The Subway to the Sea may not get to Santa Monica until well after 2020, but we could get dedicated bus lanes running down Wilshire by 2011, thanks to the Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit Project.
We’ve already got the rapid 720 and rapid express 920 lines running down Wilshire — but because those buses share the same roads as the rest of the traffic, they don’t run as rapidly as they should. This BRT Project would create bus-only lanes during peak hours — 7-9 am and 4-7 pm — and hopefully get those red Metro buses zooming past cars in regular traffic. Drivers, then, may be enticed to stop clogging up the roads and start getting on the bus.
The one downer part of this plan: Neither Beverly Hills nor Santa Monica are included in the project at the moment. While Santa Monica tends to be transit friendly — and is just not as jammed up as other areas to begin with — traffic around the less public transit-friendly Beverly Hills sucks.
In fact, 90210′s the exact spot where the rapid buses get jammed up right now. For proof, read Wad of MetroRiderLA ‘s review of the 920 line, a post which Wad says could also be titled “F— Beverly Hills. F— everything about Beverly Hills. F— Beverly Hills with the business end of a rake and Ann Coulter’s head.” Wad found that the trip from Santa Monica to Koreatown took 75 minutes: “Of this, 40 minutes was passing through Beverly Hills.” If Beverly Hills remains uninvolved with the BRT Project, the bus-only lanes would only speed up the other 35 minutes of the ride, without dealing with the main time-suck that’s making every rider and driver miserable.
On a more positive note, perhaps the time savings gained from the rest of Wilshire will be enough to get many more people out of their cars. I’m curious to find out at the meetings exactly how much Metro anticipates the time savings will be once the bus-only lanes are implemented.
Other details of the project: Between Fairfax and Western, some roads would be repaved and 11 parking spots would be eliminated. Between Barrington and Sepulveda and between Federal and Bonsall, Wilshire would be widened for an eastbound bus lane.
Assuming all goes well, Metro would approve the BRT project around summer 2009. Final design and construction would take about 2 years. The project will cost about $31.5 million, with $23.3 million coming from the Federal government and $8.2 coming from Metro and the City of LA.
Find out the details of the BRT plans and let your voice be heard at the upcoming Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit Project meetings!
* Wed., Nov. 12, 6-8 pm, Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
* Mon., Nov. 17, 6-8 pm, Westwood Presbyterian Church, 10822 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
* Tue., Nov. 18, 6-8 pm, Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Blvd., 5th Floor, Los Angeles
* Wed., Nov. 19, 6–8 pm, Felicia Mahood Center, 11338 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles
Photo by Wad / MetroRiderLA
I second the sentiment that Beverly Hills sucks!! The Santa Monica Blvd. bike lane goes, goes, oh wait here is Beverly Hills, enter a cluster f@#k and then it resumes in West Hollywood immediately afterward. They hate anything that isn’t expensive cars driving up a storm and they suffer for it, choking on their own traffic nightmare.
Comment by Gary Kavanagh — November 11, 2008 @ 9:59 am
At least Bev Hills is in support of the subway to the sea (out of sight, out of mind?) — so I’m still holding out a little hope that change is possible, though if it actually comes to Bev Hills, it’d be a real miracle –
Comment by Siel — November 11, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
Are the hours already decided? There’s still tons of traffic at 10am and 8pm on Wilshire.
Comment by chris — November 12, 2008 @ 10:37 am
I totally agree, but I think part of the decision has to do with the timing of the parking meters on Wilshire (note how Metro big ups the fact that only 11 parking spaces will be lost). It’s hard to get businesses behind the plan if parking’s taken away, as dumb as that is. Since most meters have the “no parking between 7-9 am and 4-7 pm” sign on them, that determines the time for the bus-only lanes. To increase the bus-only lane time, we’d first need to expand the no parking time….
Comment by Siel — November 12, 2008 @ 10:42 am
Beverly Hills may be for the subway now, but their vocal opposition to the idea for decades is one of the reasons we don’t already have it, and it was very racially motivated. Only now that they have been brought to their knees by traffic congestion have they started singing a different tune.
Comment by Gary Kavanagh — November 12, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
Yo-
Why don’t we call/demand Bev Hills to accomodate these dinky peak hour lanes? We should get a campaign going to write/flood their offices on that, as well as let Metro know at their upcoming meetings that we want them to put pressure on Bev Hills, that the ridership demands it!
Comment by Allison — November 13, 2008 @ 3:06 pm
I use the Wilshire bus (20 and 720). It’s really a problem because there are an insufficient number of buses, particularly on the weekend. Also in the evening when people who have no alternative have to use the 720 going east but can’t get the bus to stop because it’s full. So much for using public transportation!
Comment by Bob Friedman — November 14, 2008 @ 10:00 am
I’m not sure demanding anything from Bev. Hills would really work unless some of us are actually residents of Bev. Hills (i.e. can vote un-bus-friendly people out). What can we actually threaten them with — besides mean faces and tantrums? They don’t answer to us….
One idea I have is trying to mobilize the people of Beverly Hills and/or trying to get local biz groups behind the deal (since we can pressure them with our dollar). Not sure where to start with that though. Maybe the Metro people have some suggestions?
Bob — I often feel like there ARE enough buses, but due to random traffic patterns, they tend to get bunched together, leaving some extremely crowded and others oddly empty. But maybe the crowding has gotten worse in recent months?
Comment by Siel — November 17, 2008 @ 9:49 pm