Climate Change and Congestion: 2nd Annual California University Transportation Centers-California PATH Conference, November 6-7, 2008
Coming two days after conclusion of the 2008 presidential race and Democrat Barack Obama's landslide victory, this year's California University Transportation Centers-California PATH conference indeed took place at the start of a "new era," as noted by Lawrence H. Orcutt, Chief of the Division of Research and Innovation (DRI) at the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which is a major supporter of both PATH and the UTCs.
Orcutt opened the conference, which was held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles November 6-7, by observing that "people are looking to California" in this time of change in Washington and that California was well-equipped with research capabilities, given that it is home to California PATH (Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways) and five university transportation centers, supported by federal and state funds, the most in any state. The University of California Transportation Center, housed on the UC Berkeley campus, was the lead academic supporter, along with PATH, of the conference.
The annual conference, initiated last year, is intended to "link up researchers with practitioners," Orcutt explained. On the practitioners' side, some 200 people from Caltrans districts from all over the state, city and regional planning agencies and government agencies attended. On the research side, there were professors, researchers and graduate students from PATH, the UC campuses of Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside and Santa Barbara, University of Southern California, California State University, Long Beach, San Jose State University and California State University, San Bernardino.
"Cities around the world are facing tremendous challenges related to traffic congestion and its impact on climate change, safety, quality of life and overall system performance," organizers noted in their overview of the conference. "This year's California Transportation Centers-PATH conference will tackle these critical issues through presenting new directions in congestion management research and practice. We will examine this topic from all angles — state-of-the art technology, finance, policy, planning, engineering, social and environmental effects, institutional barriers—and will draw from experiences in the United States and abroad."
S. Gail Goldberg, Director, Department of City Planning, City of Los Angeles, delivered the keynote speech. Hired two years ago to Los Angeles' top planning post after 20 years in San Diego, she said, "The challenge I was given, literally, was to change the culture of planning in this city," which is "very, very large" and located in a "mega-region."
"What do you think the biggest problem is?" she asked her audience. "Traffic." Then she asked, "How many of you drove here?," adding that "you may be embarrassed to admit it."
Calling Los Angeles "the last great unfinished city in our country," she said, "it has the potential to be the most walkable and livable." She outlined four initiatives that her department has devised in answer to the question "How can we re-form ourselves?" A recurring theme is that of sustainability, from "green" certification of new buildings, to walkability checklists for every new project. However, "the bottom line in every discussion is traffic."
Although Los Angeles is the most congested urban area in the country, she said, "we do not drive more" than people in many other large cities (it being in the top 14 metro areas). A number of indicators support that: "We are fifth in per capita vehicle miles traveled, fifth in household vehicle ownership, ninth in percentage of employees who drive alone to work," and with a high share of bus and transit.
She pointed to the passage two days earlier of Measure R, which imposes a half-cent Los Angeles County sales tax as proof that voters in the Los Angeles area are willing to pay for measures to ease congestion. In order to find the solutions, she called on each member of the audience of practitioners, researchers, students and professors, to "be a player" in the efforts to reduce congestion, ending with a borrowed line: "Together, yes we can."
The full program of the 2nd Annual California UTC-California PATH conference.
—Phyllis Orrick