OP-ED: Enhancing public transportation in Los Angeles County: The Long Beach-East LA Corridor Mobility Investment Plan

Developing the Long Beach-East LA Corridor Mobility Investment Plan (CMIP) required a comprehensive, equity-focused approach to engaging the community and prioritizing projects for investment in the Long Beach-East Los Angeles (LB-ELA) Corridor. After an extensive 2.5 years of planning and community outreach, the CMIP is set to transform transportation in one of the busiest and most impacted corridors in the U.S.  

The plan aims to improve transportation infrastructure and boost equity while fostering economic growth, community health and environmental sustainability. 

The LB-ELA Corridor

The LB-ELA Corridor encompasses a 19-mile-long and five-mile-wide region that is home to 1.2 million people, 12 percent of LA County’s population, and includes 18 cities and three unincorporated communities along Interstate 710 (I-710). 

It is the main freight highway and rail pipeline connecting the U.S.’s busiest seaport complex, intermodal rail yards near east Los Angeles, Calif., and logistics facilities in between. The Corridor is an economic powerhouse that generates prosperity for LA County and the U.S. The heavy volume of vehicles supporting this economic activity has come with a price for local communities that suffer from major traffic congestion, diesel truck pollution, public health and safety impacts.  

Compounding these transportation impacts, this corridor has been historically underserved, with past planning and policy decisions reinforcing patterns of racial segregation, disinvestment and economic disparities. Approximately 73 percent of the corridor’s population lives in Equity Focus Communities, defined by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority as areas with significant transportation needs due to high concentrations of low-income households, Black Indigenous People of Color residents and households without car access.  

The CMIP is rooted in a deep understanding of these historical, pervasive issues with the vision, goals and guiding principles of the plan focused on addressing these longstanding problems and uplifting local communities. As a result, the CMIP offers a holistic transportation investment vision that fosters greater mobility across all modes, cleaner air through zero-emission truck and train technologies, healthy and sustainable communities through local transportation and community improvements and economic empowerment for all residents, communities and users along the corridor.  

As near-term projects are implemented in the next three years and longer-term projects are developed for future implementation, L.A. Metro will continue to rely upon strong community engagement to ensure the CMIP delivers on its promise to the residents in the LB-ELA Corridor communities while supporting the mobility needs of the entire region. 

Mass transit improvements 

To accomplish the desired transformation, the CMIP proposes to leverage $743 million from two LA County voter-approved sales tax measures: Measure R (2008) and Measure M (2016). It also seeks to attract more than $3.3 billion in additional funding to bring more than $4 billion in benefits to the corridor. The multimodal plan encompasses a wide range of projects in six categories:  

1. Active Transportation ($100 million) 
2. Arterial Roadways and Complete Streets ($188 million) 
3. Freeway Safety and Interchange Improvements ($210 million) 
4. Goods Movement ($80 million) 
5. Mass Transit ($125 million) 
6. Community Program Catalyst Fund ($40 million) 

More than 200 projects and programs identified in the plan will focus on improving mass transit and community mobility, including bus and rail, active transportation facilities, transit services, multimodal complete street designs, better bus shelters, safer roadways, zero-emission buses and trucks and other targeted infrastructure improvements.  

Currently, the area sees about 111,000 L.A. Metro bus and rail boardings and nearly 50,000 Long Beach Transit boardings daily.  

To provide these bus riders with an improved experience, the CMIP seeks to elevate service quality, expand accessibility and boost overall mobility. Key initiatives include: 

1. Bus enhancements: Increasing bus speeds and frequencies, introducing express services and shuttles, electrifying buses and developing priority lanes to ensure efficient navigation through traffic. 
2. High-capacity transit projects: These involve new light-rail stations, rail line extensions and bus rapid transit projects, crucial for enhancing the efficiency and capacity of public transit. 
3. Transit amenities: Upgrading bus shelters with better lighting, providing real-time transit displays and offering transit education, discounts and free passes are part of this initiative.  
4. Rail line and station improvements: These include signal prioritization for trains, grade separations for trains, station maintenance, pedestrian safety enhancements and better bicycle and pedestrian connections.  
5. First/last mile improvements: Connecting communities to their transit stations will create more opportunities for residents to take transit more safely, frequently and conveniently. These projects provide access to bus and rail stations with various improvements to bus, sidewalk and bicycle access to transit.  

The CMIP was created in consultation with residents along the corridor with local knowledge and lived experience to understand what was needed in their neighborhood. Unlike the previous plan, the CMIP does not propose widening the I-710 freeway or displacing residents or businesses.  Instead, it focuses on creating safer, more connected multimodal transportation options that improve safety for all who use the transportation system in the corridor.