Lines 94-166-394
(San Fernando Rd. - Lankershim Blvd. - Nordhoff St.)
(including new Lines 224, 364, 724 and 794)

The northern portion of Line 94 and Line 166 on Lankershim Blvd. was replaced December 17, 2006 with new Line 224. Southern portion of Line 94 unchanged, with the exception of a new route segment on Lankershim Blvd. to the new north terminal at Webb Way/Tuxford St. Limited-stop Line 394 was expanded to all-day, seven-days-a-week service with no change in route. Early morning and late night service (when Line 394 not running) was configured as interlined Line 94-224 service from Olive View Medical Center to Downtown L.A.



The Line 166 routing on Glenoaks Blvd. and Tuxford St. was simultaneously eliminated (duplicated by Lines 92 and 152). Limited-stop Line 364 was added on the shortened route westbound in morning peak-hours and eastbound in afternoon peak-hours.



Metro Rapid service on the San Fernando Rd. corridor was implemented June 29, 2008 with the portion of San Fernando Rd. between Sun Valley and Sylmar operated by Line 724, also operating on Lankershim Blvd. to North Hollywood Station and service between downtown Los Angeles and Burbank operated by Line 794, including a deviation via Brand Blvd. to serve downtown Glendale (even though this was rejected by sector planning staff in favor of "Option 2" with a direct alignment on San Fernando Rd.).







As a result of the gap in service between Burbank and Sun Valley, Line 94 was extended north of Sun Valley (returning to its pre-2006 alignment as far as Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station) as a continuance of direct service between Sylmar and Los Angeles. Line 224 was proposed to be shortened at its northern end to terminate at Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station and Line 94 extended to Olive View Medical Center, but this was not implemented as staff wanted to keep Line 94 as short as possible. A proposal to realign Line 94 to Union Station, eliminating service on Hill St., was withdrawn by staff when further research revealed there would be no savings in operating costs.





A concept proposal which would have simply replaced Line 394 with Line 794 on the same alignment was favored by the Governance Council, which formally opposed the June, 2008 restructuring. The concept proposal was removed from consideration by Metro's regional service planning department, because it would conflict with the New Service Plan which was submitted to the federal judge overseeing the consent decree (although the decree itself expired in October, 2006, the remaining lines in the Metro Rapid plan had to be implemented as the final compliance with the New Service Plan; since the plan was submitted as it was originally approved by the Metro Board of Directors in 2001, the sector concept proposal was deemed by Metro's attorneys as not implementable).



The concept proposal was reaffirmed by the Governance Council at its December 3, 2008 meeting, identifying it as the preferred reconfiguration of service in the San Fernando Rd. corridor. A revised proposal, approved by the council on March 4, 2009 and by the Metro Board of Directors April 23, 2009 returned Line 94 to the Sun Valley terminal and cancelled Line 724 in favor of extending Line 794 to Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station and eliminating the Brand Blvd. deviation (service levels on Lines 94 and 224 were adjusted accordingly).





The reconfiguration took effect on June 28, 2009. The map below, prepared for the Board presentation by Metro's Service Planning and Development Department, shows the full effect of the restructured service.




Weekend Line 794 service was eliminated June 26, 2011, at which time Line 94 weekend service was again extended to Sylmar Station. Staff has now been directed by the Governance Council to reevaluate the entire corridor and bring forward a restructuring plan in a future service change program.

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