At its meeting on April 17, the Metro Board's Planning and Programming Committee will consider a staff report which recommends initiating an environmental impact report for the proposed bus rapid transit line between North Hollywood and Pasadena.

The project area - an 18-mile corridor which includes the cities of Los Angeles, Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena - currently sees more than 700,000 daily trips. Approximately $267-million in funding has been identified for the project from Measure M and SB-1 gas tax revenue.

Metro has considered multiple routes for the BRT line, including street-running alignments, freeway-running alignments, and hybrids of the two. An alternatives analysis submitted to the Metro Board indicates that based on a variety of criteria - including ridership potential and connectivity - a street-running route has been determined to be the most promising option.

A project map shows that buses would travel on a variety of major thoroughfares, including Colorado Boulevard through Eagle Rock, Glenoaks Boulevard through Glendale, Olive Avenue through Burbank, and Riverside Drive in North Hollywood. Additional route options include Colorado Boulevard, Union Street, and Green Street in Pasadena, Colorado Street, Broadway, and Central Avenue in Glendale, and Lankershim Boulevard and Vineland Avenue in North Hollywood.

The street-running alternative would attract approximately 30,000 daily riders with between 18 and 21 stations and an end-to-end travel time of 65 minutes. The street-running route would link a variety of destinations within the corridor, including Pasadena City College, Old Town Pasadena, DOwntown Glendale, Downtown Burbank, the Burbank Media District, and the NoHo Arts District.

In comparison, a freeway-running alignment would provide a faster 43-minute trip, but with limited connectivity, attracting approximately 23,000 daily riders. Likewise, a hybrid route would attract 26,000 riders with a 56-minute trip, but bypass Downtown Burbank and much of Glendale.

Pending approval by the Metro Board, the project's environmental review period will begin in May or June of this year, with the certification of its final environmental impact report anticipated in Fall 2020. Construction of the bus rapid transit line would commence afterward, with opening scheduled no later than 2024 based on the Measure M expenditure plan.

The North Hollywood-Pasadena project is one of several bus rapid transit lines currently being considered by Metro, including an east-west line through the San Fernando Valley and north-south line along Vermont Avenue.