LOS ANGELES — Public transit riders in downtown LA will be able to travel more quickly with the launch of two new bus-only lanes under a new system the LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and LA Department of Transportation launched Wednesday.
Buses that run south on Grand Avenue from Hope Place to Pico Boulevard and north on Olive Street from Pico Boulevard to 2nd Street will run as frequently as once a minute during peak travel times.
“Metro’s core service is providing high quality bus service to those that are in need,” LA County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Hilda Solis said at an event that had a J Line bus breaking through a green banner to the “2001: A Space Odyssey” theme song. “Bus riders in LA, especially those in this area, truly need these services.”
About 100,000 public transit riders travel through the Grand and Olive bus corridors on 17 different Metro bus lines. A 2019 Metro survey of downtown LA bus riders found that 65% of them relied on the bus at least five days a week but would use it even more if the buses were more reliable.
Metro estimates that travel times through the Grand and Olive corridors on the 2.4 miles of new priority bus lanes will be 15% faster. For both stretches of roadway, the rightmost lanes of traffic were converted for buses only on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The new priority bus lanes downtown join sections of Flower, 5th, 6th, Aliso and Alvarado Streets, all of which have converted a total of more than six miles of road into priority bus lanes as part of the NextGen Bus Plan Metro introduced a year ago to provide faster, more frequent and more reliable service.
That plan will culminate Dec. 19 with 83% of riders having access to buses arriving every five to ten minutes. Previously, just 48% of bus riders were able to do so. In addition, the plan almost doubles the number of bus lines that will run every five to ten minutes on weekdays and also doubles the number of LA residents who live within walking distance of a bus line that runs every five to ten minutes.
The city’s first overhaul of its bus system in 25 years, the NextGen Bus Plan is based on recommendations from the Bus Speed Engineering Working Group, which Metro and the LA City Council approved in 2019 to identify, design, fund and build transit-supportive infrastructure to improve service as part of the NextGen plan.
The average amount of time a person spends riding public transit is 55 minutes, but more than a third of those riders spend more than two hours per day on the bus, according to LA City Councilmember Kevin de Leon. Most commuters have to wait an average of 17 minutes for the bus, and half of them wait more than 20 minutes, even though the average distance people ride in a single trip within LA is just five miles, he said.
“The bus-only lanes we’re expanding will shave a little more time off those long hellacious commutes,” de Leon said.
They also help reduce emissions by replacing more polluting trips made by cars and improve traffic safety by reducing speeding, he added.
“What we’re doing today is part of a comprehensive plan of reframing transit as a tool for improving the environment, creating equity and giving working class families more time with their children and loved ones.”
Almost 50% of downtown LA’s bus riders live below the poverty line, and 90% are people of color, according to Metro.