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City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: 10/26/09 Item Number: PH-1
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: PUBLIC HEARING – Approval of Proposed Service
Changes to Culver CityBus Line Six, including Implementation of Rapid Service.
Contact Person/Dept.: Samantha M.
Blackshire/Transportation
Phone Number: (310) 253-6535
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [X] Action Item: [] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date: _______________
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas – City Council (10/21/09); (E-Mail)
Ongoing Topics – Culver CityBus (10/21/09); (Published) Culver City News (9/17/2009);
(Published) Culver City Observer (9/17/09); (USPS) Stakeholders (9/3/09); Two (2) Public
Meetings (9/30/09); Culver CityBus website; City of Culver City website.
Department Approval:
Art Ida (10/15/09)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (10/21/09)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (10/21/09)
City Manager Approval:
Mark Scott (10/21/09)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the service changes to Line 6
effective January 4, 2010.
PROCEDURE:
1. Mayor seeks motion from Council to receive and file the affidavits of publication
and posting of notices, and correspondence received in response to the public
hearing notices; and,
2. Mayor calls for a staff report and the City Council Members may pose questions
to staff as desired; and,
3. Mayor seeks motion to open the public hearing; and,
4. Mayor seeks motion to close the public hearing after all public testimony has
been presented; and,
5. City Council discusses the item and arrives at its decision.
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Agenda Item Report
BACKGROUND:
Culver CityBus operates seven routes, serving approximately 6 million riders
annually with a service area encompassing 25.5 square miles. Line 6 is Culver
CityBus’s longest route covering over 13 miles and carrying over 2.8 million
passengers annually. It provides service between UCLA and the LA Metro Green
Line Station at Aviation/Imperial. The route serves the City of Culver City and the
following communities: Westwood, West Los Angeles, Sawtelle, Palms, Mar Vista,
and Westchester, with transfer locations to many other service providers, including:
Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus, Metro, Torrance Transit, LADOT and LAX Shuttle
Buses.
There has been a steady 2% year-over-year increase in ridership on Line 6 over the
past several years and staff foresees ridership continuing to rise due to increasing
gasoline prices and uncertain economic times. Staff had estimated that ridership
would drop by at least 3% as a result of the August 2009 fare increase. Somewhat
surprisingly, the decrease was not realized. In fact, the steady increase in ridership
has continued.
Currently, Line 6 service commences at 5:25 AM and ends at 12:39 AM during the
weekdays with a slightly shorter running time during the weekends. Based on the
2008 Line-by-Line Analysis, the stops with the heaviest ridership are as follows: the
Metro Green Line Station; UCLA (Westwood Plaza/Strathmore Place); Westfield
Culver City Transit Center; and both the north and southbound Sepulveda Blvd. /
Pico Blvd. bus stops. Ridership is heaviest during the peak hours 6:00 AM – 10:00
AM and 2:00 PM – 7:30 PM, as is general vehicular traffic. There are currently more
buses on Line 6 than any other Culver CityBus line. However, operators are
continuously calling in to report having full loads (both standing and seated), which
leads to customers being passed by. Over the years staff has been repeatedly
asked by passengers to increase the service on Line 6 and provide a faster way of
traveling along Sepulveda Blvd. Staff believes the recommended service changes to
Line 6 is the best way to meet both the customers’ and operating needs.
DISCUSSION:
Public Notification
In compliance with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requirements, the City
published a public notice in the Culver City News and the Culver City Observer on
September 17, 2009. Furthermore, to comply with Metro’s notification policy, staff sent
letters describing the proposed Line 6 service changes to stakeholders, i.e. Culver City
Unified School District, UCLA, Metro and other transit agencies, etc. on September 3,
2009.
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Staff posted English and Spanish language versions of notices via placards and take-
one flyers inside all Culver City buses and at businesses where Culver CityBus
schedule holders are located. Customer responses to the proposed service changes
were accepted via US Mail, E-mail and voicemail. Staff also posted notification about
the proposed changes on the Culver CityBus website and the main City of Culver City
website. In addition, two (2) community meetings were held on September 30, 2009.
Staff received a total of twenty-seven (27) comments regarding the proposed changes
to Line 6 service. Nineteen (19) fully supported implementation of the service changes;
six (6) supported the changes; however, they asked that additional bus stops be
considered; and the remaining two (2) requested additional information without
providing any further comments.
BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Service on Line 6
Due to the overwhelming need to increase and expedite service along the
Sepulveda Blvd. corridor, staff is recommending the introduction of Line 6 rapid
service and modifications to the existing Line 6 service. Staff is proposing the rapid
service run every 15 minutes utilizing nine buses between the peak hours of 5:50
AM and 9:57 AM as well as between 2:20 PM and 7:35 PM. Rapid service would
not run between the hours of 9:57 AM and 2:20 PM or after 7:35 PM.
In order to expedite service, staff recommends the utilization of fifteen major existing
bus stops as outlined in the table below.
Northbound Southbound
Metro Green Line Station UCLA (Westwood Plz/Strathmore Pl)
LAX Transit Center Westwood Blvd/Weyburn Ave
Sepulveda Blvd/Manchester Blvd Westwood Blvd/Lindbrook Dr
Sepulveda Blvd/Centinela Blvd Sepulveda Blvd/Santa Monica Blvd
Sepulveda Blvd/Playa St Sepulveda Blvd/Pico Blvd
Sepulveda Blvd/Sawtelle Blvd Sepulveda Blvd/National Blvd
Sepulveda Blvd/Washington Blvd Sepulveda Blvd/Palms Blvd
Sepulveda Blvd/Venice Blvd Sepulveda Blvd/Venice Blvd
Sepulveda Blvd/Palms Blvd Sepulveda Blvd/Washington Blvd
Sepulveda Blvd/National Blvd Sepulveda Blvd/Sawtelle Blvd
Sepulveda Blvd/Pico Blvd Sepulveda Blvd/Slauson Ave
Sepulveda Blvd/Santa Monica Blvd Sepulveda Blvd/Centinela Blvd
Westwood Blvd/Lindbrook Dr Sepulveda Blvd/Manchester Blvd
Westwood Blvd/Weyburn Ave LAX Transit Center
UCLA (Westwood Plz/Strathmore Pl) Metro Green Line Station
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Culver CityBus would be able to best service a majority of Culver CityBus customers
in an efficient manner by stopping at these high-volume stops and bypassing stops
with fewer boardings as determined by the Line-by-Line Analysis. All Culver CityBus
stops not on the rapid stop list would continue to be serviced by Line 6 regular
service, which will be outlined in the next section.
The Rapid Line 6 route will follow the current Line 6 route except staff is proposing to
detour the rapid southbound route on Westwood Blvd. to Santa Monica Blvd. as
opposed to the current out and back route along Veteran due to high levels or traffic
and delays. For a detailed map of the proposed Rapid Line 6 service, please see
attachment A.
In order to distinguish the Rapid Line 6 service from Regular Line 6 service, the
rapid buses will be painted with a different paint scheme with the front being
primarily gray as opposed to green with coordinating signage at the bus stops.
Additionally, the Transportation Department has been working with Metro and
LADOT in order to also implement bus signal prioritization for rapid service in the
Los Angeles area. The rapid buses would be equipped with transponders fostering
communication with the traffic signals at busy intersections. Upon reaching an
intersection equipped with a sensor, the transponder would signal the traffic light to
change to green further expediting bus service. This type of signal prioritization may
be available within the City limits in the near future.
Regular Line 6 Service
Due to the addition of rapid buses along the Line 6 route, staff proposes a slight
decrease to the frequency of the regular Line 6 service. The new regular Line 6
service is proposed to run approximately every 17-20 minutes. Even though the
frequency of regular Line 6 bus service will be decreased, the addition of the rapid
buses will increase overall route frequency and number of buses serving the route
will increase from 14 to 18 during peak service hours.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
The implementation of the proposed Line 6 service changes enhances the City’s bus
service and accommodates the increasing ridership demand levels. Should these
proposed changes not be implemented, Culver CityBus will inevitably incur lost
revenue as a result of not being able to accommodate increasing ridership levels.
The expenditures for the rapid service were incorporated into the Adopted Fiscal
Year 08-09 Budget. However, due to unforeseen delays, none of the budgeted funds
were expended during Fiscal Year 08-09. Funds have again been appropriated in
the Transportation Departments budget for Fiscal Year 2009-10 to accommodate the
requested service changes. Therefore, funding for Rapid Line 6 service will be
derived from transit grants and funds, not City General Funds. As a result, there will
be no fiscal impact to the City’s General Fund.
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ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A: Proposed rapid 6 Service Route Map
MOTION:
That the City Council:
Approve service changes to Culver CityBus Line 6 as proposed effective at 2:00
AM on January 4, 2010.
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MEETING DATE: 10/26/09
AGENDA ITEM: Approval of Proposed Service Changes to Line 6.
ATTACHMENTS
Pages
1. rapid 6 Service Map 1