MTA to Expand Rapid-Bus Service

The number of rapid-bus lines in Los Angeles County will more than double over the next three years, making it easier for commuters to rely on public transportation to move quickly around the region.

On Wednesday, a court-appointed mediator endorsed a Metropolitan Transportation Authority plan to meet demands for better bus service by expanding its rapid-bus program from 14 to 29 routes by 2008.

“With Metro Rapid, the MTA has added a new dimension of bus service to Los Angeles County,” special master Donald T. Bliss said in his ruling. Bliss, who oversees the MTA’s compliance with a federal consent decree to improve bus service, praised the program for offering “a distinct and valuable new service to bus riders, including the transit-dependent.”

Wednesday’s ruling came after the MTA and the Bus Riders Union failed to reach an agreement under the consent decree over how to improve bus service in the region. The decree was initiated in 1997 to settle a lawsuit filed by bus riders over declining service.

Bliss’ decision rejected a proposal by the Bus Riders Union that would have forced the MTA to -- among other things -- operate 50 shuttles in the region’s canyon areas, including the Hollywood Hills. “There has been no documented passenger demand for this kind of service,” Bliss found.

The Bus Riders Union did not return calls seeking comment.

In 2000, when the MTA rolled out rapid buses on Wilshire and Ventura boulevards, the distinctive candy-apple red vehicles were an immediate hit with riders. The buses make fewer stops, and are equipped with transponders that keep traffic lights green longer. They travel at least 20% faster than regular buses.

Rapid-bus lines have since been added to other high-traffic streets, such as Vermont Avenue and Van Nuys and Lincoln boulevards. Passengers now board the buses about 140,000 times daily, and rapid-bus riders make up about 13% of MTA’s total bus ridership of about 1.2 million a day, according to the MTA. Surveys show that about one-third of the riders on rapid buses are new to public transit.

The MTA’s success with rapid buses has garnered worldwide attention. Transit officials from more than three dozen areas -- including New York, Toronto, Taiwan and Australia -- have visited Los Angeles to learn how to replicate the program.

“The Metro Rapid program has set a new trend in the U.S.,” said Rex Gephart, director of regional transit planning for the MTA, who has led some of the tours. “The idea is to get people across town quicker.”

Metro Rapid has grown so popular that the MTA plans to introduce longer, caterpillar-like buses on some of its most heavily used routes. The buses, which have accordion-like middles, are 60 feet long and can seat 57 passengers. Currently, the Metro Rapid fleet uses 40-foot buses with 40 seats.

MTA officials said they felt gratified by Bliss’ decision. In the past, Bliss ordered a reluctant MTA to buy hundreds more buses.

“The MTA board made a commitment” to comply with the consent decree and improve bus service in the county, said Steve Carnevale, the MTA’s chief lawyer.

Bliss’ decision prohibits the MTA from cutting any other bus service to pay for the new Metro Rapid lines. Transit advocates have previously accused the MTA of gutting some bus lines to boost service elsewhere, to the detriment of some riders.

He also ordered the MTA to boost some Metro Rapid service, so that buses run at least every 10 minutes during rush hours and 20 minutes during other times, for a year.

Most of the buses already do, the MTA said.