L.A. Metro’s new bus lanes debut in downtown

Two new bus priority lanes on Grand Avenue and Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles made their debut earlier this week.  

The new lanes are thanks to a partnership between the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT). 

These lanes will run along southbound Grand Avenue from Hope Place to Pico Boulevard and along northbound Olive Street from Pico Boulevard to 2nd Street. 

In a recent survey of more than 300 bus riders along this corridor, 70 percent of riders told L.A. Metro they experience delays or reliability issues in this area. Nearly every rider said they would use the bus more if L.A. Metro could improve trip times. Additionally, nearly 90 percent of surveyed bus riders along this corridor reported that they ride every day or every week. 

“Our bus network is the backbone of our transportation system, and these bus lanes are a clear next step toward faster and more reliable service, higher ridership and lower emissions,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “We are working tirelessly to make our system work better for Angelenos, and this project is a clear example of the type of improvements that will take Angelenos where they need to go faster, more safely and sustainably.” 

Bus priority lanes allow L.A. Metro to increase service frequency and reliability along the corridor, improving mobility by moving more people without requiring significant infrastructure. 

How the lanes work: 

• The right-most traffic lanes on each street have been converted into bus priority lanes on weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 
• Buses would run as frequently as every 60 seconds with the many bus routes that use these lanes, including the Metro J Line (Silver). 
• There would be virtually no loss of parking spaces, as there was sufficient room to maintain curbside parking next to the bus lanes. 

The benefits for street users include reducing opportunities for speeding and unsafe lane changes by motorists. The project also maintains virtually all existing street parking for residents along the corridor and provides quick and easy access for workers and visitors to jobs, businesses and other locations along the corridor. 

“We expect these dedicated lanes to improve bus speeds by up to 15 percent, which means getting our riders to their destinations faster and greatly enhancing the customer experience through better service reliability,” said L.A. Metro CEO Stephanie N. Wiggins. “We want to build on the success of our earlier bus priority lanes in downtown Los Angeles to make Metro the best transportation option for Angelenos and visitors alike.” 

L.A. Metro has been working closely with LADOT to implement a series of bus priority lanes along heavily traveled corridors. This phase of NextGen calls for the addition of hundreds of additional bus trips on weekdays and weekends, with a focus on adding much-needed bus service during the mid-day periods to provide frequent service throughout the day. 

“Our partnership with Metro is transforming how people move through Downtown L.A. and beyond, said LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds. “Bus lanes move more people, more quickly to ease congestion and make it more enjoyable to get around the city.” 

This project is one of the many recommendations resulting from the Bus Speed Engineering Working Group, authorized by the Metro Board of Directors and the Los Angeles City Council in July 2019. It is a collaborative effort between Metro, the office of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, the office of Councilmember Kevin De Leon and LADOT to identify, design, fund and build transit-supportive infrastructure to improve service as part of Metro’s NextGen Bus Plan and the agency’s Vision 2028 Plan. 

In June 2021, L.A. Metro and the city of Los Angeles launched bus-only lanes along Alvarado Street between MacArthur Park and Echo Park.