A first-of-its kind transit line — called a Bus Rapid Transit or BRT — that will take riders on electric buses traveling on a combination of dedicated bus lanes, freeway lanes and mixed-flow traffic lanes will carry up to 30,000 riders a day between North Hollywood and Pasadena, LA Metro reported.
LA Metro kicked off major construction of the North Hollywood to Pasadena BRT on Wednesday at a VIP ground-breaking event held at Glendale City Hall. The project will run 19.5 miles with 22 specially designed bus stations winding through North Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale, Eagle Rock and Pasadena at a cost of $429 million.
Completion is expected by February 2028, said Anthony Crump, LA Metro’s executive officer of community relations. The contract to build the project was awarded by LA Metro on Dec. 5, 2024.
Many speakers touted the fast-bus project as the first direct mass transit line connecting the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, calling it the “missing link” between two major population centers in Los Angeles County.
“We are breaking ground on a project that will meaningfully reduce travel time and greenhouse gases, while connecting job centers, schools, and neighborhoods across the two valleys. This is long overdue and much needed,” said Fifth District LA County Supervisor and LA Metro board member Kathryn Barger.
The route from the west starts at the North Hollywood Metro B, D Line and G (Orange) Line station, then runs south on the 134 Freeway, exits onto Olive Avenue in Burbank and through the Media District and downtown, then onto Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale, through downtown and onto Central Avenue and East Broadway; continues on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock and past Figueroa Street enters the 134 Freeway again and exits at Fair Oaks Avenue and onto Holly Street at the Metro A Line Memorial Park Station; it continues on Colorado in Pasadena with stops at Los Robles Street and on to Pasadena City College with a stop on Hill Avenue between Green and Colorado, near the PCC Faculty Parking Lot.
The dedicated or “bus-only” routes run on the side of the streets, at the curb or down the median, depending on the street. Mixed flow travel occurs when on the freeway and in Pasadena.
A dispute arose almost four years ago, when the city of Burbank, and some businesses, opposed the use of dedicated bus-only lanes on Olive Avenue. On May 19, LA Metro sued the city to get them to release construction permits that would allow turning two of the four lanes on Olive Avenue from mixed-use into bus-only lanes, leaving two lanes, one in each direction, for all vehicles including cars.
The city and businesses have said this will snarl regular car traffic and prevent people from stopping at local businesses. Karen Ross, co-owner of Tallyrand Restaurant, an iconic establishment famous for their turkey meals, pot roast and breakfast items, said customers trying to reach the eatery at 1700 W. Olive Ave. will be deterred. She fears the road diet with exclusive BRT lanes will reduce business, she told this newspaper in February 2024.
Glendale City Councilmember and long-time LA Metro board member Ari Najarian, who proposed the BRT idea back in 2015, referenced the dispute with Burbank at the ground-breaking ceremony, but without naming the city.
“Sometimes the decision to approve quality of life in a community is unpopular,” he began in his remarks to about 75 people in attendance. “Leadership means pushing forward against naysayers and against the ignorant city officials both in our city and next door.”
Konstantine Anthony, a Burbank City Councilmember in favor of the BRT who attended the ceremony, said in an interview that he wants both sides to agree using facts about other successful BRTs with road diets in other states. He would not comment directly on the litigation and whether it would be resolved in a timely matter and not delay the project.
He favors BRTs with dedicated lanes for buses because they’ve proven to be safer by decreasing traffic accidents and pedestrian injuries.
No elected official from Burbank spoke at the ceremony put on by LA Metro.
Janet Diel, a former Burbank transportation commissioner, did speak in favor, giving a strong endorsement of the project from the podium.
“I grew up taking buses. My son rode a bus to Glendale Community College. So a BRT is in our hearts,” she said. Diel added that Burbank would benefit from buses running mostly on bus-only lanes because rides are quicker than buses stranded in traffic.
Crump, in an interview, said the BRT as configured would produce a ride that is 44% quicker than existing mass transit options, which would be regular buses, and/or taking Metrolink. “All the passengers would get a faster experience. We are looking at time saving of 44%,” he said.
From end to end, a complete ride would take about 67 minutes, said Anthony Defrenza, LA Metro deputy executive officer for project management in an interview on May 20. BRT riders who go only part of the way, say from Glendale to Burbank or Pasadena to Burbank would experience a much shorter ride time, Defranza said. Also, ride times may be shorter depending on the time of day, he added.
Barger, at the event Wednesday, said without the new BRT it takes 1 hour 15 minutes and up to 2 hours using Metrolink commuter rail and buses, with transfers required. Most travel by car to reach Hollywood studios such as DreamWorks Animation, Disney and Warner Bros, in Glendale and Burbank, or Parsons and Caltech in Pasadena. Both the 134 and 210 freeways connecting the two valleys are increasingly overloaded, a problem LA Metro hopes the BRT can help reduce.
“We need rapid transit. Our population in Burbank is tripling, due to people coming in and working at the studios,” said Diel.
About 700,000 vehicles ride daily in the corridor for the BRT, making it one of the most heavily traveled corridors in Los Angeles County without a premium transit service, Metro reported.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian said the project would open up connections for San Fernando Valley residents to Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena and vice versa. “When going to the San Fernando Valley, if you try to make that trip on public transit it can be unbearably slow,” he told the audience. “Los Angeles is a world class metropolis. We need to start acting like one.”
Train riders waiting for the A Line at the Memorial Park Station in Pasadena said they would try out the new BRT from the nearby train station.
“I am using public transportation more and more. I’m comfortable with the train. So when the (BRT) opens, I will ride it,” said Nick Trebovic, a Pasadena resident.
Likewise, Charlene Palka, of Pasadena, said the new BRT might coax her to go to the San Fernando Valley. “It sounds good to me. We need more alternatives and I like to take the bus,” she said.
Construction already is underway at two locations in Pasadena: on Holly Street, adjacent to the A Line station, and at Colorado and Lake. In both places, lanes are reduced to one lane. On Lake Avenue, cars waiting in long queues last week made illegal U-turns to find side streets to avoid the lane closures.
Seven years ago, former Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek opposed the extension to PCC, saying bigger bus stops required by the BRT would block the floats in the Tournament of Roses Parade.
LA Metro has agreed to finish construction in Pasadena by end of November, with the final construction taking place near PCC and at Los Robles Street and Colorado Boulevard, said Jenny Cristales-Cevallos, deputy director of transportation for the city.
“They would have to adhere to the construction moratorium” after that, so as not to affect the Rose Parade, she said.
She said Metro has agreed to build bus stations on Colorado Boulevard that are removable. They will be taken down to allow room for viewers and floats, she said. Even so, she said the bus stop structures are on the sidewalks and on curb extensions and do not obstruct the right-of-way.
One restaurant, Lunasia Signature, at Colorado and Lake, has been affected by fencing around its entrance, and cement work in front of its new building. The new restaurant moved from its location further west near Marengo Avenue a few months ago.
“Our reservations are really down because they see the inconvenience of coming in,” said Sky, who did not give her last name. She is a host at the restaurant. She said Mother’s Day business was down because the entrance blocks a ramp used for wheelchair access. Also, the entrance on Colorado is difficult to reach.
A man who lives at the Holly Street Apartments who declined to give his name, say he doesn’t take public transit. But walking to Old Pasadena from his apartment is a little more difficult with the construction. “There is not a clear path to cross across Holly Street into the apartment complex. You just walk through the center of the street,” he said.
Nader Asmar, principal engineer for Pasadena’s Mobility, Engineering and Operations Department, said he has received a few complaints about the lane closures. He said most complained about parking being affected. He said his department has made traffic signal adjustments to allow for better flow through single lanes.