Mayor’s Message
Mayor Garcetti Opens Five Miles Of New Bus Lanes On Wilshire Boulevard
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), and the Federal Transit Administration, along with officials from the city of L.A. and L.A. County, announced bus riders on one of the region’s busiest traffic corridors will enjoy a faster commute when the second phase of peak hour bus lanes on Wilshire Boulevard open at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, April 8. Riders can travel in bus-only lanes between Downtown and the Westside, saving up to 15 minutes each way.
“Because the bus has its own lane and is synched with traffic lights, it will get there faster than a car leaving the same place at the same time,” said Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Eric Garcetti. “In the car capital of the world, we’re working to ease traffic flow and cut air pollution by giving Angelenos multiple options for getting where they need to go.”
Wilshire Blvd. has more population, more jobs, more traffic, and more transit riders than any other corridor in Southern California. During peak rush hours, more Angelenos travel by bus on Wilshire than they do in cars.
Wednesday’s opening of five miles of peak hour bus lanes along Wilshire Blvd. marks Phase Two of the Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The Wilshire BRT is a $31.5 million transportation improvement project spanning from Valencia St. near MacArthur Park to Centinela Ave. in West L.A. Once completed, there will be 9.9 miles of street, signal and signage improvements and 7.7 miles of peak hour bus lanes on Wilshire Blvd. The newly opened bus lanes span from Western Ave. to San Vicente Blvd., the western border of Beverly Hills to Comstock Ave., Selby Ave. to Veteran Ave., and Bonsall Ave. to Federal Ave. During the weekday peak hours of 7 – 9 a.m. and 4 – 7 p.m., only transit buses will be allowed in the bus lanes.
The opening of the Phase Two bus lanes adds to an existing 1.8 mile stretch of peak hour bus lanes between MacArthur Park and Western Ave. that were opened in Phase One of the project. The result is a total of 6.8 miles of peak hour bus lanes along Wilshire Blvd. Of those, 5.4 miles are continuous, running from South Park View near MacArthur Park to San Vicente Blvd. The project will be completed in Fall 2015 with the opening of the last .9 miles of bus lanes between Federal Ave. and Centinela Ave. in West L.A. (Full Story at LAmayor)