Last year Mayor Yoga pants got his way again when voters approved Measure M, even though we told you every single day to vote no on it.
Measure M will increase the sales tax to deliver $120 billion for transportation projects over the next 40 years. Subway to the sea, right?
Eric Garcetti loves his public transportation, but advocates say his budget plan doesn't do much to prevent traffic deaths.
His Vision Zero initiative aims to end traffic deaths on the streets of L.A. by 2025, and right now he wants $16.6 million to go to the program.
Let's be honest, there is no way he's going to end traffic deaths in the city by 2025. He must be high.
The advocates who say his budget doesn't address the traffic death issue argue that Garcetti needs to spend twice as much money if he wants the initiative to succeed.
Garcetti loves to boast about Vision Zero, but in 2016 260 people were killed in traffic collisions. That's almost a 43% increase from 2015.
Here's what Councilman Mike Bonin had to say about that:
"Our first year of Vision Zero was really, really underfunded, and the problem [of traffic deaths] actually got worse this year. So we really need to make a significant investment in this.”
Let's throw more money at this unicorn of an initiative!
Vision Zero includes:
- Painting more visible crosswalks
- Retiming traffic signals so pedestrians have more time to cross streets
- New medians and left turn lanes
- Removal of traffic lanes
Removal of traffic lanes? How about just banning cars altogether in the City of Los Angeles? That's what Garcetti would really love to do. People wouldn't die in crashes, and everyone can take the train or the bus.
Vision Zero = zero cars. We know what you're up to, Eric.