BRU Consent Decree
New Service Plan - Pilot Project Lines
The consent decree between MTA and the Labor/Community Strategy Center (also known as the Bus Riders Union) called for the creation of new service and modifications of some lines to improve service.
Six of the lines in the consent decree New Service Plan pilot program were within the San Fernando Valley. Two of the implemented lines (218 and 603) were new lines; one line (422) was a reverse-direction version of LADOT Line 423; and one (167) was an existing line that had modifications made to it. All were implemented at various dates in February, 1998 (see individual line pages for precise implementation dates).
Two lines were never implemented: Line 530 (which was delayed for a variety of reasons, then removed from the program in favor of making Metro Rapid the final portion of the New Service Plan) and Line 426 (which was put on hold shortly before its scheduled 1998 implementation, then removed from the program after the line was cutback to North Hollywood Station in 2003).
Line 167 (Coldwater Canyon Ave. - Plummer St.)
Line 218 (West Hollywood - Studio City Shuttle)
Line 422 (Thousand Oaks - Warner Center - Downtown L.A. Express)
Line 426 (Sherman Way - Victory Blvd. - Hollywood Express)
Line 530 (Panorama City - East Los Angeles Express)
Line 603 (Rampart - Hoover - Glendale Galleria Shuttle)
As shown on the map above, there were New Service Plan lines in other parts of the Metro System, seven of which were also implemented in February, 1998:
- Line 104 (E. Washington Blvd.) was extended into Downtown L.A. and to the Fullerton Park-Ride Lot. It was transferred April 3, 2000 to Montebello Bus Lines, which operates it as their Line 50.
- Line 108 (Slauson Ave.) was realigned in the city of Commerce to deviate to/from the Citadel Shopping Center. The deviation was eliminated December 19, 2004.
- Line 205 (Willowbrook-Harbor UCLA Medical Center) was realigned to serve Artesia Transit Center.
- Line 550 (West Hollywood-San Pedro Express) was created as a new line. On June 17, 2012, following the opening of the Expo Line (light rail), Line 550 was cutback to operate only between San Pedro and Expo Park/USC Station during peak-hours and to Artesia Transit Center at all other hours.
- Line 601 was created as a new line, operated by LADOT as Union-Echo Park DASH.
- Line 602 was created as a new line, operated by LADOT as El Sereno-City Terrace DASH.
- Line 605 (Grande Vista St. - USC Hospital Shuttle) was created as a new line.
Line 604 (Vermont Ave. Checkpoint Deviation Service) was actually the first line of the pilot program; it was operated by LADOT from June 29, 1997 until the "Smart Shuttle" demonstration program began in October of that year. It continued to operate under that program until September, 2001, when the program's funding ran out.
Three additional lines were implemented in 2000:
- Line 305 (Crosstown City Connector Limited) -- the reintroduction of a short-lived service which had operated from July 26, 1995 until January 1, 1996 -- was implemented on January 30. It was extended farther west from Beverly Hills to Westwood February 27, 2000 and was realigned there several times since; its west terminal was located at the UCLA Ackerman Loop since June 27, 2004. A July, 2007 Metro staff report identifying the 25 lowest-performance lines indicated that Line 305 was a likely target for cancellation in 2010, when the New Service Plan ended (a 2007 proposal to cancel service between Pico-Rimpau Transit Center and Westwood was not approved); it was cancelled June 17, 2012.
- Line 214 (Broadway/Main St. Loop) was implemented October 9, during the MTA drivers' strike of that year. The July, 2007 Metro staff report identifying the 25 lowest-performance lines recommended that Line 214 be merged with other services in the area; a proposal earlier that year to eliminate the Broadway side of the loop was not approved. It was cancelled December 12, 2010.
- Line 58 (Alameda St.) was implemented November 19; it had originally been proposed to begin operation December 10, 1995, but was delayed by LADOT's insistence that it be part of a downtown restructuring plan (which was never implemented). Line 58 was realigned June 29, 2003 to serve Chinatown Gold Line Station and then cancelled October 28, 2005; the "future extension" shown on the original pilot program map above -- to Artesia Transit Center -- was never brought forward for implementation.
Line 577 (El Monte - Long Beach Express), the last of the proposed lines, was implemented December 18, 2005. When proposed, it operated only to Cerritos Town Center, but when implemented it operated to the Long Beach V.A. Hospital, also serving the southern end of the Cal State Long Beach campus. It was extended to the Long Beach Transit Mall June 24, 2007; that extension was cancelled June 26, 2011.
Metro completed the implementation of 25 Metro Rapid lines in June 2008 as the final portion of the New Service Plan.
