UCLA Luskin’s Brian Taylor spoke to LAist’s AirTalk about traffic congestion that in some places has equaled or surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

Personal travel has waned, but delivery trucks and other commercial transportation have increased. And hybrid work schedules have added unpredictability to rush-hour traffic patterns.

Taylor shared the counterintuitive fact that Angelenos actually drive fewer vehicle miles per capita than most motorists in the nation’s 70 largest urbanized areas.

Southern California has a moderate level of density over a very big area, he explained. While the region is much denser than areas such as Memphis, Dallas or Kansas City, it is not dense enough to be walkable and transit-focused like San Francisco, New York and Boston.

“We actually have modest levels of driving but a very large number of people on a relatively limited road system, and that results in high levels of congestion,” said Taylor, a professor of urban planning and public policy.

In a megalopolis as enormous as the LA region, “there’s traffic because there’s 18 and a half million people who are trying to move around along with lots of goods.”