On a recent trip to Mexico City, D.F. I
witnessed what could be (in part) the future of Los Angeles. LA reminds me alot
of Mexico City with its multi-nodes and the activation of its entire metro area
as opposed to just the central district. The similarities between Los Angeles and Mexico City brought to my attention how revolutionary center lane BRT (Bus Rapid Transit)
alignments could be in this city by supplementing the already burgeoning
rail network. Imagine Sunset/Santa Monica, Beverly, Wilshire (which is already
programmed to run an outside lane alignment) Venice, Olympic, Pico, La Brea, La
Cienega boulevards with these running down the center of them. We can quibble about which boulevards would
be the optimal placement later but let's get behind the idea of true bus
enhancement in this city.
As mentioned earlier similarly with the Mexico City's metro area , the Los Angeles megalopolis is known
for its multi-centers and numerous major trip generators spread across a vast
landscape. This is where easily
implemented (by rail standards) BRT may be the best choice, take the San
Fernando Valley as an example. Think of
BRT running down the center lanes of major boulevards such as Lankershim,
Sepulveda and Reseda boulevards north to south and perhaps Sherman Way, Ventura
and Roscoe east to west. Makes a lot of
sense considering the demand for transit that already exists along these
thoroughfares and the ability to have buses up and running (barring any NIMBY
opposition) in less than 2 years. I
intentionally did not mention Van Nuys Blvd because I'm saving that one for
rail.
With the conversion of an Orange Line to rail, these San Fernando Valley
bus alignments could feed into a future Orange rail line that connects to the
Red Line subway on the east and Metrolink commuter rail to the northwest. Another future connection to a 405 line could
instantaneously give the Valley access to a broad swath of LA County. (As a side note: Please NEVER use a fully functioning
exclusive Right Of Way for BRT. Use
rail. No matter what the NIMBY's say!!)
Changing of existing infrastructure would not be necessary as we would
go on using our red Rapid buses that are in existence already and are highly
distinguishable. Though Mexico City uses
high floor boarding buses, I'd stick with the low floor boarding for ease of
use and a way to keep capital costs down.
As in Mexico City some opposition will come from proposed eliminations and/or modifications to center and left turn lanes. Even more vociferous opposition to the destruction of tree lined and enhanced medians is to be expected. However, increased mobility for millions of people should trump the aesthetics of a median and I would hope continue to speed up the impetus of the building of more small pocket parks within neighborhoods as tangible and usable green space. Imagine taking a center lane BRT from Downtown LA along Venice Blvd to the beach. During rush you could longingly wave at the cars as you pass them by? Or taking a Venice Blvd BRT alternative that would branch off at San Vicente taking you as far north as Santa Monica Blvd into the heart of West Hollywood's LGBT district with its numerous clubs and restaurants. The entire BRT system would only be but a complement to Metro's expanding rail system and supplemental to the vast local and Rapid bus network.
Upon
arriving in Los Angeles back in the early aught's the one thing that struck me
about the city was the amount of buses on the road. I'd never seen so many buses in my life! It didn't seem as if New York City had that
many buses (where I had moved from) or maybe I just didn't notice them since I
was preoccupied with underground or elevated train travel. I remember the blackout in the summer of 2003
in NYC and having to take buses around the city for a couple of days since all
subway lines were down. The traffic was
just awful and took me 2-3 times longer to get to my destination than had I
been on a train. I remember those
dreadful couple of days whenever I'm on a Wilshire or Santa Monica bus stuck in traffic
during rush hour coming back from the beach or the Westside. Having a bus run center lane down Santa
Monica Blvd from the beach at least until the reaching the Red Line subway at
Vermont would be a very viable and welcomed alternative to car and local bus
travel as it stands now.
I’ll
stress again that BRT lines would only be but another transit tool to be used in accordance to a larger and expansive
rail network system and to the the existing local bus
system. Where rail can be implemented along existing Right Of Ways and underneath high ridership corridors like
Wilshire, Vermont, Whittier and Van Nuys boulevards, rail would still be the preferred
mode of transit and is preferred where serious redevelopment/development are key
initiatives.
