Wilshire bus lane update (with second update below)

The federal government publicly announced earlier this year that it would provide $21 million for bus lanes on parts of Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Since then, it's been pretty quiet out there. But now comes a city Department of Transportation update, which you can read on the city's website.

"After several months of unexpected delays at Metro, the consultant team is now on board to start the environmental assessment process," states the report. "... If the Project is environmentally cleared by June 30, 2009, then staff can proceed with engineering and construction activities in FY 2009-10, with a target completion date of June 30, 2011, for the Project."

And this little kernel: The city doesn't have the federal money yet, basically because it hasn't done the paperwork and still needs to complete environmental studies of the project.

Of course, the two-page report conveniently overlooks the fact that the city's DOT, under its previous chief, also dragged its heels doing initial studies of the project. As for the project, it proposes to make the right-hand lane into a bus-only lane during rush hour, although cars can use the lane to turn right. The project involves some street widening and also requires that the lane be repaved and reinforced to accommodate the heavy buses.

The Bus Riders Union, by the way, has become frustrated enough over the length of time to build the project that it was out on Wilshire this morning doing some street theater aimed at Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who chairs the City Council's transportation committee. The mini-play is called "Wendy Greuel's Dilemma," the intent being to criticize Greuel for backing measures the BRU says will help motorists in the city but not necessarily transit riders. A news release from the BRU after the jump.

UPDATE, 4:15 p.m.: Greuel has responded to the BRU with the following written statement:

"The Bus Riders Union street theater action this morning is just that, pure theater. Their claims are dishonest and misrepresent my position. There is no other Councilmember more supportive of the Wilshire bus-only lanes than I am.  My staff and I have spent hundreds of hours working with MTA and other stakeholders, including the Bus Riders Union, on this project.  This goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished.  The City's Transportation Committee will be discussing the issue in tomorrow's meeting so that we can move the project along.  The MTA originally planned on beginning this project years from now.  We have worked tirelessly to expedite the construction by securing a $20M Federal grant so that we can start construction next year."   

--Steve Hymon

The press release from the Bus Riders Union:

Los Angeles— Tuesday, October 7 at 9 AM, the Bus Riders Union will be unveiling educational street theatre on the northeast corner of Wilshire and Western during the morning rush hour —Councilmember Wendy Greuel’s Dilemma—will she break the wall of inaction that is preventing her from leading an effort to fund the implementation of Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes? Or will she continue to stand behind a wall of inaction and support millions of dollars for auto-oriented projects to accommodate drivers?

In August of 2007, after three years of fighting tooth and nail, the Bus Riders Union witnessed the final adoption of the Wilshire Boulevard bus-only lanes at L.A. City Council, an effort led by Councilmember Wendy Greuel.  This led MTA and L.A. City Council to apply for a federal grant of $27 million to implement the project. Unfortunately, it’s been too long and the federal funds have not arrived. There has been no real commitment from L.A. City Council to secure other funds to make this project a reality.

Months ago, Councilmember Greuel committed to have monthly progress reports on the project and to look for alternative funding, yet at the last Transportation Committee meeting Councilmember Greuel regressed and referred bus riders to MTA to fund the project.  All the while, Councilmember Wendy Greuel has been a cheerleader alongside Mayor Villaraigosa and others for policies favoring car drivers from advocating for a $500,000 Environmental Clearance Report to implement a “mini-freeway” on Pico and Olympic Boulevards to helping deliver $43 million of L.A. City’s funds for the boondoggle Exposition Light Rail.

The reduction of auto use in L.A. is a life and death issue, especially for Black and Latino children with the highest rates of asthma and respiratory disease.  We can’t just keep lamenting the tragedy of those in the Gulf Coast and Galveston, Cuba and Mexico who have been hit by very “un-natural” disasters and sit back while the auto in L.A. wages a war on the world! Elected officials who are serious about fighting global warming, have to aggressively implement policies, which put high capacity buses before single passenger autos.

Join us for the real life drama, “Councilmember Wendy Greuel’s Dilemma” where we will urge Councilmember Greuel and the rest of the L.A. City Transportation Committee to secure the $27 million needed for the Wilshire Bus-Only Lanes immediately—a first step in creating a countywide network of bus-only lanes to reduce pollution and global warming. 

Comments

[forgotten citizen]

Stephen

I know it is little bit detour to the topic. I do agree that many people did not yield seats to the elders. I don't know if we should profile that people only yield to Hispanic elders. I observed that many health people pretend to be blind when seeing elders. On the other hands, I do see people yielding seats to older people, pregnant women, women with kids, etc. The people that got the seat belong to any ethnic groups. I agree it is annoying that people stack their belonging on the other seats. Some people just stack shopping bags, recycling cokes, etc on other seats. People really have to give the face for the seats. Hey, we, bus riders are only one. Last week I took metrolink. I realized many do the same thing. People put suitcase on the seats. Unlike the bus rides which in some cases, if i look at the passenger, the bus riders will remove the belonging. On that day, I look at couple in that metrolink car, and no one moved their belonging. Eventually, i found seat that is not occupied by personal stuff. Something is wrong with ridership moral

[Stephen]

While working for a law firm in West Hollywood, and during a recent trip to UCLA to attend a lecture, I was dismayed at the amount of people required to stand on the bus - to include the elderly. The 720 is a joke; I was able to observe healthy looking young people refusing to give up their seat to elderly riders - particularly if those elderly riders were not hispanic.

All along Wilshire people were sneaking on board from the rear entrance. Last week, an attorney friend of mine from Sacramento visited and I introduced him to 'LA Public Transit'. His observation:"I see if you work cleaning homes in Beverly Hills or Santa Monica, you are entitled to take up two seats, not get up for elderly women barely able to stand, and give dirty looks to anyone who appears to work in an office. It appears they believe the rest of us should be driving because this is THEIR bus".

Sad.

[Kymberleigh Richards]

I, for one, am tired of the Bus Riders Union deciding that they, and only they, know what should be done.

Look at the aftermath of the consent decree. They kept running into the courtroom demanding their own solution every time they saw one too many standee on a rush hour bus. And they refused to let Metro do what is the standard response by EVERY TRANSIT AGENCY IN THE COUNTRY to overcrowding, which is to revise the schedule so that a bus comes sooner during periods of overcrowding and redistribute the passenger load so that everyone gets where they are going sooner.

Instead, the BRU's demands, approved by a federal judge who has no industry experience to be able to know what is right and what is wrong in this circumstance, resulted in a lot of extra buses being added -- buses that ran nearly empty, with no hope of getting any decent amount of fare revenue to offset the cost of operating them -- which, over time, depleted Metro's reserves.

Now the agency barely has enough money to operate basic service. And that is a direct result of the BRU's meddling. And now they think they know more than the City of Los Angeles?

Show me a single BRU member with a degree in urban planning or transportation planning. You can't.

[Jerard]

Ken,

The problem isn't Metro's it's the City of LA assuming that they don't need a study to implement this to acheive the funding. (Does Olympic-Pico One Way ring a bell to anyone?)

That is where the paperwork factor is coming in. If they want the money, the feds want an updated study for FTA Small Starts and Metro is wondering who will pay for that since at the time it wasn't fully adopted in their Long Range Transit Plan.

HighSchoolTeacher,

Read Dana's comments again, I think he is in agreement with you.

[Ken Alpern]

Almost always, the BRU ends up being part of the problem rather than part of the solution...but the delay on the part of Metro for doing its paperwork is INEXCUSABLE!

We'll need a quality bus network to supplement any future Wilshire Subway, so this is probably a good idea to be pursued sooner or later.

I am just so sick and tired of Metro always coming up with an "oops, we're late!" with every darn federal requirement. Do more Metro staff need to be hired to do the work, or do more Metro staff need to be fired and replaced with those who can get the job done the right way in a timeless fashion?

[High School Teacher]

I disagree Dana! I live along the Wilshire Corridor--5th and Vermont to be exact--and while the 710 has been an important improvement (again, thanks to the BRU) it is NOT enough. The congestion along wilshire is insane. A bus only lane is the only plan that will force commuters to get out of their car and onto metro. I would have done it last year when I was attending UCLA. I applaud the BRU for challenging Gruel to provide real leadership on this issue. When city council wanted to the Expo light rail, they put their money where their mouth was...ahem, Gruel? Where you at?

[Barbara]

The Wilshire bus only lane is the beginning , the fist step of what needs to be done to limit the cars and reduce air pollution. This should not be the only B.O.L. in the county of L.A. We should not be proud of the title "Car Capital of the World."but looking for way be the last on the list. Los Angeles should be looking to be the pioneer of big cities moving towrad reducing pollution caused by to many cars... Good Job Bus Riders Union

[Martine]

I commend the Bus Riders Union for their creative action this morning calling the question on Councilmember Greuel to secure funding for this very long awaited project. The facts are clear--the Wilshire Bus Only Lane has been dragging, and in a city saturated with cars, its time our elected leaders get serious about challenging, NOT accomodating the auto. The intent of this action is simply to put pressure on an elected official--something that should be commended. I hope Councilmember Greuel responds to this positively, and sees it as the community doing their duty--holding elected officials accountable to their promises.

[GLS]

We are living in a time of crises. A time when if we do not start to dramatically reduce the number of automobiles on the streets the earth will attempt to kill us all, starting with poor people of color and people in the world. In the deaths of over a 1000 mostly poor black New Orleanians we can see that this process has already begun. I support the Bus Riders Union call on Wendy Gruel to get the money NOW! We cannot wait 10, 5, or even one year to start challenging the auto. A Bus Only Lane on the most traveled on Blvd in the car capital of the nation could be a real start. Make it happen.

[forgotten citizen]

thank you for the bus supporters. For 2 decades, I thought I was the only one wh o complained. Most bus ridersI talked to got used to being ignored being bus riders. Many years ago, a bus ride said angrily taht "Do those MTa management care about us? They are driving lux cars". All the MTA members or politicians must take bus (without alternative such as locking the car somewhere during that duration) at least couple weeks year to see how it feel about taking public transit in LA. Struggling in the middle of nowhere worry about missing the final, job interview, being late for the job, choose the very limited activities based on the poor bus system. They have to feel the pain to do the right thing. Metro link has been designed for drivers. High speed rail is designed to drive also. Measure R, by far, the best public transit initiative is also designed for the car drivers (though I agree, life for bus riders in WLA will be improved little bit better). Even the politicians oppose are terrible. they oppose for foothill gold line extension funding but not for measure R does not improve far enough to encourage people to take bus. I don't mind whether it is bus only lanes, subway, street car, etc as long as public trransit got improved signifcantly (NO MEASURE R DOES NOT DO IT). Now it is not just bus rider problem. It is every citizen in lA problem. I keep hearing people complaining about traffic congestion. I keep hearing about hig gasoline price. I keep hearing about how tired they have commute on the cars. So far the solution, subsidy to gasoline, drill oil, lower tha gasoline tax, etc. Why do we MTA have to put so much money on freeway everythime we have to vote for transit tax. I know drivers hae to pay taxes (and there are more drivers in LA), and that is the reason a lot of tax money goes to freeway. However, isn't the whole purpose is to make LA more transit oriented instead of encourage people to drive. GET RIDE OF THOSE MTA MEMBER AND POLITICIANS

[LaLaLand]

We now live in a world where everyone wants to know.....how did we get here? How did our environment get to this current state of deterioration? How has our economy come to such state of affairs? How is it that we have more suffering, more poverty and less met need in our world and specifically in this country?..........................

People like Wendy Gruel. People like Antonio Villiaragosa. People like the MTA Board. People that wield "power" in the lives of people they have absolutly no perception of how they live or how their decisions impact the day-to-day and long term lives of the community.

Example: How many MTA Board Members "depend" on the bus? 0. How many decisions are made on behalf of and for the improvement of bus-dependent riders? 0.

When will they take responsibility for their promises and their actions?

What will the continued rate of contstruction, rail expansion into communities of "choice riders", highway expansion (all without a budget), and continued bus fare increases (which directly affect daily bus dependent riders) do to Los Angeles' traffic woes, quality of life long-term,.......and oh yeah, the people that don't have a Mercedes or Prius to choose to let sit in the driveway as they catch the train just for them.....no.........the bus dependent!

We'll just tell our kids the same stuff Gruel is saying.........."we've worked tirelessly on this project", "we've dedicated hundreds of hours to this project".........and then when our kids say, "so why are things still so bad?", we can answer again, " we worked tirelessly" (although we didn't get anything done).

Thanks for nothing.

I wonder if all these Metro real estate projects wait this long and have this much beauracracy to get under way. Who do they have to wait on?

The people that actually pay those fare increases to get the budget to get the rail and construction projects...... that do nothing to improve service for them

[DAR]

In response to the statement by Councilperson Greuel- I think that the Bus Riders Union press release was fair in calling the question, what is she going to do? We all have seen when political officials SAY they are supportive of something and how that differs from what they DO when they are really supportive of something. The differences are stark. I just hope that this pressure from the Bus Riders Union and other environmental justice groups moves the Councilwoman to put “the money where the mouth is” and that that mouth is speaking about restricting the polluting auto and expanding public transit in the form of a network of bus only lanes throughout the county.

[CACC]

I can see that since i am a bus rider and there is a faster way for me to get to work then let the bus only lane take place and if money can be funding for other projects. then the bus only lane should be funded also. And also with that bus only lane traffic would be better and less gas is used. Also it will help reduce pollution from auto the makes it hard for children to breathe with asthma, and that is not good for children breathing in pollution in this global warming world, something needs to give.

[EricAR]

When will Villaraigosa, Wendy Greuel and others learn? When will they stop pouring money into "traffic congestion" projects rather than attacking the root problem: too many cars on the road? And when will they stop pouring millions of public dollars into costly rail projects that barely scratch the surface of the region's transit problems? If we here in the Car Capital of the World are serious about cleaning up our filthy air and addressing global warming, then we need to invest in mass transit strategies that really serve riders and take millions of people out of their cars. Sure, one bus-only lane on Wilshire is not going to solve all our transit problems, but it will set an important precedent that we can replicate elsehwhere. New York is already doing this, with massive restrictions on cars and bus-only lanes being proposed for large parts of Mid-town Manhattan. LA is way behind the curve. So I'm glad someone is giving Wendy Greuel and City Council the kick in the pants they need to move this project forward and stop dragging their feet.

[Dana Gabbard]

I disagree with BOB2. As someone who lives and works on Wilshire I can assure you even if the Wilshire subway progresses smoothly though the process and Measure R passes to fund the two major segments (Western to Fairfax and Fairfax to Westwood Blvd.) in the interim measures like this are needed to keep Wilshire bus service a viable option in the corridor. With worsening traffic these lanes will ensure the rapid service doesn't overly slow down. The rapids during rush hour are already near capacity even with articulated buses. This is a prudent and necessary measure while we work toward long term solutions. I for one am tired of the continual snarky ant-Metro comments that seem based on misinformed insinuations. Certainly Metro has at times fallen short of what I wish it was but denigrating it at every turn (as some who post on the various blogs seem to do) is counterproductive.

[BOB2]

Another MTA project that doesn't appear to do very much from much of a technical perspective, unless you add capacity or take a lane or two, one at enormous financial cost, the other at enormous political costs. This proiject has actually been studied to death over the last thirty years in various ways, and just doesn't save the buses that much time. The Rapid Buses came out of that work and were the right solution. They stop less frequently and cover distance faster.

The Wilshire Busway project would do very little to improve productivity or speed over the Rapid Buses. It is a largely political project that is kept alive because of the unwillingness to make a decision on the final subway alignment. It is a product of a planning without a strategic business plan to actuall run a tranits system. Another vague promise to do something for everyone that is a hallmark of MTA's politically riven planning process.