City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: 11/07/11 Item Number: PH-1
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: PUBLIC HEARING – Approval of Proposed Service
Changes to Culver CityBus Lines Two and Four.
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: []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date: _______________
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas – City Council (11/03/11); (E-Mail)
Ongoing Topics – Culver CityBus (10/14/10 & 10/24/11); (Published) Culver City News
(9/1/11 & 10/20/11); (Published) Culver City Observer (9/8/11 & 10/20/11); (USPS)
Stakeholders (8/25/11); Two (2) Public Meetings (9/28/11); Culver CityBus website;
posting in buses (8/30/11 and 10/15/11).
Department Approval:
Art Ida (11/02/11)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (11/02/11)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller)(11/02/11)
City Manager Approval:
John M. Nachbar (11/03/11)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve service changes to Lines 2 and 4 as
determined by the Transportation Director upon the opening of the Expo Light Rail
Station serviced by these lines.
PROCEDURE:
1. Mayor seeks motion 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.
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
BACKGROUND:
Culver CityBus operates seven routes, serving approximately 5 million riders
annually. The Culver CityBus service area encompasses 25.5 square miles,
including the following Westside communities: Venice, Westchester, Westwood,
West Los Angeles, Palms, Marina Del Rey, Rancho Park, Mar Vista, Century City,
and Culver City.
Line 2
Line 2 is a local circulator route that connects the Culver City Transit Center to
Venice High School and serves the high-density residential neighborhoods along
Inglewood Boulevard. In the westbound direction, the route travels via Slauson
Avenue, Jefferson Boulevard, Inglewood Boulevard, Washington Boulevard, Lincoln
Boulevard and Venice Boulevard before serving Venice High School. In the
eastbound direction, the route returns via Venice Boulevard and Centinela
Boulevard before returning via Washington, Inglewood, Jefferson and Slauson. The
route is 4.4 miles long in the westbound direction, and 3.3 miles long in the
eastbound direction. Current service headways on Line 2 are every hour throughout
weekdays from 6:12 AM to 6:22 PM. Line 2 does not provide weekend service.
Line 4
Line 4 provides connections between the Culver City Transit Center and the West LA
Transit Center. From the West LA Transit Center, the route continues south via Fairfax
Avenue to La Cienega Boulevard, Rodeo Road and Jefferson Boulevard. At Overland,
the route deviates toward the West LA College campus and then continues via
Jefferson, Sepulveda, Playa Street, Hannum Avenue and Slauson Avenue to the Culver
City Transit Center. Primary destinations along the route include Westfield Culver City,
Ralphs at Jefferson and Overland, Target at Rodeo and La Cienega, and the West LA
Transit Center. The route is 5.5 miles long in the eastbound direction, and 5.6 miles
long in the westbound direction. Line 4 operates hourly throughout the day. This route
is interlined with Line 2 at the Culver City Transit Center. Line 4 does not provide
weekend service.
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 (see
Publication Notification section above). Furthermore, to comply with Metro’s
notification policy, staff sent letters describing the proposed service changes to
stakeholders, which included the Culver City Unified School District and other City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
affected local schools and universities, Metro and other transit agencies, and
regional hospitals on August 25, 2011.
Staff posted English and Spanish versions of the notification via placards and take-
one flyers in buses and at businesses where Culver CityBus schedule holders were
located; and provided several means to accept customer response, which included
US Mail, E-mail and voicemail. Staff also posted notification about the proposed
changes and the change in the public hearing date on the Culver CityBus website. In
addition, two (2) public outreach meetings were held on September 28, 2011.
Staff received communication from six (6) community members and had a total of
four (4) community members at the public outreach meetings.
Lines 2 and 4
Culver CityBus strives to facilitate efficient connections for riders and provide good
quality public transportation for the community, under budgetary constraints. Staff
proposes the following options:
Option 1
Service on Lines 2 and 4 shall remain the same once the Expo Light Rail station
opens. Staff will monitor ridership and provide additional bus service when needed
at peak periods if funds and staff are available.
Option 2
Decrease the headways on Line 4 from every hour to every thirty (30) minutes. As
Line 4 interlines with Line 2, staff will need to make minor time adjustments to Line 2
as well.
Based on recent developments of the Expo Light Rail Project and community
feedback, Staff proposes to continue to monitor the service and ridership of Lines 2
and 4. This would allow a better analysis of ridership patterns once the rail station
opens. It is also more prudent from a financial standpoint that staff maintain the
flexibility to implement Option 1 with Option 2 to possibly follow if there is funding
available to meet the public demand for additional service later in 2012.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund. The cost for expanded service to Line
4 would be approximately $1,695,000, which is being derived from Prop. A
Discretionary funds The minor adjustments for Line 2 would have no material fiscal
impact.
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
MOTION:
That the City Council:
Approve staff recommendations to keep service on Culver CityBus Lines 2 and 4
the same until such time there is an increase in public demand and funds
become available to make service adjustments as determined by the
Transportation Director.