Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti discusses city's transportation, traffic issues on Eyewitness Newsmakers

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti appeared on this week's Eyewitness Newsmakers for another edition of Ask the Mayor. Many viewers focused their questions on transportation and traffic issues.

With the possibility of a $120 billion in new tax revenue if voters approve it, transit in Los Angeles could get a lot bigger. Even without the new funding, the mayor said there will be rail all the way to Los Angeles International Airport.

Current light rail stops short of LAX. On Newsmakers, he detailed a people-mover rail plan that could take half the car traffic out of the terminal loop.

One viewer asked why our gas prices are going up while oil prices are low. The mayor agreed there is no good reason for the disparity with the rest of the country.

He revealed the city of Los Angeles is doing its share to reduce fossil fuel consumption with plans to convert half its vehicles to electric cars in two years. He said the LAPD is talking to Tesla and BMW.

The mayor also said he and the state's big city mayors plan to meet with Gov. Jerry Brown to see if there's a fix for the recent spike in crime.

Under Prop 47, nonviolent offenders are serving shorter sentences to relieve prison overcrowding. Garcetti said the county looked at 100 released offenders and most had re-offended within eight months.

While Newsmakers explores serious issues, there was also a minute of fun on this week's program. We know the musical mayor has slow-jammed, but he also dances. We played a bit of the video from his appearance on KDAY 93.5 where he was challenged to a dance off.

Eyewitness Newsmakers airs Sunday morning at 11 a.m. on ABC7.