Los Angeles is defined by its deep-rooted car culture. Could the recent I-10 freeway fire make Angelenos rethink that relationship?

• The I-10 fire shut down a key transportation artery in downtown LA, which worried local leaders.
• Officials encouraged people to switch to public transit to alleviate bad traffic from road closures.
• But the push now presents a bigger question: How do you reimagine California's distinct car culture?

After a November 11 arson fire ravaged a critical segment of Interstate 10 in Los Angeles, rendering the affected freeway unusable until it could be repaired by the state of California, top officials in the region made a special appeal: they called on drivers to use public transit.

For native Angelenos and the millions of visitors who've traveled to the area, Los Angeles car culture is simply a way of life. Despite the traffic-choked freeways that can often make short trips in the region feel more like full-day adventures, Californians are drawn to their vehicles for their mobility and comfort.

But when I-10 was temporarily shut down, causing drivers to detour from one freeway to the next (like hopping from I-10 to the 110 to I-5) in order to get to work, school, and everything else in between, some of them heeded the advice of leaders like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who encouraged citizens to turn to public transportation. (Bass even took the train to work herself.)

According to The Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority saw a 10% bump in ridership on the E Line light rail train that runs through downtown Los Angeles on the first two workdays after the incident. And the Metro Transit Authority also reported that there was a 25% bump in the number of parked vehicles at several stations east of downtown on Nov. 16, the first Thursday after the fire.

But what will this mean over time? What could actually get Angelenos to trade in their car keys for a TAP card (transit pass), even for only part of the week?

Yes, you can travel by rail in LA

After crews performed around-the-clock construction, I-10 was reopened weeks ahead of schedule by the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, on November 19.

While it's too early to know if public transit ridership will be up in November, a reimagined vision of traversing Los Angeles has long been overdue.

Many commuters in the region are no strangers to the bus system, but bus ridership had been declining even before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to The Wall Street Journal, bus ridership fell by 24% between 2013 to 2018, despite system investments from LA Transit at the time. Heavy traffic still continues to stifle many people from giving up their cars to sit on a bus in the same traffic.

But the LA Metro Rail system — which after years of expansion now offers direct light rail service to cities like Santa Monica and Inglewood in addition to serving major areas of Los Angeles proper — remains an overlooked public investment.

Many would like to use the rail system, but they equate driving to individual freedom. Others are unsure about adhering to a rail schedule, as they're afraid of running into reliability issues, despite the system's ability to handle the current ridership. The transit system simply isn't woven into the fabric of Los Angeles compared to cities like New York and Chicago.

Such internal hang-ups are not unexpected given that the region runs on automobiles, but it shows that weaning a sizable number of people off the roads, even for part of the week, will be difficult.

But it's not impossible.

Don't underestimate the appeal of walkability

When people can live, eat, and shop in communities where they are consistently boosting the small businesses that drive local economies, they often feel a deeper connection to their environs.

And the LA Metro Rail system increasingly affords riders the ability to live in areas where they're part of a smaller ecosystem while still being connected to the larger city.

A family living in Santa Monica with a father and mother who work remotely for part of the week and travel to a surrounding neighborhood or into downtown Los Angeles for a couple of days can easily hop on a train. They may not be fully giving up on navigating Santa Monica Boulevard by car, but they're creating alternatives to driving.

The aftermath of the I-10 fire will undoubtedly drive policymakers to grant additional infrastructure funding for longstanding highway repairs, given the role that freeways played in the rise of modern Los Angeles and the way in which they continue to drive many sectors of the economy.

But rail transit must be a part of the equation as well, and it can't just be a last-ditch option, but something that can be a cost-effective and efficient way of traversing Southern California.

Will the I-10 fire make a wave of Angelenos ditch their cars?

It's tough to change old habits. But the incident's devastating effects can and should make citizens think twice about sustainability issues, as nothing can stay the same forever.