Evaluation Shows ‘MOVE Culver City’ Transit/Walk/Bike Pilot A Big Success

Protected bike lanes and dedicated bus lanes installed as parts of the MOVE Culver City project. Photo by Joe Linton/Streetsblog
Protected bike lanes and dedicated bus lanes installed as parts of the MOVE Culver City project. Photo by Joe Linton/Streetsblog

Culver City recently released a Mid-Pilot Evaluation Report showing data that confirms the success of the city’s MOVE Culver City project. Located in the city’s downtown, MOVECC reallocated roadway space away from driving, to instead support transit, bicycling and walking. The evaluation shows that the project met its intentions: increased walking, bicycling, and transit ridership, and minimal delays to drivers.

MOVE Culver City by the numbers – via MOVECC report

MOVE Culver City was implemented in late 2021. It represents a rare Southern California example of a city strategically embracing green transportation at its very core, not just where it is relatively uncontroversial (which is to say where it is unlikely to even modestly delay drivers). Culver City installed transit, walk and bike improvements exactly where they are most needed. (And some upset drivers have expressed their criticism of MOVECC changes.)

MOVECC connects the city’s popular walkable downtown commercial center – with dining, retail, entertainment, and civic center – to the city’s nearby Metro E Line light rail station. The city, not known for especially high levels of transit ridership, reallocated 2.6 miles of driving lane into bus-only lane, plus added a new Downtown Circulator shuttle. The transit upgrades were accompanied by extensive curb extensions that converted roadway into safe walking space, and just over a mile of protected bike lanes, which connect the E Line bike path.

xxx
MOVECC space allocation – via MOVECC report

Before the project 100 percent of roadway space had been given over to driving. Post-implementation, 56 percent of space is allocated to green transportation modes.

Note also that MOVECC is a quick-build project. The total project cost, including design and outreach, was under $3 million. Though planning and community outreach got underway around five years ago, project installation utilized relatively low-cost materials: paint, plastic bollards, signage, planters, removable platforms, and the like. This allowed the city to install improvements cheaply and quickly, and to inexpensively tinker with a few aspects of the project, responding to on-the-ground activity.

And, at least so far, MOVE Culver City worked.

Really well.

xxx
MOVECC increased bus ridership, bicycling, and walking – with minimal delays to driving. Percentages graphic from MOVECC fact sheet.

Per the city’s evaluation, MOVECC resulted in a 52 percent increase in bus ridership, a 32 percent increase in bicycling, and an 18 percent increase in walking.

xxx
Bicycling (up 98 percent) and walking (up 23 percent) increased dramatically after MOVECC improvements. Image via MOVECC report

Some sections of the project saw even higher numbers. For example, at the intersection of Culver Boulevard and Main Street, bicycling increased 98 percent.

xxx
MOVECC’s six-month evaluation showed slightly increased car traffic volumes, morning driving time improved by one minute, and evening peak driving time increased by two minutes. Chart via MOVECC report

Adverse impacts to drivers have been minimal. The evaluation shows that even though car traffic increased slightly (six percent) over the past year, drive times are essentially unchanged. During the morning peak, average driving time improved by one minute. Evening peak experienced an average delay of two minutes.

City survey responses showed that people are spending more time in the project area, walking and biking there more often, and taking the Metro E Line often. Respondents felt more comfortable walking, biking, and taking transit with Move Culver City improvements in place.

The downtown improvements are intended to be phase 1, with additional quick-build phases slated for Sepulveda Boulevard and Jefferson Boulevard. Culver City has several other initiatives that dovetail with MOVECC, including citywide parking reform, new two-way protected bike lanes, and bike path upgrades.

Read the city’s Move Culver City evaluation report: one-page fact sheet or full eleven-page report.

But don’t take their word for it. Grab your family, your cousins, maybe your walking shoes and your bike – and take the E Line to Culver City Station and see it for yourself. The improvements are dramatic.

Painted curb extensions xxxx
MOVE Culver City painted curb extensions

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Culver City Walks, Not Runs, Towards Transportation Sustainability

|
Following the decline of the studios in the 1960’s and 1970’s, Culver City had to reinvent itself.  In the 1990’s, the city once commonly referred to as “The Heart of Screenland” undertook an aggressive campaign to revitalize their Downtown area that was mostly successful in attracting businesses and tourists to bolster the city’s economy.  Today, nearly […]

Help LASB Cover Culver City This Week

|
This week, Streetsblog begins its month-long series examining the impact of five public health grants awarded by the L.A. County Department of Public Health in 2008.  The goal of the Policies for Livable, Active Communities and Environments (PLACE) Grants is to change the character of community plans to encourage more walking, bicycling and active lifestyles.  The […]

Notes from Saturdays Bicycle and Pedestrian Meeting in Culver City

|
Photo: Ron Milam (If you live in Culver City, get your comments in on how you’d like your city to improve things for "people powered transportation" by June 18! – DN) Approximately 75 people participated in the bicycle and pedestrian planning process in Culver City on June 12th for a three-hour community workshop. The workshop […]

Eyes on the Street: Faulty Pedestrian Detour at Expo Phase 2 Construction

|
Yesterday, Michael MacDonald @topomodesto tweeted two images that highlight L.A.’s lack of accomodation for pedestrians. The photos were taken on eastbound Venice Boulevard at Culver Boulevard, one block west of the Metro Expo Line Culver City Station. Expo Phase 2 construction has blocked pedestrians from walking on Venice Boulevard’s south sidewalk. This sidewalk is where […]