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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Wednesday, May 03, 2006
WHY L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION #5: "turnout lane for buses"/MTA vs. Big Blue Bus
Thursday, April 27, 2006
"WHY" L.A. traffic sucks #3: Bus'em and clog'em
Before proposing solutions, we might want to figure out WHY L.A. traffic sucks so bad. "WHY" there is a problem might yield some answers on "HOW" to solve it.
WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #3: BUS'EM AND CLOG'EM!
How do you move millions of car-less angelenos from home to work or from home to the ocean? By bus, of course.
While buses, as part of a public transportation systeam are good to move more people with fewer vehicles, in a city where millions refuse to take them and prefer to drive, they slow down traffic with their constant start and stops. There are thousands of buses on the road at any one time in L.A. and while they are moving many angelenos around who otherwise wouldn't have the means to move around, they are also clogging L.A.'s arteries. I have a few very good suggestions on how to minimize their impact on traffic and keep it flowing.
Here's the typical scenario: Wilshite Boulevard from Westwood to the 405 Freeway. I dare ANYONE to get on the far right lane and not get caught somehow either behind a bus or behind the line of cars trying to get on the 405. You can be nicely zooming west down Wilshire and looking forward to being in Brentwood in 5 minutes. You get to Westwood and you're invariably caught in a jam.
A great part of that jam is caused by the great number of MTA buses (720 Red Rapid ones) stopping to drop off passengers between Westwood Blvd. and Gayley. The jam is compounded by the great number of buses turning right onto Wilshire from UCLA. While they are not stopping there, they are feeding into Wilshire and clogging this stretch between Westwood Blvd. and Sepulveda. The rest of the jam is caused by the great number of cars trying to get on the right lane to get on the 405 past Sepulveda. This stretch of Wilshire east of the 405 between Westwood and Sepulveda is always a mess. West of the 405, between Sepulveda and San Vicente, this streetch of Wilshire is also usually a mess. The great number of cars feeding into Wilshire off of the 405 in both directions is also contributing to the jam.
There is construction on this stretch of the 405. Appararently, they are trying to widen the freeway at this point (great!), and hopefully, they are also trying to re-do the terrible entraces to and exits from the freeway (hope so!), which are also contributing to the jam. I have no idea exactly what they are doing. But my concern right now is not with the freeway (the 405 is a "monster" that needs major cosmetic surgery! We'll leave that to the powers-that-be), but with those buses, especially those on the westbound stretch of Wilshire from Westwood Blvd. to Veteran. Those buses, multitudes of them, are stopping right there and slowing down traffic.
SOLUTION #3: WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT? BUSTOP "INDENTS"! [aka, "bus pullouts" or "bus turnouts"]
I don't know exactly what this is called in traffic lingo, but I'm going to call it "INDENTING." The ONLY way that buses can stop and unload or pick up passangers without disturbing and slowing down traffic is by creating "INDENTS."
What's an "indent"? Ever seen the old Beverly Hills post office on Santa Monica Blvd. between Beverly Dr. and Canon Dr.? This post office has a beautiful "indent," a carving off the road where buses can stop without affecting traffic. Buses stop at this "indent" off Santa Monica Blvd. and traffic keeps flowing undisturbed. "Indents" like this one need to be built all over the L.A. area, but especially on that westbound stretch of Wilshire between Westwood Blvd. and Veteran.
Where can such an "indent" be built? Easy. On the block between Gayley and Veteran, past the corner where there is a Hollywood Video store, there is nothing but a parking lot. Part of this parking lot can be "carved" to create an "indent" for buses to stop and let traffic flow undisturbed down Wilshire. Such an indented busstop would not only help traffic but also bus passengers. If you are riding the bus down Wilshire, you have to choose between taking the Red Rapid 720 on the busstop mid-block west of Westwood Blvd. or or the No. 20 on the north-east corner of Westwood and Wilshire: their busstops are on either side of Westwood Blvd. (I used to curse the heavens and the earth and whoever came up with that stupid idea every time I had to wait for a bus to go down Wilshire at that intersection). By relocating both busstops to an indented busstop between Gayley and Veteran, both passengers and traffic would benefit.
So-called "bus lanes" are NOT a good idea. To dedicate one lane sorely needed for traffic exclusively to buses, like they do in parts of downtown Santa Monica, is to compound, NOT solve the problem. While no one wants to be behind a bus because of their relatively slow speed and constant stops, knowing that buses have a place to stop without disturbing the flow of traffic behind them will encourage people to drive behind buses and just go with the flow. It will discourage zig-zagging between the right and center lanes to avoid being behind the bus. This zig-zagging slows down traffic as drivers step on their brakes to avoid hitting the cars coming onto their lanes.
"Busstop indents" are the kind of SOLUTION to a traffic problem that won't cost millions but will make a difference. Small but powerful ideas like this one is what's needed to solve L.A.'s traffic problem. This idea by itself won't solve the problem but together in concert with all these other ideas, it will have a significant impact on the flow of traffic throughout the L.A. area.
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