Ventura Blvd. Line

[Dan Wentzel]

There are plans to extend the Orange Line to Canoga Park on the west and possibly east.

I have also heard desires to extend the Red Line to the Burbank Airport and a Green Line extension up from LAX over the Sepulveda pass and north to Metrolink.

Would a Ventura Blvd. subway line make sense, or would bus only lanes be enough, or would simple expansion of the Orange Line be sufficient?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[vnc]

Well. Ventura would be a great place for some kind of Rail. But would be a little tricky to put in. All along the Street from Vineland to Topanga Cyn. And even to Woodlake. You have alot Business. That could use something. The 150 and 750 alone. Have a tough time traveling. Depending on time of day. Make a Street Car/Light Rail would work. Ventura Blvd is a real Street in some places. Not in other spots. Maybe others here would like to add to this?

[Dan Wentzel]

I don't believe bus-only lanes are a substitute for rail service, but I'm wondering if Ventura Blvd. is a good candidate for them?

A network of bus-only lanes including Wilshire, Santa Monica, Vermont, Western are needed. What about Ventura Blvd.? Upgrading the Orange Line and connecting the Burbank Airport are likely to be done before a Ventura Blvd. line is considered. In the meantime, would a bus-only lane from Universal City to Warner Center help establish this more firmly as a transit corridor to pay attention to?

[kenalpern]

From my past experience in dealing with whether or not the 101 freeway should be widened, I do believe that a quality Ventura Blvd. rail line as an alternative would be very popular...but would the need for that line be just as well accomplished with converting the Orange Line Busway to a grade-separated light rail? Would Ventura Blvd. best be served with a subway?

Only the Valley really knows right now, and even at that I'm sure that the Valley is divided on how to proceed.

[regen]

Long term, the rush hour traffic bottlenecks on Ventura and the 101 could be eased by a rail line.

In the short term, a good start would be for Metro to increase the bus service frequency on Ventura Blvd. Unfortunately, for the past six years Metro has done the opposite, flushing Ventura Blvd. down a vicious cycle of slashing service and declining ridership.

Ventura Blvd. riders tend to be "choice riders" rather than transit-dependent, so when the wait times and schedule reliability suffer, they switch to driving. When Metro first implemented the Line 750 Rapid in 2000, with very high frequency service as a consolation prize for not getting the subway extended, ridership soared.

Bus only lanes would make a lot of sense, especially to get through the traffic bottlenecks, but would be politically impossible for the foreseeable future on this corridor.

[jdrcrasher]

This is my idea: Start at the Burbank Metrolink Station, head down Olive, dive under Universal Studios, and have a transfer station at the Red Line. Then run on Ventura Blvd all the way to Reseda Blvd. Head north on Reseda, and after Northridge Metrolink station (assuming it's ever moved to Reseda Blvd), turn right to Cal State Northridge.


Here's a map:

maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=200477410612414767690.0004864786e2534511dfa&t=h&ll=34.187666,-118.418541&spn=0.155914,0.323753&z=12

Maybe a little too many stations on Ventura Blvd.

[regen]

Feb 16, 2011 20:27:55 GMT -8 jdrcrasher said:

This is my idea: Start at the Burbank Metrolink Station, head down Olive, dive under Universal Studios, and have a transfer station at the Red Line. Then run on Ventura Blvd all the way to Reseda Blvd. Head north on Reseda, and after Northridge Metrolink station (assuming it's ever moved to Reseda Blvd), turn right to Cal State Northridge.


Here's a map:

maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=200477410612414767690.0004864786e2534511dfa&t=h&ll=34.187666,-118.418541&spn=0.155914,0.323753&z=12

Maybe a little too many stations on Ventura Blvd.

Interesting concept; perhaps it could extend from Burbank Metrolink to the Gold Line in Pasadena, essentially paralleling the Ventura Fwy Corridor.

Unfortunately, right now Metro is proposing to slash in half the bus service between Burbank Metrolink and Universal City Station, so if you think that's a bad idea, *NOW* is the time to contact Metro with your public comment.

Metro is basically playing a shell game: they would split Line 96 in Burbank, with the Burbank Metrolink to Sherman Oaks segment renumbered as Line 155, while eliminating the existing Line 155 service. These are the two lines that currently connect Burbank Metrolink with Universal City Station. Although splitting Line 96 is a good idea because it is too long and has reliability problems as result, eliminating half the service is not acceptable.

[regen]

Feb 16, 2011 20:27:55 GMT -8 jdrcrasher said:

Here's a map:

maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=200477410612414767690.0004864786e2534511dfa&t=h&ll=34.187666,-118.418541&spn=0.155914,0.323753&z=12

Maybe a little too many stations on Ventura Blvd.

Here are some potential tweaks to the station list:

- Add Roscoe - high connecting bus ridership
- Add White Oak - dense cluster of apartment buildings
- Skip Balboa - low density
- Add Woodley - lots of office buildings + hospital
- Skip Woodman - low density
- Skip Coldwater Canyon - low density
- Reconfigure Alameda Station to have west portal on Hollywood Way to get connectivity to Burbank Airport and closer to office buildings & Warner Bros., east portal on Olive just north of the 134 Fwy to enhance access to NBC and Disney

[bzcat]

Feb 16, 2011 20:27:55 GMT -8 jdrcrasher said:

This is my idea: Start at the Burbank Metrolink Station, head down Olive, dive under Universal Studios, and have a transfer station at the Red Line. Then run on Ventura Blvd all the way to Reseda Blvd. Head north on Reseda, and after Northridge Metrolink station (assuming it's ever moved to Reseda Blvd), turn right to Cal State Northridge.


Here's a map:

maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=200477410612414767690.0004864786e2534511dfa&t=h&ll=34.187666,-118.418541&spn=0.155914,0.323753&z=12

Maybe a little too many stations on Ventura Blvd.

Too many stations for sure. This will be a slow train

I like the concept but it may be more useful if the line extends beyond SFV (e.g. to Glendale and Pasadena?). CSUN certainly will be a good anchor for the terminal on one end... maybe Cal-Tech can be the other terminal?

[bobdavis]

I haven't driven Ventura Blvd for a long time, but I still remember the "bad old days" (before the 101 Freeway). One aspect of Ventura Blvd. that makes it even more challenging is the way streets coming south from the "flatlands" don't alway meet those coming north from the hills at neat four-square intersections, but have "offsets". If a subway were built, odd intersections would not be an issue (except maybe for exiting passengers wishing to avoid a pedestrian crossing by choosing the correct exit.) On the other hand, bus lanes or surface light rail designs could get rather involved. On the subject of too many or too few stations: this is a conundrum that has plagued transit planning since the days of the first interurban lines. One "quibble" I have about my "pet project", the Gold Line Foothill extension is that its station spacing is more like Metrolink or Chicago Metra than some other light rail lines. The Pacific Electric Monrovia-Glendora line had at least three intermediate stops between Monrovia and Arcadia stations. Of course in those days you didn't need elaborate ticket machines and platforms.

[jdrcrasher]

If this idea under my concept happened, it would still be possible to build a Yellow Line/Orange Line connection via Chandler, 5 freeway, 134 freeway, and Brand.

[tonyw79sfv]

Ventura Boulevard does have ridership from those who are tranferring from either the Red Line at Universal or from Van Nuys Boulevard from the 233/761; my only guess is that it's well served by the people reaching their jobs on Ventura. However, as a cross-Valley corridor, the Metro Orange Line simply displaced Metro Rapid 750 and siphoned the majority of the ridership base, leaving only those who really needed service on Ventura, as a result of that, we lost weekend Rapid service. Due to the many front facing shops and restaurants on Ventura, I can't see how there can't be a streetcar running along it, especially with the lack of adequate (free) parking that is along such a bustling corridor.