Metro L.A. Drafts Frequent Bus Service Plan

Last Friday, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) released the first draft of its NextGen Bus Plan, first announced in 2017 with hopes of reversing rapidly plummeting ridership on the system.

"In a big step forward for Metro’s efforts to restructure its vast bus system, the agency today released a draft service plan that would greatly improve the frequency of buses across the Metro system," according to an article written by Steve Hymon for Metro's The Source.

The big ticket items of the proposed plan include the following benefits, as described by Hymon:

• Buses would arrive every five to 10 minutes for 83 percent of current riders compared to 49 percent today.
• The number of bus lines running every five to 10 minutes on weekdays would jump from 16 to 29 and from two to 14 on weekends.
• The number of Los Angeles County residents who could walk to bus lines running every five to 10 minutes would more than double from 900,000 currently to almost 2.2 million.

The model for the redesign follows the frequent grid made most famous in the United States by Houston in 2015. In addition to consolidating certain routes, the plan also proposes eliminating stops to speed up bus service, according to the article.

As noted by Hymon, the draft NextGen Bus Plan is expected to evolve after a public engagement process expected to launch in February and March (a schedule is already available).

"Later this month, Metro will also be releasing route-by-route changes and online tools that will better visualize what your bus ride would be like under the draft plan," according to Hymon.