To fix L.A.'s traffic, we need tolls

Here is the article covering that:

"Tolls may disproportionately burden the poor, but so do sales taxes, gas taxes and every other way we pay for roads."

It then goes on to sort-of suggest that despite this new pain the net benefit will be better for "working-class" people......somehow. No thoughts were offered on how to keep the toll revenue from just padding out civil servant pensions and benefits while the traffic and roads muddle on.

> rather than wait for a stranger to pick them in a semi-determined block of time

I think the idea is that it's supposed to match you in real-time and give GPS updates, just like regular Uber and Lyft. That is, it's not like BlancRide in Canada (which has been struggling) where you schedule in advance, have blocks of time, etc.

https://blancride.com/

> Waiting and hoping that the person who promised to pick you up will actually do so seems annoying and nerve-wracking

Unlike most carpooling services, Lyft and Uber have strong reputation mechanisms that can greatly reduce this. You can always fall back on a taxi or normal Uber for couple times a month when the driver is flaky.

Ehh idk. I've lived in a couple major cities, and moved here to LA in 2015. It's not as terrible is it might seem on the surface. One of the major differences that sets Los Angeles apart from other cities is that people tend to live quite far from work because of housing costs and geography. I'm fortunate that I can take the bus (for now) and often take the Expo Line downtown to go to Kings games, but I know a lot of people that live in Playa or El Segundo and work in downtown, or even the Valley. That just isn't a realistic option for them. I think people have to see Public Transit as a reliable replacement before we introduce some forcing mechanism for them to sell their vehicle.

I think LA is probably a market that most uniquely fits for self driving cars (depending on whatever business model emerges for those things). Thing is, I can't imagine the special kind of road rage that'll emerge when you're driving on the 405 and look to your left and right and see a completely empty vehicle.

Some of the cost could be mitigated with "toll-free" options, such as using a vehicle tracker like EZ-pass and not charging you if you travel less than N miles (to encourage people to live near work), or giving partial refunds if you use your car very little during a month.

Another option could be a centralized "smart-driving" app, that would act as a hybrid between self-driving and manual driven cars. Each driver could be given "hints"/instructions, and measured on their compliance rate. The reward would be a measurable improvement in travel time. For instance, if 80% of the cars on a block were using this app, preference could be given to hold a signal light green longer for them. Drivers would see a benefit, and that would be their only impetus to comply with its directions (slow down, turn left here, park and wait 5m, etc). Someone who never listened to the thing would be kicked off. Soon with enough users , you could organize mini "convoys" of cars travelling through the city (say, all cars slow from 65 to 60mph for 2 miles, so that the offramp signal could be ready and green at the exact moment of their arrival and kept green for the whole convoy) and attempt to optimize travel for them or give them other perks such as free parking. It wouldn't solve all problems, but it would encourage cooperative behavior on the roads which may go a long way to easing congestion.

LA is getting better with mass transit. The problem is it's not running 24 hours. It shuts down around 1am so you it's not really good for doing things at night like in NYC.

Also, there's a TON of crazy people riding, literal homeless crazy people, or kind of thuggish people. There needs to be some sort of loitering code enforcement on the train along with more security. I feel uncomfortable as a dude, I bet women feel even more so.

Also need more train tracks!

Fix those problems people will ride transit way more. Thats the way to solve the traffic problem.