Mexico City....LA's Older And Wiser Sibling

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.