This is a silly question -- (or is it?) -- but something I always wonder is: what is the single greatest reason for grossly increasing traffic problems over a given span of however many years.
It's now been 25 (!) years since I lived in L.A., so I know my "this is the way things used to be, kiddies" comments have to be taken with a huge mountain of salt. But...nevertheless...what changes? Does the population of L.A. somehow keep increasing dramatically? Do more and more of the existing population have cars? But it's been a car-oriented place throughout our lifetimes, so how much different can it get?
My general memory is that, when planning to go somewhere, I only had to take potentially significant traffic delays into account in such times as business rush hours. And blessedly, I always lived within good proximity or easy access to my jobs, so I was never a regular "commuter" in all of my years there -- except for about three months when I had just moved back from the Chicago area. I stayed temporarily at a friend's house in Long Beach and driove to my job at Wilshire and Western. That was my only taste of how "the rest of society" lived, and I quickly learned how to manage it and cope with it, but it was about 90 minutes each way and boy, did I rejoice upon getting my new place with a 15-minute "surface street" commute.
Other than that, I never -- repeat, NEVER -- in all of those years had to consider how long it would take me to go over the hill into the Valley. Again, if it was in the late afternoon, of course there would be slow traffic, but I can't recall it EVER being like what BK describes -- not once -- whether I was trying out different canyon roads or just taking the freeways.
I know the rule -- namely, that traffic always increases to fill new lanes of a road, or a whole new road or highway. What I don't understand is: why?
I'm no expert, but what I've noticed is how many tacky little houses have been torn down and replaced with apartment buildings. My street, a residential street, is now almost exclusively multi-unit. There was one little house across the street when I moved in, but it was soon torn down and replaced. So, instead of 1 or 2 cars to that lot, there are now 6 to 12 (?). People are also willing to drive a longer distance, I think, to obtain a better job.
What puzzles me is the demise of gas stations. There used to be one at every major intersection, or so it seems. Now it's sometimes difficult to find one. Yet there are many more cars. ??
