Metro Busway (previously known as Metro Liner and Metro Transitway) is a system of
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
(BRT) routes that operate primarily along exclusive or semi-exclusive roadways known locally as a busway or transitway. There are currently two lines in the system, the
G Line in the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
, and the
J Line between
El Monte,
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
and
Gardena, with some trips continuing to
San Pedro. The
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), commonly branded as Metro, LA Metro, and L.A. Metro, is the state agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the transportation system in Los Angele ...
(Metro) operates the system.
The G Line, which runs along an exclusive busway, was the first route in the system to open on October 29, 2005. The J Line opened on December 13, 2009, utilizing the pre-existing
Harbor Transitway
The Harbor Transitway (also known as the I-110 Express Lanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (known as a busway or transitway) and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running in the median of Interstate 110 (Harbor Freeway) between Downtown ...
and
El Monte Busway
The El Monte Busway (also known as the I-10 ExpressLanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor ( busway) and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running along Interstate 10 between Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles and Interstate 605 or El Mo ...
, semi-exclusive roadways that are used by both buses and as
high-occupancy toll lane
A high-occupancy toll lane (or HOT lane) is a type of traffic lane or roadway that is available to high-occupancy vehicles and other exempt vehicles without charge; other vehicles are required to pay a variable fee that is adjusted in response t ...
s.
Metro Busway routes are designed to mimic
Metro Rail services, in both the vehicles' design and their operation. Buses on both lines use a silver livery (similar to the one used on Metro Rail), passengers can board at any door, and vehicles receive priority at intersections. Like Metro Rail, Metro Busway operates on a
proof-of-payment
Proof-of-payment (POP) or proof-of-fare (POF) is an honor-based fare collection system used on many public transportation systems. Instead of checking each passenger as they enter a fare control zone, passengers are required to carry a ticket, p ...
honor system, and passengers who have a fare loaded on a
TAP card can board from any door. TAP cards can be purchased at
vending machines
A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fir ...
located at stations.
System
Lines
Metro Busway lines are named as part of the naming scheme used for Metro Rail lines, however, the colored icons for the Metro Busway lines are squares instead of the circles used for Metro Rail lines.
Two Metro Busway lines operate in Los Angeles County:
Corridors
These services operate on three primary corridors (in addition to city streets, where necessary):
*
G Line Busway
*
El Monte Busway
The El Monte Busway (also known as the I-10 ExpressLanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor ( busway) and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running along Interstate 10 between Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles and Interstate 605 or El Mo ...
*
Harbor Transitway
The Harbor Transitway (also known as the I-110 Express Lanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (known as a busway or transitway) and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running in the median of Interstate 110 (Harbor Freeway) between Downtown ...
/
Harbor Freeway
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
History
The first busway in the Los Angeles area was the
El Monte Busway
The El Monte Busway (also known as the I-10 ExpressLanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor ( busway) and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running along Interstate 10 between Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles and Interstate 605 or El Mo ...
which opened in January 1973 and ran parallel to
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
(San Bernardino Freeway), offering an 18-minute trip between
El Monte and
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
, compared to 35–45 minutes in the general-purpose lanes.
The facility was a success with about 32,000 boardings per day on lines that used the busway as of November 2000.
The area's second busway, the
Harbor Transitway
The Harbor Transitway (also known as the I-110 Express Lanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (known as a busway or transitway) and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running in the median of Interstate 110 (Harbor Freeway) between Downtown ...
opened in 1996 offering a new connection between
Gardena and Downtown Los Angeles. Ridership on the Harbor Transitway was radically lower than expected:
Caltrans
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
had projected that 65,200 passengers would travel along the Harbor Transitway each day, but after 10 years, the facility had only attracted 3,000 passengers per weekday.
A third busway to be built in the region came after community revolt against a proposed
light rail line. The
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), commonly branded as Metro, LA Metro, and L.A. Metro, is the state agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the transportation system in Los Angele ...
(Metro) acquired the
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
Burbank Branch
right of way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
intending to utilize the corridor for light rail trains. Neighbors successfully petitioned lawmakers to pass a ban on utilizing transit tax revenue for anything other than an extension of the
existing subway into the San Fernando Valley.
However, the passage of
Proposition A
The Southern California Rapid Transit District (almost always referred to as ''RTD'' or rarely as ''SCRTD'') was a public transportation agency established in 1964 to serve the Greater Los Angeles area. It was the successor to the original Los ...
in 1998 cut off funding for any subway projects. With both subway and light rail now legally prohibited, but with growing political pressure to utilize the former railbed, the last available option was a dedicated busway. This proposal was also opposed by neighborhood groups; however, since the previous law did not prohibit it, it moved forward.
The busway opened as the Orange Line (now G Line) on October 29, 2005. The line was a success, attracting nearly 23,000 boardings per day in the first year it was open, and nearly 30,000 boardings per day by 2013.
The line is so popular, that in 2014 users petitioned lawmakers to repeal the ban on light rail, and Metro now plans to convert the busway to light rail by 2050.
After the successful launch of the busway in the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
, Metro decided to rebrand the county's other busways in an attempt to increase awareness. In March 2006, Metro decided that the Harbor Transitway would be colored bronze and the El Monte Busway would be colored silver on Metro's maps and the two would be marketed as a "Combined Transitway Service." No changes were made in the operations of the bus routes operated on either facility. The changes were criticized as being difficult to understand for irregular and new riders.
In 2009, Metro returned to plan it first proposed in 1993
and created a new
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
service called the Silver Line (now J Line) utilizing both the Harbor Transitway and the El Monte Busway. The new higher frequency service would be funded by converting both corridors into
high occupancy toll
A high-occupancy toll lane (or HOT lane) is a type of traffic lane or roadway that is available to high-occupancy vehicles and other exempt vehicles without charge; other vehicles are required to pay a variable fee that is adjusted in response t ...
(HOT) lanes, to be branded as the
Metro ExpressLanes
The Metro ExpressLanes project is a transport project in Los Angeles County, California that debuted in 2012 to "improve traffic flow and provide enhanced travel options on I-10 and I-110 in Los Angeles County". It includes a range of infrastructu ...
. The bus route began operations on December 13, 2009. Since the J Line's start, Metro has refurbished the aging stations along both the Harbor Transitway and the El Monte Busway, bringing them closer to the amenities provided along the G Line's busway. The plan has led to higher ridership along the corridor, especially along the
Harbor Transitway
The Harbor Transitway (also known as the I-110 Express Lanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (known as a busway or transitway) and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running in the median of Interstate 110 (Harbor Freeway) between Downtown ...
.
On June 30, 2012, the busway used by the G Line buses was extended northward to the
Chatsworth Metrolink station, continuing to follow the former Southern Pacific Burbank Branch right-of-way owned by Metro.
Route names referring to colors were changed to letters in 2020, with the Orange Line becoming the G Line and the Silver Line becoming the J Line.
The following table shows the timeline of BRT expansions:
Notes:
Future
Metro plans to add additional Metro Busway lines; some projects may have their timelines accelerated under its
Twenty-eight by '28
The Twenty-eight by '28 initiative is an effort set forth by former Mayor Eric Garcetti that the City of Los Angeles complete 28 transportation infrastructure projects before the start of the 2028 Summer Olympics on and the 2028 Summer Paralympics ...
initiative.
On March 17, 2021, Metro staff came forward with five corridors that the agency could pursue to have Bus Rapid Transit implemented in them.
See also
*
List of Los Angeles Metro Busway stations
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
{{Greater Los Angeles Area Public Transit
2005 establishments in California