New bus priority lanes open on Sepulveda Boulevard in Los Angeles

On March 26, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro), Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), and the city of Los Angeles celebrated the opening of 5.6 miles of new bus priority lanes on Sepulveda Boulevard. 

The new lanes will move 50,000 weekly bus riders through the congested corridor while improving bus speeds by 15 percent or more and increasing service frequency. The enhanced mobility moves more people and provides quick and easy access to nearly 40,000 jobs, more than 88,000 residents, neighborhoods, businesses and other key locations such as Sherman Oaks Galleria, Valley Presbyterian Hospital, and the Sepulveda G Line (Orange) Station without widening streets or adding more infrastructure. 

"Angelenos deserve a L.A. Metro system that can get them where they need to go reliably, quickly and safely. Infrastructure improvements like the Sepulveda bus priority lanes help us make progress towards those goals," said Karen Bass, mayor of the city of Los Angeles and L.A. Metro Board chair. "These are the solutions we must continue pursuing and I want to thank the L.A. Metro Board of Directors, L.A. Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and all partners for working together to make the Sepulveda bus priority lane a reality." 

With the new bus priority lanes serving riders in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles will have approximately 51 miles of bus priority lanes across the city, with another 46 miles of bus lanes to be implemented during the next year. The project also provides a faster and more reliable multi-modal transit network, benefiting more than 9,000 daily riders who typically ride L.A. Metro Bus Line 234 (Mission College-Sylmar Metrolink Station-Sherman Oaks via Sepulveda). 

In the Sherman Oaks/Van Nuys area, the bus-only segment runs along Sepulveda Boulevard between Ventura Boulevard and Rayen Street. Also included is a 0.9-mile bus lane that runs along westbound Ventura Boulevard from Vesper Avenue to Sepulveda Boulevard. 

Full-time bus lanes added 

In creating the bus lanes, the project converted the rightmost traffic lane in each direction along Sepulveda Boulevard between Magnolia Boulevard and Rayen Street into a full-time bus lane. It also converted the rightmost traffic lane on northbound Sepulveda Boulevard between Ventura Boulevard and Magnolia Boulevard into a full-time bus lane. 

Conversion of curbside lanes 

• Converts the curbside lane on westbound Ventura Boulevard between Vesper Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard into a peak hour bus lane from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays only and maintains virtually all curbside parking. 
• Repurposes 60 underutilized parking spaces along northbound Sepulveda Boulevard between Raymer Street and Lanark Street to serve as a full-time bus lane. 
• Maintains two general traffic lanes and left turn lanes in each direction. Drivers can use the bus lanes to make right turns at intersections and driveways. 

 "L.A. Metro bus service along this busy corridor is nearly at pre-pandemic levels averaging 50,000 boardings a week in 2023," Wiggins said. "With the addition of bus priority lanes on Sepulveda Boulevard, riders will enjoy a faster and more reliable transit service that will save them valuable time. L.A. Metro thanks the city of LA for their partnership on this project and we look forward to installing even more of these bus priority lanes in the year ahead."   

"In partnership with L.A. Metro, LADOT continues to deliver dedicated bus lanes across the city to advance a transportation system that serves the needs of all Angelenos," said LADOT General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo. "We are thrilled to bring these improvements to the San Fernando Valley with the new Sepulveda Priority Bus Lanes that provide better service speed, accessibility and convenience," said LADOT General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo.