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.”
