EDITORIAL DECKED OUT THERE'S ONLY ONE SOLUTION TO L.A.'S TRAFFIC WOES - LEADERSHIP.

THINK traffic is bad now? It's only going to get worse.

The Southern California Association of Governments expects the Southland's population to go up 40 percent by 2025, which should effectively cut the average freeway speed to 20 miles per hour and double the average commute.

To avert a crisis then, local governments need to start acting now.

For its part, SCAG has already devised numerous potential solutions, detailed in a newly released report. They vary from the mundane (more car-pool lanes) to the innovative (new train lines) to the extravagant (a second deck on the Ventura Freeway.)

Usually, nobody beyond the proofreader bothers to read a SCAG report, but this is one that deserves the public's attention. Traffic is the great unifier of Southern California - it is the bane of our collective existence.

There may be no greater quality-of-life issue facing our local governments. Angelenos spend an inordinate chunk of their income on gas and car insurance, and hours of their productive time staring at taillights. Moreover, the more time cars are left idling on freeways, the more exhaust that spills out into the air.

The need for a vast overhaul of the local traffic system couldn't be clearer. In its report, SCAG has done a good job of putting all the options on the table, even controversial ones - like construction of a new freeway between L.A. and San Diego.

And SCAG gets points for letting the public know the very real expenses that would come with a major reform effort. By SCAG's estimate, its proposed traffic fix would cost $110 billion in federal, state and local money.

To raise that kind of cash, local governments would have to raise taxes - and that presents another kind of problem altogether.

While everyone agrees on the need for revamping the area's streets and highways, most of the public is rightly skeptical of trusting local governments with that kind of responsibility - or that kind of money.

Angelenos are all too familiar with previous public-sector fiascoes, whether it's the subway to nowhere or the Belmont Learning Center. They have seen that massive public-works projects can easily turn into cash cows for the well-connected. Taxpayers put up money for improved public services and get outrageous contracting, overpaid consultants and public fraud instead.

Ultimately, L.A.'s traffic problems are political in nature. Until local government entities honor their commitments and show an ability to make tough decisions in the public interest, taxpayers will be reluctant to go along with any proposal for a traffic overhaul - no matter how badly needed.

As much as we need to fix L.A. transportation, we need to fix L.A. government first.