Newspaper Opinion Piece

After reading the L.A. Times Article, Infinite Ingress one topic that stuck to my mind was the concern about California's heavily congested traffic due to overpopulation. Some of the reasons may be caused by California's highest immigration period which took place between 1984 and 1997. During this time 26,000 lane-miles of streets and highways were added to the road network statewide. The current situation is said that California is known to have the worst highway congestions in the country and more Californians are spending more time in traffic rather than being at home or working at a job. Counties and municipalities attempt to address problems in seek for solutions like raising taxes on gas prices or taxing the motorists for the use of California's road and highway system hoping that this can make other people find alternatives for transportation. Traffic problems will continue to occur because California's population is still growing and the main attraction to many immigrants.

In my opinion, I honestly would have to agree with the other California residents because I know how it feels to be stuck in traffic especially having to experience it in Southern California. Being stuck in traffic tends to get frustrating at times. Places that would normally take 30 minutes to get to will take about two hours in traffic. However, living in a place that I am used to like San Jose is different because I am fully aware of the traffic peak times and the knowledge of knowing the back roads and alternative routes can definitely avoid traffic.

I believe that there is only so much money to create changes such as building new bridges and highways. California lacks the funding and finding the solution to congested traffic. I don't think that there is any control to prevent the increase in population because immigrants will continue to find a way to California. My solution is for California residents to quit blaming the immigrants for overpopulation and to explore other ways of transportation. I think that people should consider walking, taking the bus, the light rail, ride a bicycle, and so forth. In addition, when I was visiting the Philippines this past December they had a law enforcing drivers to only drive on certain days called , "coding". The coding law means that every car is given a code and you are only to drive on certain days. For example, if the last digit of your license plate number is five you can not drive on Thursday and Fridays. Drivers who won't be able to drive on certain days will be forced to consider walking or riding a bicycle to work.

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