Season's and Service Changes
- Dec 13, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 13
Happy Holidays!
As high schoolers across the country face finals (the biggest, scariest tests of the semester), Throughout Los Angeles it starts to become colder, especially as temperatures drop here in the Westside.
I'll quickly mention the Franklin Fire in Malibu that started Monday night. It has burned over 4,000 acres of land and damaged 9 properties. Luckily, no one has been injured or killed by this fire.
Our transportation agencies are cooking up new routes and service changes. LA Metro and Big Blue Bus will both have service changes on December 15th, so let’s take a look at the biggest changes.
For LA Metro, in accordance with their Next Gen bus plan, there are new routes and services being offered.
I'm not familiar with the lines in the San Gabriel Valley or South LA, but these seem like improvements, especially the creation of routes 260 and 261, sound good to me.
It’s great to hear that the G Line is finally getting a grade separation at Van Nuys! This will make bus speeds faster, more efficient, and safer, which is a big deal for such a heavily used line. The G Line is notorious for reaching capacity quickly because of how popular it is. It was originally supposed to be built as an extension of the Red (now B) Line subway, but cost overruns and a bad track record—like the infamous sinkhole on Hollywood Blvd—made public trust in subway projects worsen. On top of that, Valley NIMBYs banned subway tunneling in the area, which led to the G Line being built as a BRT system instead of rail. The grade separation is a huge step forward in improving the G Line and making transit better for the Valley.
LAX/Metro Transit Center is a huge deal! It would basically serve as the 7th/Metro Center of LAX, connecting buses, trains, and the airport all in one. For buses, which have long had to be far from the airport at the (temporary) LAX city bus center, they finally get a dedicated transit center built for them with much better rider amenities, because of the higher quality service converging there. It's also shorter trip times and makes transfers easier. Best of all, i'd be an awesome place for photographers and foamers.
(Culver City Bus Routes 6 and 6 Rapid will eliminate the southern portion of the route beyond LAX City Bus Center, to redirect into LAX/Metro Transit Center Station when it opens. This is happening in January, 2025.)
Onto BigBlueBus
There are implementing the first phase of the five year service improvement plan: Brighter Blue Service Changes 12-15-24
Route 7 on pico blvd will discontinue the Curson Ave (after the intersection) stop and add a new stop at Stanley Ave (before the intersection)
The express 7 route having been in temporary hold will now be discontinued
Route 9 to the pacific palisades will have schedule changes as follows:
Weekdays: Southbound Express trips will operate at 1:22 p.m. and 1:25 p.m. to align with final/minimum day schedules at Palisades High School.
Route 14 on Bundy Blvd which currently connects Brentwood, West Los Angeles, Bundy Station on the E and to Westchester/Veterans Station (K line) in Inglewood now in a big move, cut the southern segment to Culver City Transit Center, connections to Westfield Culver City, Culver City Bus Routes: 6, 4, 3 and LA Metro Bus Routes 108 and 110
Also, my local Route 17, will have mid-day frequencies upped to every 15 minutes! (LET'S GOOOOOOOO!), and it is also operating until much later, 10:20 PM. very nice.
Route 42 will be discontinued. Route 41 is suggested to use instead.
For me personally, this change on the 14th is a huge deal as getting to Westfield Culver City is traditionally a hassle because it is only served by the Culver Bus Routes 6 & R, which are the only routes that go to Culver City from Westside E Line stations such as Expo/Sepulveda. I don’t go to Culver City much just because of the lack of service in buses that serve those areas, which are often infrequent and require multiple transfers. Having a bus that goes to Culver City from nearby Bundy Station, also on the E Line, is great for other Westsiders and Santa Monica residents as this increases accessibility and usability. It is always better to have more routes competing with each other because it provides resiliency in the face of regular disturbances.
For example:
If route's 6 and 6R were to have their frequencies reduced because of road construction somewhere on Sepulveda Blvd right now, all I could do is either grin and bear it or give up, not being able to complete my task on public transit, forcing me to use Uber and pay almost triple the price. With the new 14 route change, though, things start to change. This is a parallel route that uses a different major boulevard but serves the same destination. This also helps to fuel ridership growth as Culver City Mall has been a desirable destination for a long time. The redundancy creates a network, a strong backbone so that public transit riders don’t get stranded if the main route becomes an unfeasible option. It's never a good idea to put all of your eggs in one basket. This exact reasoning is why Los Angeles has so many parallel boulevards and freeways, like how Wilshire Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd parallel each other to downtown Los Angeles, both with high-frequency bus routes, the Rapid 720 and Local Metro 4, respectively. RM Transit, also known as Reece Martin Transit, has written a great article that, I think, points out the reasoning that makes some public transit systems so great. (Los Angeles needs layers.)
Recent News in other SoCal Areas
Orange County: OCTA
(Orange County Transportation Authority) is currently building out their four-mile $579 million streetcar located in the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove. This is exciting for the areas of downtown Santa Ana for the revitalization of businesses and the connectivity it brings. Because it connects to the nearby Amtrak/Metrolink (insert station name here), it also has great potential as a last-mile connector.
I'm pretty excited to see this happen and can't wait to go ride it when it opens. It holds novelty as the first return of local rail-based transit to Orange County, after OC voters defeated the CenterLine (modern light rail system) proposal in the 90's due to high costs and car-is-king mentality. For now, there are no plans in the timelines of both LA Metro, who's building the Southeast Gateway Line on the same ROW, and that of OCTA to connect somewhere to provide transfer opportunities (they aren't compatible in infrastructure). The dream of Light rail to Orange County isn't happening (yet) https://cal.streetsblog.org/2024/12/02/eyes-on-the-street-oc-streetcar-construction-progress
San Diego, in their primary elections, had the opportunity to fund a new transit measure G, but it was (sadly) defeated by rich valley voters afraid of traffic!
In personal notes, I’m disheartened by the results but still hold hope that they’ll try again soon, as they have in the past with the 2018, 2020, and 2022 ballot measures. I have heard that the measure this time prioritized shiny new rail projects more than upgrading existing bus routes, which even the rapid (high quality) ones seem to be peak only, which is abysmal frequency. It also wasn’t very clear in terms of what it offered, and because San Diego is quite conservative compared to other SoCal cities, its voters didn’t really want to raise their taxes for an unknown reason.
I have faith that they'll try again and comeback stronger next time!
Lastly, onto Metro Projects.
The long-awaited (over 10 years!) community outreach for the Vermont Avenue BRT is finally starting with an initial phase with near time bus lanes to open in 2025. It's the highest ridership bus line connecting multiple metro rail lines and is an important north-south spine for central through south Los Angeles.
Bus lane enforcement, so that buses can actually use the lanes as intended, has started, so we're taking that space back! https://la.streetsblog.org/2024/10/08/l-a-city-council-approves-on-bus-camera-enforcement-of-bus-only-lanes
Rail transit is expanding in the SGV, no stopping this train!
(further out to Montclair in the 2030's), anticipated turnover to Metro in early January so that they can complete their mandatory CPUC testing and have it ready for revenue service by the spring, hopefully but likely summer, of 2025!
The LAX/Metro Station opening is immediate and highly anticipated
It should be the most pleasing architectural station in the system, with a much larger station presence than the Aviation/Century station nearby. It has the biggest platform width of any station in the light rail system.
The first phase of our D line extension to the VA is finally set to open in late 2025. I predict the months of October – December 2025 will be when it opens for revenue service. This will extend the D line 3 miles to the border of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles at Wilshire/La Cienega, finally giving the stub of the D line the liberation it needed.
And hey, 25 minutes is the projected travel time between the VA and Union Station when the full extension is complete. That's Crazy! Faster than by car down Wilshire!
Lot's more news on the HR4000 Subway Cars
For the uninitiated, LA Metro subway's B & D lines currently run Breda A650 trains dating back to the 1990s, back when the system first opened!
Think of it like P3010's for the Light Rail Lines, the universal, modern, and reliable fleet of the future.
I'm excited for the new subway cars because of the new side seating layout and other amenties! https://la.streetsblog.org/2024/12/06/eyes-on-the-trains-new-metro-railcars-in-action
They should be rolling out soon!
The Japanification of our metro system is happening!
Speaking of new trains, it's time for new fare gates.
We all know crime has deterred a lot of impressionable people from trying our metro system. These new fare gates, along with measures like TAP to Exit, should hopefully spark a resurgence in the metro system, a new era of cleanliness and comfort. I dream.
As the winter progresses and we get closer to the inauguration of the next presidency, there are plenty of ways we can make our local communities stronger. So this holiday season, please don't hesitate to reach out to your local representative, whether it's the neighborhood council, your local councilmember, or district supervisor. Your voice will make an impact.
We saw through the wins made in progressive council majorities (Santa Monica, Culver City and West Hollywood) and the major win of HLA (Healthy Streets LA) how much we can do. As Theodore Roosevelt once said “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” There's no better time than now.
Happy Holidays!
Until next time, stay safe, stay warm and see you again in 2025! 🌳
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