LA's New Head Of Transportation Talks Vision Zero, New Traffic Laws And What's Next

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation has a new general manager.

Laura Rubio-Cornejo, who previously served as Pasadena's transportation director, will oversee 52 transportation services and projects, including the Vision Zero initiative that aims to reduce traffic related deaths.

Susanne Whatley, who hosts LAist 89.3's a.m. news show Morning Edition, spoke with Rubio-Cornejo about what's ahead for transportation in Los Angeles. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Top priorities

LAist: Talk about your top priorities as L.A.'s new transportation general manager.

Rubio-Cornejo: My top priority would be ensuring that our streets are safe for all Angelenos, but particularly for the most vulnerable amongst us. Ensuring that whether you're a child, you're an elderly person, that you can walk out your front door and that is safe, and that is inviting.

LAist: And that's quite a challenge for a city that was pretty much constructed, at least in modern times, on the automobile. Back in 2015 is when the city approved Vision Zero, and it was called a commitment to eliminate traffic deaths by the year 2025. And yet we're seeing the numbers actually increased since then. It's up, my understanding is, nearly 70% percent in this past year compared to when Vision Zero was adopted. Talk about what's behind this increase and how you plan to make L.A. streets safer.

RC: The trend is one that we're seeing not just in Los Angeles, not just statewide, but nationwide. And it's a very disturbing trend that despite efforts to make our streets safer, despite ongoing infrastructure that LADOT and the City of Los Angeles has been implementing, we continue to see an increase in fatalities, particularly amongst pedestrians. But what we know is that where there is safe street infrastructure — it is effective. And so this isn't a time to scale back. This isn't a time to throw our hands up and say this isn't working. We know it is working. And so we need to continue to address safe streets.

We need to continue to implement safe street infrastructure and we need to do that one street at a time, one community at a time.

What it will take to make streets safer

LAist: What specific steps do make a difference in making the streets safer?

RC: When we have streets that acknowledge that they're intended to be for all modes. We have a very good example with Avalon Boulevard, where we were able to reallocate road space and make that a multimodal street. We saw a reduction in speeds there. We saw pedestrian amenities be more inviting for that mode. And so that's just one example. Bicycle infrastructure isn't just about allocating road space for the bicyclist. It's about also traffic calming. It's about providing some additional protections for the pedestrian. And really, when we plan our streets, when we design them, in consideration that the streets really are intended to be shared. By all modes, that really makes the greatest impact.

Where does Vision Zero stand?

Map of L.A.'s High-Injury Network (HIN). Just 6% of city streets account for 70% of deaths and severe injuries for people walking.

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Courtesy City of L.A.

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LAist: On the city's Vision Zero website, the most recent progress report was from about six years ago in 2017, just a couple years into the program. When do you anticipate another update for the public on where things are with the Vision Zero goal?

RC: We just provided an update to our city council this last summer. We do anticipate a more comprehensive update report coming out of the city's CAO office in a couple of months, if not sooner. And so that will really be a full view of the program, its effectiveness, and some recommendations on how to proceed.

How to get involved

LAist: If people in L.A. want to get involved in supporting Vision Zero, how can they do that?

RC: They can participate, be active participants when we do have meetings. They can coordinate with our community engagement team here with LADOT. They can work directly with their council offices. I would say the best way is when we do have a project and we have a community meeting, attend speak out, share with us what your concerns are, your preferences. That's what we're there to gather. Making sure that whatever infrastructure we move forward with, really reflects the priorities of that community.

What's next for transportation is L.A.?

LAist: Moving ahead, what have been the biggest changes involving transportation in Los Angeles in recent years, and are there any major projects that you'd like to highlight for our listeners?

RC: You know, we've had the ability to implement over 20 miles of bus only lanes. We're really excited about our Safe Routes to School programs where we're advancing safety at the nearby schools. Those are just two of the ways that we're really working on advancing safety at a more local level.

LAist: Governor Newsom just signed hundreds of bills into law over the past month or so after the end of the legislative session. And I'm wondering if there are any new laws Angeleno's in particular should keep in mind when it comes to driving or street safety or just transportation in general.

RC: One in particular that the City of Los Angeles really participated in advancing to the governor's desk is AB645 sponsored by Assemblymember Friedman that allows for us to be able to detect speeding and enforcement of speeding. And so that's one that we'll be working really closely over the next several years with our fellow departments on implementing and reporting back out to the state on its effectiveness.

LAist: Is that the speed camera law?

RC: It is. And I think what's really important about that law is it allows us to enforce speeds in a way that's consistent, in a way that is accountable. So really looking forward to having that implemented.

LAist: And that encompasses city of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Glendale, where Laura Friedman is from, in addition to three cities up north. How long is this going to be a pilot program and what method is going to be used to evaluate whether that works or not?

RC: I believe we have to report back a couple of years into the program being in effect. Five years or so is my understanding. There are a couple of metrics we have to report back on to the state, and so we'll be making sure that we're tracking that in house and reporting out to the state as well as to our fellow cities, working with our other cities that are part of that legislation to ensure that the application is consistent across the board.

LAist: Anything else that you'd like to add?

RC: I would just like to reinforce the department's commitment to safe streets. It is really important that individuals at Angelenos, whether you're a resident, you're visiting, that you feel safe walking down our streets, that you be mindful as you're driving that we are sharing the same road space. There's a strong commitment here to make sure that the streets really do reflect that they are intended to be for people.