New schedules start June 27: expect additional bus and rail trips

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Metro updates service every June and December. Riders will see big changes on June 27, 2021 because we’re implementing Phase 2 of the NextGen Bus Plan to offer more frequent service on many of our routes. The most significant changes to bus route structure will be seen in the San Fernando Valley and San Gabriel Valley.

We’re also beginning to restore our service levels consistent with the agency’s NextGen Bus Plan and Service Restoration Plan. This will help make travel easier for our riders, including those returning to the system (welcome back!). With COVID-19 cases down and more people receiving vaccinations, the plan is to increase bus service in two steps — the upcoming increase  on June 27 and another in September.

Many of the trips being added this month will be on our busiest bus lines. We’re also improving weekday rail service frequencies during peak times on the A Line (Blue), E Line (Expo), C Line (Green) and L Line (Gold).

The following lines will have additional trip(s) Weekdays, Saturdays AND on Sundays: 2, 4, 14, 16, 18, 20, 28, 30, 33, 37, 40, 45, 51, 53, 60, 66, 70, 78, 79, 81, 90, 96, 106, 108, 125, 127, 128, 152, 155, 158, 161, 162, 164, 165, 166, 180, 182, 200, 204, 205, 207, 210, 212, 217, 218, 222, 224, 232, 233, 234, 236, 240, 244, 251, 256, 260, 266, 287, 294, 501, 603, 605,617, 662, 665, 690, 720, 754, 761, G Line (Orange)

WEEKDAYS, the following lines will have additional trip(s): 62, 92, 94, 105, 110, 111, 117, 130, 154, 169, 202, 230, 242, 243, 265, 267, 268, 487, 489, 577, 704, 854, J Line (Silver)

SATURDAYS, the following lines have additional trips(s): 115, 230, 242, 243

SUNDAYS, the following lines have additional trips(s): 105

The following lines have no route changes, ONLY bus stop consolidation: 35, 38, 48, 55, 92,164, 165, 460

Check for changes to your bus line with our online tool at metro.net/mybus. A brochure summarizing all bus service changes is also available here. If you use Transit app, Metro’s official smartphone app, schedule changes will appear by June 27.

Front-door boarding on buses resumes June 27 to accommodate the increase in riders. All-door boarding on our buses will help move more people, more quickly. Riders are encouraged to TAP when boarding where possible.

Reminder: masks are still required when riding public transit. Please be sure to wear a mask on Metro. Metro has installed mask dispensers on numerous buses, trains and at stations to make it easier for riders who may have forgotten or misplaced their masks.

Categories: Transportation News

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34 replies ›

  2. What about train services? Are you going to increase train frequency? Why only buses got more trips but not the train?

    • Hi Metro Rider;

      The light rail lines will go to every 10 minutes at peak hours from the current every 12 minutes. The subway (B/D Lines) will have a service adjustment later in the year — subway is currently every 12 minutes.

      Steve Hymon
      Editor, The Source

      • Can we at least start running full train sets. I say this, cause some trains during rush hour are actually starting to fill up. Not all times, but it’s definitely a bit more prevalent during rush hour.

  3. I kinda don’t want line 176 from El Monte to Telstar Ave to be discontinued because before the pandemic, I seen a lot of people getting off on that area and someone I know gets off on that area too. Now they have to ride on line 70 (because 770 is also discontinued) and stop on Rosemead and walk for like 10-15 minutes and it’s worse when its too hot outside. Thank you for nothing Metro.

  4. I complained to Metro customer service about eliminating the rapid 780 bus and discontinuing the 181/217 in favor of having ONE LOCAL bus 180 to serve a very large transit area..Hollywood to/down Fairfax and to Pasadena..

    Received a reply: That during rush hour both local/rapid buses are stuck in traffic so are equally impacted by slower service. And that customers will get on the first bus to arrive. I said of course they will if the 780 is not scheduled to arrive until 15/20 or more mins later.

    But that is NOT the case in all situations: For instance: If the local 180 arrives first but you check the schedule and see the the rapid 780 is due to arrive at same stop 5-6 mins later chances are YOU WILL WAIT TO TAKE THE RAPID as the local will be slower making more stops and getting stuck in traffic..There is NO UPSIDE in taking the local when the rapid is right behind..And you DO NOT SAVE TIME…

    This idiot new routing: Customers who want to BYPASS local stops will NO longer have that option.

    Lastly: Suggested they convert some of the local buses into RAPID/LIMITED buses to allow travels during off peak to get to their destination in a timely fashion…Of, course the brain trust at this agency KNOWS BEST what riders need. A clueless bunch out to SAVE MONEY…not provide better service…

  5. Keep the 780: This revamping of 180 to cover 217/780 routes is NOT to improve the future of transportation as we all know is decades behind most advanced cities. It is to SAVE MONEY. Ridership will not increase as only: immigrants/low income and homeless mainly use the buses. And that will not change..Putting MORE 180 LOCAL BUSES on the route with traffic jams is INSANE. It still amounts to A LOT LONGER ride even if these buses come every 7-10 min.. ADD: 780 back on the route and have same wait time and you will see an improvement..There is no need to make the riding public SUFFER on a local bus when all they need to get to their destination in a timely fashion is the 780…

  6. Wow. Talk about getting people to stop riding metro rather than encourage. I depend on the 780 taking me from culver to Glendale. It’s fast and worth me keeping a car at home. Local line busses do not work for the commuter. Please rethink keeping the 780.

    • IN ADDITION: Believe most major 1st world metropolitan cities do NOT CUT rapid service in FAVOR of ALL LOCAL BUSES..Especially in a place that is NOTORIOUS for traffic problems…Sounds like the brain trust at the Metro is short of few molecules..to come up with this idiot plan..Future? NOT..

  7. A HUGE THANK YOU FOR ADDING ADDITIONAL WEEKDAY TRIPS ON THE 92!!!!!!! We were crammed in there SRO last night again .There are also MANY wheelchair and houseless people with carts through Sylmar all the way through downtown morning and evening during rush hours 7-9AM and 5-7 PM. More buses mean more space and a safer ride. I AM SO GRATEFUL we have been heard!!! XOXO

  8. Could you please specify the new peak time frequencies for light rail lines? Come June 27th, would trains come every 9 minutes instead of the current 12?

  9. Well I do make my concerns known and also encourage others to make their concerns known in the appropriate portals, it is also true that typical of a government agency the MTA wanted this next bus gen and never had an intention of listening to anyone so that they could just implement this next gen bus simply because they want to. Let’s hope after they fulfill their selfish desire the rest of us can get the return of at least some limited and even Metro rapid service or similar such service.

  10. They are really messing up Division 15. Eliminating the 91,183 and others. The 90 will now go to the Red Line Station. The 94,and 180 will go Brand. It is going to be messed up big time.

  11. Well we have three more weeks to decide our fate , me I’m getting my drivers permit soon.

  12. As usual, Metro is ignoring the needs of lower income riders: Today an agent on Metro’s complaint line confirmed to me that Metro has no intention of making available to its riders any printed copies of its bus schedules (with route maps) resulting from the extremely thorough “shake-up” schedules for June 27th–not even for the numerous bus lines for which the schedules and/or routes will be quite radically altered.

    I seem to recall that one of Metro’s supposed customer service surveys conducted shortly pre-pandemic showed that almost 50% of Metro’s bus riders at that time DID NOT HAVE SMART PHONES. (Even just recently, if memory serves, a “Source” article claimed that 30% of bus riders did not possess smart phones, which is probably an inaccurately low estimate.

    Therefore, the abilities of such Metro riders (lacking smart phones) to determine routes and schedules for their Metro trips was totally reliant upon either their personal memories and experience, or calling Metro’s often very busy information call center for route and/or schedule information–often for numerous different bus lines necessary to complete an extensive trip on Metro.

    Of course, calling the information call center often takes quite a few minutes per call, and they don’t like to respond with information on more than a couple of lines per call.

    Worse, (besides the significant risk of being given incorrect information by poorly trained agents), such vital route and schedule information (not to mention real-time information on detours or cancellations of specific bus/rail “runs”) is totally unavailable after 7 p.m., Monday – Friday, or after 4:30 p.m. on weekends. (Interestingly, this availability is more limited than some other local, non-Metro bus lines

    Furthermore, it is much easier to plan a Metro trip of some length (e.g., between east and west sides of the county, between the South Bay and DTLA, or between the coastal plain and the SF or SG valleys) by using paper system map and paper schedules and route maps of specific bus/rail lines than it is to try to plan the same trip using the very poorly designed system on Metro.net.

    For reasons known only to the programmers of Metro.net (or their psychotherapists), they recently have eliminated the former availability of scroll-able copies of the schedules/maps of each of its bus/rail routes, in favor of chopping up every route schedule into small increments of time (say, two to four hours), which one has to click on separately (and often sequentially, for a return). Strangely, Metro still employs the convenience of scrolling to find a particular stop on a given route, but no doubt that will be changed soon enough to require entry of the stop name into a dialog box.

    Given the increased complexity of locating scheduled times, one would think that Metro’s programmers get paid by the number of separate clicks that users are required to make to plan their trips on Metro.

    To be sure, a drop-down dialog box identifies this atrocity of a new trip-planning system as “beta” version, but, of course, the box does not have a “SEND” button after one has typed in his/her comment. I wager they have received “zero complaints or negative comments. which has always been Metro’s goal–as witness its total cancellation of in-person meetings for the regional service councils and the Board of Directors since spring of 2000.

    • Burbox makes a great point. Metro, what are your plans for paper copies of your schedules and maps? Not everyone has a smart phone, or wants to pull one out on the street where it can get stolen.

      This sounds like a Title VI complaint.

      • Hi Transit Rider;

        At this time, we’re not going to be putting out paper timetables until the end of the year at the earliest. There are several reasons:

        –We are changing service every few months between now and then, so paper will be out of date quickly.
        –We are still adding trips to some bus lines between service changes.
        –Our NextGen service changes will not be finalized until December 2021.

        Once we get through this, we’ll let you know when paper timetables may return.

        Steve Hymon
        Editor, The Source

  13. I really like the old metro schedules, I live right by John Muir so now instead of taking one route to get to Santa Anita mall to hang out with friends, I would have to take the 256 and then transfer to the 268, and then Pasadena city college, 267 runs no more. The 267 will stop a memorial park not where I live by Lincoln and Montana, This is somewhat helpful but also annoying, and they are getting rid of the 274. Which runs from Altadena to city of hope. Plus 268 is the only bus that runs to JPL on the weekends. They should at least make the 256 go to jpl but it doesn’t matter to me. The 264/267 and 268 were perfect for me. I don’t get why they would want to change those and shorten them.

  14. Hey quick question: When is front-door boarding going to come back. It’s really becoming a bit inconvenient with people crowding up the back door because people now are entering and exiting from 1 back door because you now, not every bus line operated Articulated buses?

    Some Munis are already back to front door boarding with actual payment required, so when is Metro going back to that? Thank you!!!

    • Hi Dave;

      That’s to be determined. We’ll certainly post about it when we have dates and more info to share. Thanks for reading, riding and writing in the meantime!

      Steve Hymon
      Editor, The Source

  15. The pamphlet does not explains details.

    You need to read the service councils meeting agenda and minutes to find the full details, by route, with maps, for each affected bus line. They are there. I found those details for all 5 service councils.

    Some changes are actually different from what NextGen originally decided.

  16. This is rather confusing. Says lines 180,181,217,780 merge to create new line 180 operating the same alignment as discontinued 780..Can you please explain in simple direct language what this ALL means? BTW: I take 217 Fairfax and relied on 780 rapid as well on this route. So no longer a rapid bus line but still all local stops on 217. Yuck!!

    What changes are happening with 212 LaBrea bus another mess from Hollywood that is slow due to the major traffic bottleneck at Pico especially after 5-6pm or so has limited service back to Hollywood. Is that also being discontinued?

    • Oh yeah the 217 is getting discontinued as well and the 180 will replace the 217. So only the 180 will travel from Washington/Fairfax to Pasadena City College. No more 181, 217, and 780. Yup, that’s Metro for you.

      • Thanks Dave for explaining this horrific plan of service change..Figures Hollywood gets the short end of the stick. This is really about saving money not improving the quality of travel. Taking away 780 rapid and only having ONE local line #180 is beyond a nightmare. What idiot thought that eliminating rapid lines is a good thing. People want buses that bypass certain stops so their ride is shorter. . And that includes #212 another horrible line. Adding MORE local buses still does not take away a long commute or traffic congestion issues.

        Perhaps I missing something..

        • #181 is my lifeline, you just took out my oxygen. 20 min walk to Sierra madre goldline will end me.

      • Dave: The 212 line never had limited stops. Always been a local and long bus ride. And taking it from LaBrea/:Pico after 5 or 6 pm expect a long wait..

    • Regarding the 212, it hasn’t had Limited Stop service since March 2020 and it’s NOT coming back. The only changes are buses will come every 7-10 min on the 212 and the route will be extended to South Bay Galleria. But again, NO MORE Limited Stop service on almost all routes.

      By the way, if people have a problem with these issues, then it would be best to address them between June and December because Metro will complete this nextgen bus crap in December 2021. If people don’t like these changes, now is the time to speak up loud and clear.

  17. No mention of rapid bus #780 that goes from Hollywood to Pasadena weekdays (only) and takes 45mins vs the slower and longer trip with local buses that I’ve had to use weekends..Service changes did include #181..only #182 ?. Replacing #181?

    • Direct quote from Metro below. Metro is essentially refusing to admit they failed at implementing Limited Bus Stop service accordingly and discontinuing all rapid lines sparing the 720, 761 and 754 which best believe they will intentionally cripple to eventually discontinue as well. The 780 wasn’t prone to the same traffic problems east of Vine, and that 2.5 mile non-stop section in Los Feliz proved that fast and reliable limited stop service is possible if implemented correctly.

      The 181 is also getting discontinued as well. Going forward only the 180 will be serving this corridor with 7.5 min service weekdays and 10 min service weeknights and weekends.

      “Lines 180, 181, 217, 780 merge to create new Line 180 operating the same alignment as discontinued Line 780 from Pasadena City College to the Washington/Fairfax Transit Hub, extending further south to E Line (Expo) La Cienega/Jefferson Station following discontinued Line 217 alignment. Line 81 rerouted via Yosemite Dr and Eagle Rock Bl to replace discontinued Line 181 segment. Pasadena Transit Line 20 and new Metro Line 662 to replace Line 180 on Lake Av. Foothill Transit Line 187 to replace Line 181 service on Colorado Bl east of Pasadena City College.”

    • Try reading the pamphlet, as I’m sure it would help clear up some of your confusion.