Meeting_Body
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
JUNE 23, 2016
Preamble
Motion by:
Directors Solis, Kuehl and Fasana
as amended by Director Solis
June 23, 2016
Transit to Open Space and Parks
Los Angeles County is a community rimmed by dramatic open spaces from the tranquil coasts to the rolling Santa Monica Mountains and vast deserts. The San Gabriel Mountains are closer to downtown Los Angeles than Denver is to the Rockies. Yet, access to the majestic places remains unattainable for many members of our community.
The purpose of this action is to develop a systematic plan for increasing access to parks and open space, countywide. This is a key priority for the region as demonstrated in the LA County Parks Needs Assessment and the Southern California Association of Governments' Long Range Transportation Plan highlighting a lack of access to the newly designated San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.
In December of 2015, the Board affirmed its commitment to increasing access to parks and open space when it adopted performance measures for project in the Long Range Transportation Plan and Potential Ballot Measure that included Sustainability & Quality of Life and Accessibility. Both categories reference access to parks and open space. Metro has taken actions to provide access to green space to communities, but further gains in connecting people to open space could be achieved with more coordinated efforts.
Given that the Los Angeles Basin is home to 10+ million people, it is critical that we provide affordable, publically managed, transit to parks, open spaces, and publicly managed land. The LA basin is park-deficient-the only way we can ensure the health of Angelenos is by providing access to transit that connects communities, especially disadvantaged (income-poor and park-poor) communities to parks. For instance, 3 million people visited the San Gabriel National Monument last year, but there are no viable public transit options to access the area.
There are fundi...
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