Has LA Traffic gotten worse now that Undocumented Immigrants can get Driver's Licenses? (Glendale: living in, moving)

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

To add, traffic in the San Fernando Valley is getting worse, very noticeably worse each year than the previous year.

i read recently that the 101 is the busiest freeway in the entire country now. the stretch in question was from downtown to woodland hills, but most of that distance is in the valley. i use it every day and can confirm, it sucks. not sure if it has anything to do with illegals though. now that i think about it, most of the drivers i see on the road during rush hour appear to be white. i'm sure it's much more diverse that I'm remembering, but i can with certainty it's not vast majority latino.

[Lovehound]

Seain, it would be impossible to make L.A. like N.Y. If nothing else, (1) impossible to dig the tunnels for the subways this late in the game, and (2) difficult to build so many high rises that high in earthquake territory. That's one reason we built out instead of up.

Oddly, we ended up being an auto city because one or more auto manufacturers bought our rail trolley system and scrapped it with the intent of making us drive autos.

BR, it's kind of a weird opposite of when you turn on the lights and all the cockroaches scurry for cover. Except when it's commuter time all the autos scurry for the freeways and jam them up, predictably every work day. And more every day, more every year. I don't understand people willing to drive 1-2 hours each direction to work in L.A. and live in some semi-nice burb.

I live in SaClaVal (joke from another topic) and my rule is "get out of the Valley by 3 p.m. or count on eating dinner in the Valley and going back after the commuter rush abates.

Actually, the Ventura Freeway is jammed up even in the middle of the day, probably all day every day.


I remember when they were building the Ventura Freeway and it ended at Van Nuys Blvd. I recall going 100+ mph late night coming in from Hollywood headed home to Van Nuys. I was young and crazy in those days!

[West of Encino]

It certainly has gotten worse and it has extended across the entire metropolitan area. People racing on the highways. The highways certain gotten dangerous over the years.

[Lovehound]

High traffic and stop and go traffic makes people nervous. Some low lifes start cutting in and out of traffic in an attempt to get there sooner. Oddly, this practice actually makes traffic worse because of the turbulence it causes, people avoiding them and jamming on their brakes, etc.

Traffic flow can actually be analyzed by fluid mechanics, the flow of traffic on a highway being analogous to the flow of water through a pipe or a river through a slue. I posted a comparison here at CD sometime in the Jurassic era about it. (Good luck finding it.) The situation is that smooth (laminar) flow all the water molecules just move along, but if there is an obstacle eddies form, pressure goes up and flow goes down. In vehicular terms fewer cars can pass by any spot on the highway or freeway when turbulence builds.

Same thing for changing lanes whether on the freeway or at the supermarket. You are better off picking a lane and sticking with it. You know whatever lane you pick always goes the slowest. Resist the temptation to keep changing lanes. That just increases "friction" and slows traffic. We'll all get there sooner if you just pick a lane and stick with it. Change lanes rarely.

There was a rat experiment conducted by scientists. They placed a few rats of both genders in a cage with limited area but unlimited food. The rats bred and continued to breed until the cage began to fill with rats and eventually they had a whole mess of rats. But the significant observation is that rats became aggressive and combative, fighting and biting and in human terms they went crazy.

Los Angeles is like that. We have too many rats in a limited area, and we have far passed the point where hostility and aggression have become rampant, and there is no better place to observe it than in Los Angeles traffic.

The bad news? There is no reason to believe the situation will not continue to worsen. People continue to migrate to Los Angeles whether legally or illegally, but there is only a limited amount of streets, freeways, highways and other roads to carry the traffic, and only a limited amount of area to park vehicles when not in use except at your home, and some people don't even have off-street parking at home.

And the worst news? There is no solution in sight. The only means the government has to address it is to tax people into not using their vehicles and to use car pools or public transportation (and we have a POS public transit system).

Myself, I'm just glad I am self employed and my type of business is amenable to working from home, with high speed Internet, telephone, scan to PDF (to receive, sign and return legal documents) and online access to goods such as via Amazon and eBay, plus good local shopping.

Best I can say for myself is that I rarely participate in clogging your freeways and your surface streets.

[69Charger]

They are not "undocumented". They are ILLEGAL

[Lovehound]

There is such a thing as illegal immigration, there is such a thing as illegal immigration status, but there is no such thing as illegal people.

[MIKEETC]

Originally Posted by harrishawke

Has LA Traffic gotten worse now that Undocumented Immigrants can get Driver's Licenses?

No. In the past they just drove without a license. The only difference is now they can get one.

And that guy driving the BMW parked in front of me doesn't look like an illegal.

[]

[ThaBigHomieGucci]

I don't know about if it's gotten any worse but what I do know is that traffic on the 10 from Downtown to Santa Monica has gotten way better since the expo line extension

[Christienreligions]

Originally Posted by ThaBigHomieGucci

I don't know about if it's gotten any worse but what I do know is that traffic on the 10 from Downtown to Santa Monica has gotten way better since the expo line extension

wow so that train really made a difference..?

[arizonaicetea]

Are you asking if LA traffic is going to get worse in terms of the quality of driving or the amount of traffic now that undocumented immigrants can obtain a DL?

LA has always been notorious for traffic and hasn't gotten any better, so what makes you think it's going to get any better?

If quality is of concern, chew on this: People new to LA struggling to become accustomed to LA standards of driving is pretty common. LA is all about defensive driving it's easy to see.

"Although it’s little comfort for those stuck behind the wheel, researchers have long said that heavier traffic is a sign of a healthier economy. Typically, congestion levels dip during recessions because fewer people have jobs."
LATimes -- Los Angeles area can claim the worst traffic in America. Again by Laura J. Nelson

Rising pop. + Jobs, people going to work + People obtaining/purchasing more vehicles= TRAFFIC (undocumented or not)

I don't care how LAMetro gets better. If it ain't lightnin' speed like NYC, ain't no one gonna quit the bucket.

Don't sweat it, man. We're all in the same boat here.