Metro Busway (formerly known as Metro Liner and Metro Transitway) is a system of bus rapid transit (BRT) routes operated by Los Angeles Metro. The system primarily uses exclusive or semi-exclusive roadways, referred to locally as a busway or transitway. It currently consists of two lines serving 29 stations, not including surface street stops: the G Line in the San Fernando Valley and the J Line, which serves El Monte, Downtown Los Angeles, Gardena, and San Pedro.
The G Line, which operates on an exclusive busway, was the first to open, beginning service on October 29, 2005. The J Line launched on December 13, 2009, utilizing the pre-existing Harbor Transitway and El Monte Busway, semi-exclusive corridors that are used by both buses and as high-occupancy toll lanes under the Metro ExpressLanes program.
Metro Busway services are designed to mimic Metro Rail services, in both the vehicles' design and their operation. Buses feature a silver livery similar to that used on Metro Rail vehicles, offer all-door boarding, and receive signal priority at intersections. Both lines operate on a proof-of-payment system; passengers with valid fare loaded on a TAP card may board through any door. TAP cards can be purchased and reloaded at ticket vending machines located at most stations.
Metro Busway lines are named as part of the naming scheme used for Metro Rail lines, however, the colored icons for the Metro Busway lines are squares instead of the circles used for Metro Rail lines.
Two Metro Busway lines operate in Los Angeles County:
These services operate on three primary corridors (in addition to city streets, where necessary):
The first busway in the Los Angeles area was the El Monte Busway, which opened in January 1973. The El Monte Busway, which runs parallel to the San Bernardino Freeway, offered an 18-minute trip between El Monte and Downtown Los Angeles, compared to 35âÂÂ45 minutes in the general-purpose lanes. The facility was a success with about 32,000 boardings per day on lines that used the busway as of November 2000.
The area's second busway, the Harbor Transitway, opened in 1996 offering a new connection between Gardena and Downtown Los Angeles. Ridership on the Harbor Transitway was radically lower than expected: Caltrans had projected that 65,200 passengers would travel along the Harbor Transitway each day, but after 10 years, the facility had only attracted 3,000 passengers per weekday.
A third busway to be built in the region came after community revolt against a proposed light rail line in the San Fernando Valley. Los Angeles Metro acquired the Southern Pacific Burbank Branch right of way in 1991, intending to utilize the corridor for light rail trains. Neighbors successfully petitioned lawmakers to pass a ban on utilizing transit tax revenue for anything other than an extension of the existing subway into the San Fernando Valley. However, the passage of Proposition A in 1998 cut off funding for any subway projects. With both subway and light rail now legally prohibited, but with growing political pressure to utilize the former railbed, the last available option was a dedicated busway. This proposal was also opposed by neighborhood groups; however, since the previous law did not prohibit it, it moved forward. The busway opened as the Orange Line (now G Line) on October 29, 2005. The line was a success, attracting nearly 23,000 boardings per day in the first year it was open, and nearly 30,000 boardings per day by 2013. The line is so popular, that in 2014 users petitioned lawmakers to repeal the ban on light rail, and Metro now plans to convert the busway to light rail by 2050.
After the successful launch of the busway in the San Fernando Valley, Metro decided to rebrand the county's other busways in an attempt to increase awareness. In March 2006, Metro decided that the Harbor Transitway would be colored bronze and the El Monte Busway would be colored silver on Metro's maps and the two would be marketed as a "Combined Transitway Service." No changes were made in the operations of the bus routes operated on either facility. The changes were criticized as being difficult to understand for irregular and new riders.
In 2009, Metro returned to plan it first proposed in 1993 and created a new bus rapid transit service called the Silver Line (now J Line) utilizing both the Harbor Transitway and the El Monte Busway. The new higher frequency service would be funded by converting both corridors into high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, to be branded as the Metro ExpressLanes. The bus route began operations on December 13, 2009. Since the J Line's start, Metro has refurbished the aging stations along both the Harbor Transitway and the El Monte Busway, bringing them closer to the amenities provided along the G Line's busway. The plan has led to higher ridership along the corridor, especially along the Harbor Transitway.
On June 30, 2012, the busway used by the G Line buses was extended northward to the Chatsworth Metrolink station, continuing to follow the former Southern Pacific Burbank Branch right-of-way owned by Metro.
The Siliver Line and Orange Line were renamed in 2020, as part of a systemwide rebranding. The Orange Line was renamed the G Line, and the Silver Line became the J Line.
The following table shows the timeline of BRT expansions:
Notes:
Metro plans to add additional Metro Busway lines; some projects may have their timelines accelerated under its Twenty-eight by '28 initiative.
On March 17, 2021, Metro staff came forward with five corridors that the agency could pursue to have bus rapid transit implemented in them.