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Beatrice Khaiza

Professor Batty

English 101

29 March 2018

Causes of Traffic in Los Angeles.

Whether you are stuck on the freeway during the rush hour or driving back

through the busy streets from a vacation, traffic on the highways, freeways, and streets in

Los Angeles can be a hassle. Traffic is one of the massive problems that almost every

developed country has, for example the United States of America, some European

countries, the Middle East and China among the many others. There are different types of

traffic like air traffic, automobiles and people. Los Angeles is one of the famous cities in

the United States that has an alarming traffic problem. Taking Downtown, a portion of

Los Angeles city, it is highly populated with both people and automobiles going in and

out and it’s a commercial area with a variety of businesses. Union Station, the largest

passenger terminal, is located in Downtown attracting large sums of human population

which contributes to human traffic. Many vehicles including public transits and private

cars drive through this area causing congestion. There are many businesses that have

inadequate parking for their customers resulting in the customers parking alongside the

roads, which reduces the travelling space in the area causing congestion. The traffic in

Los Angeles is very problematic, it is being caused by the increasing human population,
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increasing numbers of vehicles on the roads, traffic accidents on the roads and businesses

having inadequate parking space for customers.

One of the aspects causing traffic in Downtown as well as Los Angeles at large

is the increasing human population. In his article www.newgeography .com, Paul

Sorensen compares Los Angeles’ population when viewed at regional basis with other

cities like Chicago. Sorensen verifies that the suburbs surrounding Los Angeles are much

denser than the typical suburbs leading to aggregate density on a regional basis. Many

people resort to parking their cars and riding bikes or motorcycles, but they are

overwhelmed when they come to know that there are also drivers competing for the same

road. Sorensen demonstrates this with ‘’Los Angeles’ congestion will increase with the

increasing population density higher than its peers at regional level.’’ Ultimately what is

at stake here is the human traffic. Many people walk for various reasons such as exercise

or proximity of their destinations, among other reasons, which always leads to human

traffic. Overall, the solution in Los Angeles for preventing the human traffic is very

problematic because while attempting to get cars, people create automobile traffic

instead.

The traffic in Los Angeles can be caused by the increasing numbers of

automobiles that use the different roads including public transits, private cars, taxis,

motorcycles that use the different rods. As observed from La La Land movie, the

characters reveal how hectic Los Angeles traffic is. The movie illustrates this with the

many cars stuck in traffic jam on the 105 and 110 freeways in Los Angeles. To put it in
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another way, the streets are very congested with over 79,000 automobiles each day. This

can be resulting from many the families in Los Angeles having more one car for example

in a single family, the mother, father, and children each possesses a car. Despite the

traffic, everyone has a desire to own a car. This highly increases the number of vehicles

on the roads thus traffic. Alternatively, will increasing the fuel prices help reducing the

number of vehicles on the roads?

In addition to increased human and car population, inadequate parking space

for businesses is yet another cause of traffic. In accordance to their article Critical Issues

in Transportation, John R. Njord and Micheal D. Meyer elaborate that America’s

economy and quality of life depends on a transportation system that functions well. They

added on that transport connects people to their jobs, entertainment, goods needed in life.

They thus illustrated it with ‘’Many businesses are enlarging in size and having reduced

parking spaces.’’ In other words, businesses are developing at a higher rate. Some

businesses are able to conquer bankrupt businesses which increases their size. Businesses

like ROSS, Macy’s and Target among others have high numbers of customers that are

occasional- like during holidays, experiencing overflow of customers and will have a

minimal parking space. Many apartments and residentials offer up to one parking space.

For both types of businesses, they offer inadequate parking spaces for their customers. As

a result, people park alongside the roads which minimizes the travelling space on the

roads hence traffic. Many companies have resorted to constructing an upward parking lot

which saves ground space while increasing the parking space for their customers.
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The other cause of traffic is traffic accidents that happen on the roads. Los

Angeles is known of its wild drivers. When people are held in traffic, they consider it as

laying back on their schedules. This is because traffic increases the travel time from point

A to B of their destinations. Once the obstacles like the traffic lights changing, people use

the opportunity to drive above the speed limits increasing the high risks for accidents.

Once there are traffic accidents, the flow on the road is slowed down thus traffic.

Knowing that in America generally, time is money, safety comes first therefore ensuring

the road safety should always a priority.

Finally, it can be concluded that traffic is a hilarious topic in Los Angeles and

other developed cities. Although the traffic in Los Angeles is so much alarming, it is

being caused by the increasing human population, increasing numbers of vehicles on the

roads, traffic accidents on the roads and businesses having inadequate parking space for

their customers. It’s observed that Downtown, a portion of Los Angeles is a well-

structured, commercial, busy and an attractive place that it will continuously face the

problem of traffic. Human population is the core cause of traffic because as the human

population increases, the car population will increase as well. People are still the ones

causing accidents thus let everyone put their hands-on table, corporate with government

to draw the possible ways of reducing traffic. Following the road safety rules, building

upward parking lots, and resorting one family car are some of the many ways that can

reduce traffic.
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Work Citied

Njord, John R, and Michael D Meyer. “Critical Issues in Transportation.” Transportation

Research Board, June 2015, www.Trb.org.

“La La Land.” La La Land - Movie Reviews, Aug. 2016,

www.trafficcongestion.com/la_la_land/reviews.

Sorensen, Paul. “Reducing Traffic Congestion and Improving Travel Options Los

Angeles.” www.newgeography.com, 20 Feb. 2016.