LA Metro expands bus priority lanes in West Hollywood

New bus priority lanes along La Brea Avenue were celebrated Friday as city and transit leaders say they are part of a larger project to speed up transit service and improve its reliability. 

Metro, the City of Los Angeles, and West Hollywood celebrated the opening of the 5.7-mile round trip stretch of bus priority lanes running north and south on La Brea Avenue. The lanes also run from Sunset Boulevard on the north side down to Olympic Boulevard on the south end.

Metro says the new lanes benefit the 12,000 daily bus riders on the route, most of whom are low-income, people of color who rely on bus routes to get to and from work.

This project has been years in the making and L.A. Metro board member and Mayor Karen Bass said the new lanes will increase speed on this bus route by 15 percent.

"This will save time for working families. This priority lane can make a difference in people's lives by making it easier for them to access opportunities because many residents that live along this corridor rely only on the bus to get around and use the bus system at least five times per week," said Bass.  

"So we must continue to do more to make our bus system faster and more reliable so that this system can truly become a system of choice that delivers for our current and future riders."

This is just one phase in the NextGen Bus plan, aimed at increasing ridership, offering faster and more reliable services, and lower emission busses.

Florence Avenue in South Los Angeles and Sepulveda Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley will be the next areas to see priority bus-only lanes.