Both surprisingly and refreshingly, the L.A. Times runs this insightful piece on several experts’ proposals to address various Los Angeles area traffic problems. The experts are a level-headed bunch, including Joel Kotkin, James E. Moore, Donald Shoup and Ted Bakalar. Inasmuch as the Houston region shares many of traffic characteristics with the L.A. area, several of the suggestions are equally applicable to local traffic. My favorite is by Kotkin:

What Los Angeles needs is a transit system that better reflects what it is ó a sprawling mid-density city. So build the world’s easiest-to-use bus system. This network should expand such transit innovations as the MTA’s Metro Rapid buses, which run in dedicated lanes, and Rapid Express buses, which make few stops. These systems are far less expensive to build than light rail or a “subway to the sea.”