On Tuesday, September 13, 2005, the Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved a motion to create a bus-only lane on Lincoln Boulevard.
Among the first people to applaud the action were members of the Bus Riders Union.
The one-mile dedicated bus-only lane will function Monday through Friday during rush hours, and is meant ro increase bus travel speeds and thus improve bus service.
The Council action followed Los Angeles’s lead.
It mandated a one-mile bus-only lane on Wilshire Boulevard a year ago..
The Lincoln Boulevard Metro Rapid Bus connecting downtown Santa Monica, Marina del Rey, Playa Vista, LAX Transit Center and the Metro Green Line carries thousands of passengers daily. It has been estimated that the Lincoln Bus-Only lane will reduce travel times by as much as 20 minutes each way. In its first year, L.A.’s Wilshire bus-only lane between Centinela on the eastern border of Santa Monica and Federal has decreased rush hour travel times by 14% and increased bus reliability by up to 27%.
The Bus Riders Union, which is advocating, organizing and xhallenging local transit authorities, city governments and state and federal officials to move forward on creating dedicated Bus-Only lanes throughout the LA region to reduce auto use, expand public transit and cut air pollution.Buses on Wilshire Boulevard serve over 60,000 boardings a day, making it one of the heaviest-used transit corridors in the nation. The BRU is organizing a countywide campaign at the MTA and the LA City Council to create a Bus-only Lane network throughout the county, beginning with the expansion of Wilhsire’s one-mile project from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica beach.
