L.A.’s Terrible Streets Are Because of Bad Management, Not Lack of Money

Yes, that’s probably the most
obvious headline I have and possibly will ever write for Reason.
But an audit from the city controller’s office actually quantifies
it: The street department for Los Angeles is a mess that isn’t
repairing streets properly, isn’t keeping decent records, and isn’t
collecting some fees it’s supposed to be collecting, costing the
city $190 million over 16 years. The Los Angeles Times
gave Controller Ron Galperin
space for a commentary explaining why things are so
terrible:

The streets bureau also does not always prioritize its repair
work based on common-sense criteria such as traffic volume, heavy
vehicle loads and mass-transit loads. So despite the slurry work
that’s taken place, some of the city’s busiest and most important
thoroughfares remain in the worst condition, impeding traffic and
commerce, making bike riding unsafe and turning bus rides into
bumpy, uncomfortable journeys.

Our auditors also found that the Bureau of Street Services has
undercollected $190 million in fees from utility companies that cut
and dig into our streets, money that could have been used to
perform miles of repairs. Likewise, between 2011 and 2013, it did
not fully utilize its budgeted funds. Auditors found that $21
million earmarked for street repairs was returned to various
funding sources unused. And the city has also spent more to produce
its own asphalt than it would have if it had paid a vendor for
it.

I can personally vouch for the weird road repair priorities. My
own street and a few others in my neighborhood were resealed with
slurry work last year. But the most traveled streets nearby that
were in much worse repair remain completely untouched, so I have to
drive several blocks navigating crumbling, bumpy avenues, only to
turn onto my lovely street and drive about 100 smooth feet before
hitting my driveway.

And note who the city isn’t getting fees from? This isn’t a case
of blaming truck drivers for tearing up roads or other anti-private
transportation arguments. Nor is it rich, evil tech corporations
not paying their “fair share.” It’s because of utility companies
not paying fees back for literally tearing up the roads to do work.
(And you have to wonder what sort of work they’re doing given the
massive water main disaster that struck Los Angeles this week and

flooded UCLA.)

As for the asphalt production, a
companion news story at the Times notes that the
difference in price between the city and a private asphalt producer
is more than a 50 percent increase: $66 per ton versus $40 per
ton.

Oh, and some of that unused $21 million was apparently federal
stimulus funds. You know, for those “shovel-ready” projects?

In March, city advisors wanted to try to
push through another tax increase to try to generate more
revenue to repair the roads. That idea has been abandoned for
now:

“Right now, people want to know with a sense of confidence that
the money that we are spending is being properly spent,” Galperin
said Thursday at a news conference announcing the audit’s findings.
“And until that happens, I think people are going to be very
reluctant — and correctly so — to say, ‘Let’s just throw more
money at it.'”