The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), and the City of Los Angeles have opened 5.6 miles of new bus priority lanes on Sepulveda Boulevard.
This new infrastructure aims to provide faster, more reliable services for the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California.
Indeed, the new lanes are expected to increase frequencies and improve bus speeds by 15 percent or more for approximately 50,000 weekly bus riders.
With the addition of the new bus priority lanes in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles now has approximately 51 miles of bus priority lanes across the city. Meanwhile, another 46 miles of bus lanes are due to be implemented over the next year.
Karen Bass, L.A. City Mayor and Metro Board Chair said:Angelenos deserve a Metro system that can get them where they need to go reliably, quickly and safely. Infrastructure improvements like the Sepulveda bus priority lanes help us make progress towards those goals. These are the solutions we must continue pursuing, and I want to thank the Metro Board of Directors, Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation and all partners for working together to make the Sepulveda bus priority lane a reality.
To enhance journey times on this corridor, the rightmost traffic lane in each direction along Sepulveda Boulevard between Magnolia Boulevard and Rayen Street has been converted into a full-time bus lane.
Similarly, the rightmost traffic lane on northbound Sepulveda Boulevard between Ventura Boulevard and Magnolia Boulevard is also now a full-time bus lane.
In addition, the curbside lane on westbound Ventura Boulevard between Vesper Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard has been converted into a peak-hour bus lane from 7 am to 9 am on weekdays. It otherwise maintains all curbside parking.
Nonetheless, 60 underutilised parking spaces along northbound Sepulveda Boulevard between Raymer Street and Lanark Street have been repurposed to serve as a full-time bus lane.
Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins said:Metro bus service along this busy corridor is nearly at pre-pandemic levels averaging 50,000 boardings a week in 2023. With the addition of bus priority lanes on Sepulveda Boulevard, riders will enjoy a faster and more reliable transit service that will save them valuable time. Metro thanks the City of LA for their partnership on this project, and we look forward to installing even more of these bus priority lanes in the year ahead.
