SACRAMENTO - Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), Chair and Senator Maria Elena Durazo (D - Los Angeles), Vice Chair of the Los Angeles County Legislative Delegation (Delegation) today announced that 30 Members of the Delegation called for the reauthorization of the state’s historic Cap-and-Trade Program to include an investment of $3.3 billion to support and expand transit across Los Angeles County.
According to Caltrans’ 2024 Mobility Performance Report, District 7 (Los Angeles/Ventura) records nearly 9 billion daily freeway miles traveled—more than any other Caltrans district. When combined with neighboring Southern California districts (8, 11, and 12), the SCAG region carries over 21 billion daily freeway miles. The South Coast Air Basin continues to be in extreme non-attainment of federal ozone standards. Los Angeles County communities—especially in the San Fernando Valley, South Los Angeles, and along goods-movement corridors—bear the brunt of pollution from vehicles and freight. The answer to these challenges is a sustained commitment to transit investment for communities across Los Angeles County.
Millions of Los Angeles County residents already depend on LA Metro bus and rail, Metrolink, and municipal operators. Yet service has not kept pace with need: transit ridership is still 25–30% below pre-pandemic levels, even as freeway traffic has nearly fully rebounded. Without significant investment, super-commuters from the Valley, South LA, and the Inland Empire remain locked into long, expensive car trips.
“A continued reliance on vehicle based transportation will not help us achieve our climate goals, will not improve air quality, will not create good paying union jobs and will not address generational inequities that have disproportionately impacted vulnerable communities across the county,” said Assemblymember McKinnor and Senator Durazo. “We must make a generational investment in transit and a $3.3 billion commitment from the state’s Cap-and-Trade Program will help us all achieve these goals.”
The $3.3 billion request will support operations to increase bus and rail service frequency, improve reliability, and restore transit as a competitive option for daily commuters; fund capital improvements, including regional connectors to high speed rail, bus rapid transit corridors, electrification of bus and rail fleets, first/last-mile safety and grade separations that reduce delays; and advance equity mandates, by prioritizing projects with high road labor standards and community benefits that serve disadvantaged communities.
A copy of the letter from the Los Angeles County Legislative Delegation can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VpYzLcfAS4QjnbKlBDqaNTH8eoMXROhL/view?usp=sharing
###
The Los Angeles County Legislative Delegation is composed of 37 bi-partisan legislators representing portions of Los Angeles County in the State Assembly and State Senate. It is the largest legislative delegation in the state, collectively representing nearly 10 million Californians.