Wilshire bus-lanes plan to get $23.3 million from FTA

The Federal Transit Administration announced today that it would award $23.3 million over the next two years to help fund bus lanes on a portion of Wilshire Boulevard through the heavily congested Westside.

The lanes will be used during the morning and evening rush hours and would stretch from the Santa Monica-Los Angeles boundary to Valencia Street, which is just west of downtown Los Angeles. The project does not include the part of Wilshire that traverses the city of Beverly Hills.

Rex Gephart, director of regional transit planning for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said that his agency did not have time to consult Beverly Hills officials before the application deadline last fall. He said that local money is in hand to complete the $27-million project and the lanes could open by early 2011.

The bus lanes will be next to the curb, and private vehicles making right-hand turns will be allowed in them. City of Los Angeles transportation officials have estimated that the lanes will allow buses to improve their average speed during rush hour from below 12 miles per hour to about 16 mph and shave up to 12 minutes off a bus trip between Santa Monica and downtown.

Also today, FTA Administrator Sherry Little announced that the federal government had committed $50 million next year to continue preliminary work on a planned 22.7-mile extension of Metrolink commuter rail service that would connect the cities of Riverside and Perris.

steve.hymon@latimes.com