The Metro Board of Directors this month will consider moving a primarily street-running bus rapid transit line between North Hollywood and Pasadena into the project’s next phase, a formal Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). Here’s the staff report.

The bus rapid transit line would run for 18 miles between the Orange Line/Red Line station in North Hollywood and Pasadena City College in Pasadena with service to the Burbank Media District, downtown Burbank, downtown Glendale, the Eagle Rock business district and the Gold Line in Old Pasadena.

A map of the project is above. As indicated, some sections of the project corridor include multiple route options, which will be studied as part of the DEIR.

For those new to transportation jargon, bus rapid transit (often called BRT) is a high-quality bus service that provides faster and more frequent service with features that may include dedicated bus lanes, branded vehicles and stations, off-board fare collection and all-door boarding. Metro’s Orange and Silver Lines are both examples of BRT.

Three routes for this project have been under study as part of an Alternatives Analysis: a street-running option, an option that mostly uses the 134 freeway and a hybrid street-freeway route.

Metro staff have identified the street-running route as the most promising because it has the most public support and offers the most connectivity to jobs, housing and other destinations. This route is also projected to attract the most riders (up to an estimated 30,000 daily boardings) and help boost the development of transit-oriented communities.

A few other key facts about the project:

•The project is intended to be a key connection between the San Fernando Valley and San Gabriel Valley — a very heavily traveled corridor served only by Metro’s Line 501 between Old Pasadena and North Hollywood. The 501 operates primarily along the the SR 134 freeway.

•End-to-end running times for the street-running route are estimated to be about 65 minutes. It’s worth noting that Metro found that the majority of trips entering the area served by this project are headed to destinations within that area. Only about one third of the trips are going through the entire project area from one end to the other.

•The estimated cost of the street-running alternative is $271 million to $429 million. The cost will depend on the final project design. In addition to Measure M funding, this project will receive funding from the Senate Bill 1 gas tax and vehicle fees that became law in 2017.

•The goal is to begin project construction in summer 2022 and open the project in summer 2024.

•This is one of three Measure M bus rapid transit projects currently in the planning phase. The two others are a BRT line that would run on Vermont Avenue between Hollywood and 120th Street in South L.A. and the North San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, an east-west line that would run across the northern San Fernando Valley.

•The Metro Board will consider the item at their scheduled meeting next Thursday, April 25, at 9:30 a.m. at Metro headquarters in downtown L.A.

What do you think about the route for the NoHo to Pasadena project, Source readers? Comment please.

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