This February, you can attend a NextGen Bus Plan public workshop and a Regional Service Council meeting all at the same location. Most of the Councils will meet after one of their region’s workshops instead of at their regular times, except for Gateway Cities, which will meet before. The South Bay, Gateway Cities, and Westside Central Service Councils will also meet at different venues instead of their regular meeting sites.
The NextGen Bus Plan is the first major overhaul of our bus system in more than 25 years. Attend a NextGen workshop to explore how the NextGen Bus Plan will create a bus system that’s faster, more frequent, reliable, and accessible for Los Angeles County and tell us what you think of the Plan! The Service Councils serve an important role, as they will hold the required public hearings in June 2020 to receive comments on the Bus Plan. They will then vote on the proposals at their August 2020 meetings. After the Board adopts their recommendations, changes to service will begin in December 2020.
At each of this month’s meetings, the agenda at most of the Council meetings is to discuss the NextGen Workshop held just prior to their meetings (except for Gateway Cities) and receive their monthly report recapping Metro’s December 2019 bus service performance and any timely regional announcements.
The San Fernando Valley Council will also receive an update from the Station Evaluation Program team recapping all the new scores of each inspected station for the second quarter of fiscal year 2020 (October 2019 – December 2019). The Station Evaluation Program evaluates stations across Metro’s system on factors related to functionality, safety, and cleanliness. The Council will also recognize a member of the public, Jerry Martin, for his assistance and support with the San Fernando Valley Service Council meetings, as well as recognize two outgoing Council Members. Incoming San Gabriel Valley Service Council Members Leonard Pieroni and Ben Wong, and Westside/Central Service Council member Francisco Gomez will be sworn in at their respective meetings. Last but not least, the Gateway Cities Service Council will also hear updates on the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 3 Project and Regional Connector Project Construction.
For more information about each Service Council, take a look at their web pages by clicking on the name below. The agenda items for each Council are listed below and the agendas are posted here at least three days in advance of each meeting date, though usually a little earlier.
South Bay – Tuesday, February 4, 7:00 PM at Grand Annex (434 W. 6th St., San Pedro, CA 90731): Discuss NextGen workshop and Next Steps; receive regional updates.
San Fernando Valley – Wednesday, February 5, 7:00 PM at Marvin Braude Constituent Center (6262 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, CA 91401): Station Evaluation Program Update, NextGen workshop and Next Steps Discussion; Recognize Jerry Martin, Councilmember Rosalba González, and Jenny Daniels Freese for their contributions to the San Fernando Valley Service Council; Regional Performance Report.
San Gabriel – Monday, February 10, 7:00 PM at El Monte Station (Next to the Bike Hub, 3449 Santa Anita Ave., El Monte, CA 91731): Swear in Leonard Pieroni and Ben Wong as Council Members; NextGen workshop and Next Steps Discussion; Regional Performance Report
Westside/Central – Wednesday, February 12, 7:00 PM at Plummer Park (7377 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90046): Swear in Francisco Gomez as a Council Member, NextGen workshop and Next Steps Discussion; Regional Performance Report.
Gateway Cities – Thursday, February 13, 2:30 PM at Clearwater Building (16401 Paramount Blvd., Paramount, CA) prior to the NextGen Bus Plan workshop taking place from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM that day. Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 3 Project Update, Regional Connector Project Construction Update, Regional Performance Report.
Stop by a workshop AND meeting this month to share your suggestions on how Metro can improve bus service throughout Los Angeles County and learn a little about how Metro service is provided. If you can’t attend, you can submit comments through the Service Council web page or send them to ServiceCouncils@metro.net. If your comments are for a specific Council region, please tell us which one they’re for in your e-mail. You can also use the email to subscribe to your Council’s email list to receive monthly meeting agendas and other regional notices.
Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects
Under NextGen my route to the Sierra Madre Villa Station will be by walking for an hour. The best way to improve transit is more frequent service, not elimination of service. What is Metro thinking?
Have you looked at the routes that Pasadena Transit offers? They have frequent service.
Are we going to add light rail or express lane to the 605 freeway? Today the traffic was so bad it showed +51 mins on google map. This needs to be fixed.
Hi Sherry —
There is not a light rail project planned along the 605 but it is one of the freeways that could get ExpressLanes in the future. Not sure exactly when but the plan is to expand the ExpressLanes and, as you rightly say, the 605 is certainly congested frequently.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
There are no plans for that. But there are several things that can help.
#1 Build the West Santa Ana Branch line.
#2 Extend the current Green line to the Norwalk Metrolink station, and then to the WSAB line
#3 Extend the other end of the Green line (as part of the new Crenshaw line) down to Wilmington and across to Long Beach, connecting to the A (Blue) line.
#4 Extend the southern part of the current Gold Line to Whittier (maybe Pico Rivera), then SFS, and Norwalk) ultimately tying in with the Green and WSAB.
These would allow the loads from the various parts to move more smoothly and give options for some riders. It would allow bus routes to carry more passengers feeding into the system and less people in cars.
This is very relevant to the current task and discussion.
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/missing-the-bus/
All of those considering. planning, plotting, and suggesting improvements for NexGen need to listen to/ read it.
Steve you and the MTA wonder why people don’t ride the buses. Let me explain what I went thru a week ago. As you know I was employed by the RTD/MTA for thirty years starting out as a Bus Operator and the majority of that time on Line 4. I boarded the Line 4 bus on Sunset and Parkman. The first thing I noticed was the extremely poor ride I was experiencing. This was one of the MTA’s new New Flyer buses. Every bump along the street was felt and the bus rattled extensively. I can not recall any bus I operated providing such a poor ride and some of those buses dated back to the 1950’s. The second thing I noticed was the operation. The Bus Operator applied the brakes very abruptly and hard causing those who were standing to almost fall. When I alighted at Santa Monica and Kings Rd. I would have fallen if number one I was still not in good shape and the long ago learned habit of wrapping my arm around the pole adjacent to the front door instead of just grasping it. During my extended trip I observed many passengers boarding with containers of coffee and consuming them on the bus. But the worst violation was a passenger boarding at Highland with a open container of beer and consuming it while sitting in the first seat on the right side of the bus just behind the front wheel. I’m assuming this was not a new Operator since it was around twelve noon. I am appalled as to what the MTA has become. Everyone of these problems would not have been allowed when we were the RTD. The buses were maintained in better condition and Bus Operators were trained to make smooth stops. In addition, the consumption of food and beverage was absolutely forbidden and it was enforced. A side note: Does the MTA believe I have passed away. My retired bus pass has Expired and I’t was pointed out to me by both Bus Operators.
Is tonight’s South Bay meeting in San Pedro at 7 p.m. as it states here or at 4 p.m. (as noted here: https://www.metro.net/projects/nextgen/events/)?
Hi Clay,
The workshop is at 4 p.m. and the Service Council meeting at 7 p.m.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
This would be a good time for anyone interested and able to attend the NextGen workshops or a Community Service Council meeting. Swag available at the workshops!
Editors: You should probably check the address of the San Gabriel meeting.
It will be at the space “Next to the Bike Hub”—-3501 Santa Anita Ave., El Monte, CA 91731
at the El Monte Station and not at the Division 9 normal meeting spot at
3449 Santa Anita Ave., El Monte, CA 91731 Almost next door.