Testimony to Metro Board on LRTP and Proposed Sales Tax Increase; 6/26/08

Good morning. My name is Damien Newton, and while many of you know me from Streetsblog, today I am here to speak on behalf of LA Walks. LA Walks is a 10 year old pedestrian advocacy group that promotes walkability in metro LA.

While there are many people here supporting a variety of different worthwhile projects, no matter what gets built or not built everyone in this room will still all be pedestrians at some point during the day. However despite some nice sounding language in the Long Range Transportation Plan about the value of walking there is too little actual funding dedicated towards pedestrian projects...less than 1% of the total plan. That number should be increased because after all, every Metro customer who takes the bus or train is also a pedestrian at the start and end of their trip.

Also, too many of the funds appropriated for pedestrian projects are difficult to access federal funds which have many restrictions. Metro should program more funds from Propositions A and B for improving sidewalks, crosswalks, transit facilities, and other amenities for walkers.

Lastly, there are no monies from the sales tax dedicated to pedestrian projects which is odd because walking is the one mode of transportation that everyone utilizes on a daily basis. We believe the funds generated by such a tax, if it passes, should benefit all members of LA County. The best way to do that is to embrace the mode of transportation that we all use.

As time goes on, Angelenos are becoming less and less dependent on the automobile for transit. No matter how much technology improves, we’ll all still be reliant on our feet.

Thank you.