Valley bus riders are experiencing the benefits of ten new miles of bus lanes on Roscoe Boulevard.
The new Roscoe bus lanes are part of Metro's North San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor project, which got under construction in May. The NSFV project includes the Roscoe bus lanes, increased weekday bus service (which started in June), and numerous bus hub/stop/shelter upgrades underway. Find project details at earlier SBLA coverage or Metro's project page.
Roscoe's new bus lanes extend from the west Valley neighborhood of Canoga Park to east Valley community of Sun Valley, with a gap at the 405 Freeway. Specifically the lanes extend from Topanga Canyon Boulevard (westbound a block less: Owensmouth Avenue) to Haskell Avenue and then from Sepulveda Boulevard to Coldwater Canyon Avenue.
The hours of operation vary somewhat. A few short stretches (places that already prohibited on-street parking, including next to the Van Nuys Airport and next to two hospitals) appear to be 24/7 bus lanes. Most of the facility operates only at weekday peak hours (7-10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m.). West of the 405, most of the westbound bus lane is in effect only during the afternoon peak.
Though some of Roscoe is fairly suburban, parts of the street essentially operate as a minor trunk for several Metro bus lines. The entirety of the new Roscoe bus lanes serve Line 152. Metro Lines 167 and 237 also benefit, traveling along parts of the new facility.
The entirety of the Roscoe lanes are marked for both bus and bike. While this is never an optimal treatment for bicycling, during off-peak times (and especially in lower-traffic areas toward the west end of the facility) cyclists easily share the relatively wide outer lane with parked cars.
The Roscoe bus lane project is just the second to open in the San Fernando Valley, after Sepulveda and Ventura Boulevards debuted in October 2023.
Roscoe now has the most bus lane miles on any street in the county. Roscoe's 10.4 miles best the formerly longest Wilshire Boulevard's eight. (It's a different type of facility, but the Valley's off-street Metro G Line Bus Rapid Transit busway is longer at 17.7 miles.)
Roscoe is the twelfth new bus lane street among recent Metro NextGen-era bus priority projects, all collaborations with the city of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT). The twelve recent bus lanes (starting with Flower Street in 2019) now total 40.1 new miles. This can also be reported as 49.9 new lane-miles, if double-counting two-way segments.
Combined with nearly a dozen miles of earlier bus lanes that preceded NextGen, the overall L.A. County bus lane total is now 51.6 miles (or 69.8 lane-miles). Find a full listing on SBLA's spreadsheet.
Addendum: Though Roscoe's bus lanes appear for all intents and purposes open, on late Friday afternoon August 30, SBLA received a statement via email from Metro spokesperson Dave Sotero that "these lanes are not officially open" as "We are still installing signs along the corridor."
