The Yes on Measure M campaign today highlighted how the measure would make it easier for tourists and business travelers to get to and from LAX and how it would relieve Westside and South Bay traffic near the airport.
Measure M would build a new LAX station that would connect three rail lines and multiple bus lines directly with terminals. Metro's current so-called LAX station stops 2 miles short of the airport's terminals, serves just one rail line and requires a transfer to a shuttle bus.
"Measure M will dramatically increase convenience for millions of business travelers and tourists going to and from LAX, and would ease congestion on the 105, the 405, and on South Bay and Westside streets like Lincoln, Sepulveda, and Century Boulevard," Metro Vice-Chair and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said. "Our County's population will increase by 2.3 million people. Voting yes on Measure M adds transit, uncorks freeway bottlenecks, and fixes local intersections to ease the inevitable traffic congestion those people will create. The alternative is standing by and watching how 2.3 million more people will grind our transportation system to a halt because we didn't act."
"One of the biggest causes of congestion on the Westside is traffic going to and from LAX. If we pass Measure M, we make the 405 better and we make the Westside's major thoroughfares and local roads better," said Westside L.A. Councilmember Mike Bonin.
Measure M would also extend the Green Line to Torrance and the Norwalk/Santa Fe Spring Metrolink Station and would create a new Bus Rapid Transit Line along Lincoln Bl. between the Expo Line in Santa Monica and LAX.
"My husband and I live in Manhattan Beach and he works in Woodland Hills and Measure M will get him home faster. Yes, I live in Manhattan Beach, but I eat, shop, and visit friends all over L.A. County and I want to get around will less traffic," said Manhattan Beach Amy Howorth, who emphasized Measure M's funding for road repairs in her city and congestion relief on Sepulveda Blvd.
"M stands for Many, because it will create many middle class jobs," said Theresa Martinez, CEO of the 1,200-member Los Angeles Latino Chamber of Commerce.
"M is for the mobility of our economy," said Hilary Norton, Executive Director of FAST (Fixing Angelenos Stuck in Traffic). "Measure M is also for Moms. We must think about how Measure M will help young people get to work and get back home in the future."
"Measure M means middle class jobs," said Ernesto Medrano of the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. "These jobs will be careers with health care and pensions. If you want to fill your potholes, if you want to build light rail, if you want to fix our freeways, you must vote yes on Measure M."
Measure M will reduce the time people are stuck in traffic by fifteen percent a day. According to the non-profit Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, it will create 465,000 new jobs. Measure M will ease traffic immediately by repairing potholes and repaving local streets and roads in each of L.A. County’s 88 cities. It will keep senior, disabled, and student fares affordable and will provide critical earthquake retrofitting for overpasses and bridges.
A recent Texas A&M analysis found that traffic congestion costs the average commuter in our region $1,711, including from wasted fuel and lost productivity. All together, drivers in our region lose 622 million hours stuck in traffic a year, for a total cost of $13.3 billion, according to the analysis. The L.A. County population is projected to increase by 2.3 million.
Measure M will modernize L.A. County's aging transportation system and build a twenty-first century transportation network that expands subway, light rail, Rapid Bus, Metrolink, freeways, and highways. Measure M adds and accelerates transit lines and finally ties them together into a comprehensive system that will work with an improved freeway and local road network.