Way-Worse Traffic Is the Westside Downside

But these days, Domino's drivers say they often endure wicked traffic from the moment they leave the store, turning what once was a quick delivery into a 30-minute, and sometimes a 45-minute, ordeal.

"They usually want to carry two to three more orders because it takes so long," said Domino's manager Arnulfo Fernandez, adding that the eatery won't let them for fear of robberies.

"So they suffer with the tip money they're losing," he said.

Westside traffic has always been bad, but Fernandez, 18, is convinced that "it has gotten worse."

Though communities around Southern California struggle with traffic problems, transportation experts and government officials agree that there is nowhere quite like the Westside, where rapid development and a boom in entertainment-related jobs have brought congestion on streets and freeways to new levels.

"Most people in Westwood cope by running errands in the morning," said Laura Lake, a longtime community activist and slow-growth advocate. "In the afternoon, it will take twice as long."

Population on the Westside has jumped 23% since 1990 (compared with a 6% increase for Los Angeles as a whole).

But experts say the biggest culprit in rush-hour traffic snags is a boom in Westside commercial development that has lured and created jobs.

Job growth has transformed the area into the region's premiere commercial hub, second only to downtown Los Angeles in the number of jobs. Each day, workers pour into office buildings lining busy corridors such as Wilshire Boulevard, the burgeoning towers of Century City and the rows of Santa Monica office parks that have become a mecca for media companies such as Yahoo! and MTV.

One problem: Primarily because housing is so expensive, only about 30% of these workers actually live on the Westside, according to a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority study. That leaves more than 300,000 people a day commuting to the area.

So many workers drive to Santa Monica from other parts of the region that the city's population nearly doubles during the day, to 150,000 from 87,000 at night. Beverly Hills' population more than triples, said David Mieger, director of Westside planning for the MTA.

After the early-1990s recession, communities sought out new industries and employers to boost their local economies.