Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Overview

The agency develops and oversees transportation plans, policies, funding programs, and both short-term and long-range solutions that address the county's increasing mobility, accessibility and environmental needs. The agency is also the primary transit provider for the City of Los Angeles providing the bulk of such services while the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) operates a much smaller system of its own Commuter Express bus service to outlying suburbs in the city of Los Angeles and the popular DASH (Downtown Area Short Hop) mini-bus service in downtown and other neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles. Metro has its headquarters in a high-rise building adjacent to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates the third-largest public transportation system in the United States by ridership with a 1,433 mi² (3,711 km²) operating area and 2,000 peak hour buses on the street any given business day. Metro also designed, built and now operates 105 miles (169 km) of urban rail service. The authority has 9,892 employees, making it one of the region's largest employers.

The authority also partially funds sixteen municipal bus operators and a wide array of transportation projects including bikeways and pedestrian facilities, local roads and highway improvements, goods movement, Metrolink regional commuter rail, Freeway Service Patrol and freeway call boxes within the greater metropolitan Los Angeles region.

Security and law enforcement services on Metro property (including buses and trains) are currently provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Transit Services Bureau via contract, in conjunction with Metro Transit Enforcement Department, Los Angeles Police Department and Long Beach Police Department. Between 2003 and 2008 Part I crimes have decreased 29.4% on Metro rails and 10% on the Metro buses.

In 2006, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority was named Outstanding Transportation System for 2006 by the American Public Transportation Association. Most buses and trains have "America's Best" decals affixed.

Metro Rail

Metro Rail is a rail mass transit system with two subway and four light rail lines. As of May 2016, the system runs a total of 115.9 miles, with 119 stations and over 316,000 daily weekday boardings as of February 2012.

  The Blue Line (opened 1990) is a light rail line running between Downtown Los Angeles and Downtown Long Beach.   The Red Line (opened 1993) is a subway line running between Downtown Los Angeles and North Hollywood.   The Purple Line (opened 1993) is a subway line running between Downtown Los Angeles and the Mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles. Most of its route is shared with the Red Line.   The Green Line (opened 1995) is a light rail line running between Redondo Beach and Norwalk, largely in the median of the 105 Freeway. It provides indirect access to Los Angeles International Airport via a shuttle bus.   The Gold Line (opened 2003) is a light rail line running between East Los Angeles and Azusa via Downtown Los Angeles.   The Expo Line (opened 2012) is a light rail line running between Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

Metro Liner

Metro Liner is an express bus system with characteristics of bus rapid transit with two lines operating on dedicated or shared-use busways. The system runs a total of 40 miles, with 27 stations and over 38,000 daily weekday boardings as of February 2012.

The Metro Liner system is meant to mimic the Metro Rail system, both in the vehicle's design and in the operation of the line. Vehicles stop at dedicated stations (except the Metro Silver Line portion in Downtown Los Angeles), vehicles receive priority at intersections and are painted in a silver livery similar to newer Metro Rail vehicles.

  The Metro Orange Line (opened in 2005) is a bus rapid transit line running between North Hollywood, Warner Center and select trips to Chatsworth.   The Metro Silver Line (began operation in 2009) is a fast limited-stop bus line running between El Monte, Harbor Gateway and select trips to San Pedro via Downtown Los Angeles. The portion between Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and El Monte opened in 1973 as the El Monte Busway.

Metro Bus

Metro is the primary bus operator in the Los Angeles Basin, the San Fernando Valley, and the western San Gabriel Valley. Other transit providers operate more frequent service in the rest of the county. Regions in Los Angeles County that Metro Bus does not serve at all include rural regions, the Pomona Valley, the Santa Clarita Valley, and the Antelope Valley.

Metro operates two types of bus services which are distinguished by the color of the buses. However, when mechanical problems or availability equipment occurs, a bus of any color may be substituted to continue service on the route.

Metro Local buses are painted in an off-orange color the agency has dubbed “California Poppy”. This type of service makes frequent stops along major thoroughfares. There are 18,500 stops on 189 bus lines. Some Metro Local routes make limited stops along part of their trip but do not participate in the Rapid program. Some Metro Local bus lines are operated by MV Transportation, Southland Transit, and Transdev (formerly Veolia).

Metro Rapid buses are distinguished by their bright red color the agency has dubbed “Rapid Red”. This bus rapid transit service offers limited stops on many of the county's more heavily traveled arterial streets. Metro claims to reduce passenger commute times by up to 25 percent by several methods, among them the lack of a bus schedule so that drivers are not held up at certain stops.

Metro Express buses used to be painted in a dark blue color the agency has formerly dubbed “Business Blue”, the routes are designed as premium, minimal stop services along Los Angeles's extensive freeway network. The service has been debranded in recent years. Currently there is one line, the 577.

Some Metro Local lines also use the county's freeway system along their trip. They are labeled as Express services but make more stops on their trips and are not considered to be "premium" Metro Express lines.

All Metro buses are CNG-powered, the largest such fleet in the United States. The CNG fleet reduces emissions of particulates by 90 percent, carbon monoxide by 80 percent, and greenhouse gases by 20 percent compared to diesel powered buses. Alternative fuel buses have logged more than 450 million operating miles since 1993, an industry record.

Transitways

Metro operates two transitways that carry multiple bus routes for part of their trips through Southern California. When traveling within the transitways, the buses run in express service, stopping only at stations. The transitways are meant to mimic the Metro Rail lines, because while each bus may have a different final destination passengers can board any bus and travel to any of the other stations. The two transitways are connected by a dedicated Metro Liner route, the Metro Silver Line.

El Monte Busway (opened in 1974) is a combination transitway and high-occupancy toll (HOT) roadway that runs in the median of the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10) and on a separate right-of-way. The transitway provides express bus service between Downtown Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. Services are operated by both Metro and Foothill Transit.

Harbor Transitway (opened in 1998) is a combination transitway and HOT roadway that runs in the median of the Harbor Freeway (I-110). The transitway provides express bus service between San Pedro and Downtown Los Angeles. It carries buses operated by Metro, Orange County Transportation Authority, LADOT, Gardena Municipal Bus Lines and Torrance Transit.

Other services

Metro Freeway Service Patrol: A joint effort between Metro, Caltrans, and CHP offering free quick-fix repairs and towing from freeways.

HOV (Carpool) Lanes: 219 miles (352 km), 423 miles (681 km) both directions/each lane, of carpool, vanpool, and express bus lanes.

Bike paths: 475 miles (764 km) of bikeways for commuter and recreational purposes.

Metrolink: Partially funded by Metro, it is Southern California's regional commuter rail system servicing Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and Ventura County, as well as Oceanside in San Diego County.

A bikeshare program called "Metro Bike Share" which operates within Downtown Los Angeles. The system was introduced in early 2016 at a cost $16 million and uses more than 1,000 bikes and 65 stations. Metro plans to expand it to other communities, such as Pasadena, in 2017.

Fares

The following table shows Metro fares, effective 15 September 2014 (in US dollars). All Metro passes are sold on TAP Cards, smart fare cards on which customers can load value or a pass; they are valid on all Metro buses and trains as well as most city buses.

There are faregates at some Metro Rail stations and the Orange Line that require a TAP card, but Metro as a whole operates on a proof-of-payment system. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Long Beach Police Department and Metro's fare inspectors conduct random ticket inspections throughout the system. If customers are caught without a ticket they may be fined up to US$250 and/or subject to 48 hours community service.

Fare evasion was estimated in 2007 to be at 6%, costing Metro $2.6 million annually. In response to this, the Metro board approved fare gating of all stations on the Red and Green Lines, and selected stations on the Orange, Blue, and Gold Lines, capturing 84% of passengers using the system. Adding fare gates was selected to increase fare collections, implement distance based fares on rail and transitways in the future, and reduce the potential of the system to terrorist attack. Former Metrolink executive director Richard Stanger critiqued the gate installation by citing its cost and ineffectiveness, concerns ultimately dismissed by the Metro board.

In 2007, with the consent decree with the BRU expired, Metro announced plans for a fare hike. They said that they needed to reduce their $US 100 million deficit, which would be done either by raising fares or reducing service. This proposal garnered strong opposition from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Bernard Parks, the Bus Riders Union, and low-income residents.

On 24 May 2007, the Metro board approved fare increases, which were lower than their original proposal, but eliminated the semi-monthly pass.

Measure R had all senior and disabled fares, as well as student passes, frozen at current rates thru 14 September 2014.

The Rider Relief Transportation Program (RRTP) provides fare subsidy coupons to eligible riders who purchase daily, weekly, or monthly Metro passes, TAP cash value, and EZ transit passes from participating transit systems. Eligible riders include adult regular riders, Senior/Disabled/Medicare, K–12 grade students, and college/vocational students who are pre-qualified by a participating community-based agency. RRTP subsidy coupons are available to Los Angeles County residents whose household income levels meet the following criteria. Persons in:

Household size: Annual Income

1: $25,900

2: $29,600

3: $33,300

4: $37,000

5: $39,950

6: $42,900

Residents of the Cities/County and students of schools and colleges already being subsidized for Metro fare media will not be eligible to receive the coupon subsidy.

Ridership

The Metro Red Line has the highest ridership of all the Metro Rail Lines. The Metro Red Line's operational cost is the lowest of all of the Metro Rail lines because of its highest ridership. The Metro Liner Metro Silver Line has the lowest ridership of all color-branded lines. Average daily boardings for December 2016 are as follows:

Governance

Metro is governed by a Board of Directors whose 13 members are:

The five Los Angeles County Supervisors (Solis, Ridley-Thomas, Kuehl, Hahn, Barger)

The mayor of Los Angeles (currently Chair) (Garcetti)

Three Los Angeles mayor-appointees (at least one of whom must be a L.A. City Council member)

Four city council members from cities other than Los Angeles, but within L.A. county representing those 87 cities (selected by the L.A. County City Selection Committee): currently, the representatives are from Duarte, Glendale, Lakewood, and Santa Monica

The Governor of California appoints one non-voting member (traditionally the Director of Caltrans District 7).

In addition, Service Councils, composed of political appointees from various regions of Los Angeles County, approve service changes and oversee routes within a region. There are five regions: Gateway Cities, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, South Bay, and Westside/Central. Service councils advise on planning and implementation of service within their area; call and conduct public hearings and evaluate Metro bus programs to their area; make policy recommendations to the Metro Board; and participate in quarterly meetings with the Metro Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Deputy CEO and management staff.

Service councils were created as governance councils in 2001, in response to complaints about the effectiveness of Metro service in suburban areas. Communications between sectors and riders was poor, according to a report by the California State Auditor which was released one year into the new structure. In addition, each sector had its own scheduling, operations, and maintenance divisions, causing effort duplication, organizational silos, and inefficiency. Thus, in 2009, the sectors were eliminated, and transportation, maintenance, service planning, and administration were recentralized under the guidance of Metro's Chief Operations Officer. Governance councils, renamed service councils, now have more responsibility over local issues such as stop placement and service changes, while larger issues are handled by the Metro board.

Funding

A complex mix of federal, state, county and city tax dollars as well as bonds and fare box revenue funds Metro. The Metro budget for 2015 is $5.508 billion. Below is an example of funding sources for a Metro budget many years ago, and the example below does not include an additional sales tax revenue from Measure R that passed a few years ago. Funding sources as per earlier budget.

Fleet

As part of Metro's ATMS project, most buses include a marquee displaying the date and time, Automatic Voice Annunciation (AVA) for audio and visual announcements for each stop, and an audio and visual Stop Requested announcement.

MV Transportation, Southland Transit, and Transdev are bus contractors; these contractors currently operate a few NABI 40-LFW (7300-7514), (7600-7949) series, all NABI 31-LFW (3100-3149) series, and some NFI XN40 (5600-6149) series.

Metro Local buses are painted orange ("California Poppy"), Metro Rapid buses are painted red, and Metro Silver Line buses are painted silver. Metro Local buses acquired prior to the adoption of these colors in 2004 are white with a gold stripe around the bus; these buses been painted orange during their mid-life rehabilitation (except for the 5300-series New Flyer buses assigned to Metro Rapid lines, which were repainted in red livery in 2004-05). The 7000- and 7600-series buses acquired for Metro Rapid service in 2000 and 2002 are red with a white stripe along the top (7102-7112, 7617-7618, 7628, 7643, 7646 were white with a red Metro Rapid logo on all sides and some of these buses have been repainted to standard red and white and a few have been converted to Metro Local service), but some have been repainted to the current red and silver livery. Most had been repainted beginning in 2007; some have been repainted either in the updated Metro Rapid scheme or in Metro Local colors.

Metro operates the nation's largest fleet of CNG-powered buses. The CNG fleet reduces emissions of particulates by 90%, carbon monoxide by 80%, and greenhouse gases by 20% over the 500 remaining diesel powered buses in the fleet. Alternative fuel buses have logged more than 450 million operating miles since 1993, an industry record. Metro has retired all diesel buses (not including contracted buses) and became an entirely clean-air fleet in January 2011.

Beginning December 17, 2006, Metro Local Lines 233 (Van Nuys Blvd.) and 204 (Vermont Ave.) were the first Metro Local lines to use 60-foot (18 m) NABI articulated buses (9400-9494 and some 9500-9594 series). These buses are also currently in use on Metro Local Line 40 (Hawthorne Bl./Crenshaw Bl./MLK Bl./Broadway Ave.), Metro Local Line 66 (8th Street/E. Olympic Bl.) and Metro Local Line 207 (Western Ave.).

Bicycle transportation planning

In May 2009 Metro started to set up a Multi Mobility Working Group, which may lead to a change in TDM funding for bicycle projects as detailed in a separate entry on bicycle transportation planning in Los Angeles.

History

LACMTA was formed in 1993 from the merger of two previous agencies: the Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD or more often, RTD) and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC). RTD was during the 1960s to 1980s (until the LACTC was created) the "800 pound gorilla" in bus transportation in Southern California, operating most public transportation in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties, although outlying services began to be divested in the early 1980s.

Future

Metro has expanded its Metro Rapid bus system with a goal of 28 lines since 2008. A Special Master ruling in December 2005 requires Metro to increase service on all Rapid bus routes to every 10 minutes during the peak period and every 20 minutes during the mid-day and evening. Service would be required to operate between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. on all Rapid routes. Metro has chosen not to appeal the ruling and began implementation on all Rapid routes in June 2006.

In addition, the agency is embarking on a massive bus restructuring effort entitled Metro Connections. The project is designed to convert the current grid-based bus system, implemented in 1980, to a hub and spoke system focused on activity centers. The system is to be phased in the next four years, and will include new express routes and reconfigured local service. Suburban service and low ridership shuttles will be considered for operation by municipal agencies, restructuring, or cancellation.

A new Universal Fare system called 'TAP' which stands for Transit Access Pass was introduced to the public in early 2010. The TAP smart card allows bus and rail passengers to physically tap their cards on the farebox for faster boarding. This automated fare system will eventually be implemented on eleven other Los Angeles County transit operators and intends to replace the EZ Pass which allows travel between these transit agencies for one monthly price. Commuters from surrounding cities and communities will be able to travel across the county switching from one transit operator's system to another using one smart card to pay for fares.

In 2015, Metro studied renaming its rail and bus rapid transit lines using a letter-based scheme.

Crenshaw/LAX Line

The Crenshaw/LAX Line is being built from Aviation/LAX station on the Green Line to Expo/Crenshaw station on the Expo Line, passing through Inglewood and Crenshaw, Los Angeles. It will connect with a people mover to serve Los Angeles International Airport. A further possible phase will extend the line to Hollywood to connect with the Red Line.

Gold Line Foothill Extension

Metro is planning an extension of the Gold Line into the San Gabriel Valley to the San Bernardino County border city of Montclair. The first phase of this extension, to Azusa, opened on March 5, 2016. Funding for the second phase is not yet available.

Regional Connector

The Regional Connector is a tunnel under Downtown Los Angeles, joining the Gold Line at Little Tokyo Station (1st Street and Central Avenue) to the Blue and Expo Lines at 7th Street/Metro Center. This will lead to the creation of two lines, one between Long Beach and Azusa, and the other between East Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

Purple Line Extension

Phase 1 of the Purple Line Extension will add three new subway stations at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega. Further phases will extend the line to Century City and Westwood.

West Santa Ana Transit Corridor

The West Santa Ana Branch via Stanton and Garden Grove to Santa Ana is an additional corridor identified for possible future expansion of rail or busway service. The current proposal is a light rail line with a new route from Union Station to the Green Line, then the West Santa Ana Branch right-of-way to Artesia.

Measure M

Measure M, passed on November 2016, extends and increases the Measure R thirty-year half-cent sales tax to a permanent one-cent sales tax. This tax is expected to fund $120 billion in highway and transit projects over forty years.

Projects to be funded by Measure M include:

Construction of the Aviation/96th Street station to connect the Crenshaw/LAX Line to LAX terminals via the Airport Metro Connector

Extension of the Crenshaw/LAX Line to Hollywood, connecting to the Red Line at Hollywood/Highland station

A streetcar in Downtown Los Angeles

The third segment of the Purple Line extension, from Century City to Westwood/VA Hospital

The Los Angeles County portion of the High Desert Corridor: a freeway, rail transit, and bikeway corridor linking cities in the Antelope and Victor Valleys

Bus Rapid Transit connecting the Orange and Red Lines in North Hollywood with the Gold Line in Pasadena

Conversion of the Orange Line from Bus Rapid Transit to Light Rail

Light Rail or Bus Rapid Transit along Van Nuys Boulevard to San Fernando

Light Rail along the West Santa Ana Branch from Union Station to Artesia

Bus Rapid Transit along Vermont Avenue between the Red Line at Hollywood Blvd. and the Green Line at 120th St.

Southern extension of the Green Line to Torrance Transit Center

Eastern extension of the Green Line to the Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink station

Heavy Rail or Light Rail tunnel underneath the Sepulveda Pass linking the Orange Line in the San Fernando Valley and the Purple Line at Westwood/UCLA

Rail Transit from the Purple line at Wilshire/Westwood to LAX

Extension of the Gold Line from East Los Angeles with a branch to South El Monte and a branch to Whittier next to the San Gabriel River

Bus Rapid Transit from LAX to the Expo Line at Santa Monica along Lincoln Blvd.

Bus Rapid Transit in the North San Fernando Valley

In popular culture

The Metro rail and bus fleet often make appearances in films and television shows produced in the Los Angeles area, including 2012, Crash, Volcano, Superbad, Collateral, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Battle: Los Angeles. One of the earliest appearances was in the 1994 movie Speed with Keanu Reaves and Sandra Bullock, in which the Metro plays a key part in the plot.