Presently, the way the city of Los Angeles studies traffic only considers how congestion impacts the movement of vehicles, regardless of how many people occupy a vehicle. A bus with 100 travelers is treated the same as a car with only one traveler.

This approach is fundamentally unjust, because it shifts city resources to increasing the movement of vehicles at the expense of considering how to move the most amount of people the most quickly. In effect, bus riders are given a back seat to car drivers.

Furthermore, this policy undermines the city's stated goals of increasing transit ridership, reducing congestion and improving air quality.

Therefore, the city should change its policies so that it prioritizes how PEOPLE move through the city, not just vehicles.

(In technical jargon, the city should shift from measuring "vehicle level of service" to "people level of service.")