GETTING THERE FROM HERE-The Los Angeles cab controversy is much more than a fight between old-line cabbies and alternative newcomers armed with apps, their own cars and an entrepreneurial spirit.
It’s a sign of how Los Angeles slowly is changing from a one-person, one-car city of sprawling suburbs to one where an increasing number of residents use trains, buses, bicycles, their own feet and cabs. Going hand in hand with this are multi- story apartments, condos and retail stores around new transit stations.
I discussed this with University of Southern California Professor Maged Dessouky, an expert on ride sharing and other aspects of urban transportation. He said we’re in the midst of a big change in how we get around the streets, freeways and neighborhoods of Los Angeles. But the transformation is occurring slowly, and it’s difficult for a driver, caught in gridlock, to notice.
“Driving alone is becoming more costly in terms of time and dollars,” he said. Over the years, he said, developments such as better connected Metro lines, an increased use of charging for use of congestion free lanes on freeways (now in use on the 110), higher gas and parking prices and more accessible cab and ride sharing will change ingrained Los Angeles habits. “We will see people driving alone but that will not be the dominant mode,” he said. “People are shifting away from it now.”
My interest in the subject was piqued by e-mail from the big public relations firm Edelman. No, it wasn’t Edelman’s new employee, former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a senior adviser. Rather the pitch came from a persuasive man named Andrew Flick. He talked me into interviewing a client, Sanders Partee, who heads a company called Taxi Magic.
(Read the rest … including more on getting around LA with the apps on your smart phone … here)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 88
Pub: Nov 1, 2013