Monday, April 6, 2015

Exciting Transportation Questions to ask West Hollywood City Council Candidates

As I stated in my prior post, West Hollywood City Election 2015: The truth no one will say about traffic and parking, it was very depressing to watch a West Hollywood City Council election where the only transportation issues discussed, if at all, were about traffic and parking for single-occupancy automobiles.  How retro.

It is not 1987 anymore, and Measure R passed in West Hollywood by 85% of the vote, more than any other city in Los Angeles county.  While the well-being of driving and parking single-occupancy automobiles is obviously important to many people, it should not be the only discussion we are having about transportation in this city.

Here are examples of transportation issues that I, and you, can ask the City Council candidates, and discuss among your friends and neighbors, in the upcoming West Hollywood June 2nd special election directly:
  • Do you favor a transit option that connects West Hollywood to the Red Line in Hollywood directly, without requiring people to transfer, perhaps running non-stop between West Hollywood and Hollywood/Highland or Hollywood/Vine (my preferred option)?
  • Do you favor reconfiguring Fountain Avenue in West Hollywood so it is no longer a "speedway" and gives up a lane of traffic for bike lanes and more residential parking?
  • How would you help bring Metrorail to West Hollywood?  
  • Should we hold out for a below-ground Metrorail option that make take a few decades to be built or an above ground option that can be built in a few years?
  • She we create transit-only lanes for buses on Santa Monica Boulevard, similar to what is coming very soon to Wilshire Boulevard?
  • How can we partner with neighboring cities and neighborhoods to create transit projects that will serve this whole region?
  • Where else can we add bicycle lanes to West Hollywood and how else can we improve bicycle infrastructure?
  • As West Hollywood is considered a very "walkable city", how can we continue to improve the pedestrian experience?
  • How does West Hollywood adapt to the world of  Uber/Lyft and its relationship to Taxi and Limosuine services?
  • How do we add mobility to the Sunset Strip? 
  • Are parking meters on Santa Monica Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. really the most efficient use of that road space and should we try relocating that parking, by acquiring or building new parking, to free that space up for more mobility?
So if these questions are at least as interesting to you as the same old debates about parking meters for single-occupancy automobiles, feel free to ask them of our candidates, so that our transportation discussion for the special election is much more well-rounded than the general election we just completed.