Wasserman on Transit Agency Ambassador Programs

Jacob Wasserman, a research project manager at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, commented in a Washington Post story about the nationwide growth of transit agency ambassador programs designed to reduce crime and augment security on public transportation. The civilian ambassadors provide additional “eyes and ears” for law enforcement, report maintenance and safety issues, and provide enhanced customer service, according to the article. While transit leaders say the programs have had some successes, the overall effectiveness is not yet clear since the positions are relatively new. The article also cited a 2021 University of California study that found that service referrals made by outreach workers, ambassadors and other aid workers were more effective, for example, at directing homeless people to shelters or treatment programs than referrals by police officers. “This is not what police want to be doing or are trained to be doing,” said Wasserman, co-author of the study.


 

Sweltering Temperatures Take Toll on the Most Vulnerable

V. Kelly Turner, associate director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, spoke to NBC4 News about the impact of Southern California’s heat wave on groups that are particularly vulnerable due to age, disability, low income and access to transportation. “I think about the sensitive populations who lack the resources or capacity to adapt when it gets really hot,” said Turner, who leads a research group focusing on policy approaches to protect people from extreme heat. “But I also think about people who are spending a lot of their time in settings where they’re exposed to too much heat. So that could be something like taking public transportation and being at a bus stop with no shelter.” In sweltering temperatures, she said, “we know that women are more likely to have preterm births. We know that children’s learning outcomes are degraded. We know that elderly are more likely to fall down.”


 

On the Burden and Necessity of Car Ownership

A Vox article on car ownership as both burden and necessity cited research conducted by two UCLA Luskin urban planning professors, Evelyn Blumenberg and Michael Manville. The way a car unlocks access to almost everything ensures that most people will, despite the costs, do whatever they can to obtain one, the story said. While reducing car use overall has been a priority for policymakers, increasing the availability of vehicles to low-income people is an important step toward reducing economic inequality. The story cited a study by Blumenberg demonstrating the increasing importance of cars for women with limited means, due to the suburbanization of poverty, women’s participation in the workforce and their unique household responsibilities. Research co-authored by Manville documented the falling socioeconomic status of American households without private vehicles and the continuing financial burden that cars present for low-income households that own them.


 

Tilly on Worrisome Economic Signals From California

A Barron’s article about concerns that California’s climbing jobless rate and other economic indicators may be harbingers of a national economic downturn quoted Chris Tilly, UCLA Luskin professor of urban planning and an expert on labor and workplace trends. Tilly said four broad employment sectors in the state are either shrinking or stagnant: construction, particularly residential construction; durable goods; wholesale; and information, which includes media and entertainment jobs. The state economy, the largest in the U.S., grew by an annual rate of 0.4% in 2022, so it’s difficult to call California a “bad economy,” Tilly said. Still, “California is not in a recession at this point, but it is a risk,” and the state “may be a leading indicator for what’s happening elsewhere.”


 

Brozen on Increase in L.A.’s Unhoused Living in Vehicles

Madeline Brozen, deputy director of the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at UCLA Luskin, spoke to LAist about Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis, specifically the increase in unhoused people living in vehicles. This year’s count of L.A.’s homeless population found a slight decrease in the number of people living in tents but an overall increase that was “disproportionately driven by people living in vehicles,” with more than 14,000 cars, vans, RVs and other vehicles being used for shelter. “It’s not surprising that the population continues to grow, because we’re just doing very little to address it,” said Brozen, lead researcher on a project focused on vehicular homelessness in Los Angeles. She explained that despite being the majority of L.A.’s homeless population for years, people living in vehicles are not as visible to the public as those living in tents on sidewalks and hillsides, and therefore receive less attention from policymakers and are absent in public discussions on homelessness.


 

Shoup, Butler on List of Most Influential Urbanists

Two UCLA Luskin Urban Planning scholars were included on Planetizen’s newly released list of the top 100 most influential urbanists from the past and present. Distinguished Research Professor Donald Shoup, whose writing and research have launched fresh approaches to parking policy, was No. 6 on the list, up from his No. 13 spot on Planetizen’s 2017 compilation. His rise in the rankings can be attributed to a wave of parking reform legislation around the country, inspired by Shoup’s work, the publication said. Urban planning doctoral student Tamika Butler, former executive director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, is No. 57 on the list. Butler achieved national prominence speaking and advocating on the subjects of racial justice and transportation policy. Planetizen said the rankings, based on reader feedback on a list of 200 top urban thinkers, is aimed at broadening the discussion about the leading figures of planning, development and conservation.


 

Leap Comments on Violent Arrest

UCLA Luskin Social Welfare’s Jorja Leap is quoted in a Los Angeles Times story about a recent violent arrest by police in Los Angeles’ Nickerson Gardens. The incident, shared on social media, has threatened the “delicate fabric” of an LAPD initiative known as the Community Safety Partnership (CSP), which has been credited with crime reduction and improved relations in the Watts housing development, according to the article. Leap, an expert on gangs, said the incident highlights decades of distrust of law enforcement, which still runs deep in L.A. communities, despite program gains. “I think most significantly this points to the gap that still exists between the standard LAPD patrol officer and the CSP officer,” said Leap, lead author of a 2019 study of CSP. “There is an underlying fear in Watts in general … that this isn’t going to last, that the old LAPD will sort of rear its head, and things will go back to the brutalities of the past.”


 

Astor Discusses Expectations on School Security Officers During Mass Shootings

UCLA Luskin Professor Ron Avi Astor spoke to BBC News about the trial of Scot Peterson, a school security officer who chose to take cover rather than storm into a school building in 2018 to confront a gunman in Parkland, Florida. Peterson stood trial for neglect of a child in relation to his decisions during a mass shooting incident in which 17 people died and 17 more were injured. Recurring tragedies like the Parkland shooting have put law enforcement officers under intense pressure to engage directly with armed assailants, but “is it a reasonable thing to do for somebody who’s not a SWAT team member, or trained in the military?” said Astor, an expert in school violence. Noting that even highly trained police officers call for backup in dangerous situations, Astor said confronting active shooters is too much to expect of school employees. On June 29, Peterson was found not guilty on all counts.


 

Taylor on Efforts to Reverse Worrisome Trends in Public Transit

Brian Taylor, director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, spoke to the New York Times about attempts by transit agencies to reinvent themselves in regions across the United States. In California, weekly ridership on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system is down to 32% of what it was before the pandemic began. As they come to terms with a future that no longer revolves around a downtown work culture, BART officials are considering whether to pivot toward serving more concertgoers and sports fans on nights and weekends. Meanwhile, Kansas City, Albuquerque and Boston have experimented with eliminating fares. Dallas is offering subsidized Uber rides to transit users. And the Washington Metro is investing in housing and retail shops at dozens of its stations. “This is a really challenging time,” Taylor said. “If anyone says that they know the way out of this difficult situation, they’re fooling themselves.”


 

Gilens on Medical Debt and the ‘Centuries-Long Suspicion of the Poor’

UCLA Luskin’s Martin Gilens spoke to KFF Health News and NPR about hesitation among some members of the Black community to use crowdsourcing sites for help covering medical debt. An estimated 100 million people in the United States are burdened by health care debt, with Black Americans at particular risk — yet they are far less likely to seek assistance from sites such as GoFundMe, the news organizations found. Pride and a reluctance to reinforce negative stereotypes are among the reasons. As Gilens, author of “Why Americans Hate Welfare,” explained, “There’s a sort of a centuries-long suspicion of the poor, a cynicism about the degree of true need.” In recent decades, poverty has been cast as a Black problem, even though there are far more white Americans living in poverty, according to census data. This helped drive a backlash against government assistance programs in the 1980s and ’90s, said Gilens, a professor of public policy, social welfare and political science.