Eyes on the Street: Red Pavement Bus Lanes in Downtown L.A.

New red bus lane on Figueroa Street in downtown L.A. - photos by Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.
New red bus lane on Figueroa Street in downtown L.A. - photos by Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.
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The first red-pavement bus lanes in the city of Los Angeles debuted last year at LAX. Now the magically effective red lane treatment has spread to downtown Los Angeles. Streetsblog spotted red paint today on Figueroa Street – aka MyFigueroa – bus lane just south of 7th Street. The red is not continuous, but thermoplastic paint patches under the words “BUS LANE” and “BUS ONLY.”

Since MyFigueroa opened, lots of drivers have been driving cars in the bus-only lanes; many drivers make illegal right turns from the bus lane onto 7th Street. For months, the city placed an LAPD motorcycle officer there to shoo cars out of the bus lane.

Earlier today, Streetsblog observed what anecdotally appears to be fewer drivers than usual in the now higher-visibility bus lane, though it is unclear if this is a trend.

RedBusLane1
High visibility red tells drivers this is a bus lane

The city Transportation Department (LADOT) and Metro are collaborating on several bus lane projects downtown. New bus lanes on 5th and 6th Street are expected to be striped any day now.  Resurfacing started just over a week ago, and is now done on those streets. Future bus lanes are also coming to Aliso Street, Olive Street, and Grand Avenue.

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