Passengers board and disembark a Los Angeles Metro bus at the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Several LA Metro bus routes in Los Angeles County are expected to increase service in an effort to get riders to their destinations faster.
Based on direct feedback from customers and bus operators, as well as a review of ridership and travel time data, Metro will provide more frequent, reliable bus service and an improved travel experience on multiple routes starting June 23. The transit agency aims to reduce wait times at stops, increase frequency during peak travel times and extend some bus routes.
According to Metro, bus ridership in the San Fernando Valley is growing faster than the rest of the country, and to accommodate this growth, Metro will begin running buses every 10 minutes on the 152 at Roscoe Boulevard and the 166 at Nordhoff Street.
Route 152 will operate eastbound trips every 10 minutes from 7AM to 9AM and westbound trips every 10 minutes from 3PM to 5PM. Route 166 will operate westbound trips every 10 minutes from 6AM to 8AM and eastbound trips every 10 minutes from 4PM to 6PM. Each will add new weekday trips to their schedules: approximately 7 trips on Route 152 and approximately 8 trips on Route 166.
Additionally, Line 158 will add 25 trips between Moorpark Street/Van Nuys Boulevard and Van Nuys Boulevard/Woodman Avenue, and the weekday frequency of the section of Line 158 along Woodman Avenue will increase from 60 minutes to 30 minutes.
Route 165 at Vanowen Street will add two eastbound trips on weekdays between 3pm and 5pm.
Route 169 on Saticoy Street will add one additional westbound trip between Hollywood Burbank Airport and West Hills Medical Center weekdays from 6 to 7 a.m. and one eastbound trip from 4 to 5 p.m., running every 30 minutes.
Metro also plans to make changes to some bus routes serving West and Central Los Angeles.
Line 81 will relocate its northbound terminal at Eagle Rock Plaza from eastbound at Colorado Boulevard to westbound at Eagle Dale Avenue at Colorado Boulevard to accommodate the extension of Line 217 to Eagle Rock Plaza at Colorado and Eagle Dale Terminal.
The changes will require two stops to be relocated closer to Eagle Rock Plaza, and to accommodate increased ridership, the 81 will add two southbound trips during peak hours from 3 to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
The 217 will be extended from Vermont Avenue/Hollywood Boulevard through Glendale to Eagle Rock, providing easier access for passengers between Mid-City, Hollywood and Glendale. The 180 and 217 will operate every 12 minutes during daytime hours on weekdays and every 15 minutes during daytime hours on weekends, with coordinated schedules to maximize frequency on the overlapping sections.
In Westwood, Metro buses 20, 602 and 720 will no longer be able to travel through the Federal Acquisition Services building parking lot between Veterans Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard. As a result, the 602 bus will move from its existing terminus on Veterans Avenue to a new terminus on Kinross Avenue west of Gayley Avenue, and will no longer be able to use stops at Wilshire Boulevard and Veterans Avenue.
Eastbound 20 and 720 buses departing from Veterans Avenue will travel via Veterans Avenue, Santa Monica Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard.
The agency said it will be making slight adjustments to service levels on many bus routes to better match ridership and improve passenger convenience.
The agency also announced that some routes in the San Gabriel Valley, Gateway Cities and South Bay will be updated.
A full list of changes and links to the new schedules can be found at metro.net/mybus.