LADOT’s Annual Report covers major developments and accomplishments of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation from July 2019 through the calendar year 2020. Specifically, this report details progress made on goals set in the department’s Strategic Plan and our on-going effort to build livable streets that improve health, environmental and economic outcomes for all. This year, it will also focus on the department’s response to major developments such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the struggle for racial equity. It is our hope that after reading this report you will have a better understanding of all the ways LADOT serves the people, communities, and businesses of Los Angeles and keeps our city moving forward.

VISION

In Los Angeles, all people have access to safe and affordable transportation choices that treat everyone with dignity and support vibrant, inclusive communities.

MISSION

LADOT's mission is to lead transportation planning, project delivery, and operations in the City of Los Angeles. We work together and collaborate to deliver a safe, livable, and well-run transportation system in the city and region.

VALUES

Dear Friends,

This year was unlike any other. The unprecedented pandemic, the economic devastation left in its wake, the challenges to our health, safety, and security -- all of it forced us to rethink what kind of city we wish to be and what kind of neighborhoods we hope to build. And through it all, our LADOT workforce and our entire City family persevered. We powered through some of the toughest moments of our lives. We remained undeterred in pursuit of our core mission: to make our streets safer, reduce our carbon footprint, enhance our quality of life, and give Angelenos more ways to get around.

This daily work may not garner banner headlines. Yet our quiet, necessary efforts are essential to not only responding to the current wave of crises, but reimagining what Los Angeles might look like once COVID-19 is behind us. Simply put: our investments now will pay dividends for our families, households, and communities for generations to come.

That begins with putting our values into action. That was my goal back in February, when I issued my 25th Executive Directive: L.A.’s Green New Deal. We pledged to recalibrate and revamp the scale of our ambitions by setting a goal of a 100% zero-emission bus fleet by 2028, two years earlier than previously planned, and calling on the department to develop a series of bike, bus, and light rail infrastructure improvements. As expected, LADOT responded in resounding fashion -- committing to the largest single order of zero-emission buses in U.S. history, and installing and upgrading bus and bike lanes in communities from the San Fernando Valley to Downtown and South Los Angeles. The end result was historic: in this past year alone, the department installed and upgraded more bike lanes than any in the previous decade.

LADOT’s leadership hasn’t been limited to big picture projects. This team has been central to lifting up our most vulnerable neighbors bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 emergency. LADOT has reassigned staff to food banks and testing sites, and reoriented services to protect our riders and City workers. We launched new programs to adapt to the new normal of the pandemic, including Slow Streets and L.A. Al Fresco, providing crucial relief to our residents and businesses -- and establishing initiatives that may soon be permanent fixtures of this city.

To those who stepped up: thank you. Your selfless and meaningful actions allowed us to overcome some of our darkest days. As more people rely on LADOT to create a safer, more livable Los Angeles, your work will only become more vital in realizing our vision and ensuring our streets are a global model for safety and sustainability.

On behalf of our city, I would like to express my gratitude for all LADOT has done over the past year, and I look forward to seeing even greater progress in 2021.

Sincerely,

Eric Garcetti
Mayor, City of Los Angeles

Welcome to LADOT’s Annual Report covering July 2019 through the 2020 calendar year.

During the initial period covered in this report, LADOT marked its 40th year as a department in the City of Los Angeles and made bold steps to build a 21st century transportation system. We authorized the largest-ever purchase of zero emission buses. Our dockless micro-mobility program, the largest in the nation, reached a milestone recording over 10 million trips since its launch. Major community-based, street safety projects were ready for implementation after a year of gathering stakeholder input. And we had made important progress towards our goal of building an equitable workplace by hiring the largest class of women transportation engineers ever.

Then in March, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. Traffic and transit ridership plummeted, businesses shuttered, and economic uncertainty devastated the region. As we struggled to manage the spread of the virus, a global outcry for racial justice emerged in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Peaceful protests descended on our streets demanding an end to systemic racism and reforms to protect Black and Brown lives. It was clear that the pandemic and economic crisis were only deepening the systemic inequities long suffered by communities of color as a result of decades of intentionally discriminatory policies. In fact, an LADOT study of travel trends during COVID found that while many Angelenos enjoyed little-to-no traffic during the stay-at-home orders, those same trends weren’t emerging in Black and Brown communities with the highest concentrations of poverty. Unsurprisingly, many essential workers in low-wage jobs continued to report to work or make up for lost income as drivers in the gig economy during the pandemic because of larger economic insecurity brought on by the virus. Once again the color of your skin and the zip code you lived in determined your chances of survival.

In response to these crises, we adjusted. We directed traffic control officers and traffic engineers to support food banks, testing sites and vaccination sites. We launched new safety protocols on our buses, taxis, scooters and bikes to protect riders. We repurposed bus routes to get unhoused Angelenos to city shelters. And we stood up new programs, like LA Alfresco, Food and Retail Pick Up Zones, and Slow Streets to leverage our streets as lifelines for communities and local businesses. We also worked with community stakeholders to accelerate some of our most ambitious street safety plans, completing more than 60 miles of new or improved bike lanes in 2020. And we developed a series of initiatives to reverse systemic inequities and center racial equity in our programs and services.

As we start to move towards a period of recovery, I am so appreciative of the hard work and dedication exhibited by LADOT staff. Working alongside them, I know we will meet the needs of this moment.


Thank you,

Seleta Reynolds
LADOT General Manager

Supporting Local Business

To assist local businesses affected by COVID-19, LADOT introduced a new service this past spring to provide signage designating temporary pick-up parking zones near local restaurants and retailers in order to facilitate safe and easy access for customers. With businesses closed to indoor patrons during the early stages of the pandemic — and with a greater emphasis placed on pick-up and delivery as a source of revenue — this program aided businesses by providing additional short-term parking to accommodate the increased demand for curbside pick-up. By the end of the year 907 Food Pick-up and 180 Retail Pick-up signs had been installed across Los Angeles..

Relaxed Parking Enforcement and Payment Relief Programs

Following the initial outbreak of COVID-19, Mayor Garcetti ordered LADOT Parking Enforcement and Traffic Control to implement relaxed parking enforcement regulations in order to assist Angelenos remain at home during the pandemic. This included abeyance for regular street sweeping activity and related fines, deadline extensions for citation payments, a freeze on parking fine increases, and other parking relief measures. When parking enforcement returned in mid-October, LADOT began offering multiple options to ease the financial burden of a parking citation including Early Pay LA offering discounts on fines paid within 48 hours as well as Unemployment payment plans for those who are struggling financially as a result of the pandemic.

Food Distribution Assistance

With many schools closed during the pandemic and widespread unemployment, organizations in the Los Angeles area partnered with one another to provide food assistance to those in need. To assist food bank drop-off locations in the city during the pandemic, LADOT Special Traffic Operations and traffic officers coordinated to design and implement traffic management plans to direct cars safely and efficiently through food bank pick-up sites. On a given week day, LADOT Traffic Officers were supporting at least 41 daily food grab n’ go sites in addition to other special food distribution events.

Virus Test Site Support

Mayor Eric Garcetti’s announcement that COVID-19 testing would be made available for all Los Angeles County residents resulted in high public demand at city testing sites. Due to high levels of visitation at these sites leading to a corresponding increase in traffic nearby, LADOT Special Traffic Operations were a critical element to designing and managing these sites to ensure the safe and orderly ingress and egress of vehicles at testing locations including Dodger Stadium which averaged over 10,000 tests per day.

Traffic Signal Adjustments

With many residents remaining at home during the outbreak of COVID-19, traffic volumes in the city significantly decreased as a result of fewer people driving. Though many welcomed the reduction in traffic, one potentially dangerous side-effect was that some drivers used the uncongested streets to drive at unsafe speeds. To encourage safer driving and discourage speeding, LADOT adjusted traffic signals across the city to operate on “nighttime” mode. This ensures traffic signals respond independently to serve people as they arrive, which prevents motorists from speeding through green lights at multiple intersections in a row.

Slow Streets L.A.

In order to help Angelenos stay safe during the pandemic and prevent individuals and families from crowding into traditional areas for recreation, LADOT launched Slow Streets L.A.. The new program created much needed space within communities for local residents to engage in outdoor recreational activities by calming traffic on select city streets. Locations were selected with the support of local neighborhood organizations which partnered with the City in applying and reporting any maintenance issues that arose after implementation. At the end of 2020, there were 28 active Slow Streets locations covering 47.4 miles of L.A. streets.

Fare-Free Transit and Bus Safety Measures

To help prevent unnecessary contact between transit operators and riders, as well as to provide financial relief to those who use our transit services, LADOT introduced fare-free service and backdoor boarding on all DASH bus routes. Additionally, buses now operate with fixed limits on the number of passengers that may ride at one time with the requirement that riders also wear face masks while on board. While most routes experienced a decrease in total ridership during the pandemic, some routes retained a high level of ridership. In these cases, buses were redeployed to ensure new bus capacity limits were maintained.

Pedestrian Push Buttons

To limit the number of physical contact points that may serve as vectors for COVID-19, LADOT deactivated pedestrian push buttons in city neighborhoods with high volumes of pedestrian activity. Affected intersections now feature automatic walk cycles that operate without the need for pedestrians to press crosswalk buttons. Ultimately, a total of 865 traffic signals were converted to touch-free.

L.A. Al Fresco

The Coronavirus pandemic severely impacted industries across Los Angeles in 2020. Among the most hard-hit were L.A.’s restaurant and dining establishments along with the thousands of employees they support. With indoor dining no longer an option, the City of Los Angeles created L.A. Al Fresco, a new outdoor dining program supported by LADOT that allows restaurants to expand dining areas into parking lanes, driving lanes, and adjacent private lots to encourage safe physical distancing for customers. In a matter of weeks, LADOT was able to establish an application process that included partnership and coordination with the Office of Mayor Garcetti, L.A.’s Bureau of Engineering, the Department of Building and Safety, and the Department of City Planning to facilitate this expansion of outdoor dining options. On street dining spaces in parklets and converted travel lanes were installed by LADOT at no cost to the restaurants. By the end of 2020, 2293 restaurants were participating in the L.A. Al Fresco program.

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF MOVING LA FORWARD

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Modernize facilities, technology, and tools to improve the efficiency of LADOT staff

• Commenced operations at LADOT Transit’s new LEED Platinum certified operations and maintenance facility in downtown Los Angeles, which features compressed natural gas fueling stations, accommodations for up to 26 electric vehicle charging stations, parking zones for 72 vehicles, and a six-bay bus maintenance building.
• Adapted to the changing needs of motorists as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic with launch of a new teleconference option, written adjudication requests and videoconferencing for parking adjudication hearings as an alternative to in-person hearings.
• Formalized the role of the Mobility Investment Program as a tool to plan, fund, manage, coordinate, and deliver projects. Key features of this program include a unified project inventory and a project decision support tool that uses data to evaluate and score prospective projects based on how they advance objectives relative to safety, health, equity, and sustainability.
• Entered into a one-year pilot program contract with the company StreetLight Data to provide on-demand transportation data for capital planning investment decisions. This provides us with information on how many vehicles are traveling through a given location and when to help us guide and prioritize projects.

Recruit and train the next generation of talent

• Established a data working group within LADOT and collaborated with a consultant to provide cohort training on geographic information systems and Python programming language certification.

Make LADOT a rewarding place to work

• Following the COVID-19 outbreak and work-from-home requirements for about 40% of LADOT staff, the Executive Team began hosting regular staff town halls to keep employees informed and provide a venue in which questions could be asked directly of department leadership.
• Following protests for racial justice in the Spring and Summer of 2020, LADOT established a Racial Equity Core Team to ensure that equity goals are adopted in project planning, staff development, and service delivery.

Prepare for an automated future

• General Manager Seleta Reynolds appointed to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Drone Advisory Committee.
• Launched partnership with Urban Movement Labs to study and pilot projects to prepare Los Angeles for a new generation of automated as well as aerial vehicles.
• Broke ground on upgraded Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control (ATSAC) Center with state-of-the-art signal technologies to create the next generation of automated traffic control in Los Angeles with ATSAC 3.0.

Modernize parking

• Upgraded 2,360 parking meters to the latest generation of M5 Smart Meters with Bluetooth technology and dome-mounted parking sensors to provide better data on parking patterns and more effective parking management.
• Conducted research and analysis to develop a pilot program for on-street electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Los Angeles recently reached the important milestone of installing 10,000 EV charging stations.
• Expanded pay-by-cell functionality to 190 parking meters in Venice as part of an ongoing effort to improve traffic flow for nearby residences, businesses, and visitors to the area.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Design safe streets for all

• Installed over 60 miles of new or upgraded bike lanes in 2020.
• Installed new Bus-Only lanes in major corridors of Downtown LA.
• Installed leading pedestrian intervals at traffic signals with high pedestrian volumes to increase the visibility of those walking.
• Implemented Slow Streets in 28 locations covering 47.4 miles of city streets to create safe outdoor spaces for Angelenos during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transform Los Angeles’ transportation culture to prioritize health and safety

• Launched the Scooter Safety Education Campaign and collaborated with the City of Santa Monica to jointly advertise the rules of the road. Advertisements for this campaign were placed on 125 Bus Shelters, 200 DASH Buses, and 300 Metro Buses.
• Launched the DASH to Class program, which provides free, safe, and reliable transportation to students across Los Angeles with funding from the California Low Carbon Transit Operations Grant Program. DASH to Class totaled 257,076 rides before schools closed due to COVID-19.

Use data-driven approaches to prioritize safety

• Completed speed surveys throughout all of L.A.’s High Injury Network of streets will allow for speed limit enforcement in locations with the most frequent fatal and severe injury crashes.
• Completed the first-ever city-led Walk-Bike count to identify streets where investment can make the greatest impact.
• Established a baseline benchmark using 2017 – 2018 data to measure improvements as a result of increased enforcement along identified corridors.

Pursue new policies to strengthen safety

• Established task-force to propose changes to the California Vehicle Code so that speed limits are no longer solely based on the 85th percentile recorded in speed surveys but instead take community safety and local concerns into account.
• Established of standard operating procedures for LADOT Parking Enforcement and Traffic Control, which outlines all policies and practices for the safe management of special events.
• LADOT Transit instituted backdoor boarding, free masks, and a maximum occupancy on buses to protect riders and maintain physical distancing.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Improve external communication

• New LADOT website provides improved and expanded services for visitors who access the department’s online portal.
• Launched the LADOT Livable Streets website to make project and program information more visible and accessible including interactive functions that allow residents to provide project feedback.
• In response to COVID-19, LADOT began offering online webinars and digital surveys to allow for continued engagement and education regarding LADOT projects. 5 webinars on major projects were held, recorded, and subsequently shared among stakeholders for those unable to attend in person. 12 surveys were conducted for various proposed improvements gathering feedback from over 1000 constituents.

Improve user experience through technology and data

• Modernized the LADOT Transit information platform to provide real-time information such as live bus arrival times and rider alerts for passengers.
• Newly established preferential parking district tracking system allows department staff and Los Angeles City Council offices to monitor the progress of parking district permit requests.

Use data-driven process improvements aligned with LADOT values

• First data sets on dockless micromobility program placed on city’s open data portal.
• Parking data is now available in real-time on the City’s open data portal to encourage parking application development and partnerships with third-party vendors.

Improve resiliency during emergencies

• Instituted revised cleaning protocols to maintain the safe operation of the BlueLA car share program and the Metro Bike Share program in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• LADOT Transit supported the evacuation of neighborhoods during Getty Fire and Saddleridge Fire.
• Developed and successfully tested an application through the Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control (ATSAC) Center that shows traffic signal outages in prioritized order to assist with traffic officer deployment at affected intersections.
• Conducted a new travel behavior study to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on Angelenos’ vehicle miles traveled by demography, income, and location. The findings of this study will be used to better prepare for post-pandemic response and to improve community resilience in preparation for future emergencies.
• Provided transit vehicles for use in transporting homeless individuals to and from assistance sites and for delivering meals to food bank distributors during the COVID-19 health crisis.

Improve customer service

• Developed 311 customer service request option for dockless vehicles and subsequently received over 12,000 service requests from the public.
• Created virtual service options to allow building development applicants to remotely submit their plans for review during the city’s COVID-19 Safer at Home Order.
• Created virtual application and adjudication services for contesting tickets during the coronavirus pandemic to protect both staff and the public.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Manage demand on Los Angeles’ streets

• Completed the Modernizing Transportation Analysis work program to adopt vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as a new impact transportation metric for evaluating land use developments.
• Progressed toward the completion of the updated citywide Transportation Demand Management ordinance to reduce demand for single occupancy vehicle trips while improving access to city destination points.

Improve the sustainability of the transportation system

• Purchased 155 zero emission battery-electric buses from manufacturer, the largest such order in the United States to date.
• Installed 200 on-street electric equipment chargers for shared electric vehicles as part of the BlueLA Phase I Pilot Program.
• Installed battery-electric bus chargers at the LADOT Transit LEED Platinum certified bus maintenance facility in downtown Los Angeles, which have the capability of charging buses in as little as three hours.
• Initiated installation of 44 direct current fast chargers in LADOT public parking facilities.
• Converted lighting at two LADOT parking garages to energy efficient LED lighting.
• Coordinated the development of the Metro Measure M Multi-Year Subregional Program grant priority project lists for the Central Cities, South Bay Cities, and Westside Cities Councils of Government for transportation projects that advance active transportation and first and last mile improvements.

Create a seamlessly integrated multimodal system

• Expanded the BlueLA car share program following evaluations that focused on improving user equity.
• Assisted in expanding Metro Bike Share to Hollywood and Koreatown.
• Launched the Metro Bike conversion of the entire Westside which included the neighborhoods of Venice, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Playa Vista, Playa Del Rey, Sawtelle and Palms; totaling 57 stations. With this conversion Metro Bike Share will have added 575 bikes with 115 being ebikes.
• Established guidelines and procedures for procuring and implementing innovative pilot projects.
• Created a common data platform to expand data sharing with public agencies and private providers.
• Initiated the Planning for Stress-Free Connections Project to identify priority interventions to improve safe access to neighborhood destinations for Angelenos in central Los Angeles.

Expand the transit network

• Launched the Griffith Parkline, a new bus service that provides free weekend transit for those traveling to destinations in and around Griffith Park.
• Ordered five new compressed natural gas Motor Coach Industries buses for use on popular LADOT Transit Commuter Express routes.
• Purchased 20 new compressed natural gas powered vehicles for use in the LADOT Transit Cityride fleet.
• Increased service frequency and expanded operation hours for the DASH Observatory/Los Feliz route to better serve people traveling in and around Griffith Park.
• Served a record monthly number of LAnow on-demand shared-ride trips this past February with 1,600 passenger trips.
• Participated in the development of Metro’s capital improvement plan by reviewing design alternatives and environmental documents, providing feedback and consultation, and by facilitating coordination with elected offices and other government departments.

Increase the availability and efficiency of parking

• Implemented rate alterations in LA Express Park zones in response to parking space demand changes brought about by COVID-19.
• Established 17 new preferential parking districts.

Expand the bicycle network

• Installed a total of 61.09 lane miles of new or upgraded bikeways in 2020, representing 110% increase over the previous calendar year.
• Improved the downtown bicycle network with the installation of the Main Street two-way protected bicycle lane and the 7th Street protected bike lane.
• Completed repair construction on the damaged portion of the Arroyo Seco Bike Path between Avenue 60 and York Boulevard.

Strengthen LADOT’s role in reducing homelessness

• Developed transportation components for nine affordable housing and transportation projects under the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Cycle 5 Program.
• Administered the Community Assistance Parking Program (CAPP), which converts unpaid parking citations into community service. This year, CAPP reached a new milestone by providing parking citation support for over 1,000 Angelenos affected by homelessness resulting in the dismissal of over 4,000 tickets.

LADOT's Dockless Mobility Pilot Program

Just prior to the onset of the pandemic, LADOT had just completed an evaluation of its dockless micromobility pilot program, the largest of its kind in the in the nation. The pilot program, which began in 2019, sought to understand the dynamics of an emerging marketplace of private mobility operators; learn from and collaborate with peer cities to develop best practices; gain insight into mobility trends through use of data; address concerns over equity, safety, and accessibility of various modes of transit; develop a program that can foster innovation and prepare the Department for onboarding new and unanticipated modes of transportation in the future.

While ridership numbers confirm dockless mobility as a viable transportation option and first-last mile solution for many Angelenos, our study determined that as LADOT makes recommendations for a permanent program, regulations must place a greater emphasis on geographic distribution of vehicles and community engagement to ensure equitable access for all communities in Los Angeles. Moving forward, operators will be required to deploy in communities that lack transportation options as well as in low-income communities.

Additionally, more infrastructure will be needed, particularly near public transit, to encourage greater adoption of dockless vehicles as a first-last mile solution.

The first year has shown that dockless vehicles are now very much part of the transportation landscape of Los Angeles. In the year to come, we will continue to support the expansion of new modes of transportation to produce equitable, safe outcomes for Los Angeles communities.

A Banner Year for Bikeways in Los Angeles

2020 brought a major expansion to our city’s network of bike paths with 61.09 miles of new and upgraded bike paths. This is a significant increase from 2019’s 27.03 miles. The list below includes all the locations where new and improved bike lanes were installed. Our work will continue in 2021 as we move to expand mobility options throughout Los Angeles.

Building a Safer, More Livable Avalon Boulevard

From 2009 – 2017, 149 people were killed or severely injured on Avalon Boulevard between Jefferson Boulevard and 120th Street. Of these, 44 percent were people who were walking or riding a bicycle. In response, LADOT established Avalon Boulevard as a Vision Zero Priority Corridor and initiated a set of comprehensive changes to improve safety along the boulevard. To inform this process, the department hosted a series of community meetings to solicit public feedback on proposed changes and found that, of those surveyed, 96 percent supported additional crosswalks and new traffic signals while 90 percent supported the placement of new bicycle lanes on Avalon Boulevard. Construction began in May and was completed in the Fall of 2020 and included a new lane reconfiguration with a center turning lane, painted curb extensions, and over 12 in-lane miles of new bicycle lanes.

Broadway Our Way

This year, LADOT took the first big step toward a larger vision by breaking ground on the Broadway Our Way complete street. To set the stage for later, more permanent alterations, temporary pilot features — such as new street markings, new plastic bollards that designate bike lanes, and new signal timing — were added on Broadway between Manchester Avenue and Century Boulevard following pavement repair work. In 2021, we’ll be extending these improvements from Century Boulevard to Imperial Highway. Carrying on our mission of providing Livable Streets into the next year, LADOT will conduct roadway transformations on additional priority corridors such as Adams Boulevard and Venice Boulevard to ensure that our city’s streets are safe for all Angelenos. Also look out for new bus lanes on Lincoln Boulevard in Venice.

New Bus and Bike Lanes Debut in Downtown LA

Since our last annual report, LADOT has completed of several major projects transforming how Angelenos get around Downtown L.A.. The completion of the Main & Spring Street Forward project marks an important milestone in strengthening Downtown L.A.’s network of North-South bike lanes. New bus-only lanes also made their debut on 5th Street, 6th Street, and Aliso Street. These corridors collectively support over 100 buses per hour at peak travel times and will result in more efficient reliable service on some of L.A.’s most densely populated and trafficked streets.

New Development Metrics to Reduce Emissions

Transportation is one of the leading causes of greenhouse gas emissions in California. While one side of the solution to this problem involves addressing the transportation choices that people make, another includes a consideration of how building developments affect traffic volumes. As the presence of new and larger buildings in a community may also increase traffic congestion, an effort to reduce total vehicle emissions necessarily involves an examination of how property developments affect people’s transportation habits. To facilitate this process, the state introduced changes to how the transportation impacts of proposed developments are evaluated through the creation of a new scoring metric: vehicle miles traveled (VMT), which represents the increase or decrease of miles traveled by vehicles as a result of a property development. Last year, to assist in California’s goal of reducing emission levels, the City of Los Angeles adopted VMT threshold guidelines that are more aggressive than those recommended by the state, and has since tasked LADOT with ensuring the compliance of these new guidelines.

One of the most significant moments of 2020 was the worldwide outcry for racial justice that emerged following the murder of George Floyd. Millions crowded streets in peaceful protests to demand change from cities and governments and reforms to address the long standing disparities experienced by communities of color.

LADOT remains committed to racial equity. From the construction of freeways that erased some of the most well-established communities of color in the City, to the residual health, environmental and economic effects these roadways created, and the traffic deaths that disproportionately impact Black and Brown residents - we recognize and atone for the damage transportation choices have caused. With transparency, accountability, and community-led engagement, we are rebuilding trust and developing working relationships with residents who for too long have been excluded from the planning process. We are also using data -- quantitative and qualitative -- to focus on delivering results and reaching our equity goals.

From the inception of a project, to implementation, LADOT builds equity into our planning as a core metric. During the COVID-19 pandemic we launched programs like Slow Streets and L.A. Al Fresco where we prioritized resources for those communities most severely impacted by the health crisis. In the past year, LADOT also launched two resident leader training programs in South Los Angeles to teach residents about the history of transportation planning and how to advocate effectively for safety improvements in their districts.

LADOT also maintains programs that reduce the financial burden of parking citations for Angelenos. Those programs include Early Pay LA discounts and unemployment waivers to our CAPP program which allows individuals struggling financially to replace payment with volunteer service.

We also codified our commitment to equity, making it a key priority in LADOT’s 2021-2023 Strategic Plan. Shortly after Mayor Garcetti released Executive Directive 27 for Racial Equity, LADOT launched its inaugural Racial Equity Core Team to support the department’s work and hold management accountable for achieving goals and outcomes. The group of cross-functional employees was selected through a blind application process from all levels of seniority and business lines to provide a variety of perspectives and reflect the diversity of the department.

In 2020, the team worked with the department’s Racial Equity staff to create a department-wide definition for racial equity and start developing equity principles. This definition and principles will guide an equity framework that will operationalize our commitments throughout the department’s 52 business lines

LADOT defines racial equity as the just and fair inclusion into our society in which all people, regardless of their race or ethnicity, can participate, prosper and reach their full potential.

For years, LADOT has promoted just and inclusive programs and service delivery. With these new initiatives, we ensure that the promotion of racial equity is no longer a siloed effort but a fundamental element of all we do.

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