Los Angeles County will see its population grow by as many as 720,000 people in the next 25 years, according to projections by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). That’s good news overall for the nation’s second largest metropolitan area and one of the most dynamic business and economic centers on the planet.
But robust growth also compounds challenges that have been mounting across Los Angeles County for years – traffic congestion, growing economic disparity and access to affordable housing, among others.
Enter Connect SoCal 2024, SCAG’s updated Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy, a document that provides direction for how Los Angeles County and its neighbors can thrive in the decades ahead. The $750 billion in transportation improvements featured in the plan include 1,364 Los Angeles County-specific projects designed to reduce travel delays, improve air quality and enhance the quality of life for the county’s more than 10 million residents.
Among them are the Inglewood Transit Connector, more than $6 billion in improvements to the Interstate 710 Corridor, a rail connection through the Sepulveda Pass, an automated people mover and the modernization of cargo facilities at Los Angeles International Airport, significant investments in active transportation, and more. The plan also offers strategies for narrowing the live-work gap, such as increasing the number of transit-oriented developments and increasing the availability and accessibility of affordable housing, as well as ways to address the critical challenges facing our all-important goods movement industry. The latter includes projects to support freight and last-mile deliveries, as well as advancing clean-air freight vehicles.
Every four years, SCAG planners analyze data and work with local communities to develop Connect SoCal, part of its role as the metropolitan planning organization for a region that includes 191 cities and a population of nearly 19 million. Notable in the 2024 plan are new strategies for addressing the housing crisis, adapting to climate change and investing in underserved communities.
That’s a lot of heavy lifting, but it’s critical that we do so if Los Angeles County and Southern California are to tackle the challenges of our time. According to Connect SoCal, the six counties that comprise SCAG generate $1.2 trillion in regional gross domestic product, which would make it the world’s 15th largest economy.
Regional transportation planning plays a key role in supporting the economy by connecting communities, supporting our key industries while attracting new businesses, creating employment advancement opportunities and improving health outcomes for everyone.
For Los Angeles County specifically, the investments detailed in Connect SoCal 2024 would reduce per-person traffic delays by 17% by 2050, reduce daily vehicle-miles traveled per capita by 8.8% and generate about 322,600 jobs, directly and indirectly, each year. If fully implemented across Southern California, the 25-year plan would create 480,000 jobs per year and generate $2 in economic benefits for every $1 spent.
Connect SoCal 2024 offers significant environmental benefits, as well, helping Southern California meet its state-mandated greenhouse-gas emissions reduction target of 19% by 2035.
Achieving these benefits assumes full implementation of the projects included in Connect SoCal 2024.
In April, Connect SoCal will go to SCAG’s Regional Council, and then onto the state and federal governments for their approval. Its adoption is critical to the future of Los Angeles County, and Southern California as a whole, ensuring that we’re able to grow the right way and fulfill our own piece of the California dream.
Cindy Allen is the Vice Mayor of Long Beach and Second Vice President of the Southern California Association of Governments.