California drivers soon will be paying three times the amount they paid for vehicle license fees last year. At a 2 percent tax rate, the vehicle license fee is twice the percentage of any other property tax in the state. While the Automobile Club of Southern California worked hard to prevent an increase of this magnitude, it’s only the beginning of bad news for the state’s drivers. California roads and highways have been rated the worst of all 50 states, and traffic congestion continues to grow. This creates high costs for both businesses and residents, and reduces everyone’s quality of life. At a time when both funding and long-term planning are needed, as much as $1.7 billion may be siphoned away from transportation by taking away gasoline sales tax money and/or forgiving previous loans from transportation to the General Fund.
That’s why the Auto Club has launched a community-wide effort to combat this trend and create real solutions for California traffic and transportation problems that will positively impact our day-to-day lives. “The Quiet Crisis” report by the Auto Club describes the transportation problems that we face in Southern California-complexities that are not currently being addressed in a comprehensive manner with a genuine commitment to improve our highways, public transit and overall mobility.
It is critical that all of us concerned about worsening traffic congestion let our local elected officials know that now before even more damage is done to our transportation system. Only widespread agreement on the importance of this issue will create the needed solutions.
Robert Schwab,
district manager,
West Los Angeles office
Automobile Club of Southern California