Wasserman on Efforts to Improve Traffic Flow at LAX

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As the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in L.A. steadily approach, the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is picking up the pace on rebuilding its roads to improve traffic flow. This project is predicted to be completed two months before the games begin. 

Perspectives on the practicality of this effort have been mixed. LAWA officials claim that it will increase safety and streamline the separation of airport travelers from others on the road. Critics, on the other hand, point out that this plan neglects the “horseshoe,” an infamously traffic-heavy bottleneck at LAX, and argue it could actually worsen traffic.

A recent Los Angeles Times article featuring Research Program Manager Jacob Wasserman at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies cited his views on the temporality of traffic improvements due to a phenomenon called induced demand.

“Initially, these changes could alleviate traffic in the area and on the freeways to some degree, but it’s going to fill up again. … When there’s less traffic, more cars will naturally file in and it’ll fill up,” he said. “It’s going to move more people in total, but it’s not going to fix traffic.”

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris on Why Transit Safety Must Balance Security and Accessibility

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The fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train has reignited national debate over transit safety. Security footage showed the unprovoked attack, prompting federal investigation and sparking broader questions about how to protect riders in open, accessible public transit environments.

While some argue for airport-style security measures, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, interim dean at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and a transit safety expert, cautions against solutions that could slow down the very systems meant to move people quickly.

“Transit systems have to be open and accessible. It’s very difficult to install measures that you put, for example, in airports because the public is not going to accept such delays,” Loukaitou-Sideris explained.

She suggests exploring advanced scanning technologies at major hubs that can detect weapons without lengthy lines, though such systems remain costly. Loukaitou-Sideris also noted the limits of any single measure: even with cameras and increased patrols, unpredictable incidents can still occur. The tragedy underscores the tension between maintaining accessibility and ensuring safety in public transit.

Cycling Toward Stability: How Bikes Help the Unhoused UCLA ITS’s Jacob Lawrence Wasserman highlights bikes as a low-cost mobility lifeline.

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In San Diego, Deacon John Roberts leads a weekly cycling program that gives homeless participants more than exercise. It offers mobility, community, and a sense of freedom. For many of the participants in the program, cycling is a lifeline for job searches, addiction recovery, and access to services, despite unsafe riding conditions, theft, and persistent stigma.

Transportation is a major barrier for the unhoused, and advocates say bikes should be part of broader mobility strategies. “Bikeshare passes are dirt cheap compared to giving people cars or giving people transit passes,” said Jacob Lawrence Wasserman of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies in a new Bloomberg CityLab article. “But it requires getting over that stigma of thinking every unhoused person on a bike must have stolen it.”

Homeless cyclists. part of the “invisible cyclist” population. often face unsafe riding conditions, theft, and stigma, with limited inclusion in policy discussions. Despite risks, bikes offer independence, health benefits, and social connection.

Michael Manville Critiques L.A.’s Vision Zero: Progress ‘Incredibly Disappointing” Urban planning expert Michael Manville says Los Angeles’ Vision Zero traffic safety initiative has failed to deliver

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The Los Angeles Times article examines the harsh reality of implementation challenges for ambitious urban goals like phasing out gas-powered vehicles or becoming a fully interconnected Smart City. Most notably, the Vision Zero initiative—the city’s pledge to end traffic deaths by 2025—has stumbled amid funding shortfalls, political inertia, fragmented coordination, and a lack of accountability.

On Vision Zero’s failure, UCLA professor and chair of urban planning Michael Manville didn’t mince words: “Incredibly disappointing,” he said. “The city remains incredibly dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.”

Despite these setbacks, Los Angeles has committed significant resources to Vision Zero. In the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the city approved a budget of $100 million for Vision Zero initiatives, including road redesigns, improved signage, and enhanced lighting in high-risk areas.

Underpaying and Overusing Our Roads: The True Cost of Driving UCLA Luskin’s Mike Manville is challenging how we think about traffic, housing, and fairness.

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If you’ve ever been stuck in gridlock traffic on the 405 or circled the block looking for parking in L.A., you’ve experienced the kinds of problems Michael Manville has spent years researching and trying to solve. As professor and chair of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Manville is reshaping how we think about transportation and housing in a sprawling city like Los Angeles and turning his research into real-world impact.

At the center of Manville’s transportation research is a deceptively simple idea: the way we price things matters and how we price things shapes how we use them.

” Driving costs less than it should, because the full social costs of driving, like congestion, pollution, infrastructure wear, aren’t reflected in what we pay to use our roads.”

“Driving is too cheap, and housing is too expensive,” he says. “Driving isn’t cheap in the absolute sense of the word ‘cheap’ because cars aren’t cheap and gas isn’t free, but in the sense that it costs less than it should, because the full social costs of driving, like congestion, pollution, infrastructure wear, aren’t reflected in what we pay to use our roads.” The price of housing, meanwhile, is driven up by restrictive land-use policies that limit supply.

Manville’s first introduction into urban planning began in a newsroom while covering transportation and housing topics as a local reporter. When the newspaper he worked for went bankrupt, he joined the local planning commission. Eager to turn his newfound passion into a career, he enrolled in the urban planning master’s degree program at UCLA and after a summer as a research assistant, decided to pursue a Ph.D. Today, he leads the department that jumpstarted his second career.

Building on the groundbreaking work of his mentor Donald Shoup, former UCLA urban planning professor and pioneer in parking reform who famously argued that free or underpriced parking distorts urban development, Manville and many other experts in the field have expanded this logic more broadly, emphasizing that it’s not just parking that’s mispriced, it’s also the roads themselves.

One proven strategy to address this is congestion pricing, a transportation policy that charges drivers a fee to use certain roads during peak traffic times. A controversial idea that has gained some traction in recent years, the goal primarily is to improve traffic flow and lower pollution, although it can also generate revenue for public transit and infrastructure.

It’s the idea that using roads during peak times should come with a price, just like electricity or water. “We meter every other government-owned utility,” Manville explains, “but not roads.” “It’s the only system that we don’t charge prices for, and it’s not a coincidence that it’s the only system that colossally breaks down about two times a day.” Manville argues that the same basic principle we apply to everything else in our economy, pricing goods and services based on demand, should also apply to road usage.

“We meter every other government-owned utility, but not our roads. It’s the only system that we don’t charge prices for, and it’s not a coincidence that it’s the only system that colossally breaks down about two times a day.”

Cities like Singapore prove it can work. In Singapore, dynamic tolling keeps traffic flowing at 45–55 mph even in a city as densely populated as San Francisco. Manville argues that Los Angeles could reap similar benefits if it embraced the idea. “We’ve normalized the dysfunction of our transportation system,” he says. “But there’s nothing inherently fair about free roads, or unfair about charging for their use.”

For Manville, reimagining cities isn’t just about policy; it’s about turning research into practical, real-world implementation. At UCLA Luskin, he says, that happens through teaching the next generation of planners, working directly with policymakers, and ensuring research is more accessible to community members. “The biggest impact we can have,” he explains, “is making sure our students leave with the ability to weigh tradeoffs—not chase perfect solutions.”

When asked what he hopes for the next generation of urban planners who will be tasked to solve some of the most complicated issues our cities face today, Manville had some wisdom from his own experience as a young planner.

“I came to UCLA convinced there were a bunch of right answers,” he reflects. “But the biggest lesson I’ve learned, and hope to pass on, is that progress comes from understanding the nuance and complexity of the issues we hope to solve. In a city as vast and diverse as L.A., differing perspectives are inevitable and real change begins with listening, especially to those you may not agree with.”

D.C. Tops L.A. for Worst Traffic in the U.S. in New Report Mike Manville explains how traffic congestion signals economic growth and how unregulated road access worsens it.

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According to a new MSN report based on Consumer Affairs data, Washington, D.C. now ranks as the city with the worst traffic in the U.S., overtaking Los Angeles.The average commute time in D.C. is 33.4 minutes, edging out L.A., which now holds the No. 2 spot. While Los Angeles still leads in total weekday congestion hours (7 hours and 51 minutes), D.C. follows closely with 6 hours and 35 minutes.

Experts suggest that increased congestion may indicate a thriving economy. Professor and chair of the urban planning department Michael Manville explains that areas with economic opportunity attract more residents, and keeps current residents because of opportunities.

“Because we don’t do anything to regulate access, the roads in an area with a booming economy become overloaded and congested,” Manville added.

The exact causes of D.C.’s worsening traffic remain uncertain but could include a return to office mandates under recent federal policies. In contrast, cities with the least traffic include Rochester, Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Hartford, and St. Louis.

Turner on the Power of Shade to Combat Urban Heat

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UCLA Luskin urban planning professor Kelly Turner lends her expertise in urban planning and heat resilience to offer data-backed perspective on how shade — both leafy and architectural — is essential for public health. In a New York Times opinion piece, Turner challenges the conventional wisdom that shade makes public spaces less usable and desirable. She explains that shade can reduce outdoor heat burden as much as 30%, offering critical relief to vulnerable communities who bear the brunt of urban heat.

Turner most recently, in collaboration with American Forests, developed an innovative shade-mapping tool to identify where shade is most needed. These maps can guide transit planners to reroute bus stops to cooler corridors or encourage cities to add shade where it will have the most impact.

Though much of our current planning policy still prioritizes sunlight, Turner argues it’s time for a shift. As climate change accelerates, shadows shouldn’t be feared — they should be welcomed.

APA Honors Urban and Regional Planning Alumna for Transportation Equity Research The award-winning capstone project sheds light on the toll of extreme commutes on low-income communities in the San Fernando Valley.

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Alejandra Rios Gutiérrez MURP ’24 was recently honored with the Academic Award by the Los Angeles section of the American Planning Association (APA) for her capstone project, “Lost Hours, Lost Opportunities: The Toll of Extreme Travel on Lower-Income Communities in the San Fernando Valley.” The award, which recognizes innovation and community impact in the field of planning, was presented at the APA awards ceremony held June 26 in Downtown Los Angeles.

Gutiérrez’s research, conducted in partnership with Pacoima Beautiful, a leading environmental justice organization serving Northeast San Fernando Valley’s Latinx communities, explores the profound and often invisible burdens of “extreme travel”—defined in her project as commutes exceeding 180 minutes per day for all essential trips, not just work. Her project, which included in-depth interviews and surveys, illuminated how transportation challenges intersect with systemic issues like housing unaffordability, job sprawl, and limited transit access—leaving low-income residents with fewer choices and heavier costs.

“My capstone was inspired by past coworkers and friends whose extreme commutes had serious impacts on their lives,” Gutiérrez shared. “I saw how long commutes take a toll on overall well-being, especially for low-income workers who have fewer choices about where they live or work.”

Her project does more than document these struggles, it reframes the entire planning conversation. “It was important to me that the project not only document the problem but also challenge how we define ‘access’ and who we design for. I want to center people’s time, labor, and well-being as core planning issues.”

Gutiérrez’s work arrives at a critical moment as the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project prepares to break ground. Her findings offer key policy insights that could help ensure the project serves the communities most impacted by extreme travel. “Receiving this award from APA Los Angeles is a meaningful honor, especially because the project was rooted in the experiences of people whose needs are often overlooked in planning processes,” she said. “It affirms the importance of making visible the realities faced by extreme commuters and reinforces my belief that equity-centered research and advocacy are essential to the future of planning.”

She credits her training and education at UCLA Luskin for shaping her values as a planner. “My time at UCLA Luskin shaped my approach by encouraging both a critical lens and a strong commitment to justice. The program gave me the tools to analyze complex systems, as well as the space to ask deeper questions about who planning serves, what values guide our decisions, and how we build accountability into our work.”

Read her project “Lost Hours, Lost Opportunities: The Toll of Extreme Travel on Lower-Income Communities in the San Fernando Valley” here.

Former U.S. Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Delivers Luskin Lecture Robert Hampshire shares lessons learned leading research and technology agenda for the nation’s transportation systems. 

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By Stan Paul

For Robert Hampshire, former Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), leading innovation at the federal level involves cooperation and building trust among multiple industries and stakeholders.

Hampshire, who also served as the department’s Chief Science Officer — the first person to fill that role in more than four decades — came to UCLA this spring to discuss the importance of a mission-focused approach to challenges in transportation safety and serving all travelers on the nation’s roads and in the air.

Adam Millard-Ball, professor of urban planning and director of ITS,  introduced the keynote speaker for the April 28 Luskin Lecture co-hosted by the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) as part of the Martin Wachs Distinguished Lecture Series.

Hampshire also talked about supply chain resilience and the future of un-crewed aerial systems (UAS) and shared his first-hand experiences and lessons learned during his four-year public service post. At USDOT, he led the federal agency’s research and technology agenda, including its $2 billion research and technology portfolio, across all modes of U.S. transportation while leading more than 1,000 public officials and public servants.

Since completing his service in 2025, Hampshire has settled back into his role as associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. But, he told the audience, “I’ve have had a little bit of time to rethink and formulate some thoughts about particularly now what it means to serve and the complexity of our times, challenges that we see to democracy, the polarization. But, all this in the context of so much technological change.”

As an academic, Hampshire describes his research as a blend of public policy, operations research, data science, and systems approaches to analyze novel transportation systems. These include smart parking, connected vehicles, autonomous vehicles, ride-hailing, bike sharing, car sharing, as well as pedestrian and bicyclist safety. At the same time, he focuses on environmental impacts, equity, and access to opportunities.

Hampshire said an additional aim of his talk was to provide examples to researchers and students how to be more impactful, particularly as researchers.

“I really believe that as researchers, technologists, within the transportation sector, we need to work diligently to increase with our social capital. That’s our networks, not just who you know,” he said, emphasizing the importance of building trust, especially with different communities and building reciprocity and shared values, “…reaffirming things like ‘safety is why we’re here’…and particularly how we need to be more embedded into the transportation ecosystem, and also the non-transportation ecosystem — our friends in health, our friends in education and others.”

He recalled a number of experiences where research and technology played, and continues to play, an important public role. One example that made an important national impact was the implementation of 5G cellular which came into conflict with safety concerns for U.S. aviation while he was with USDOT. In late 2021, the FAA was preparing to ground every single airplane across the nation, just days before Christmas. But, Hampshire said, months before he was tasked with leading the technical response side of negotiations that involved the FAA, the White House and industry.

Hampshire said what was missing at that moment was social capital to get things done. But, ultimately a deal was negotiated where the telecom industry delayed deployment of 5G so they could work more closely with the aviation industry to roll it out nationwide in an orderly manner with no incident, Hampshire said.

“These are all little stories that you don’t hear, but there’s heroic efforts behind it. And I think that level of social capital and working relationships that were built during this time, are certainly going to serve the nation,” he said.

Ann E. Carlson, Faculty Director, Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment at UCLA School of Law, later joined the lecture serving as moderator for further discussion on issues including drastic changes and budget cuts occurring at the federal level and their impact on federal employees and transportation. Hampshire and Carlson, who also served in the Biden-Harris administration as acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), discussed the future of automated vehicles, high-speed rail in California and also shared anecdotes about working with former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

Hampshire praised the leadership of Buttigieg and the many federal employees he worked with during his first stint in public service saying, “I’ll forever be grateful for what they taught me about public service and certainly, for the students and others, there’s true honor in public service. It’s something that’s worthwhile, and I’d do it again.”

Watch the full video of the event. View photos.

The UCLA Luskin Lecture Series enhances public discourse on topics relevant to the betterment of society. The Series features renowned public intellectuals, bringing together scholars as well as national and local leaders to address society’s most pressing problems. Lectures encourage interactive, lively discourse across traditional divides between the worlds of research, policy and practice. The Series demonstrates UCLA Luskin’s commitment to encouraging innovative breakthroughs and creative solutions to formidable public policy challenges.

The UCLA Institute of Transportation’s Wachs Lecture Series draws innovative thinkers to the University of California to address today’s most pressing issues in transportation. Created by students to honor the late Professor Martin Wachs upon his retirement from the University, the lecture rotates between Berkeley and UCLA, the campuses at which Marty taught. He passed away April 12, 2021.

A View from the Top UCLA Luskin students get a look at policymaking, public service work and life in Los Angeles city government

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by Stan Paul

The view from the top of the iconic Art Deco-style tower of Los Angeles City Hall provides a unique, 360-degree prospective of the sprawling Southern California city — vast, complex and in constant motion. 

On April 11, a contingent of UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs graduate students gathered inside the tower’s 27th floor to gain perspectives from top city and county leaders, including UCLA and UCLA Luskin alumni, about their work with city government and their insights on important and pressing daily issues that drive the bustling city below.  

The 19th annual Luskin Day at Los Angeles City Hall was held in partnership with UCLA Government and Community Relations and the Office of City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky. Students from UCLA Luskin’s three graduate programs, Public Policy, Social Welfare, and Urban and Regional Planning, engaged in conversation with the group of experienced leaders and high-level city officials and experts in various fields on topics including housing, homelessness, sustainability and transportation.  

“I hope today gives you an honest look at the complexity of city government, and I hope you walk away with the understanding of the deep sense of the purpose of mission driven work that we do here in L.A. and especially in this time of difficulty,” said guest panelist Kristin Torres Pawling, a 2009 UCLA and 2012 UCLA Luskin urban planning alumna. 

“I also entered the working world in a time of global uncertainty…know that the relationships that you make here today, the relationships that you’ve made with each other, will drive you forward,” she said. “Your ideas and energy, the fresh conversation that you’re bringing to City Hall today, are important to us.” 

The day began with formal recognition of the students and the Luskin program during a live city council meeting — a chance to witness local government in action — followed by an opportunity to take what they have learned in the classroom and apply it in the day’s discussion. 

Lourdes Castro Ramírez, a 1994 UCLA and 2003 UCLA Luskin urban planning alumna, led the day’s first expert policy panel including Nancy Sutley, Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of Energy and Sustainability; Laura Rubio-Cornejo, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and also a 2003 Luskin urban planning alumna; and Zev Yaroslavsky, UCLA alumnus and former longtime member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and former Los Angeles City Councilmember. Each shared their journey into public service and their various roles and responsibilities. 

Castro Ramírez currently serves as president and CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA), the second-largest housing authority in the nation which serves more than 200,000 people. The first-generation college graduate said she was encouraged to see students pursuing degrees in public affairs programs as well as careers in the public sector. 

“I am deeply grateful to UCLA for investing in me and deeply grateful to UCLA Luskin for giving me the tools necessary to be able to address some of the most complex issues impacting not only our city and the state, but also equip me to serve at the federal level and work on these issues,” said Castro Ramírez, who also has served on UCLA Luskin’s board of advisors. 

“Government has the opportunity to be transformational – to improve the quality of life for residents, to be innovative, and also to be nimble all the times,” she said adding, “I think government gets a bad rap – that it’s not creative, that we’re very bureaucratic, that we don’t really care.  My experience has been the complete opposite.” 

Yaroslavsky said that whether working for the city or county, or a smaller jurisdiction, “Get into to the game…don’t underestimate how your superiors and others will see you for your work product, for your competence, for your vision and for all of the things that make you who you are and part of that is having your Luskin education.” 

A lunchtime session with City of Los Angeles personnel experts also provided a deep dive into navigating the city’s application processes and best practices and tips for gaining employment.   

UCLA alumna Wendy Greuel, former L.A. city councilmember, and current vice chair of LAHSA Commission and co-chair of the Los Angeles Unified School District Task Force, kept the momentum of the day going.  

Greuel, who helped launch the first UCLA Luskin Day at Los Angeles City Hall and who has supported the program since, moderated a panel including 1996 UCLA alumnus Todd Sargent, who leads the global organization development team for Walt Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products and who has served as a Senior Fellow in the UCLA Luskin’s mentorship program. Matt Szabo, Los Angeles city administrative officer, joined Pawling, who also serves as deputy chief of staff for councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, and fellow Luskin planning graduate Edgar Reyna MURP ’23, a climate resilience senior analyst for the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Energy and Sustainability. 

 The panelists shared their own experience working in the fast-paced daily life serving the city and its residents, as well as advising them on what work and life are like in city government at the local level to interactions at the state and national levels. Greuel asked what ultimately drew them to working at the local level. 

“When I got involved in local work, in city commission work, the impact was so much more real. You could literally see the work you did manifest in the local community,” said Sargent, who previously worked in Capitol Hill where he said things moved at a much slower pace. 

Szabo, appointed to his current position in 2023 and who formerly served as deputy chief of staff to former Mayor Eric Garcetti, remarked, “If you’ve been out on the ledge here, if you just look outside, everything that you see that isn’t privately owned is pretty much the responsibility of the city, the streets, the sidewalks, the trees on the sidewalks…it’s all the things you can touch and feel immediately and that for me is more gratifying now.” 

A final question for the panel was, “What gives you hope?”  

“Hope for me is all of you in this room,” said Greuel. 

The day concluded with a round table policy and career session with Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, a UCLA Law School graduate, who was elected in 2022 to serve the city’s fifth district. 

Yaroslavsky talked about managing a public service career, serving her constituents and the city while taking on many new roles since being elected, including chair of the city’s Budget and Finance committee and the task of running the city more efficiently. 

 “There’s lots of ways to make things better, to make ourselves more efficient, to attract business, to support people who need help to, to work on homelessness and public safety and holistic ways,” she said.  

As a member of LA Metro’s Board of Directors, Yaroslavsky said she is excited about projects underway including Metro stations opening across the city’s Westside region, “…the first time since the Red Car in the 1950s and 60s that the Westside will be linked to downtown by mass transit,” she said. For Yaroslavsky, the station openings represent an incredible opportunity for more people to get onto the system who might not know about it and to know what public transit is all about. 

Yaroslavsky also dispensed public service career advice to the students including being open to both constructive and unconstructive criticism as part of an important skill set.  

“I think it’s hard to do. It’s hard to give constructive feedback. It’s also really hard to take. Both are really important.” 

Also difficult is taking risks like changing careers and pursuing public office, she said.  

“Once in a while do something that really scares you,” she said recalling daunting decisions as “the best choices I’ve ever made in my career.”  

“And, if you give yourself some space and you’re willing to take chances that you are able to take, I think that’s where you grow the most,” Yaroslavsky, concluding with thanking the students for attending the Luskin Day event and taking an interest in — and aspiring to — public service roles.  

“It’s really heartening to see so many folks who care and want to be part of the solution, so don’t be strangers.” 

To view more photos from this day, please see photo album.