Significant cuts in Los Angeles’ transport could threaten major transport plans for the Olympics and citywide safety targets, top agency leaders warned.
The mayor’s budget proposed cutting costs by more than $7 million and eliminating nearly 24% of the Department of Transport’s workforce. The reductions will affect targets for enforcement of parking lots, updating traffic lights, and improving road safety and support for major rail and bus lane projects ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
“Many of Ladot’s core services are driven by safety. This is a singular goal of making our city safer and providing Angeleno with safer options for travel,” General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo wrote in a note Tuesday to Katy Yaroslavsky, chairman of the city’s Budget and Finance Committee. “The budget cuts and proposed layoffs threaten this fundamental goal.”
Other sectors focused on transportation are also facing major cuts. The Engineering Department is poised to lose 131 positions in its division, focusing on improving streets and bridges and updating key infrastructure. Streetsla, formerly the Bureau of Street Services, could face more than 260 job cuts. According to Keith Mozee, executive director and general manager of Streetsla, the reductions will affect the timing of Pothole repairs, street cleaning, tree trimming and emergency response, preventing Americans from investigating disability laws.
The proposed cuts to the department come when residents press city officials to implement a 10-year-old mobility plan and improve road safety. The reduction could affect the mission of that voter.
Mayor Karen Bass’ budget, released Monday, eliminates a financial gap of about $1 billion by cutting jobs in more than 2,700 cities.
The reduction in proposed transports in 271 fill positions and 152 vacant locations limits the city’s ability to monitor car park enforcement and traffic restrictions at protests and special events, and delays in investigating complaints of abandoned vehicles. The reductions will affect response times by the department to respond to requests from the fire department, resulting in around 700 unanswered daily calls from residents to the transport department’s communications centre. They will slow down traffic light repairs and maintenance of signs and lane stripes.
“Identifying system malfunctions and signal system repairs is slow and can have a direct impact on emergency response,” writes Rubio Cornejo.
The cut will affect the agency’s ability to support some of the Metro’s “major rail and bus-only lane projects” before the Olympics, according to the memo. A Metro spokesman declined to comment.
Metro’s plans ahead of the Olympics include bus use, priority lanes for more buses, and expansion of its transport network, which relies heavily on faster speeds. Construction is underway to update the G-Line bus routes for the San Fernando Valley Metro. This is a project that relies on urban transport to update traffic signals to support Metro electric buses faster.
The city is located in Hook for $183 million to improve the streets of three subway projects stations based on the Major M.
The memo came after a detailed and detailed report of transportation recommendations on how to improve the city’s Vision Zero initiative to eliminate transport deaths. The joint report from the Chief Management Officer and the Department of Transportation focuses heavily on the need for traffic enforcement, which has declined over time amidst staff reductions and prioritization shifts in LAPD following the discovery of program failures.
It said the proposed transport reductions will affect the department’s ability to implement its recommendations, including reassessing data collection and developing public awareness campaigns on road safety. And that will lead to lower revenues from parking quotes and overall traffic compliance.
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