in downtown Los Angeles , connecting the Century Freeway (I-105) and the Harbor Freeway (I-110)
Freeways There are a dozen major
freeways that crisscross the region. California's first freeway was the
Arroyo Seco Parkway segment of
California State Route 110, also known as the Pasadena Freeway. It opened on January 1, 1940 and links downtown Los Angeles to downtown Pasadena. From Chavez Ravine north to
Pasadena it can be quite dangerous because there is no
shoulder, the lanes are narrow, the turns are sharp (not always properly banked), and the ramps are quite short and offer little room for acceleration to freeway speed. The route is often described as a hybridization of older parkway designs and more modern freeway designs. Commercial vehicles over are prohibited from using this freeway. Newer freeways are straighter, wider, and allow for higher speeds. Major freeways in Los Angeles include: •
Glendale Freeway •
Santa Ana Freeway •
Golden State Freeway •
Santa Monica Freeway/San Bernardino Freeway •
Antelope Valley Freeway •
Seaside Freeway •
Pomona Freeway •
Marina Freeway •
Gardena Freeway •
Hollywood Freeway •
Ventura Freeway •
Terminal Island Freeway •
Glenn M. Anderson Freeway/Century Freeway •
Harbor Freeway •
Arroyo Seco Parkway •
Ronald Reagan Freeway •
Foothill Freeway •
San Diego Freeway •
Long Beach Freeway Major highways in Los Angeles include: •
Pacific Coast Highway/Lincoln Boulevard •
Santa Monica Boulevard •
Decker Canyon Road •
Topanga Canyon Boulevard •
Alameda Street •
Slauson Avenue •
Highland Avenue •
Venice Boulevard Angelenos are noted for referring to freeways with the definite article ("The 101"), in contrast to most other areas of the United States, who omit the article. Referring to freeways by name, for example "The San Diego Freeway", is essentially a holdover from the time when the freeways were built, and is diminishing. Freeways continue to be officially named; for example, State Route 118 was christened the Ronald Reagan Freeway.
Rush hour Los Angeles has synchronized its traffic lights. The mean travel time for commuters in Los Angeles is shorter than other major cities, including
New York City,
Philadelphia and
Chicago. Los Angeles' mean travel time for work commutes in 2006 was 29.2 minutes, similar to those of
San Francisco and
Washington, DC.
Rush hour occurs on weekdays between 5 am and 10 am, and in the afternoon between 3 pm and 7 pm (although rush-hour traffic can occasionally spill out to 11 am and start again from 2 pm until as late as 10 pm, especially on Fridays). Traffic can occur at almost any time, particularly before major holidays (including
Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and three-day weekends) and even on regular weekends when one otherwise would not expect it.
Streets, street layout, the boulevards, and street problems The city has an extensive street grid.
Arterial streets (referred to as
surface streets by locals, in contrast with freeways which are usually grade-separated roadways) connect freeways with smaller neighborhood streets, and are often used to bypass congested freeway routes. Consequently, most of the surface arterial streets in Los Angeles have various forms of congestion control. Some of the more common means of maintaining surface street traffic flow is the use of loop-sensors embedded in the pavement allowing for intersection traffic signal timing adjustments to favor the more heavily delayed roadways; the use of a traffic control system allows for the synchronization of traffic signals to improve traffic flow (as of October 2009 this system is currently installed at 85% of the city's signalized intersections, more than any other US city); restrictions on vehicle turns on roadways without designated turning lanes during rush-hours; and the extensive use of rush-hour parking restrictions, allowing for an extra lane of travel in each direction during peak hours (weekdays excluding holidays generally from 7-9am thru 4-7pm, although hours vary by location) by eliminating on street parking and standing of vehicles, with violators being ticketed, and in the case of priority routes known as "anti-gridlock zones", immediately towed by specialized enforcement teams dubbed "tiger teams" at steep cost to the violator. 1st Street divides the block numbering grid north and south, and southwest of the Los Angeles River, Main Street divides the city east and west. Northeast of the river, block designations are divided east and west by Pasadena Avenue and North Figueroa Street. From downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach, in a straight-down vertical pattern, east–west streets are numbered (starting with 1st Street in downtown, to 266th Street in
Harbor City), and north–south streets are named. (1st Street is one block south of Temple.) There are many exceptions to the numbered streets, but the above pattern is generally used. This same numbered pattern is not mirrored north of Temple. Addresses are then numbered east or west stemming from Main Street (a major north south artery). Therefore, the landmark Watts Towers at 1765 E. 107th Street is approximately 107 streets south of 1st Street, and on the 17th street east of Main Street. Although the numbered streets are sequential, they do not necessarily equal the number of blocks south of 1st Street, as there are streets such as 118th Street and then 118th Place. Many of the numbered streets also continue into neighboring cities, but some cities, such as Manhattan Beach, have made their own numbered street grid. Also, some districts of Los Angeles, such as Wilmington, San Pedro, Venice, and Playa Del Rey have their own numbered street grids. Many arterials have been labeled as
boulevards, and many of those mentioned below have been immortalized in movies, music, and literature. Major east–west routes include:
Roscoe,
Victory,
Ventura,
Hollywood,
Sunset,
Santa Monica,
Beverly,
Wilshire,
Olympic,
Pico,
Venice,
Washington,
Adams,
Jefferson, Exposition,
Obama Boulevard, and
Martin Luther King Jr (formerly Santa Barbara Avenue), and
Century Boulevard. The major north–south routes include:
Topanga Canyon,
Crenshaw,
Reseda,
Lincoln,
Sepulveda,
Van Nuys,
Westwood,
Beverly Glen,
San Vicente,
Robertson,
La Cienega,
Laurel Canyon,
Glendale,
Avalon Boulevard, and
Main Street. There are many other famous L.A. streets which carry significant traffic but are not labeled as boulevards. Examples include:
Broadway,
Bundy Drive, Barrington Avenue,
Centinela Avenue,
Fountain Avenue,
Mulholland Drive,
Slauson Avenue,
Pacific Coast Highway, Century Park East,
Avenue of the Stars, Century Park West,
Normandie Avenue,
Highland Avenue,
Melrose Avenue,
Florence Avenue,
Manchester Avenue,
Vermont Avenue,
La Brea Avenue,
Fairfax Avenue,
Western Avenue, Van Ness Avenue,
Figueroa Street,
Grand Avenue, Huntington Drive,
Central Avenue,
Alameda Street, and
Imperial Highway. West Los Angeles has many streets named after states that run east and west. Somewhat confusingly, adjacent Santa Monica uses a few of the same state names for different streets of its own.
Potholes are a notorious problem in Los Angeles and frequently cause severe damage to all kinds of vehicles. In 2008, then-mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa made "Operation Pothole" one of his top priorities for that year and pledged to fill 1 million potholes. Due to the city's poorly managed budget, the city's Bureau of Street Services had only a single dedicated pothole-repair truck to cover of streets. Many city streets, such as
Wilshire Boulevard, were engineered when cars, trucks, and buses were much smaller, and desperately need to be torn up and rebuilt from scratch to handle the weight of today's larger vehicles. only 3.5% of Los Angeles residents commuted to work by walking in 2016 and Los Angeles residents walk for exercise at rates similar to those of other major U.S. cities.
Downtown Los Angeles has numerous public
escalators and
skyways, such as the
Bunker Hill steps to facilitate pedestrian traffic in the traffic-laden and hilly terrain. Downtown Los Angeles is one of two neighborhoods in Los Angeles ranked as a "walker's paradise" (with walk scores 90 or above) by
Walkscore. The other is Mid-City West, which encompasses the area of the city immediately south of
West Hollywood and east of
Beverly Hills. Much of Los Angeles remains pedestrian unfriendly. A large percentage of sidewalks in the City of Los Angeles (43% or of the ) are in ill repair stemming from the
City Council decision in 1973 to use the federal money they had to take over the responsibility from the adjacent property owners. Previously they had conformed to California law which puts the responsibility for repair of sidewalks on the property owners. As certain popular species of trees accelerated the damage caused by roots, the council failed to concurrently allocate funds for continuing city repairs of such sidewalks. Voters were unwilling to approve funding repairs with a tax or a bond measure. The city again began dedicating funds for sidewalk repairs in 2000 but defunded the program during the
Great Recession. In 2015, the city agreed to a landmark legal settlement that would fix the backlog of broken sidewalks and make other improvements to help those with disabilities navigate the city. The biggest agreement of its kind in U.S. history would settle a lawsuit on behalf of people in wheelchairs or others with mobility impairments who argued that crumbling, impassable sidewalks and other barriers were a violation of the
Americans With Disabilities Act since they were prevented from accessing public pathways. In 2024, Mayor Karen Bass signed an executive directive designating a single committee tasked with coordinating the maintenance, delivery and development of street projects. Made up of general managers from nine city divisions, it will coordinate the work of the different departments and bureaus that deal with the concrete, asphalt, street lighting, bike lanes, storm water drains and parks.
Bicycle travel Bicycling accounts for approximately 1% of Los Angeles commuting and has almost doubled in the last ten years. People in Los Angeles commute to work by bicycle about twice as frequently as the US average There are extended stretches of bicycle paths such as the
Los Angeles River bicycle path, which runs from Burbank to Long Beach, with only a brief hiatus through downtown.
Mass transit Silver Streak bus in front of the
Walt Disney Concert Hall in
Downtown Los Angeles The primary regional
public transportation agency is
Los Angeles Metro. The agency, which operates bus, light rail and subway services, averages 767,000 transit trips per weekday. It is the third largest transit agency in the United States. Other municipal transportation agencies in Los Angeles County (
LADOT,
Long Beach Transit,
Montebello Bus Lines,
Norwalk Transit, Redondo Beach,
Santa Monica's
Big Blue Bus,
Santa Clarita Transit,
Torrance Transit and
Foothill Transit) have an additional 405,000 average weekday boardings. In February 2008, Metro introduced the
TAP card universal fare system. The TAP card allows bus and rail passengers to tap their cards on the farebox for faster boarding. TAP readers are installed on bus fareboxes and on turnstiles and standalone validators at rail stations. Because not all Metro Rail stations have turnstiles, it operates on a
proof-of-payment system: as such, Metro's fare inspectors randomly check to make sure TAP users have validated their card by using a wireless handheld unit. TAP is now accepted on a number of different transit systems in Los Angeles County.
Buses The extensive bus system operated by LACMTA includes the
Metro Local,
Metro Rapid, and formerly
Metro Express services. Local buses tend to be orange, rapid buses red, and express buses blue. Rapid bus route numbers usually begin with a 7 and express bus numbers begin with 4 and 5. The buses have an estimated 1.3 million boardings on the weekdays. Including other municipal bus operators, Los Angeles County averages 1.7 million bus boardings per weekday, LACMTA has two
bus rapid transit lines: the
G Line and the
J Line. The G Line runs from
Chatsworth station to
North Hollywood station and began operations on October 29, 2005 as the Orange Line. For the entirety of its length, the articulated buses, built by
North American Bus Industries and dubbed
Metro Liners, operate on bus-only lanes that follow an old railroad
right-of-way. Portions of the route parallel Chandler and Victory Boulevards, and Oxnard Street. The J Line runs along
Interstate 10 and
Interstate 110 between
El Monte and downtown
San Pedro. Foothill Transit also operates a bus rapid transit system called the
Silver Streak, which runs from
Montclair to
Downtown Los Angeles along the
El Monte Busway on Interstate 10. Other local bus systems include: •
Culver CityBus - green (local) and grey (rapid) •
Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus •
Montebello Bus Lines •
Numerous other municipal bus systems Metro Rail Between its
light rail and
heavy rail systems, Metro Rail has of rail, averaging 308,653 trips per weekday, The city's average one-way commute was approximately 29 minutes in 2021.
Vehicle for hire companies Vehicle for hire companies face numerous regulations in California. Taxis in Los Angeles are regulated by the Board of Taxicab Commissioners. There are 9 taxi companies in Los Angeles that operate more than 2,300 taxis. Some of the largest Taxi companies in Los Angeles are LA Yellow Cab, Bell Cab, and United Independent Taxi. RideYellow, Curb and Flywheel are three of the most popular
mobile apps providing taxi service in Los Angeles.
Uber and
Lyft operate in Los Angeles.
Superbloom street lights In November 2019, Los Angeles
Chief Design Officer Christopher Hawthorne launched L.A. Lights The Way under the supervision of
Mayor Eric Garcetti, an open competition to design and fabricate a new, improved, and multi-use standard
LED powered
street light to be installed and supplant the 220,000 existing less efficient
high pressure sodium street lamps and the current single-function, utilitarian,
LED-operated CD953 model streetlight that has been standardized throughout Los Angeles since 2009. According to Hawthorne, the L.A. Lights the Way initiative serves as an opportunity "to reconnect with the city's 'rich tradition' of streetlight modernization," a potential way to "mitigate the unequal distribution of the city's 'most beautiful' streetlights, which are currently concentrated in the wealthiest neighborhoods," that of the over 100 anonymous global entries, the winner of the contest’s $70,000 prize was the Superbloom concept, coincidentally created by the L.A.-based design studio Project Room. The proposed Superbloom system is designed to incorporate features that have the potential to mitigate the detrimental effects of the various
environmentally racist modern urban design phenomena, such as increasing the amount of shade to combat
urban heat islands that are disproportionately found in low-income communities of color. Concerned citizens, media outlets, and other advocates of
environmental justice have also noted the potential racial and class-oriented implications of
security lighting, claiming that such an interconnected, municipally owned system has the potential to expand and streamline the LAPD's preexisting practice of mounting "security cameras, gunshot monitors, and other surveillance tools," ==Commuting==