WHY L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION #5: "turnout lane for buses"/MTA vs. Big Blue Bus

WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS: OPEN DISCUSSION #5: "turnout lane for buses"/MTA vs. Big Blue Bus [Big Blue Bus rocks! MTA sucks!]

Wad [Posted by Wad to L.A. traffic sucks: Let's fix it! at 4/29/2006 07:21:38 PM]:

MTA is responsbile for running the buses, but it cannot singlehandedly demand a turnout lane for buses. The roads and sidewalks are still the jurisdiction of the individual cities.

The only way anything will ever get done is if the agencies settle their turf disputes beforehand. And some cities would not take a turnout lane, because at most it is a half lane cut in, and if a bus parks, you'd still have to merge into the other lane to pass it. A turnout needs to be at least 120 inches in order to fully isolate the bus. This is infeasible in many cases, because sidewalks need to maintain a minimum width.

As for Big Blue Bus taking over bus service countywide, the city of Santa Monica does not want to oversee the county's transportation problem. Big Blue Bus is one of the original munis; it's been around since the 1920s and bought out its private competitor in the 1960s. Other than brand value, there's no possibility that it would happen.

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Posted by Wad to L.A. traffic sucks: Let's fix it! at 4/29/2006 07:21:38 PM

italianesco replies:

Thanks for the comments and the clarification.

On the "turnout lane for buses":

I didn't say it was going to be easy, did I? See why I feel tempted to add L.A. traffic to the list of things that have NO solution right after "DEATH" and "THE MIDDLE EAST"? :-)

I brought up the issue of the "turnout lane for buses" (or "pullout" like calwatch calls it or "indent" like I call it) mostly in regards to the great problem created by all those buses, especially the MTA 720 Red Rapid buses, around the intersection of Wilshire and Westwood. I have dealt with this issue at length already on several posts. I have also pointed out that there is a PARKING LOT on the very next block. And I would go so far as to scrap the whole "turnout lane for buses" idea and suggest a new one: TURN THAT WHOLE PARKING LOT INTO A BUS STATION FOR ALL THE BUSES THAT GO THROUGH WESTWOOD.

That intersection is a mess, a mess compounded by the fact that ALL buses in that area lead to UCLA. So the number of buses feeding into Wilshire from Westwood and from Wilshire into Westwood is clogging that intersection. The number of cars trying to get on the right lane (a bit prematurely) to stay on course to enter the 405 is also clogging the area and compounding the problem (who would ever think of designing both freeway entrances to the north and south on the same right lane?). That parking lot would make a GREAT bus station or bus depot or whatever you call it for that whole area. I don't know who the parking lot belongs to or whether the MTA, the Big Blue Bus and the Culver City Green Line Bus would even consider purchasing it together. All I know is that it's an idea whose time has come!

On the MTA vs. Big Blue Bus:

Thanks for the clarification and the bit of background history on the Big Blue Bus. Yes, I know I'm pipe-dreaming there. All I know is that the MTA sucks and the Big Blue Bus stands out for great service. The Big Blue Bus is like Southwest Airlines. The MTA is like... well, think of some airline that sucks! Competition drives the marketplace. If these were two businesses going head-to-head, I have NO doubt who'd win. The only problem here is that the consumer, the transit rider, is the only one who loses. The "pie" has been divided: you take this part of town and I take the rest. And we, the consumers, are stuck in the middle.

If the MTA mechanics strike of 2003 proved anything, it is that "monopoly" sucks. The MTA has practically a "monopoly" on certain areas of L.A. (Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Miracle Mile...). So at the time of the strike, the Big Blue Bus could take you as far as Westwood. If you needed to get to Hollywood or beyond, you were out in the cold, out of luck. If I want to fly to Vegas and, say, United is not flying, I have a choice: a lot of other airlines. In L.A. if the MTA is not "flying," I am you-know-what. How can that be? This is why people give up on public transportation in America, and only those who can't afford a car (and the parking in L.A.!), ride the bus. Then you have millions of cars on the road and you have gridlock everywhere.
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