The Metro Board of Directors has voted to initiate an environmental study for a proposed bus rapid transit line between North Hollywood and Pasadena, but without dedicated transit lanes between the Gold Line and Pasadena City College.

The project area - an 18-mile corridor which also crosses through the cities of Los Angeles and Glendale - currently sees more than 700,000 daily trips. It has long been seen as a candidate for bus rapid transit, and was formalized as a project through the passage of Measure M in 2016. To date, Metro has secured $267 million in local and state funding for the project.

Though Metro will study multiple alignments for the BRT line - including one running within the 134 Freeway - a street-running alternative has been identified as the most promising option for the project. Metro estimates that the favored street-running alternative would have 18 to 21 stops, attracting 30,000 weekday passengers with an end-to-end travel time of 65 minutes.

The refined alternative would run on a variety of major streets within the 18-mile corridor, including Colorado Boulevard, Glenoaks Boulevard, Olive Avenue, Riverside Drive, and Lankershim Boulevard. Route options could also see buses travel along Union or Green Streets in Pasadena, Broadway in Glendale, and Vineland Avenue in North Hollywood.

Due to objections raised by the City of Pasadena, Metro will move the project forward without bus-only lanes between the Gold Line and Pasadena City College. Instead, buses would operate in mixed traffic along this 1.5-mile section at the eastern terminus of the corridor.

Metro estimates that the project's environmental impact report will be released for public review in Spring 2020, and be ready for certification by the Metro Board by the Fall. Construction is scheduled to begin by 2024 according to the Measure M expenditure plan.

The North Hollywood-Pasadena BRT Line's western terminus at North Hollywood Station will connect it to Metro's Red Line subway and Orange Line busway, which is slated for $361 million in infrastructure improvements to speed travel times and facilitate a conversion to light rail. A second bus rapid transit line is planned in the North San Fernando Valley, potentially linking Chatsworth with North Hollywood Station via Roscoe Boulevard and Nordhoff Street.