Los Angeles Metro Busway

Metro Busway (previously known as Metro Liner and Metro Transitway) is a system of limited-stop bus services with bus rapid transit (BRT) features that operate primarily along exclusive or semi-exclusive roadways known locally as a "busway" or "transitway." There are currently two lines in the system, the G Line (formerly Orange Line) in the San Fernando Valley, and the J Line (formerly Silver Line) between El Monte, Downtown Los Angeles and San Pedro. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) operates the system.

Metro Busway

Overview
Locale	Los Angeles County, California
Transit type	Bus rapid transit
Number of lines	2
Number of stations	28
Daily ridership	42,334 (average weekday, May 2016)[1]
Operation
Began operation	2005
Operator(s)	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)
Technical
System length	60 mi (96.6 km)
System map

The first route to open was the Orange Line, a BRT service which began operating on October 29, 2005, and runs along the exclusive Orange Line Busway. The Silver Line, a freeway express route which runs along the pre-existing Harbor Transitway and El Monte Busway, began operating on December 13, 2009.

Metro Busway routes are designed to mimic Metro Rail services, in both the vehicle's design and their operation. Buses on both lines use a silver livery (similar to the one used on Metro Rail), passengers can board at any door, and vehicles receive priority at intersections. Like Metro Rail, Metro Busway operates on a proof-of-payment system, and passengers who have a fare product loaded onto a TAP card can board from any door. TAP cards can be purchased at ticket vending machines (TVMs) located at most stations.

Current System

Lines

Metro Busway lines are named as part of the naming scheme used for Metro Rail lines, however, the colored icons for the Metro Busway lines are squares instead of the circles used for Metro Rail lines.

Two Metro Busway lines operate in Los Angeles County:[2]

Line name	Opening[2]	Length[2]	Stations[2]	Termini
G Line	2005	22 mi (35 km)	17	North Hollywood (east) Chatsworth (north)
J Line	2009[lower-alpha 1]	38 mi (61 km)	11	El Monte Station (east) Harbor Gateway Transit Center (south) San Pedro (south)

1. While the roadways the Silver Line operates on opened as the El Monte Busway in 1973 and as the Harbor Transitway in 1996, the Silver Line was not established as a through route until 2009.

Corridors

These services operate on three corridors (in addition to city streets, where necessary):

• Orange Line Busway
• El Monte Busway
• Harbor Transitway/Harbor Freeway

Facilities

These are Metro's maintenance facilities that facilitates the Liner buses:

• Division 8 (West Valley)
• Division 9 (El Monte/San Gabriel Valley)
• Division 18 (South Bay)

History

Main article: History of Los Angeles Metro Rail and Busway

The following table shows the timeline of BRT expansions:

Segment description	Date opened	Line(s)	Endpoints	# of new stations	Busway length (miles)
Metro Orange Line initial segment	October 29, 2005	Orange	North Hollywood station to Warner Center Transit Hub	13	14
Canoga station	December 27, 2006	Orange	Canoga station	1 [Note 1]	−
Metro Silver Line initial segment	December 13, 2009	Silver	El Monte Station to Harbor Gateway Transit Center	8	26
37th Street/USC station	December 12, 2010	Silver	37th Street/USC station	1 [Note 2]	−
Metro Orange Line Chatsworth Extension	June 30, 2012	Orange	Canoga station to Chatsworth station	4	4
Metro Silver Line San Pedro Extension	December 13, 2015	Silver	Harbor Gateway Transit Center to San Pedro (Pacific/21st Street)	2	8
Warner Center Shuttle	June 24, 2018	Orange	Canoga to Warner Center segment removed	-1 [Note 3]	−
				28	44

Notes:

1. Canoga was an infill station on the Metro Orange Line, which opened one year later in 2006. The station was built to provide a parking lot near the Warner Center western terminus.
2. When the Metro Silver Line station opened in 2009, buses did not serve the existing 37th Street/USC station due to detours from the construction of the Metro Expo Line. Service to the station was added one year later in 2010.
3. The Canoga to Warner Center segment was removed and replaced with a high-frequency shuttle route that serves a larger area of the Warner Center area.

Future

Metro plans to add three additional Metro Busway lines under its Twenty-eight by '28 initiative:

• The North Hollywood-Pasadena Transit Line will run between North Hollywood station and Pasadena City College via Burbank, Glendale, and Eagle Rock.
• The North San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor will run between Chatsworth station, Northridge, Panorama City and North Hollywood station via Nordhoff and Roscoe.
• The Vermont Transit Corridor will run between Los Feliz and West Athens via Vermont Avenue.

Gallery

• 
  Metro Silver Line bus at Slauson Station.
• 
  Metro Silver Line bus with wheelchair ramp extended at Harbor Freeway Station.
• 
  Metro Silver Line arriving at LAC/USC Medical Center Station.
• 
  Metro Orange Line bus at Chatsworth Station.
• 
  Metro Orange Line route map inside a bus.
• 
  Interior of a Metro Orange Line bus.
• 
  North Hollywood Orange Line Station platform.
• 
  Metro Silver Line departing Slauson Station.
• 
  Metro Silver Line 950X Express layover in San Pedro
• 
  Orange Line bus on the busway crossing Burbank Boulevard and Fulton Avenue.
• 
  A look at the elevated Harbor Transitway that the Metro Silver Line operates on.

See also

• List of Los Angeles County Metro Liner stations

References

1. "Ridership Statistics". Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
2. "Facts At A Glance". Metro. Retrieved June 11, 2016.