Most people chose to cancel trips rather than to reschedule them, but the reductions in travel diminished over the course of the weekend closure as people learned that congestion levels were far below the dire forecasts. Rather than creating chaos, the first closure greatly reduced traffic congestion. To do so, we compared traffic volume and transit ridership from each of the closure weekends to baseline control dates before and after each event. We studied how the roughly 300,000 travelers who traverse the affected stretch of the San Diego Freeway per typical summer weekend day responded to the two closures. Media coverage was especially intense for the first closure, often gleefully focusing on a likely traffic disaster. Others threatened nightmarish gridlock throughout the region. Some of their messages appealed to civic pride and encouraged responsible voluntary cooperation.
#405 freeway traffic los angeles drivers
Public officials tried to avert the expected traffic jams by warning drivers to stay away. Traffic from the closures was predicted to back up for miles and spill onto local streets, severely congesting some parts of Los Angeles. The closed freeway through the Sepulveda Pass between West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley is one of the most heavily traveled arteries in the world, with more than half a million vehicles passing through on a typical summer weekend. “Carmageddon” refers to the horrific traffic jams predicted when a bridge reconstruction project in Los Angeles required closing 10 miles of the Interstate 405 freeway on two weekends. Cities “crying wolf” may erode their messaging efficacy over time.
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