Metro’s Union Station Patsaouras Plaza Busway Station is Open

By Dana Gabbard
Nov 2, 2020

Pasaouras Plaza Busway Station ribbon-cutting - left to right are Metro Boardmembers John Fasana and Jacqueline Dupont-Walker, and Metro Chief of Staff Nadine Lee. Image via Facebook Live

Yesterday was the opening of Metro’s new Patsaouras Plaza Busway Station at Union Station. The project page on the Metro website describes it thusly:

Adjacent to Union Station in downtown L.A., the Patsaouras Plaza Busway Station is a new transit busway station for the Metro J Line (Silver) and other transit buses operating on the El Monte Busway.

The busway station is located south of Patsouras Transit Plaza in the median of the El Monte Busway next to US-101, and makes it easy and safe for J Line (Silver) and other Metro and Foothill Transit bus riders to access Union Station to make transit connections to bus, light rail and heavy rail (including Metrolink and Amtrak).

Where the new busway station is located - map via Foothill Transit — Where the new Union Station busway station is located – map via Foothill Transit

Operational changes serving the new busway station - map via Foothill Transit — Operational changes serving the new busway station – map via Foothill Transit

This past Friday, Metro hosted a ribbon cutting for the station, notable in part as likely being one of the last events to be attended the city of Duarte’s John Fasana in his capacity as a Metro Board member. Fasana is retiring in December after serving on the board since the agency’s inception in 1993.

As of Sunday the following bus lines shifted from the now closed Arcadia Street/Alameda Street (El Monte Busway) stop to the Patsaouras Plaza Busway Station:

Metro J Line (Silver) 910/950 and 487
Foothill Transit 490, 493, 495, 498, 499, 699 and Silver Streak

The contractors who designed and built the station both have a page on it on their websites.

Metro's professional drone photo of the Union Station busway station — Metro’s professional drone photo of the Union Station busway station

What the new Union Station busway station looks like from the ground - near the Ramirez Street Denny's. Photo by Joe Linton — What the new Union Station busway station looks like from the ground – near the Ramirez Street Denny’s. Photo by Joe Linton

An excellent overview of the station is to be found in the latest Quarterly Status Report (dated March 2020). Steve Hymon’s post on Metro’s blog The Source on the station’s opening includes numerous photos of the new facility. A local busfan has posted a YouTube video made before the opening that shows the station at night from across the 101 Freeway. Metro has also posted a YouTube video showcasing artist Ned Kahn’s “Wind Bridge” art installation.

Later this week, Dana Gabbard is planning a follow-up post on the tangled history of the project and its unbuilt predecessor.