COMMUTER COSTS GET PAINFUL ANGELENOS SPEND AVERAGE OF $9,162 ON TRANSPORTATION.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

Los Angeles County households spend an average of $9,162 a year on transportation - nearly one-fifth of all their expenditures - but costs could be reduced with more mass transit, a study released Tuesday says.

Transportation costs nationwide now gobble up more money than health care and food expenses combined, a sharp turn from a generation ago when just 10 percent of a family's budget was spent on commuting. Making matters worse has been the recent run-up in gas prices which cost Los Angeles households an additional $316 last year - nearly $1 billion total.

``Where does that billion go? Most of that goes out of the region,'' said Carrie Makarewicz, a senior research analyst at Center for Neighborhood Technology, which co-authored the report with the Surface Transportation Policy Project.

``There are big, fixed, unavoidable costs. In an area without public transit, transportation is a big, fixed, unavoidable cost.''

The groups hope the report influences Congress, which is debating a $300 billion, five-year federal highway bill.

They also are pressing local officials to foster more ``smart growth'' developments - building high-density housing next to rail stations - to provide alternatives to long commutes from sprawling suburbs.

``This is a wake-up call to Congress,'' said Anne E. Canby, president of the STPP.

The study found that transportation and housing costs combined made up more than 50 percent of most household budgets in 2003.

Angelenos spent more on housing and transportation than residents of New York City, where housing costs are higher but subways and buses keep commuting costs down.

``Yes, the cost of housing is astonishing in California, but the cost of transportation is also high,'' said Gloria Ohland, communications director for Reconnecting America, a national nonprofit that works on transportation and land-use policies.

``The most obvious way to lower the combined cost of transportation and housing is to expand housing near transit,'' she said.

``L.A. has invested so much money in building a public transit system. Now it's just really important we build the development along those rail lines that will encourage ridership.''

The MTA's transit system now has $4 billion being invested in 30 development projects at rail stations from Pasadena to Union Station to Hollywood.

``The rail system is reshaping land-use development in Los Angeles. It's focusing more development in the urban areas,'' said Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Marc Littman. ``Rather than have haphazard development, it's spurred more orderly development in Los Angeles County.''

But Ted Balaker of the Reason Foundation said money would be better spent bolstering Los Angeles' bus system that serves mainly poor and minority riders rather than trying to attract luxury-car motorists onto trains.

``Yes, there are higher costs associated with (car) ownership, but the benefits outweigh the costs,'' he said. ``People will pay more to get to someplace faster.''

Los Angeles residents' transportation spending was lower than many cities, including Seattle, Houston, Denver and Dallas. Anchorage, Alaska, had the highest household expenditure on transportation at $10,765; Houston had the highest share at 20.9 percent of the average household's budget.

The report pointed out that residents of Tampa, Fla., with only a small public transit system - as measured by rail stations - had the nation's highest combined transportation and housing costs.

San Francisco residents have the nation's biggest housing expense, but bring their total expenditures down with low transportation costs.

The costs are expected to climb with rising gas prices.

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com

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SOURCE: Surface Transportation Policy Project, Center for Neighborhood Technology

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