Los Angeles

Could a Ferry Service Solve LA's Traffic Troubles?

"Under ideal circumstances, an open road would probably get you there faster, but how often is the 405 an open road?"

One Los Angeles resident is thinking outside the box when it comes to avoiding LA traffic.

USC alum David Bailey sat down and created a plan that could help make the commute from South Bay to Malibu faster by getting a boat involved, NBC4 media partner KPCC reports.

The city was recently named the most traffic-congested city in the world, according to transportation analytics company INRIX. Bailey has seen the effects of that traffic firs-hand, watching his former colleagues making the daily commute between South Bay and Santa Monica.

"I was just thinking, maybe we could use the old piers that we had: Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, [Malibu], and provide some sort of ferry service so it would be a strong alternative to the road system that we have," Bailey said.

Bailey estimates the time taken to drive from, say, Santa Monica to Manhattan Beach could be cut down by more than half.

USC civil engineering professor Jim Moore believes a ferry could offer a unique advantage.

"Under ideal circumstances, an open road would probably get you there faster, but how often is the 405 an open road?" Moore said, adding that a ferry service could be put in place quickly and allow for a high number of travelers.

However, though the idea seems ideal, the time saved on the ferry would be lost during the docking process, said KPCC transportation reporter Meghan McCarty-Carino.

Read more at KPCC.

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