Los Angeles has apparently discovered the solution to its legendary traffic problem: bribery.
LA Metro is expanding [1] its “One Car Challenge,” offering roughly 2,000 households up to $600 each to leave at least one vehicle parked for five weeks and walk, bike, carpool or use public transportation instead.
Participants must be at least 21 and have at least one vehicle. Metro says the GoCarma smartphone app will track travel and odometer readings to make sure the designated car stays put.
So, naturally, one question comes to mind: How long before somebody figures out how to game this thing?
Got a barely running beater sitting in the driveway? Congratulations. You may have just found yourself a $600 investment opportunity.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County has roughly 9.7 million residents and more than 7 million registered vehicles. Taking 2,000 cars temporarily out of circulation amounts to roughly a rounding error with a government check attached.
Metro calls it an experiment in changing transportation habits, but sane people call it another California experiment in spending money to accomplish almost nothing.