Americans are set to buy 170+ million new cars between now and 2030. At an average cost of around $38K, that's about $6.5 trillion—before accounting for gas (or electricity), insurance, repairs, etc. Imagine what people could do with that money if we made driving optional. 1/
Right now most people feel they have no realistic alternative but to buy a car, and our politicians are doing virtually nothing to change that. Their inaction is going to cost us trillions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives, and, ultimately, our planet's ecosystem. 2/
It's so frustrating to see how much we spend on transportation investments we all hate—cars and more traffic—and no urgency to change it. Even the money we spend on it in LA is laughably small compared to what its residents spend on cars—because they feel it's necessary. 3/
LA spends more than almost anywhere (in the US) on transit, but we've completely failed to take the inexpensive-but-most-effective actions available: dedicated bus and bike lanes, all-door boarding, transit shelters, etc. 4/
We manage to think too big and too small at the same time: Too big in imagining that we can fix the problem by throwing more money at it, or that flashy plans will change things (28 by 2028); too small in believing that what we're doing is actually visionary. 5/
There is so much potential here and so little of it realized. It's incredible that we can have all the things we do—the weather, the money, the topography, the eco-consciousness, the progressive values (professed, at least)—and this is all we have to show for it. 6/
I don't know where I'm going with this, I'm just mad. Mad at politicians across the country but especially mad at the ones I know best, here in LA County. We're 5+ years into a massive transit ridership slump and what do we have to show for it? What have we done? 7/
We have one bus lane more than a few miles long (but which only operates during peak hours), literally just a few miles of protected bike lanes each year (and none of them connected to each other), a Metro budget that increased by $1B+ dollars and yet cut bus and rail service. 8/
There are wins happening out there and I don't want to dismiss their importance, but this is bad. We're doing bad, and it's the people who can't afford those $38K new cars that are being hurt the worst, not just financially but physically as they're mowed down on our streets. 9/
Perhaps the most frustrating thing of all is that we have Councilmembers knowingly opposing transpo progress—Koretz, Cedillo, Ryu, and Lee among them—and the others don't say a word. Wouldn't want to rock the boat. It's only people's lives and health on the line, after all. 10/
The collegiality pisses me off. The actions of your fellow elected leaders are literally killing people, making us poorer and less healthy. Realpolitik is a thing, I get it. But at what point is it too much? Because it should have been a long time ago. 11/
The people standing in the way of progress, kow-towing to NIMBYs who have no vision for the future except a past that never truly existed—they need to be kicked out of office. Thank god we have a 2020 election coming that will bring more young and progressive voters out. 12/
We need people leading this city who want to actually lead it, to take it somewhere. We need people who have a vision. And we need the politicians who already *have* a vision to support those new leaders, not their pals already on the job and wasting the opportunity. 13/
That's it. I'm mad. I know a lot of us are. If you want to change this and are considering running for office, PLEASE DO. If you're in office and want to keep your seat, you're running out of chances to do what's right. 14/14
