Today the city and the LADOT released a report that details its strategy for making Los Angeles's streets—"our largest public asset," Mayor Garcetti writes in the report—generally awesomer and safer for people using all modes of transport, and dovetailing with the mayor's big-deal Great Streets Program. Called "Great Streets for Los Angeles," the report outlines a series of goals for making better LA streets—the street system accounts for 15 percent of LA's land area, it notes, and Garcetti writes that "We need them to also foster community by providing places to gather and enjoy." One of the major aims, the Daily News points out, is to eliminate all pedestrian deaths by 2025. (In 2012, nearly 80 pedestrians were killed in collisions with cars; that's 40 percent of all deaths from traffic crashes, according to the report.) There are a lot of other big goals in the report (like the one to make every street redesign safer), but there are also a lot of more immediate plans; we've combed through for eight of the coolest changes we could see hit the streets over the next several years.
· No more insane-o, towering parking signs. Great Streets is looking to "develop [a] clearer parking sign system for easier interpretation by motorists" that will also include standardization of signage.
· A seven-year "rolling meter upgrade cycle" to keep up with the latest parking meter technology.
· A crackdown on the jerks who misuse disabled placards to park for free at meters.
· Re-time 400 crosswalk signals a year, to make it so that people have enough time to cross the street.
· Order all new DASH buses with bike racks and have 75 new DASH buses with racks on the road by 2017.
· Take LA ExpressPark to Venice by 2017; the parking program keeps tabs on where spaces are available and adjusts prices according to availability, and has been a success in Downtown already.
· Add benches, trees, better sidewalks at high-volume bus stops that are in need of such additions. There are also plans to install real-time arrival information at a handful of stops.
· Expand the hail-a-cab program, which allows people to hail taxis on the street rather than having to wait at a taxi stand, to four more pilot business districts across the city.
· Great Streets for Los Angeles [Scribd]
· The First 15 LA Streets Getting Big Great Streets Makeovers [Curbed LA]
· Great Streets [Curbed LA]
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