One of Los Angeles's most congested corridors may have gotten a bit more congested this week - for autos that is - as the first segment of an eventual 12.5 miles of bus only lanes opened along Wilshire Boulevard.
During peak hours, more people travel down Wilshire Boulevard by bus than by car. And an ambitious project aims to reduce travel times for those riders by 12 to 15 minutes by making one lane of traffic available only to buses and bikes, reports Laura J. Nelson. The first piece of that project made its debut on Wednesday.
"The 1.8 miles of lanes between MacArthur Park and Western Avenue are some of the first of their kind in the county and one piece of a larger transit corridor that will be finished late next year," says Nelson. "The $31.5-million Wilshire Boulevard project calls for 12.5 miles of modifications between downtown and Westwood, including 7.7 miles of bus lanes."
"The improvements are long overdue, officials said Tuesday, and a step toward bringing Los Angeles' public transportation system up to par with cities such as Boston, New York and Madrid."
"For the foreseeable future, and perhaps forever, buses will the backbone of our transit system," Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Deputy CEO Paul Taylor said. "Later this month, Metro is expected to announce five more corridors that could be modified in similar ways," adds Nelson.
FULL STORY: Bus-only lanes debut on Wilshire Boulevard
Moment of Zen: Watch L.A.'s New Bus Lane Outperform Car Traffic in Real Time
A pilot bus-only lane, originally intended to replace temporarily closed light rail service, has produced some big wins for transit advocates on social media.
No Quick Fixes for L.A.’s Transit Ridership Woes
One of the largest transit systems in the country continues to lose large numbers of riders. But the causes behind the drop and the solutions to stop it are hard to pinpoint.
The Environmental Costs of Slow, Empty Buses
Flagging ridership on Metro buses in Los Angeles redoubles the need to speed buses up with dedicated lanes, hopefully recovering lost riders and finding some news ones along the way, too.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
