Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

KPCC Archive

Southern California transportation plan used for funding, carbon reduction

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

Listen 0:59
Southern California transportation plan used for funding, carbon reduction
Southern California transportation plan used for funding, carbon reduction

At meetings this week, the Southern California Association of Governments will give people in Los Angeles County an opportunity to weigh in on regional transportation plans.

Every four years, the association’s transportation plan becomes a gateway to obtaining federal money. Regional rail, roads and other projects in Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura can't get the cash they need without it. Planners strategize about what type of homes to build, and whether development should grow taller in one area, or spread wider in another.

Now a state law requires planners to consider and to minimize greenhouse gas emissions too. As with the plan last time around, a key focus is regional transit – its ridership has grown 20 percent in the last decade

In another part of the process, policymakers project Southern California's housing needs decades into the future. In presentations, planners say they believe that three-quarters of the region's households won't include children in 30 years, as older Californians make up more and more of the population.

The Southern California Association of Governments expects to issue its draft transportation plan early next year.

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today