Express/Rapid Bus Opportunities for Priority Bus Transit in the Washington Region Sponsored by National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board Chun Wong, PE Transportation Engineer City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation June 24, 2009

Project History Public dissatisfied with slow bus service Metro average bus speeds have declined by 12% since mid-1980s LADOT found that 50% of the time a bus is in service it is stopped Metro and LADOT formed Metro Rapid Program

Page 3 Current Status  A total of 26 Metro Rapid lines fully operational as of Dec  Approximately 400 miles of services provided  Average weekday boarding is 250,000 and close to the combined ridership of Metro Rail lines (Red Line, Blue Line, Green Line and Gold Line)  High customer satisfaction

Metro Rapid (BRT) Attributes 1. Frequent Service 2. Transit Priority Systems 3. Headway-based Schedules 4. Simple Route Layout 5. Less Frequent Stops 6. Integrated with Local Bus Service 7. Level Boarding 8. Color-coded Buses and Stations 9. High Capacity Buses 10. Exclusive Lanes 11. Off-vehicle Fare Payment 12. Bus Feeder Network Primary Attributes Expansion Attributes

Page 5 Los Angeles Metro Rapid

Metro Rapid Station Refinement Lower, flatter canopy Smaller kiosk to fit on narrow sidewalks Added seats to integrated lean- bars Reduced power consumption

LADOT Transit Priority Systems (TPS) Metro Rapid Bus Metro Orange Line Passenger Information System Transit Priority Manager Mobile Internet Passenger System Street Embedded Bus SensorTransponder Transit Graphics iTRAQ

Page 9 Transit Priority Systems  Uses loops and transponders  Reduces bus delay and assists in maintaining bus spacing

Passenger Information Real-time next bus information at stations Real-time next bus information over the internet:

i Transit Report And Query (iTRAQ) Web Interfaces

Less Frequent Stops – Local bus0.2 miles – Limited stop0.3 – Metro Rapid0.7 – Orange Line1.0 – LRT1.0

Typical Station Locations Local Bus Metro Rapid

Local Bus Metro Rapid Typical Station Locations

Bus Signal Priority - Wireless Bus Signal Priority - Wireless

Uses an onboard processing unit Request transmitted via wireless communications technology

Processing Unit, GPS & Communications Equipment Typical on-bus processing unit On-Bus Equipment On-Bus Equipment GPS/WLAN roof mount antenna

Page 19 Program is a Success Reduced Passenger Travel Times  Wilshire/Whittier Corridor – up to 33%  Ventura Corridor – up to 25%  Broadway Corridor – up to 35%  Vermont Corridor – up to 40% Increased Corridor Ridership  Wilshire/Whittier Corridor – 49% increase  Ventura Corridor – 45% increase  Broadway – 17% increase  Vermont – 4% increase Attracted New Riders  1/3 of ridership increase are new riders to public transit

Page 20 Metro Orange Line  October 28, 2005  Over 83,000 people rode the line on opening day

Page 21 Grade Crossings  6 park & ride lots  8 miles of bike lanes  80 acres of landscaping  14 mile exclusive ROW  14 stations

Page 22 Pedestrian Crossings Four Pedestrian Crossings

Station Layout

Page 24 Orange Line is a Success  25,000 weekday boardings  1/3 of Orange Line customers are new riders to transit  77% of Metro customers who previously drove or carpooled indicated reduced travel times  Safety record has improved significantly

The End