This Stop, That Stop, Where Will the Bus Stop? Not in Brentwood, Not Yet

City Councilmember couldn't get his colleagues to stop the Wilshire Boulevard bus-only lanes before they got to Beverly Hills, but the council agreed to study his alternative proposal before endorsing any plan.

The council voted Wednesday to reconsider the rush-hour-only BRT (bus rapid transit route) from MacArthur Park to the City of  Santa Monica plan supported by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as well as other scenarios.

Beverly Hills has already opted out of the plan, and MTA has exempted Westwood's "golden mile" from Comstock almost to UCLA.  Santa Monica, Brentwood's western neighbor, has not even participated in the planning.

Rosendahl had called on his colleagues to "affirm support" for exempting all of the Westside from what's currently a 7.7-mile, non-continuous route from South Park View Street at MacArthur Park to Centinela Avenue, and to settle instead for a 5.4-mile route to East San Vicente Boulevard, the Beverly Hills border. []

Rosendahl complained that the gaps in the 7.7-mile route -- through Beverly Hills and "condo canyon" in the Westside -- could worsen the already nightmarish traffic gridlock in his 11th District.

"If I had my druthers, there'd be 15 miles of a bus-only lane from the beach to downtown, and Santa Monica and Beverly Hills played with us," Rosendahl said. "Right now, with this splintered and fragmented Westside, it even makes it more congested in my district and it saves no time for bus riders or cars. It's a disaster as a cluster of little segments."

The released a noting the council wanted to bring Beverly Hills and Santa Monica officials into the discussion.

The city council meeting, cablecast and webcast by the city, included spirited comments from Brentwood residents.

BRT proponent called for immediate approval of the entire route.

Newly-elected board of directors chair endorsed the Rosendahl approach, as did Ray Klein, the BCC chair who turned over his gavel to Freedman the night before.

Councilmember Richard Alarcon argued the longer route would result in faster travel times for a greater number of people. He added it would create more jobs and make the city eligible for a larger share of federal funding. Metro officials have said the project -- as it currently stands -- could receive as much as $23.3 million in funding from the Federal Transit Authority. That represents almost three-quarters of the project's $31.5-million cost.

"Stay the course," Alarcon told Rosendahl. "Who's going to use this (bus-only lanes)? Working-class folks who need to get down Wilshire Boulevard. If Santa Monica and Beverly Hills aren't with it, they'll be. They'll need to see us get there first."

Councilmember Tony Cardenas let Rosendahl down firmly, saying, "No way." Sandy Brown, president of the Holmby-Westwood Property Owners Association, which represents 1,100 homes adjacent to the project, insisted that putting bus-only lanes on the Westside has no benefits.

"The time-save stops when you hit La Cienega Boueveard or San Vicente," she said, citing a study commissioned by her organization. "After that, there is no time saved for the bus, and there is time lost for the automobile."

Brad McAllister, a transportation planner for Metro, said having bus- only lanes would reduce travel time for buses by about 1 minute per mile, while delaying cars by 1 minute per mile.

"Overall, this corridor will move more people," he told the council. "The bus service will improve, and that will allow us to move more people. There will be a slight one-minute-per-mile delay for autos traveling that, but we're getting to the point on Wilshire where we're looking at how we move people. We aren't going to be able to fit many more cars on Wilshire."

"The longer the stretch (of bus-only lanes), the better the benefit," added the interim general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Amid Sedadi.

Sunyoung Yang, lead organizer of the Bus Riders Union, urged the council to look at who opposed the bus lane extension. "We think that the city should not just cave in to the interests of a few powerful homeowners," she said.

As the meeting progressed, Rosendahl's office Tweeted play-by-play updates of the remarks.

The people Tweeting commentary for LAStreestsBlog [see photo] were explicit in identifying BRT opponents as more than just "a few powerful homeowners."  "A bunch of retired white people" represent Westwood and Brentwood, read the Tweet.

The bus-only lanes are intended to run weekdays during rush hour, from 7- 9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m. starting in 2013.

Metro is currently conducting environmental impact reports on the proposed routes, which it plans to submit to the council for approval in April.