Section 130001 Of Chapter 1. General Provisions, Findings, And Definitions From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 12. >> Chapter 1.
130001
. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that:
(a) Public demand for an efficient public transportation system in
the southern California region resulting from population sprawl, the
concentration of many transit dependent citizens in the large urban
areas, and increasing mobility requirements indicates a need for
improved, as well as more innovative, policy and decisionmaking
institutions to resolve these problems.
(b) A basic purpose of transportation policy within the region
should be to avoid undesirable duplication of transportation
services, achieve the operation of a coordinated and integrated
transportation system which will reduce automobile usage and
dependency, reduce the consumption of scarce and expensive energy
fuels, and reduce the levels of automobile-related air pollution.
(c) Recognizing the scarcity of resources available for all
transportation development, the commissions shall give priority to
low-cost highway and transit improvements, and shall work toward
maximizing the effectiveness of existing resources available to the
commissions.
(d) Recognizing the importance of the state highway system in the
Los Angeles metropolitan area to bus, automobile, and freight
transportation, it is necessary to maintain this highway system at
least at its present operating standards and to increase the
person-moving capability of this system by such methods as
carpooling, improved traffic operations, exclusive busways, and
fringe parking facilities.
(e) The transportation system should offer adequate public
transportation to all citizens, including those immobilized by
poverty, age, physical handicaps, or other reasons.
(f) The cities and local communities acting singly or jointly
should be given more responsibilities for designing and providing
local transit services to improve the responsiveness of public
transit to public needs.
(g) The transportation decisionmaking process should be responsive
to public values, and provide for the continuing involvement of the
public in the preparation, revision, and discussion of transportation
plans and services.
(h) Transportation planning should recognize that transportation
systems have significant effect on the physical and socioeconomic
characteristics of the areas served, and emphasis should be given to
the protection and enhancement of the environment and the restoration
of blighted neighborhoods near community centers. Los Angeles
County, in particular, is a multicentered area with diverse
socioeconomic levels and travel patterns, and a majority of the trips
in the county are four miles or less.