Monumental Regional Plan for Southern California Gets Final Approval

[M II A II R II K]

Monumental Regional Plan for Southern California Gets Final Approval


4/4/12

By Amanda Eaken



Read More: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ae...rnia_make.html

This afternoon the Southern California Association of Governments unanimously adopted a $524 billion transit plan designed to heavily invest in projects to provide greater mobility choices to Los Angeles and Southern California residents and visitors. The plan will reduce harmful air pollution, provide a variety of choices to move around the region without a vehicle, save people money and produce thousands of local, good-paying jobs.

- While Washington politicians continue to point fingers about high gas prices, local leaders in Los Angeles have actually done something about long commutes. SCAG has approved a plan that will save people money, shorten their commutes and create a cleaner environment. Investing in transit will put millions of people back to work on local projects that benefit anyone who chooses to trade gas prices for a metro card.

That new approach is what this plan attempts to deliver, thanks to requirements under California’s SB 375, passed in 2008. A couple highlights. This plan:

• Increases funding for biking and walking by over 350% from $1.8 to $6.7 billion;

• Spends $246 billion—nearly half the plan’s total revenue-- on public transportation;

• Reduces congestion 24% per capita despite adding 4 million residents;

• Brings 12 key transit expansion projects to Los Angeles in the next 10 years under Mayor Villaraigosa’s 30-10 plan;

• Creates 60% more housing near transit than is currently available;

• Creates 4.2 million jobs in the region, 87% of all jobs will be ½ mile from transit;

• Achieves a 24 % reduction in pollution-caused respiratory problems, resulting in $1.5 billion per year in health care savings’ and;

• Saves over 400 square miles of open space--more than a third the size of Yosemite--from development by shifting to a more walkable land use pattern for the region.

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