Los Angeles Metro has responded to a recent study that found bus delays collectively cost Angelenos more than 10 years on the average day, highlighting efforts already taken to improve bus service and promising more changes are on the way.
In a statement, Metro pointed out that the agency had already identified the delays and the affected routes and has been working since 2020 to alleviate issues through its NextGen Bus Plan.
The problematic major streets identified by the Streets for All study — Van Nuys and Wilshire boulevards, for example — “are the corridors we are focused on under the NextGen Bus Plan to bring speed and reliability improvements,” Metro said.
“Through collaboration with riders, the community, elected officials and our jurisdictional partners, we are advancing the bus priority treatments most appropriate to the line or corridor being analyzed in support of reducing travel times and improving reliability for our riders,” Metro added.
Metro also detailed some of those methods of increasing speed and reliability:
- More than 24 miles of new bus lanes are under design or pending construction, in addition to more than 70 miles of bus lanes already created by the agency
- More enforcement of tickets for those parked in a bus lane
- The implementation of up to 125 improved bus stops by 2028 using bus bulbs and bus boarding islands, which “offer more space for passengers while allowing the bus to stop in the travel lane, eliminating delays buses normally experience when trying to merge back into traffic”
- Transit signal priority, which extends green lights for buses and shortens red lights if a bus is waiting, is being newly implemented or upgraded at more than 2,400 signals
