Today the Metro Board approved an additional $3.9 million for studying and designing the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments’ bus rapid transit (BRT) project. This brings the COG's project total to $8 million.
SGVCOG transit improvement plans call for two main BRT lines. East/west BRT will run on Garvey Avenue, Valley Boulevard, and Colima Road. It will feature dedicated bus lanes (for about half the length), limited stops (called stations), signal priority, and more frequent service. Perpendicular to that will be a north/south BRT line on Rosemead Boulevard. Several other north/south arteries will also get service improvements.
The project’s eventual construction is already funded by Metro’s Measure M to the tune of $635 million. The bus upgrades replace the abandoned plan to extend the E Line light rail along the 60 Freeway.
The funds Metro allocated today are to be used for finalizing designs for the 2028 “Jump Start” Projects (the lion’s share of segments with dedicated bus lanes) and the 2035 Mid-Term Horizon Plan. The money also funds outreach and environmental clearance processes.
In January 2025, the Metro Board approved conceptual engineering for five Jump Start bus lane segments expected to be implemented fairly early:
- Atlantic Blvd. from 1st St. to Garvey Ave. (City of Monterey Park)
- Garvey Ave. from Atlantic Blvd. to New Ave. (City of Monterey Park)
- Garvey Ave. from New Ave. to Rosemead Blvd. (City of Rosemead)
- Garvey Ave. from Rosemead Blvd. to Santa Anita Ave. (Cities of El Monte and South El Monte)
- Holt Ave. from Fairplex Dr. to Main St. (City of Pomona)
The first four of these segments are continuous, totaling about seven miles. They combine to improve bus service between the Metro E Line Atlantic Station to the El Monte Bus Station.
Those jump start east-west bus improvements continue eastward via a separate interconnected project. In 2024 Metro secured a $162 million federal Reconnecting Communities & Neighborhoods (RCN) grant for an extensive suite of multimodal improvements that includes ~6.6 miles of SGV bus lanes which extend south and east from El Monte Station. Via the RCN grant, Metro is working with underlying jurisdictions to install bus lanes on:
- Santa Anita Ave. from Valley Blvd. to Ramona Blvd. (City of El Monte)
- Valley Blvd. from Santa Anita Ave. to Hacienda Blvd. (Cities of El Monte and Industry, and unincorporated Avocado Heights)
The Jump Start segments are meant to be completed by the Summer 2028 Olympics. The Metro board report sets a target date of Spring 2027 to develop BRT lane configurations and finish traffic and parking studies for Jump Starts 1-4 and 6.
If all the Jump Start and RCN improvements proceed smoothly, when the Olympics arrive, SGV transit riders will enjoy about 14 miles of more-or-less continuous bus lanes (with just a couple of short gaps). These new bus lanes will make for faster bus trips all the way from East L.A. to La Puente.
Then, within about a decade, additional BRT features will overlap with and extend from those initial bus lanes, further improving SGV bus travel.
Streetsblog’s San Gabriel Valley coverage is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the A Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”Sign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays!
