Maybe make your metro usable so not driving would be easier. It's kind of impossible to get where you need to go without a car in LA
this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2026
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More people taking transit will help put pressure on improving it.
I agree but I think it’s much easier the other way around. First improve the infrastructure, then incentivize people to use it.
I have to admit that I'm unsure how LA does it, but up in Washington the voters have to approve more funding for transit. Which is difficult if voters feel like transit doesn't work well to begin with and then it's an uphill battle.
Double-edged sword, I'll admit.
That's a chicken-egg problem.
A double-edged sword is something that could hurt as much as it helps if you're not careful.
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LA is a tough one for this because it's so spread out. San Francisco has a famously amazing BART system but the city is also very tiny compared to what most people think of as "LA".
Depending where you live and where you go, LA Metro can be useful. I use the Metro quite often, and I know the bus system is pretty expansive as well. They've also consistently been adding new lines and stops including a way to get to LAX via Metro. So it's not like improvements aren't being made.
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LA needs mass transit first
The history of transportation in LA is tragic because at one point they had not one, but two massive streetcar networks.
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I live in LA and use mass transit every week. Coverage is not universal but it is a thing.
Bloody typical, you seem to think you can skip straight to the end of the journey.
No, that's not how things work, this is a stepping stone towards that.
You can't just take a 200 meter horizontal leap across the water, you need these stepping stones to then make it across
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I visit a few times a year, and stayed once at LAX; getting to Santa Monica Pier took like 90 minutes by metro train. The metro system is beyond useless.
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To the detractors, this experiment is based off one done in Australia, and it can have good results. Some may decide they actually don't need to drive as much and start using more public transit, and others will be able to more precisely point to pain points with not using a car.
Yes, they need more transit oriented development and better transit access, but this should be able to help
More like paying men to not drive.
It seems bizarre that they even need to research this when they could simply ask Angelenos why half of us don't take public transit.
It's not safe.
We've got a massive homelessness problem in Los Angeles, and our unwillingness to house them means they'll seek shelter. The official shelters aren't safe either, and the homeless are just as scared as everybody else. So they go Metro.
There's still regular thugs blasting music and looking for a fight, but they're few and far between, and healthier public transit cultures like NYC can better deal with troublemakers organically.
It's a symptom of the housing crisis. Everything will continue to suck until we focus on housing first. No I don't want to hear your chalkboard argument about drug-test housing because you are objectively wrong, this has already been studied to death and housing first is the correct answer. We don't need more studies, the idiots just need to read them. Spend a goddamn day on the street and it will be obvious.
Sincerely,
an Angeleno public transit fanatic
Waste of fucking money. I think most people in LA already don't want to drive. Build good public infrastructure and see the results.
Does Japan offer people money not to drive? No, they make good public infrastructure and make it expensive to own a car
You need to know the pain points before you can fix them
The focus of this really is data collection, to find out what problems exist for those people and then once you have that data you can shift the focus towards fixing the problems
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Sounds like a great way to get a free car!
Buy the car, park it in your driveway for the next six years and use the cash incentives to make your car payments!
Looks like its only a one time payment and only 2000 households. So its just a PR stunt. 2000 is enough for a news story but not enough to effect anything.
it's not a 'pr stunt', it's a research study.
This is the second phase of the program. It's already been successful.
Building on a successful pilot in Santa Monica, Metro is expanding the One Car Challenge to all of LA County in Summer 2026. This time, we’re inviting approximately 2,000 households to participate — and for the first time, one-car households are welcome.
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Maybe instead of paying to take the bus, we should pay people to take the bus. You're putting up with a lot of hassle to avoid taxing the roads with another car. Maybe you're owed a few bucks for your community service.
Or just make it free and pull the money from anti-homeless infrastructure.
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Is this not the basic premise for taking fees from fines and car related registration to reinforce public transit and proper city planning?
What society isn’t invited to think about is how cars are so heavily subsidized to the point where it drains communities instead of supports them. From gas, roads, lighting, these costs are downloaded to every single person without much thought about any other option.
Also roads are typically paid for by new road building subsidies... Meaning more roads and no maintenance.
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Why waste the money on paying people to not drive instead of using money to make the reasons they don’t use public transportation better?
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"I gave up driving ages ago, I don't even own a car. Can I get in on this money as well?"
"No, fuck you. You don't matter. We're only paying real people with nice cars to change, not for poor slobs who already rely on public transportation to keep using it."
I mean, to be honest, you obviously don't need incentive. What would be the point of paying you.
The point was that it's paying people who have options other than using public transportation, which would also correlate to them having more money than those who already have no other option.
An extreme comparison would be that it's sort of like paying billionaires to try to pollute a bit less.
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I think universal programs tend to have more public support.
I think they're researching how big of a congestion tax they need to get a certain percentage of people to stop driving. Giving someone $600 is very similar to not taking away $600.
That's almost enough to pay 1 week's rent in a shitty loft in LA.
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