Today the Alliance for Community Transit (ACT-LA) hosted a three-hour bus stop activation on Vermont Avenue at Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles' multiethnic Koreatown neighborhood. It wasn't quite as newsworthy as ACT-LA's larger scale 2022 event at the Compton Metro A Line Station. The shade, refreshments and engagement were nonetheless welcomed by bus riders, looking to get out of the hot August sun.
ACT-LA used the pop-up to engage bus riders, pedestrians, and cyclists (and several- to all- of the above) regarding Metro's plan to install bus lanes on Vermont Avenue. Vermont currently carries 27,000+ daily bus riders on Metro bus routes 204 and 254. These have long been among the highest ridership lines in Southern California and even the nation.
Metro has been studying Vermont bus improvements since at least 2014. Vermont Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) upgrades are funded via 2016's Measure M sales tax, and saw various Metro studies in 2018 and in 2019. But the fiscally-cheap and politically-expensive (due to possible car lane and/or car parking removal) project doesn't appear to be anywhere near ready for the c. 2024 groundbreaking scheduled in Measure M.
Using tri-lingual outreach materials, ACT-LA was out at the curb today soliciting rider input about bus and bike lanes, and educating riders about how Vermont Avenue upgrades would mean more frequent and reliable bus service.
Learn more at ACT-LA and Metro Vermont Transit Corridor websites.
