In some cities in Europe there is actually police on stations monitoring who is at the station throwing out the homeless. Same problem with San Francisco mass transit. Somehow doesn’t happen as much on the east coast (DC, NYC, Cleveland aren’t half as bad)

[@darkwing.17]

@@businessasusual4421 The weather is much colder in the Northeast, so there is little opportunity for unhoused to sleep on the streets there, especially in winter.

[@miken4879]

Perfect timing. I just got back to LA after 2 weeks in NYC, and I’m already miserable lol.

[@tommykelly6840]

Lol, I’m moving to nyc from la soon

[@greenmachine5600]

The walk-ability of NYC is really nice.

[@Mggggssss]

The 95 aint much better

[@Hopscotchlemonadespritz]

Curious if high population density, better transit options, enhanced bikeability and walkability always mitigate congestion. NYC appears also on the shortlist of most congested.

[@brawnbenson552]

Go back then.

[@smallstudiodesign]

Shouldn’t’ve gotten rid of the streetcar system ... full stop. Meanwhile, way back in the 1970-80’s when land was relatively inexpensive they could’ve gone ahead building high speed rail rapid transit network ... even if they piggybacked existing freeways as right of ways for certain key routes.

[@williamhuang8309]

@Da Ag Lobbying and getting car propaganda stuffed down our throats.

[@Real_MisterSir]

I mean still could, it's not like space is lacking. Start by making a decent metro or streetcar ring system within the city center, to incentivize center city population to not take their cars for daily commutes. Then next step is to cut 2 lanes per freeway and convert it to a train transit network - people are used to taking their freeway so would have no issue adjusting to a train running the same track as what they would drive in their cars. Lastly connect the main freeway trainstops with local residential areas by implementing autonomous lightrail systems, so you don't have to spend extra on manned operation while also being able to offer far better timed scheduling of lightrail trains bringing people back and forth with no more than 10 minutes in between. Now in order to further expand, the ability to take a lightrail or train directly from your residential area all the way to downtown means you can bring a bike or electric scooter if you wanted, which would give further incentive to make downtown hospitable to pedestrians and cyclists etc, potentially even closing down public car access entirely, giving only way to cyclists, busses and cabs, and trams. And with each addition to the city infrastructure, the demand for car dependency lowers, the city gets healthier, and people save more time while receiving better quality of life all around. And all of this without sacrificing their car. They just have better options for general commuting now, so in the long run most people would simply opt to not use their cars for most daily transport necessities..

[@edwardbrown3721]

Well at least they're doing it now

[@elsharkone7]

It's also the fact that there is no distinct destination where people drive during the rush hour. People work and study all over LA and traffic is moving slowly in all directions. I am not a city planner but I feel like this also has an impact on overall traffic.

[@OhSome1HasThisName]

this also makes it harder to design transit systems

[@washingtonradio]

@@OhSome1HasThisName Yes and no, it is harder because in the outlying areas people are spread out and many would probably need to drive to a park-and-ride lot. If the system is well designed in the city proper, most people would only have to walk a few blocks to get to work.

[@OhSome1HasThisName]

​@@washingtonradio yeah i agree in terms of once you get a well-designed system built, decentralisation can work, but if you trying to *start* a clean slate transit system (as many US cities are trying to do) decentralisation makes things difficult because individual lines are only gonna deliver limited returns until you can build a complete network

[@itsbritneybitch6373]

Most people from Calabasas stereotypically would go shopping in Beverly Hills, having to get there by using the 101 or 405, although they did do a good job with connecting Bel Air and Holmby Hills to Beverly Hills via Wilshire and Sunset (its still bad on those roads though) the mass transit is really messy with residential areas all over the place.

[@bernardfinucane2061]

Land use patterns are a big problem. For example, the city bans housing in commercial areas, and corner stores in residential areas, forcing people to drive for miles to buy a loaf of bread. Also the single family dwelling ideology doesn't make sense.

[@Weyird]

I'm starting to dislike how I'm just getting into a video and then it ends abruptly, to be continued on nebula.

[@EINTR4]

Yeah, I dislike that too. I'm unsubscribing. Better to not watch it at all than watch half a video.

[@axelaxelrod9006]

Used to regularly drive 3+ hours from my job in Woodland Hills to my parents’ house in San Bernardino County. Would typically hit peak insanity somewhere between Arcadia and Upland

[@Real_MisterSir]

If I drive 3+ hours in traffic I am no longer in my own country anymore, how can people even put up with this? I mean I know people can't just move, but still considering how many movements have risen on social media and influenced so many aspects of modern life, I don't get how this issue of city planning isn't at the forefront of what everyone talks about.

[@NamelessProducts]

It's bad because cars cannot support mass transportation in a city setting. The solution isn't more lanes or more sprawl it's public transport. Requiring everyone to own their own vehicle to participate in society is ridiculous.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

You need more density and better city planning and zoning to make public transit efficient and usable. And more frequently these days you also need to keep transit safer as well from all the violent/crazy/criminals who are on there who could cause harm to riders.

[@NamelessProducts]

@@UzumakiNaruto_ “these days”. Crime is the lowest it’s ever been and has been falling for decades.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

​@J B Check the last couple of years and see the crime, violence and murder rates go up significantly. www.cnn.com/2021/04/03/us/us-crime-rate-rise-2020/index.html Also why don't you go to the subreddits of various US cities and read what people who actually live in those cities are saying and whether they believe crime and violence is down or not? Why not read their real life experiences and what they see happening in their cities on a daily basis and see if they believe the media that 'crime and violence is going down'? Also its easy to say 'crime is going down' when the justice system doesn't convict people or only gives criminals a slap on the wrist and they let violent people back on the streets even when they're repeat offenders. Seriously go to places like the New York subreddit and see what they're saying there. When even super liberal people living there are saying enough is enough and that they're interested in voting for a mayor that will be tough on crime and violence because they're tired of seeing their city going in the wrong direction then you know something is really wrong.

[@NamelessProducts]

@@UzumakiNaruto_ anecdote isn’t data. Personal experience isn’t quantitative. Stories aren’t research. Our perceptions are subject to cognitive biases. Let the statistics analysis wonks and researchers at 538 explain it. www.fivethirtyeight.com/features/many-americans-are-convinced-crime-is-rising-in-the-u-s-theyre-wrong/amp/ “Across that decade, respondents put their chance of being robbed in the coming year at about 15 percent. Looking back, the actual rate of robbery was 1.2 percent. In contrast, when asked to rate their risk of upcoming job loss, people guessed it was about 14.5 percent - much closer to the actual job loss rate of 12.9 percent.” “In other words, we feel the risk of crime more acutely. We are certain crime is rising when it isn’t; convinced our risk of victimization is higher than it actually is. And in a summer when the president is sending federal agents to crack down on crime in major cities and local politicians are arguing over the risks of defunding the police, that disconnect matters. In an age of anxiety, crime may be one of our most misleading fears.” Furthermore “one year” of data is not indicative of a trend. “Crime rates do fluctuate from year to year. In 2020, for example, murder has been up but other crimes are in decline so that the crime rate, overall, is down. And the trend line for violent crime over the last 30 years has been down, not up.” Researchers have looked at all variables and how municipalities define and prosecute crime and still come to the conclusion that crime is on the down trend. Our perceptions don’t often accurately reflect reality due to cognitive biases, most notably in this case the negativity bias. Crime isn’t great but it’s some of the best it’s ever been in decades and the trend is looking promising.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

@@NamelessProducts How about looking at statistics by areas, regions and cities rather than the entire country? That would be the more accurate thing to do. If there's low crime in the suburbs and rural areas, that's of course going to balance out high crime rates in the downtown of a city for example. New York City and its surrrounding boroughs are very large areas. If you look at it as one single entity then crime and violence averaged out across all those areas would make crime and violence seem relatively low, but if you looked at the crime rates of each area individually then you'll clearly see that some areas are low crime and others are very high crime areas. That's what many people refuse to do when talking about crime, violence and murder because far too often the most crime ridden areas involve the same one or two demographics and to try and point that out is a racist thing to do these days apparently. Also one thing that isn't mentioned nearly enough is the fact that many crimes go unreported and/or the charges are reduced even if the offender is caught and charged. Ask people living in Chicago, New York etc. what their justice systems there are doing with regards to being lenient to criminals and allowing them to be released so that they can offend again and again or else they're given relatively light sentences so that they can be released from prison after a few years so that they can do it all over again.

[@kevink.7341]

I left L.A. last year after 25 years and the constant horrendous traffic was one of the main reasons I wanted out. You waste soooo much time sitting in your car. It is maddening and causes you so much stress. If you don't live right next to your work, it is going to be a major factor of your life everyday. Before I left, I only lived 6 miles from work and didn't have to get on a freeway. It still took me 30 mins to get there. I truly believe the traffic is why everyone is so flakey in L.A. You don't want to commit to any engagements just in case you don't feel like dealing with the traffic that day. All I can say is, it is not worth it. It greatly reduces the quality of your life and makes everything inaccessible. Also, the smog is terrible. L.A. County and the surrounding areas (OC, Inland Empire, etc) are just too big and spread out. I don't see a way they can ever fix this problem as there are just too many people. They have really dug a deep hole for themselves. Maybe Elon Musk's "hyperloop" is the answer, I dunno.

[@chrisabella2780]

The hyperloop is actually a much worse option than just building subway lines as it’s much slower, less safe, and extremely expensive, I’d recommend watching donoteat01’s video on it

[@PRH123]

Living six miles from work would have been perfect for a bicycle commute. Would have also taken 30 minutes at a relaxed calm pace.

[@lexlee6568]

@@PRH123 you don't really want to ride a bike in LA right next to all those cars pumping out pollutants

[@jrt2792]

@@lexlee6568 you'll be ingesting so much exhaust fumes that you be dead.

[@tonyhogg9839]

Developing the Hyperloop was abandoned three years ago. The test tunnel unused and deteriorating.

[@Sanginius23]

beeing right now in Amsterdam, this looks like hell to me

[@Humulator]

yes it also looks like hell cuz theres no pulic transit america is so bad

[@fuzzylogic5494]

LA is a concrete hell

[@kalmusc]

The streets and freeways were designed for a population 1/3 of what it is now. Too many people live here now and the roads can't carry the number of people who want to use them at the same time. With no additional roads or freeways, it's no surprise the result is traffic! It's the price that's paid for so many people living in the area. If this is hell, you move somewhere else. I guess a lot of people find paradise in hell.

[@Humulator]

@@kalmusc dude you need more buses to make more people use buses so theres less traffic, please dont make roads and things

[@RobertPrestley]

@@kalmusc did you even watch the video? Induced demand is real. Expanding highways has never and will never fix congestion

[@FunkyMonk4Life]

I'm from a small city down south and took a job with my company establishing some new accounts of ours in the LA metro area in 2000. I'd lived in Dallas for a few years, so I was accustomed to heavy traffic. However, nothing prepares you for LA. I was headquartered in Buena Park and on one of my off days I decided to venture into Hollywood and it's surrounding areas to sight see. This was on a Sunday. Once I decided to head back I found myself at Whilshire and the 405. I only had an atlas but saw the 405 would take me about 19 miles around to Beach Blvd in Orange Co and from there I could get back to the hotel in Buena Park. Took me nearly 5 hours. On a Sunday. Broke me from ever going back to LA.

[@SMATF5]

I've lived in that area most of my life - currently in west Anaheim - and I know exactly what you mean. It doesn't seem that far on a map, but the congestion slows it down to a crawl.

[@NicholasMonks]

Add to that the total and bizarre unpredictability of L.A.'s freeways. I've had exactly the same experience you had on a Sunday. Yet I've also blown down the 405 from the valley to Santa Monica at 5pm on a Friday in summer and spent barely 10 minutes in my car. It's just a lottery every time you get on an L.A. Freeway.

[@kalmusc]

Sunday afternoon on the 405 in West L.A. is no picnic. Well, maybe it is. Traffic is slow enough to spread a blanket out on your car and picnic along at 5 mph. The 405 is an intrastate freeway, running from San Diego up to Northern California (with several different road identifications). Not only do you have local traffic, but people traveling through L.A. to get to somewhere else. On Sundays, you have people come back from out-of-town as well. The 405 is great to drive...between midnight and 5:00am. Otherwise, don't be in a rush.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@SMATF5 remind me again why car nuts call them fast and efficient personal transport, when justifying their desire to never have trains 😵

[@Ciph3rzer0]

@@kaitlyn__L capitalist propaganda?

[@warmstrong5612]

The perfect video to watch while sitting in L.A. traffic as you ponder this very question.

[@CityBeautiful]

Please don't watch videos while driving! Even in traffic!

[@habib6499]

@@CityBeautiful ok boomer

[@adamjones120w]

@@habib6499 please tell that to my farther who died from someone looking at their phone while driving...

[@nicos6078]

@@habib6499 What the hell

[@habib6499]

@@adamjones120w ok, Mr Jones your a boomer

[@phillipkalaveras1725]

Something you overlooked... Back in 1945, a sinister corporation called "National City Lines" took over the Los Angeles Railway, which served most of the central city. Then, over the course of the next two decades, LA’s extensive streetcar network was eliminated and the city’s iconic red and yellow trolleys were replaced with shiny new buses. "National City Lines" was created and owned by General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California (now Chevron), and Phillips Petroleum. The streetcar system was deliberately destroyed by the companies who stood to gain the most from its demise. Not only would this facilitate the sale of buses, but it would also induce greater demand for automobiles-along with tires and oil. "National City Lines" acquired the local transit companies, scrapped the pollution-free electric trains, tore down the power transmission lines, ripped up the tracks, and placed GM motor buses on already congested LA streets.” "National City Lines" repeated this in cities throughout the western United States. In the SF Bay Area BART covers just 10% of what the Key System light rail covered before "National City Lines" purchased it and ran it into the dirt. The elected leaders of the day were just as crooked as they are today, allowed it to happen, and were well greased by the owners of "National City Lines" There is so much more but I believe the people today are more ignorant to the truth than they were back then, just look at who they elect decade after decade so to hell with it.

[@Cyrus992]

And what the Smart Growth sustainable crowd won’t tell us you is that current transit projects we have are designed to keep the status quo going.

[@Ciph3rzer0]

Just Capitalism doing a capitalism. They will always try to destroy or demonize easy, cheap, and sustainable solutions, because you can't make profits off of abundance or satisfaction.

[@bothquickanddead]

This is partially what "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" is based on.

[@KaspaGames]

1:08 "OG Freeways" are the best words i have heard this year

[@lohphat]

Born and raised in SoCal. I left in 1994 when rush hours started touching midday. Moved to SF for work. Muni and BART and VTA are teh suxxorz. Finally moved to NYC when Bay Area traffic became intolerable; I had a 72mi r/t commute per day, 45m by car at 6am or 2h15m by transit EACH WAY. So I gave away the car and motorcycle, sold the house and moved. I walk, and bike most places, subway otherwise or Via/Lyft when I have to. I've rented a car ONCE in 6 years being here. More $$$ in my pocket each month.

[@vlv723]

Yep. The 405 added an HOV lane from the 10 to the 101 via Sepulveda pass. Made traffic even worse. I miss the pandemic era traffic. It’s now traffic again in LA.

[@annabelholland]

I mean, it's taking one lane out of the equation so that cars with more than 2 ppl in it can just zoom past

[@someonespadre]

My experience is the HOV lane is often occupied by a car going slower than the adjoining regular lanes.

[@seanthe100]

Right the HOV doesn't approve any. La needs toll lanes on top of existing freeways to at least give people the option.

[@GGIC.]

Get a motorcycle

[@GGIC.]

@@seanthe100 tolls are wrong

[@jonasbijlsma9943]

Short answer: it's a terribly designed car-centric inefficient ugly ultrasprawled polluted resource slurping not-pleasant place to live for anyone who wants to spend time outside their car.

[@PASH3227]

Is Los Angeles unique to this? Most sunbelt towns are built around the car, right? Or are Dallas and Phoenix walkable?

[@jrus690]

The problem is that Los Angeles is many cities, unlike other American metros, so the cars pack up. If Los Angeles was built sort of like the Ruhr valley of Germany, it would not have these problems, but nobody in LA knows how to use the city. Atlanta is by far the worst suburban sprawl metro in the USA, the only thing close together are the trees.

[@jrus690]

@Jakonate Los Angeles, ironically, has some of the best urban fabric in the country, lots of mid rise construction, in some areas suburban housing packed together like row houses, all the cities are also connected by sidewalks (no barrier separation), the central city (downtown) is still mostly intact. It is a city that has piles of people trying to be green but do not seem to understand their own joke, as it basically has the most pervasive car culture in America.

[@PASH3227]

@@jrus690 I believe the building out of our rail systems (although some are political ploys to appease constituents) and the new BRTs is helping to alleviate the car centric culture.

[@jrus690]

@@PASH3227 The people of Los Angeles need to rethink their city concept, this is not unique, most of the USA needs to do this. We do not need to scrap the car, but the suburbs are far too over built. We got too used to cheap energy and it is steadily impoverishing us, the whole economy is having problems, this is the probable source.

Los Angeles needs lots and lots of Public Transportation of trams, buses and intercity trains.

[@ordinaryhand]

the problem with this is there's also a significant class divide. it's like one of the captions in this video -- "everyone else should take transit". when you listen to people in privileged positions in LA talk about transit, they invariably say "it's impossible to live here without a car" -- neglecting the fact that millions of low-wage people of colour and immigrants do so every day out of necessity. getting americans to use public transit means getting them out of their cars, and that's a sense of entitlement that is much bigger than just what infrastructure is present in their city.

[@williamhuang8309]

@@ordinaryhandI think a lot of people say there needs to be more transit just to get more people out of their cars, leaving an empty freeway for themselves to drive on. No use if nobody's using the transit options!

[@ordinaryhand]

@@williamhuang8309 i think someone below articulated it really well... "i live right near the gold line but hardly use it because i can only go a few places without a huge headache." transit isn't always faster or easier! but there's a certain amount of personal sarifice that needs to be made in order to make cities (and the environment) better! maybe it means they have to transfer from subway to bus to another bus and people who refuse to give up their cars largely just don't care about the greater good enough to inconvenience themselves.

[@annabelholland]

Or you can just walk or bike if it's less than 2 miles walking or 5 miles biking

[@Ray03595]

@@annabelholland Lots of hills in LA. Biking is not always the best option. The sprawl is is just pretty crazy and I see why ppl use car to get everywhere. LA desperately lacks a robust public transit network. Won't change until there is some real investment in alternative modes, and ppl stop looking down on using public transportation. It's funny that here in NY you'd be crazy TO have a car.

[@cs-ce7hd]

did anyone else notice how the freeway starts the video freely flowing, then a car seems to break down in the left lane and it starts to be congested by 3 minutes? LOL

[@VictorDeveze]

lols exactly what I was thinking

[@jasonreed7522]

A simple way to make a traffic jam is to slam on your brakes or make someone else slam on theirs (by cutting them off). In short the people behind the braking car will brake more than you did eventually leading to a fully stopped car on the freeway, the jam will only clear if more cars leave the "traffic snake" then enter it. Surprisingly, driving like a good driver helps traffic and driving like a bad driver hurts traffic. Also the best solution to traffic is to not let personal cars into cities AND have good mass transit. (Rural places need cars since rural mass transit is economically impossible)

[@nicolescats2]

Cars are at their best in two situations: 1) Going to destinations no one else really wants to go to 2) Transporting large/lots of objects in situations where trains are impractical (like delivering goods from the train to various addresses). By building more public transit when roads gets busy enough to have traffic jams, you make it easier for the people who actually need to use cars/trucks to get where there going. It's frustrating when people see transit projects as anti-car, when really it's helping the cars that use the road after transit service starts.

[@GGIC.]

@@nicolescats2 reducing car lanes to limit the amount of traffic can flow through to force people to alternatives is anti-car when induced demand suggest people rather be in their car. More lanes means more people decide to drive when they didn’t before. More people are able to get through while still in traffic.

[@awolowiecki720]

when youtube's rev sharing is so bad that every video just becomes an ad for curiosity stream hahah

[@Felix-nz7lq]

You should really collaborate with Not Just Bikes at some point. Seem like you both have a lot of overlap

[@vcalblas]

I totally support this idea!

[@user-xu9ws9rj8r]

To deal with the traffic, government officials are confused on whether to build a Monorail or a Subway on the Supeldeva Boulevard

[@Astromancerguy]

Imagine if back in the day the state had connected HWY 1 to Broad St/227 through downtown slo 😂😂😭

[@shaynewhite1]

I think the idea of rail lines paralleling the freeways is a great idea, that way everyone can get to the same destinations no matter which mode of travel you choose. Wish more freeways were like that.

[@zonaryorange8734]

The 105 has a metro line running along the median. It has poor connections to actual places people need to be (think of how many places you go to frequently that are right next to the freeway, and I mean right next to it that walking is practical), also people don’t like standing around loud cars and smog

[@user-propositionjoe]

As someone born and living in Europe his whole life, watching videos like this and seeing the dreadful state of the USA, I don't know why anyone wants to live like that.

[@lexoticsjyl3229]

Bro we can’t choose where we live right away trust me i dont want to be here 😂

[@viccasaur]

If you are born in Europe, that just means you won the birth lottery. Those who lived all their life in America didn’t ask for this. Big business controls us, trust mean I would do anything to live in Europe if it was that easy.

[@dannielz6]

Maybe tiny cars and tiny streets aren't for everyone😁

[@davehughesfarm7983]

WE dont... I live in the heartland on the outskirts of a 120 person town..13 miles to any stop light..

[@FruitingPlanet]

Having such an immense metropolis without any metro, s-bahn or seperated cable cars is just insane, with all the money they spent on their freeway network, they could have built a puplic transport system comparable to Paris or Tokyo.

[@dannielz6]

LA has an extensive public transit (LA metro) and inter city system (Metrolink). Its not nearly as big as it should be but it has been expanding a lot recently as they shift away from freeways.

[@junkfoodjunkie1]

My personal best for driving in LA traffic was a 2 1/2 drive during rush hour from the LA convention center to Diamond Bar which is about 30-35 miles away

[@williamhuang8309]

Average speed: 14mph or 22.6 kph

[@marsgal42]

I've driven in L.A. and lived to tell the tale. You stop shaking. Eventually. 😛 I've driven on numerous freeways that were well-intentioned but only increased congestion. Think I-5 in Seattle, Highway 401 in Toronto (Canada's answer to the Katy Freeway), M25 around London. Even the expansion of Highway 1 in Vancouver.

[@robbiewales3007]

I went to LA in 2015 and witnessed first hand their freeway system. The 5, 10 and 405 freeways were quite busy. The highlight for me was not long after leaving LAX for Anaheim and going on the 105 freeway where it meets the 110

[@chromebomb]

I KNEW THAT WAS YOU!!! Aw man I should have stopped and said hi!!! I saw you vlogging on that bridge when I rode my bike past!!!!

[@dubrob210]

What that before or after you took that hit of crack?

[@FreewayBrent]

The short answer: Greater Los Angeles has the busiest freeway system in North America. While the 2 busiest sections of freeway in the US and Canada lie outside of LA (the I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector in Atlanta and the 401 in Toronto), Greater Los Angeles has *BY FAR* more miles of freeway carrying at least 200,000 and 300,000+ vehicles per day than any other metropolitan area, and it's not even close to 2nd place. In fact, what's crazy about LA's traffic demand is that some of the busiest sections of freeway are far from downtown LA...whether you go 30+ miles northwest of downtown, 50-60+ miles southeast, or deep deep down into Orange County, they're all crowded as hell. The 57/60 out in Diamond Bar and I-5 through Santa Ana are the 2 busiest sections of freeway in the region (both carrying well over 400,000 vehicles per day), and they're a good 25 and 30 miles outside of Downtown LA, respectively. You can drive a whopping 90 miles southeast of downtown LA out toward Temecula and Murrieta, and I-15 still carries a bit over 200,000 vehicles per day on a maximum of 12 lanes (most of it is 8 lanes through there). If you go 90 miles out of Houston, Atlanta and more, you're out in the boonies. Really, it's just too many people and too many cars, spread out over a vast metropolitan area that is larger than Connecticut, Rhode Island and half of Massachusetts combined.

[@israeldelarosa5461]

I think people are missing this. Southeast California where LA is is FAR too crowded and populated to be as far-centric as it is so of course stuff like this pops up.

[@aviationandmemes1627]

you can drive from (southernmost metro county) meriwether county to (northernmost metro county) pickens county which is both in the atlanta metro it would take 115 miles to travel between them it would take 2 hrs without traffic but with traffic maybe close to 4 or 5

[@Arkiasis]

3:05 just look at the highway. Look at the idiots braking, the two people sitting in the left lane, others cutting people off and see a traffic jam form right before your eyes.

[@gaming_sportsaaron1365]

This may surprise everyone but Los Angeles actually doesn’t have the longest traffic. Boston and Chicago have the longest traffic. But LA has the worst congestion traffic in usa.

[@michlo3393]

Actually, as far as congestion, Honolulu probably takes the cake. LA has VOLUME and has it in amounts that no other city compares to. More people sit in LA traffic DAILY than the population of Chicago or Brooklyn.

[@justdrive5327]

Chicago has the worst traffic in America. Its 1am right now and we still have a traffic jams on the Circle Interchange, on Kennedy Expressway (i90/i94) and on Lake Shore Drive

[@justdrive5327]

9pm gridlock is becoming to common in Chicago but at 1am? People go home!

[@michlo3393]

@@justdrive5327 You think Chicago is the only place with that problem?

[@justdrive5327]

@@michlo3393 Times square is empty right now. Downtown Chicago is still bustling. It's 2am

[@tkejlboom]

It's worth adding half a sentence to mention that induced demand is not just due to lowering 'cost' for the driver, but increasing the costs for everyone else. The freeway expansions make it harder to get around on foot or on bike, and interfere with transit.

[@toobadmynamewastaken]

3:43 - This is actually the 101 through Echo Park / Angeleno Heights

[@CityBeautiful]

Oops, sorry about that.

[@toobadmynamewastaken]

@@CityBeautiful 👌🏾

[@jasiahgipson7377]

Wait I thought it was the 2 Glendale?

[@MohammadAijaz5842]

They also don't have feeder roads which causes backups onto the main lanes. And then the phantom intersections start. Idk how they do it.

[@Noel_13]

I love your content!! Narration is super easy to follow and have the perfect time (about 10 min.).

[@SpencerMosher]

They can still use the exist corridors and change them into multi-modal. They can also add managed lanes for longer drives split local traffic from those lanes. Collector or frontage roads also help reduce traffic.

[@violent_bebop9687]

It's the same every where, there is no solution when the constant limitation is the automobile. 1) it's too large - It weighs 4,000lbs and carries 1 person weighing 200lbs 2) It's inefficient - It requires $1 million dollars per mile of pavement to use. 3) It's uncoordinated - every individual idiosyncrasy is present in this vehicle , compare this to airlines where pilots, air controllers cooperate in a system. 4) it's too slow - if you need to move 1 Million units, you need to go A LOT FASTER. Yes, just like computers , just go faster, it beats having wider lanes.

[@Ciph3rzer0]

I'm moving to the first city that bans cars and develops a comprehensive city run transportation system that involves its own ride shareing.

[@KrishnaDasLessons]

I live in the Bay Area and our traffic is only slightly better than LA's, (like we don't have 24/7 rush hour), but the traffic is for the same reason as LA's.

[@awrybowtie5591]

It's okay we'll get BART in downtown San Jose by 2100 or something like that >.>

[@FreewayBrent]

Eh...I've spent the last 20 years splitting time between the Bay Area and LA. There are some specific sections of freeway in the Bay that are every bit as bad (and slow) as the worst of the worst in LA. Usually with 2 or 4 less lanes than LA, but with traffic just as frustrating.

[@KrishnaDasLessons]

@@FreewayBrent YO FREEWAYBRENT! But yeah I agree I-680 and I-580 going into San Jose can get pretty much unusable during rush hour. But at the very least there are a decent amount of people that use BART or CalTrain here, enough that it does have a somewhat positive effect on traffic. Also, people here are less reluctant to use public transportation overall, just that there isn't enough public transportation since local governments take absolutely forever to get anything done.

[@FreewayBrent]

@@KrishnaDasLessons Oh yeah, totally. Without BART and Caltrain, Bay Area traffic would be even worse (pre-COVID).

[@GGIC.]

Bay Area geography is your problem.

[@driftofair9691]

Just came across your channel and have been binging it. This resonates with me because I used to be what they call a "supercommuter," a person whose commute was greater than 90 minutes one way. As a matter of fact, it was 3 HOURS by car due to me living in Pomona and commuting all the way to Beverly Hills, which meant I cut across the heart of LA where traffic was the absolute worst. One calculation suggested that even if I took vacation time, I'd still be wasting nearly 2 months driving. With that much time and so many cars I started to wonder, "why the hell is there nothing being done to remedy this?" By that I mean every time I drove, you saw the giant shroud of smog engulfing the city, and the likely millions of single-occupant vehicles crowding the streets to share in the exact same hell every single day. If I'm watching the same video you produced, you basically confirmed my suspicions, that just about every single other type of transit was put in the ground before they had a chance to make the car obsolete and now everyone's paying for it. As much as I love this city, having grown up in it and never really needing a car towards the center, getting out of it was enough to make me realize that this is just about the worst place for travel. I've never driven back since, and nowadays with the situation just getting worse (it doesn't matter what day it is now, traffic is LITERALLY EVERYWHERE) I'm glad I never have to subject to myself to that torture ever again.

[@willywonka3050]

As an LA resident who lives right next to the Arroyo Seco Parkway, I have to say that my stretch of the parkway (Hermon/Ave 60) contains the worst freeway entrance/exit in all of California, but the other sections are excellent. I've handled the original copies of the various municipal acts/deeds that helped fund and maintain the Parkway when I was doing archival work, so I have a strong sentimental connection to it.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

This is gonna be interesting to learn about, I went to LA a once and it was enough to make me want to never go back. Maybe I just got unlucky but at one point I was literally in traffic for THREE HOURS, and we only travelled a few miles! We were literally at an average of 1 mile per hour. How on earth so people think that’s okay!? It was so awful that I never want to experience it again. The M25 back home is bad enough but I’ve never been stuck in traffic for 3 whole hours *EVER* in England. LA was actually somewhat nice in some places like Long Beach with the Queen Mary where we stayed, but then at other parts of town it was a maze of grey concrete with run down houses built right up to the edges of the freeway, something you’d never see where I live…

[@maddogmike4653]

I live in LA it is a problem. Can't wait till the subway is finished though i fear it will not help enough

[@martinn.6082]

I visited L.A. a few years ago and was surprised how the housing was all tiny houses and how vast the city was. Very interesting, but obviously with a lot of downsides.

[@RedTyphoon]

If you live next to I-5 North near the Calzona exit in LA, wishing you guys the best of luck for those that live next door to the freeway. There are median concrete barriers (at the sidewalk) on the first houses after exiting.

[@Platanov]

I moved to LA for work a few years ago, and one of the best parts of moving was getting away from Seattle traffic.

[@killman369547]

Maybe if you Americans stop worshipping and designing everything around the car your cities wouldn't be congested hellscapes. Build some trains FFS.

[@JuanWayTrips]

I tell people that the highways in LA can actually get you to your destination pretty well. The only issue is that 10 million other people are also trying to use those same highways. It seems like the 105 will be the last highway built in LA, with the 710 extension to Pasadena, through South Pasadena, being all but dead. Really shows the difference and power certain neighborhoods had in whether or not a highway would be built, and now the general negativity associated with them.

[@cityplanner3063]

This is from my experience from Sydney. One of the reason freeways get so clogged is due to merging from on ramps. We built this new 9km tunnel and in theory it should be free following as there really isn’t any merges for the 9km. But during busy holidays it always backs up 9km and this is all due to the merge at the exit of the tunnel.

[@AdamSmith-gs2dv]

A freeway is a like a old car: once you fix one problem the next weakest link in the chain fails

[@cityplanner3063]

@@AdamSmith-gs2dv well said

[@ndogg20]

The Arroyo Seco Freeway is amazing, not so much for being the first freeway in the nation, but how incredibly dangerous it is. The entry system to this freeway goes like this: the car on the on-ramp is at a stand still , then has to go from 0 to 50 mph to merge with on coming traffic and hopefully not get clipped in the process. Even the old timers say this disaster was out dated about 5 minutes after it opened in the 1940's.

[@whodidit99]

I learned to drive on this freeway. The on ramps are terrifying. You have to make the judgement to GO, then gun it hope you don't get rear ended. The offramps are just as bad. You get off and immediately have to make a180 turn just a few yards from the entrance. People are very careful though and there doesn't seem to be many accidents from Pasadena to Downtown.

[@xxfgsdfgadgsgsrgfdsg]

Sprawl and lack of public transportation and bike infrastructure.

[@EricBrightwell]

Los Angeles has ideal weather for walking and cycling. It also has the second-largest mass transit network in the country which is what one might expect of the nation's second-largest city. Granted, it's not necessarily the mass transit system one would imagine for the richest city in the richest state in the richest country in the world (hello no public restrooms, few dedicated busways, and sometimes frustratingly infrequent service) but it gets anyone willing to use it around the entire Southern California region -- and I've been happily car-free in Los Angeles for ten years. The reality is, no Angeleno needs or deserves an interstate freeway through their community.

[@elonthomass]

3:42 small note! that is not the Arroyo Seco Pwy, that's the soutbound Hollywood Fwy (now the 101). Great video though !

[@FalconsEye58094]

Imagine this, the LA bikeway. an effort to do the same pedestrianizing that Amsterdam did

[@danielvaldez9946]

Amsterdam use it only around city center and its reasonably flat. Would probably have to be a Tour de France biker to move around LA in a bike. Would be cool tho.

[@FalconsEye58094]

Daniel Valdez plenty of flatter land closer to the water. Its gotta start somewhere

[@edwardmiessner6502]

@@danielvaldez9946 actually a lot of L.A. is flat

[@AdamSmith-gs2dv]

That won't work, LA isn't dense enough to make riding a bike make sense. Like or not but the decision to build around the car had unforeseen consequences and now it's become very hard to fix it.

[@happysmash27]

​@@FalconsEye58094 Isn't there already a pretty large bike path there though? The one along the beach?

[@TheOneSaneGuy]

On and off, off and on all day, all night! Soon, where Toontown once stood will be a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see! My God, it'll be beautiful.

[@yevrahas]

00:13 Look at that offramp! It takes a hard swerve and emergency braking to successfully exit the arroyo seco/Pasadena freeway. On top of that, the lanes are sub-mimimun width. Drivers who are familiar with that freeway avoid it.

[@rubemorenoo]

EXACTLY

[@the4fibs832]

Always love your content! Could you possibly remind viewers at the beginning to watch on Nebula? I always forget and have to switch over for the ending segment lol

[@NicholasMonks]

I second this. Nebula needs a little work, but when I go on my binges, it would be nice to be reminded to just jump straight over there to begin with rather than tracking the time in the video so I can fast forward in Nebula.

[@cliobhabie]

LA native here, and if you have to use the restroom, you’re gonna feel like you’re dying. Used to take me two , to/ from work. Mere insanity, caused me to keep smoking cigarettes just to deal with the traffic

[@FPOAK]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit was actually a documentary

[@DNRY122]

No, it's a work of fiction. The real story is much more complex.

[@mattwest99]

It really was. Damn you Cloverleaf

[@zz449944]

One of the huge failures of the Interstate Highway System was it's (intentional) bypassing of existing railroad connections. For freight traffic, this means that instead of highway trucks having easy access to railroad yards, it makes it preferable to have trucks perform the entire journey for freight, even if the journey is 2,000 or 3,000 miles. For as much as we DO rely on freight trains today, we still rely more heavily on trucks for long-distance freight movement. For people moving, the same (intentional) bypassing of existing railroad stations gave us the same result -- that it is much easier and convenient to make your entire trip by car rather than a majority of that trip by train.

[@LoyaFrostwind]

I live in the SF Bay Area. I’ve stayed at my same job for over 20 years, mainly for the convenience of having a reverse commute (and hence better quality of life). The regular commute direction is horrendous sometimes.

[@seanthe100]

Los Angeles is like this due to it's past Los Angeles county was the agricultural capital of the US over 100 years ago. Every town in southern California was founded for specific crops. The homes were built and eventually the town fit into one another.

[@DanTheCaptain]

I've only been to LA once, and unfortunately didn't get to see everything I wanted to but still loved it! I however would never like to live in the city as it's just too dam big for its own good. Public transport isn't the best and thus, a car is a necessity.

[@Gillipollas26]

Right on! I was in LA on holiday for a week and stayed in downtown and wasted so much money on Ubers, should’ve rented a car

[@petitkruger2175]

I want to watch the extra nebula bit so badly!!!

[@daviddrivez9978]

I live in Pasadena I drive on the 110 arroyo seco parkway at least three times a week

[@waitme3519]

Back in covid19 times I was going to LA area every week driving a semi truck. Because of traffic I used to spend entire day going in and out, then I switched to night driving and still was bad. After few months I quit because of the stress and headaches.

[@jancerny8109]

This reminds me a little of the situation in China, or what I've heard of it from other sources. Apparently, the PRC does a lot to make driving a car expensive--you pay tolls whenever you get on a highway, gas is taxed, and parking costs you no matter where you leave your vehicle--but they still built these insane multi-lane roadways, and they all become jammed. I guess induced demand triumphs over price, in some conditions.

[@Ciph3rzer0]

I imagine It's a status symbol too. Don't underestimate the petty human nature to self-inflict suffering just to feel slightly superior to someone else.

[@SBKWaffles]

I'm a bit confused. Though I certainly understand the point of the video, I am not sure if it really addresses why L.A. specifically has such bad traffic. It seems really odd to me that cities with a similar dependence on freeways have much better traffic, especially considering that as I understand it L.A. actually has a relatively high population to freeway lane mile ratio (I could be wrong on this though). L.A. seems clearly special in this regard, and it's particularly notable when compared to its equally (or more) freeway/car-dependant neighbors: the bay area and San Diego, which appear to have much better traffic. I feel like there is something missing, or am I missing something?

[@dannielz6]

You're correct. From what I've researched San Diego has built around 90% of its planned freeway network, LA is somewhere around 60% I think. The problem being something about LA grew so fast before the network could be properly built out. So now their public transit and their freeways are both under developed and they've been playing catch up ever since, whereas San Diego's has kept pace.

[@samkuzel]

Great video Dave!

[@EndofDescent]

3:47 Small comment ... the 1960s view seems to be filmed on the US-101 Hollywood Freeway, Exit. The bridge seems to be the E Edgeware Rd crossing over US-101.

[@roachaximus5899]

Make more metro street running routes to eliminate nees for drives when the metro can leave you on the block your home is.

[@GLee-oe3op]

It always baffles me when they try to make a street look stylish but you’re going to fast on your car that you can’t even admire it

[@YAK21115]

Pedestrians

[@CrystalClearWith8BE]

Top 10 busiest freeways of Greater L.A. in my opinion (original guess): 1: I-405 CA (San Diego Freeway) 2: I-110/CA-110 (Harbor Freeway) 3: I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway/San Bernardino Freeway) 4: I-5/US 101 (Santa Ana Freeway) 5: I-105 CA (Century Freeway/Glenn Anderson Freeway) 6: I-710 (Long Beach Freeway) 7: CA-110 (Arroyo Seco Parkway) [HISTORIC ROUTE 66] 8: CA-91 (Artesia Freeway) 9: US 101/CA-170 (Hollywood Freeway) 10: CA-60 (Pomona Freeway) Edit: 1: I-405 CA (San Diego Freeway) 2: I-110/CA-110 (Harbor Freeway) 3: I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway/San Bernardino Freeway) 4: I-5/US 101 (Santa Ana Freeway) 5: US 101/CA-170 (Hollywood Freeway) 6: CA-60 (Pomona Freeway) 7: I-105 CA (Century Freeway/Glenn Anderson Freeway) 8: I-710 (Long Beach Freeway) 9: CA-110 (Arroyo Seco Parkway) [HISTORIC ROUTE 66] 10: CA-91 (Artesia Freeway)

[@jflow08]

I would of put the hollywood fwy higher since that slowdown starting around the Melrose exit into downtown is omnipresent.

[@PenskePC17]

The Spaulding Turnpike in NH had typical 4 to 6 gridlock, they added 2 lanes to the 2 lanes in each direction that already existed and there hasn’t been a traffic jam since, induced demand is far overblown

[@dannielz6]

You're comparing New Hampshire with one of the most populous regions in the world🤭

[@mohssenkassir431]

Incredible timing, I was just looking up information about LA traffic yesterday! It's really the worst

[@neubro1448]

When Eddie in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? said that (1940s) Los Angeles has the best public transportation system in the world with the streetcars. You can just ride the Red Car for a nickel.

[@marchurlbert586]

I've recently returned from spending 7 weeks in Altadena and the surrounding L.A. area. At first, covid had reduced the traffic tremendously but I gradually increased toward the end of this time. One big surprise was the reduction in visible air pollution. Even at the end, it was remarkably clearer than it had been 40+ years ago, though I understand there is still a lot of less visible pollution like nitrous oxide, etc.

[@daveotuwa5596]

When I came back from the funeral last year, I rode on Arroyo Seco parkway to get to the hotel.

[@tors1093]

As much as I agree with the fact that the number of cars in LA puts a lot of stress onto the traffic system, I also want to mention another factor that is not covered in this video: Driving skills. Nothing is easier to get than a driver's license in LA. It is almost impossible to fail the driving test, because (according to a DMV employee) California thinks that it is unfair to exclude people from driving, because they are just not capable. After 5 years of driving in this city I can say that I have never seen so many incapable drivers in my entire life. Even in moderate traffic, people manage to cause traffic jams simply because they don't seem to realize that they are not alone on the freeway. Switching lanes for no reasons, extremely aggressive driving, lack of law enforcement, stopping on on-ramps, etc. is just normal and cause a lot of disruptions in traffic flow.

[@Antonin1738]

I remember driving in LA and wondering why there is traffic in the middle of the day AND later at fucking 2AM

[@jamiedeangelo6032]

Yay! A video I've been waiting for!

[@WestCoastSamoan]

so the 110 freeway from Pasadena to LA was the first freeway ever. Makes sense. Now I understand why the entrances are so narrowed

[@Somuchgam]

How’d y’all comment so quick?

[@FloridaMan69.]

people have nothing better to do

[@Somuchgam]

There were 3 comments that were listed as being posted 20 hours before the video was uploaded

[@chelsc31]

Early access to Patreon supporters is my guess

[@liamness]

By not watching the video first, of course.

[@ianlindsay4154]

They were sitting in traffic and had nothing else better to do.

[@JBantha]

do you have a link tot he nebula video? can't seem to find it

[@CityBeautiful]

nebula.app/videos/city-beautiful-why-is-la-traffic-so-bad

[@boggo3848]

I'm a Brit and visited LA in 2018, we took a cab from Santa Monica to Anaheim, essentially just from one side of the city to the centre. It was INSANE, we were stuck in a massive traffic jam for hours on a highway. Authentic LA experience.

[@dannielz6]

Anaheim is not the Center. Downtown LA is. Anaheim is a different city in a different county (Orange).

[@briankelley864]

At 5:48 is that where the police station on the sitcom chips used to be right in the middle of the highway.

[@jesseg7183]

So I was today years old when I realised that the La La in La La Land is short for Los Angeles

[@TheSpecialJ11]

Yeah it's a pretty clever pun because it matches the themes of the movie perfectly.

[@bomenorange.]

I believe the U.S. traffic can’t be solved by any road systems at all. The mind set of the citizens must be changed first, you gotta find better solutions for social communities instead. Take Europe as an example, many cities have high density of people per square feet, yet most people use public transportations, bike or walk to their destinations. They also live near their work and study places regardless of their social class (upper, medium and lower class). I mean that if you had one company which staffs 10 people (manager, janitors, employees and etc..), they all must try to live near their workplace instead of living far away due to their neighborhood status and drive for hours. That’s the main problem with the U.S. American neighborhoods are built and categorized by income class rather than anything else.

[@UzumakiNaruto_]

In most parts of the US there's plenty of land to build on so the need to increase density and efficiency is less pressing. Until city planners start forcing increased density and discouraging low density subdivisions then nothing will change. Also these days planners and developers aren't making neighbourhoods more livable when they don't create good mainstreets and other areas of interest for people to want to walk and bike locally and instead people are more likely to drive to go for their daily as well as entertainment needs.

[@GGIC.]

Millions of people trying to be in a handful of places will create congestion regardless. It seems we need a motorcycle culture like in other parts of the world.

[@nlpnt]

The biggest problem with the pre-existing tram system was that it had been built to sell the land and houses along it and once those were sold out of the original developer's hands there was no ongoing self-sustaining funding source. Urban mass transit runs as a loss-leading community attractant/amenity generally, but a private developer can't afford to float it like the government can.

[@coyotelong4349]

The problem is instead of investing more in public transit, they invested in expanding the capacity of the freeways, thereby expanding the traffic problems Imagine if the LA Metro Rail had been invested in in the early days of the 20th century just as NYC invested in their subway system… LA could have an expansive subway network by now, and would likely have expanded more UPward instead of OUTward, making it much more compact and walkable like Manhattan or San Francisco

[@Lorryslorryss]

The linked video very briefly mentions how better alternatives, ie public transport, helps reduce this induced demand. But it kind of poo-poos it as a solution. Wrongly. Here's the thing. They say, in isolation, people changing to public transport might just mean drivers replacing them, because the roads just got faster. That's what induced demand does. But what they fail to understand is that the existence of public transport places a cap on how slow driving can be, depending on how fast public transport is. No-one is going to drive if it's much worse than the bus or train. If people move to public transport, not in isolation, but because it has improved, they won't be replaced because the "cap" has changed. It's the Downs-Thomson paradox and "Not just bikes" does a good video on it called "Do Your Buses Get Stuck in Traffic?". This just makes things worse for LA though. Since the buses get stuck in traffic, the slower car traffic gets, the slower public transport gets. There is no cap, there is no stable equilibrium, only a death spiral. I went to LA once and tried to drive to go see the Hollywood sign, and just gave up because it wasn't worth it.