Across Los Angeles County's vast and sprawling 4,751 square miles, more than 4.5 million commuters walk, bike, drive, rideshare or take public transit to get to their jobs. Although it sounds like commuters can leverage a variety of options to get around, 73% of Angelenos drive alone to work, and only 6.8% utilize public transit. In fact, transit ridership has declined more than 19% since 2013.
Despite these statistics — or perhaps because of them — voters in L.A. County have approved multiple historic tax increases in the past ten years to radically expand the existing public transit system. In 2008, voters approved Measure R, a half-cent sales tax increase that has been used to expand the Expo Line connecting downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica, the Orange Line in the San Fernando Valley, the Silver Line connecting El Monte to the Harbor, and to expedite construction on the Green Line connection to LAX. More recently voters approved Measure M (a permanent extension of Measure R) which will be used to expedite transit projects such as the Purple Line extension to UCLA, the Gold Line extension to Claremont and dozens of other projects.
Read the full article at https://www.kcet.org/shows/city-rising/transit-ridership-in-los-angeles-county-is-on-the-decline
