Cleaning Up the Air and Antonovich’s Appointment to the AQMD

It infuriates me to see The Times dedicate space to criticism by an economist (“AQMD’s Ride-Sharing Proposal a Power Plan, Not Clean-Air Plan,” by Benjamin Zycher, Op-Ed Page, Jan. 13) of the AQMD’s ride-sharing proposal. I’ve been a transportation planner in Los Angeles for five years and it is blatantly obvious that to reduce pollution and traffic, you have to reduce vehicle trips. The AQMD’s approach to reducing vehicles by increasing vehicle occupancies requires the private sector (employers) to give positive incentives to employees. If we want to reduce pollution and traffic, we have to change our driving habits. It is everyone’s responsibility. It is no coincidence that those freeway segments that are most congested (i.e., I-101 and I-405) are also those with the lowest vehicle occupancies. We need encouragement, not discouragement.

LINDA PARKS

Woodland Hills