Laura Richardson
The new member of Congress wants to be a champion for L.A. transit projects and the Subway to the Sea
An argument could be made that Los Angeles exhibits a few characteristics of a Third World city: The levels of inequality are staggering, the crime oppressive, and yard sales run rampant.
An exception: Most Third World cities have better public transportation, “better” being here defined as little things like access and use and maybe even efficacy. The irony is disturbing.
The move to shake up the status quo on the L.A. transportation scene is getting some major play at City Hall, with talk of the Subway to the Sea gaining momentum to jump over some of its bigger hurdles, the biggest of which is dollars to keep our hearts, minds, and attention focused in the right place: the actual construction of the nice dream.
Freshman Congresswoman Laura Richardson has positioned herself nicely, and serves on the congressional committee that will be sorting all of this out in the coming year. And, using words we haven’t heard since the late Congressman Julian Dixon worked with Mayor Tom Bradley to bring about the start of L.A.’s subway system in the 1980s, Richardson would like to be L.A.’s next champion of transportation.
Richardson spoke to CityBeat about what she’s been up to in our corner of the fight for funding.
–Ashley Archibald
CityBeat: So what’s with you and transportation?
Laura Richardson: My support of transportation is very high, considering my entire career I’ve dealt with this issue. Just to give you a bit of my background, I was on the Long Beach City Council Transportation Committee, the Assembly Transportation Committee, and now the Committee of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Do you consider Los Angeles to be a poster child for our sick transportation system?
Is it a poster child? Sure. Given the vibrant urban community that it is, we have every imaginable transportation issue in L.A. County. Absolutely we are an example of infrastructure needs.
Los Angeles hasn’t had a lot of support for its push to improve its infrastructure and transportation. Would you want to step up as L.A.’s new champion of transportation?
Oh absolutely. I have been serving the community over transportation issues for more than eight years now. I have some experience. I fought very hard to get on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. There’s only one other member from Los Angeles, and that’s Grace Napolitano. Los Angeles has a population of 10 million people. It’s critical that we have adequate representation. I plan to lead the charge.
It seems like you’re very pro-transit-projects. How does that jibe with people who aren’t necessarily as supportive of transit, like Henry Waxman?
I agree with Representative Waxman that we have to explore other modes of transportation.
Wait … I thought that Waxman was not much of a cheerleader for transit projects, like subways and trains.
I cannot speak for Mr. Waxman. As for my position, I do support alternative transportation like the Blue Line and light rail. It’s important to continue to give money to make sure those are successful. I do support us doing adequate maintenance on existing highways and roads.
Do you see any possibility of the feds getting behind our $6 billion Subway to the Sea with some real money?
The possibilities for federal funding for the Subway to the Sea are strong. There is a Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act – Legacy for Users (SAFETY-LU) meeting coming up. These funds are not just about the average one traffic light or signal, but rather to the degree we can address regional problems. It’s extremely important. Interest has been stronger because we have a reauthorization coming up very quickly. The lobbying effort has been very strong as well. I’ve personally had several visits from Metro, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel and Assemblyman Mike Feuer. Everyone has come to a consensus about the need for a Subway to the Sea. Yes, I do think it could happen.
Are there any other projects you would like to see happen?
There is also a discussion of connecting the Westside to the Los Angeles Airport. Obviously, LAX is one of the busiest airports in the nation. If we could enable them to not hop on the 405, that would be great. Sometimes it can take an hour to go two to 10 miles. Another line to the LAX area would be extremely beneficial. There is also some call for an Alameda corridor going East. The North-South is already in place, and it would be great if we could make the connection from Los Angeles to the Inland Empire and take trucks off highways.
I would also like to see improvements to the 710. Anybody from the L.A. area knows how many trucks and how many accidents and how dangerous that highway is.
When do you expect the budget in? Isn’t the clock ticking?
I hope August or September, but my money is on later this year. There is a significant budget deficit in the state. Budget issues here stem from the fact that we’re spending $300 million a week for the war in Iraq. There isn’t adequate funding, and that makes fights more intense and coming to compromise more difficult. It’s very common for the budget process to run late, but I would expect we would follow the same pace.
Where are we seeing the effects of that budget crisis?
We had the collapse of the bridge in Minnesota. When that happened, there was a report circulated of the safety nets of all bridges in the nation. There are many bridges in dire need of repair. We cannot afford to fix the bridges and the highways and all the problems we have. Infrastructure is aging, and for every year you don’t make the investment, it gets worse. So instead of minor repairs, you have to tear up the road and pave it all over again. The bridge situation in Minnesota is the perfect example.
With this kind of deficit, is it harder to get funding for your projects, or is there more of a priority for transportation?
The fact that we have SAFETY-LU as the funding mechanism shows that people do see transportation as a priority.
How does your presence on this committee help Los Angeles’s subway project?
Being on a committee, you already have a relationship with the chair. You’re very involved with the process from beginning to end. I think I have a better opportunity to make sure the concerns are addressed, through policy or through projects and programs. When the safety reauthorization begins, we’ll have discussions on how the meetings will go. All the issues facing us right here in Los Angeles, those are the top committees. For field hearings on transit projects in particular, I’ll be very sure that these hearings will be in Los Angeles.
Everyone’s heard of earmarked funds. I have received many earmark requests not only for my district but for regional issues. Joe Baca in the Inland Empire is trying to connect the Alameda Corridor East, so I work with him to make sure that when that project comes up, he gets adequate funding. You have to make sure that your area is represented when the talks begin and that your area is represented when it’s beneficial to them.
Published: 05/07/2008
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Hey great article, good to hear. FYI it's SAFETEA-LU not SAFETY-LU