The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project was released in late October. Public comments are being accepted through Dec. 10 and the second of two virtual meetings will be held Saturday, Nov. 14, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Meeting details:
Link: zoom.us/j/93255094044
Phone: 877.853.5247
Access code: 932 5509 4044#
The bus rapid transit line would run for 18 miles between the B Line (Red) and G Line (Orange) station in North Hollywood and Pasadena City College in Pasadena, serving the L Line (Gold) Memorial Park station along the way, as seen in the above video and map. There would be 21 to 23 stations and improvements in neighboring areas to make it easier to walk, bike and roll to stations.
Not familiar with the concept of bus rapid transit, also known as BRT? It’s basically a high-quality bus service with features that may include enhanced stations, bus lanes and more frequent service, to name a few. Metro’s G Line (Orange) and J Line (Silver) are examples of BRT.
Five things to know about the project:
•Metro is continuing to gather public feedback on the route options shown in the map — that’s a big part of this process. The Metro Board of Directors will ultimately select a route, with that scheduled to happen in 2021.
•The project would run in either dedicated bus lanes or in mixed traffic. If bus lanes are used, they could be located in either the middle of the street or use the curb lane — or the lane adjacent to the parking/bike lane to accommodate existing parking and bike lanes. The project would also get priority at traffic signals, meaning more green lights for buses and speedier bus trips.
Here are some renderings from the DEIR that show how the project may look in different places along the route:
•This line, like all bus rapid transit lines, would have stops that have the kind of features more commonly seen at rail stations including a canopy and wind screen to protect riders from sun/wind/rain, benches for seating, real-time bus arrival information, bike racks, map displays and extra lighting.
•As proposed, the project would run from 4 a.m. through 1 a.m. from Sunday through Thursday and from 4 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The line would run every 10 minutes during the day, every 15-20 minutes on weekday evenings, every 15 minutes during the day on weekends and every 30 minutes later on weekend evenings.
•Charging stations are proposed to be built at either end of the project so that electric buses could be used on the line — meaning quieter and cleaner buses running next to neighborhoods.
If you are interested in learning more like viewing project renderings, watching a pre-recorded presentation, and project video, visit the project’s virtual platform at https://nohopasbrt.com
If you would like to subit a comment, email your comment to NoHoPasBRT@metro.net by 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 10.
The project is funded by the Measure M sales tax measure approved by L.A. County voters in 2016 and by SB 1, the state program to modernize and improve transportation. The project is forecast to open in 2024. The official project page is here.
Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects
Either do it perfectly or don’t do it at all.
Look at Bus Line 910. Metro went ahead and branded it Silver “Line”, then even J “Line”. Yet, many of its street bus stops are just like any other bus stops, with no amenities, prone to traffic congestion, detours, etc.
If Metro wants to brand this as BRT or a “Line”, it must be fully running on a right-of-way or dedicated lanes with no exceptions, from end to end, all standardized stations, complete signal priority, etc.
That’s because the ”Silver Line” was a quick attempt to consolidate all Express Lines on the I-10 and I-110 into one freeway line in anticipation of the HOT lanes back in 2009. While the idea of having one line come at a more consistent frequency rather than 8 Lines from 2 freeways come at inconsistent frequencies join together is definitely a good idea and the ridership does actually speak for that, there was never any actual construction for an actual BRT Line here. It’s literally all just branding. There’s a reason why the Silver Line is using 45 foot buses and not 60 ft articulated buses. If I recall, during the early days, Rapid and Local livery buses were being used while the 902 used actual silver buses, before finally getting transferred over to the current Silver Line.
Also, the fact that Metro is discontinuing service to San Pedro should demonstrate how this line is not “Bus Rapid Transit” at all. No bus only lanes outside of downtown, which is finally getting for most of Downtown to begin with.
The Silver Line, Orange Line, Vermont BRT and this BRT will need different levels of service. But because the 940 failed miserably and the 920 was poorly implemented, I don’t think Metro would even considered a Rapid Express service on the BRTs anytime soon. Metro abandoning almost all Rapid bus service altogether is pretty much Metro admitting defeat disguised as a “bus service overhaul.”
I really don’t get why this agency is so stubborn. They see the writing on the wall and just simply ignore it.
Yep, another weak line. Tries too hard to go too many places and thus will serve none well.
The existing bus route does poorly, upgrading it to fancy rapid will not make for a giant increase.
On the other hand, if this were rail connecting Gold to Red, that would do better, but even then, I don’t see ridership as high as say the Blue Line for a while.
The existing Orange Line needs to be converted to light rail first along with appropriate grade separations. Then in segments, the line should be extended from North Hollywood first to Downtown Burbank/Metrolink station, then next segment to Glendale and then finally to Memorial Park Gold Line station in Pasadena. No need to serve PCC. Glendale has its own City College, so why would people come from Burbank or Glendale to PCC?
Congratulations, Metro. You acquiesed to a few angry drivers and watered this project down so much that it will do almost nothing to attract ridership. Might as well end this now useless project now and focus on your existing high ridership corridor bus lines that are stuck in traffic 8 hours a day. Instead of a valley to valley suburban line that will never see more than 10,000 riders a day, as the current express bus can barely even attract 3,000 riders.
Okay, I guess I’ll guess: Are those just simply rendering or is Metro seriously considering running crappy 40 Ft buses on a Corridor that actually could reach the Orange Line capacity in a few years at best? Remember, the Orange Line reached capacity not long after its opening.
If the median busway design goes through, why not have island platforms and left side doors like the sbX from Omnitrans? More New flyer XE60s and maybe a specialty made XE65 to replace the NABI 65-BRT #9495
Metro wants to keep costs down and fleet flexibility. If a bus breaks down on the line, a regular fleet bus can be brought in. I get it but kinda cheapens BRT in LA. We don’t even have platform level boarding on the Orange Line so people still need ramps and it slows down boarding.