Metro’s Better Bus Program returns to the Metro Board of Directors this month seeking $2.1 billion in funding over the next five years.
The goal of Better Bus is to make meaningful investments in the bus system, as follows:
•Faster bus trips via new bus lanes, traffic signal priority and sidewalk extensions that allow buses to stop without having to pull in and out of traffic.
•Clean, comfortable and safe bus stops with better lighting that are more usable by all riders including people with disabilities.
•The funding Metro’s bus service needs to return to pre-pandemic levels of bus service, in addition to fully implementing our NextGen Bus Plan to offer more frequent service on most routes.
Better Bus will be discussed in the Metro Board’s Operations Committee on Thursday at 9 a.m. — a link to the live webstream will appear here and here is the Metro staff report. A presentation for the Board is posted above. If approved, the item will go to the full Metro Board at their meeting at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 27.
The over-arching goal of Better Bus is — to be blunt — address many of the complaints we’ve heard from riders in recent years. Between 2013 and 2019 our bus ridership declined 23 percent — an alarming rate considering traffic in our region and the high cost of living here. Transit should, in theory, be a lot more appealing.
Better Bus is also a clear acknowledgment how seriously our riders depend on the Metro Bus System that carries about 75 percent of all riders. Two facts that stick out like a sore thumb:
FACT 1: Most of our bus riders live in economically distressed neighborhoods, the annual median household income of our bus riders remains stuck at a discouraging $18,000 and our buses are a mobility lifeline for many of our bus riders — with thousands of bus stops close to peoples’ homes, jobs and other critical destinations.
FACT 2: In the pandemic, Metro’s bus ridership fell less on our bus system than on our trains. There’s no mystery why. The bus system is vastly larger than our rail system with thousand more stops closer to more homes, jobs and other critical destinations. Also fewer bus riders are able to telecommute from home, as they are disproportionately essential workers who serve the public.
The approval of Better Bus will begin to address racial inequities and will set a course for continual investments by Metro to improve the bus system for everyone.
An annual customer survey of Metro Riders last year reaffirmed the pain points that bus riders experience — including unreliable and slow buses, long wait times, insufficient service advisory information, uninviting bus stops and, in particular, concerns about safety and homelessness.
The idea behind Better Bus is to ensure there is funding available for the kind of bus improvements that address these issues. Already, Better Bus has secured $215 million in the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2022 (which begins this July 1) for:
•Restoring bus service to pre-pandemic levels with two planned increases in service — in June and September.
•A Rescue Ride Pilot Program to provide a free ride-hail ride to bus riders who are delayed by a bus that fails to show up or pick up a rider.
•A pilot program that would add routine midday interior cleaning of buses at some turnaround points, as well as washing of bus stops when needed.
•A test program of a Digital Rider Alert System that would allow bus riders to get service updates, and emergency messages via text message (as opposed to checking Metro updates on Twitter or via Transit, the agency’s official smartphone app, as 30 percent of riders do not have access to a smartphone).
•Solar powered lights are being tested at bus stops where more light is needed to help all passengers, including those with disabilities. Other low-cost improvements are also being tested, such as real-time solar powered displays, seating and tactile/auditory features for riders who are visually impaired. With more funding, we believe these kinds of easy upgrades that could be deployed quickly.
The slide and chart below do a good job of describing where the funding would be spent in the coming fiscal year and over the next five years:
Click above to see larger version of the chart.
What do you think of Better Bus, Metro riders and readers? Comment please.
Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects
[…] el plan NextGen para ofrecer un servicio más frecuente en la mayoría de las rutas. Aquí está una nota publicada en El Pasajerocon mayores detalles y aquí está […]
How do I comment on the better bus program thing? Will the plan include making the bus service serve the areas that was planned to be cancelled by the original bus line or no?
Hi Bill;
Funding for Better Bus will be considered by the Metro Board at their meeting on Thursday, May 27, at 11 a.m. The agenda is here and includes instructions on page 4 on how to offer live public comment during the meeting. You can also submit a comment via email — but you need to do it by 5 p.m. today. Email: goinsc@metro.net.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
$2.1 Billion to just consider it? This is why we need to get rid of bureaucracy. This is why China is beating us in this New Cold War.
I wouldn’t consider changing the bus seats for an uncomfortable plastic seat covers an improvement for a Better Bus 🙄 especially if we were still paying $1.75 to board for a one-way trip. Now, if money were to be invested in something actually useful and seat related then such money should have gone towards seatbelts!
As a former bus operator for 3 different systems (including RTD/Metro), seat belts on buses would never work. (Except maybe long-haul buses like Greyhound.) Would Metro have to install a “stanchion belt” for standees? Would a bus operator require that all seated passengers have their seat belts fastened in order for the bus to move? Would someone have to bring a seat belt extender if the seat belt doesn’t fit? Vandals would cut the belts just like putting graffiti or etching windows on the buses. Metro’s one-way fare of $1.75 is less expensive than other systems. I would rather see systems like Metro make improvements like bus lanes and signal priority to speed buses up.
Apologies if I am missing something–the total funding requests add up to $51 million for FY 22, no? The unfunded requests add up to just over $1 billion. Where is the other $1 billion?
On a separate note, I’m skeptical that $3 million will get Metro far in terms of establishing bus lanes. How many miles of bus lane will that create? Will it be painted lanes or lanes like the ones on Wilshire, which motorists routinely obstruct and ignore? Does Metro have to complete impact studies of each proposed bus lane–if so, how much of the $3 million will go to those studies?
Hi Anonymous Aardvark;
Good question — as that is not explained by these charts. There is, however, a good funding chart on the second page of the staff report at https://boardagendas.metro.net/board-report/2021-0245/. The gist of it: $216.6 million in improvements this year, the $1.08 in proposed unfunded investments from FY 23-26 and then another $784 million to maintain 7 million hours (pre-pandemic levels) of bus service from FY 23 to 26. That adds up to the $2.1 billion.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source