Metro Line 902

[tonyw79sfv]

www.metro.net/news_info/press/Metro_195.htm

I wasn't sure where to file this, but since this line is supplemental service for the Orange Line between Van Nuys and NoHo making one stop at Valley College and making line 233 stops north of Burbank Blvd; I'd thought I post this info here. This line abruptly came into light in the September SFV council meeting with implementation next week. Reasoning for direct Pacoima to North Hollywood line is because Van Nuys station sees the highest number of boardings for the Orange Line and this is meant to be a relief valve to the already crowded Orange Line that gets crowded when going between Van Nuys and NoHo and also when the Chatsworth extension adds more ridership. It'll be rush hour only service with full time implementation if approved during the spring 2010 public comment meetings for June 2010. According to Metro documents, this is a cost-neutral line with no "borrowing" of service hours from 233 or 761 (in fact, 233 and 761 are not listed as having service modifications next week), so for once, it'll be added service. Line 902 buses will be using the same NABI Metro45Cs as the Metro Silver Line.

Today at the North Hollywood Orange Line station platform this evening, a Metro ambassador was asking if anyone was headed to Van Nuys and are 233 riders. He was passing out line 902 timetables and a flyer.

[tonyw79sfv]

This morning, I saw another Metro ambassador at the Van Nuys station on the NoHo-bound platform handing out flyers for the up-and-coming 902 service. Also, the platform was full, but that was evident when two buses approached the station; the lead one had two wheelchairs already.

[tonyw79sfv]

Metro Line 902 Timetable

Eastern SFV N-S bus speed improvement document

902's timetable is up; speed is about as fast as the Orange Line from NoHo to Van Nuys with an immediate transfer to the 233. The second link is documentation for 902's existence, that it's part of the planned SFV north-south bus speed improvment project.

[tonyw79sfv]

Daily News: New Metro line makes Van Nuys convenient

Ride report: run 902-07; bus 8380 NABI Metro 45C silver/gray livery (same as Metro Silver Line)

Start: Woodman/Van Nuys 6:45am; end: North Hollywood Red Line station 7:19am

Ridership: not more than 8 (including me); between Van Nuys Orange Line and North Hollywood Red Line stations: 4 - 5 riders, including me.

Summary: this line needs more promotion; none of the of the bus signs noted line 902 and a few had the service change inserts. My ride took about as long as my typical 761 & 901 run; however, today, the 761 was late, and both the 902 and 761 were interleaving on Van Nuys, with the 902 reaching Van Nuys Orange Line station first at 7:06am; proceeding to NoHo, it arrived at 7:19am - 13 minutes. That's faster than the 14 - 17 minutes on the Orange Line, but it's only Monday, which usually has lighter traffic. While waiting for the 902 at Woodman, I did see a filled Pacoima-bound 902 bus; so it's doing its job in the reverse commute. Most of the time, but bus ran on time, not needing to accelerate fast to stay within the timetable schedule. There was a Metro ambassador at Van Nuys/Roscoe who came aboard to put in a new stack of 902 timetables; it was also the only stop with the most boardings. At North Hollywood station, there was another ambassador handing out 902 timetables. Hopefully, Van Nuys-bound Red Line riders will acknowledge this new service and try it out for this evening's commute home.

[Dan Wentzel]

Good. Improve the bus service and upgrade the Orange Line to LRT.

[tonyw79sfv]

Evening trip: Start: North Hollywood Red Line station 5:01pm, Van Nuys Orange Line station 5:19pm, Van Nuys/Woodman 5:49pm.

About 8 people boarded at NoHo station's Bay 9 stop, however old habits die hard, the bulk of the ridership came from, surprise, Van Nuys/Aetna (Van Nuys Orange Line station). Looks as if the 761 missed those riders and they decided to take on a shorter 45 foot bus (233 and 761 runs 60 foot buses). There also confusion from 233 riders about 902 service. I found out that according to the 233 timetable, it includes 902 trips and actually took the place of some 233 runs; which leaves a void in trips between Ventura Blvd and Burbank (ridership is typically low in that portion in Sherman Oaks). On the run from Burbank to my stop at Woodman, it passed one 902 bus that was the older NABI 40 footers; my bus did not pass or get passed by other 233 or 761 buses.

Also, there is a change at the North Hollywood Red Line station portal: new signage! Metro has also finally plastered line 902 at the Woodman bus stop; it wasn't there this morning.



Bay 8 (it boards on 9 though)



New NABI Metro 45C silver livery bus 8381

[tonyw79sfv]

Better ridership today, same 902-07 run but with a different driver. The bus arrived arrived earlier at 6:42am, got to Van Nuys/Bessemer (Orange Line) at 7:06am, and got to North Hollywood station bus bay 7 at 7:19am. On Van Nuys, ridership averaged 20, with 12 destined for North Hollywood; of those 12, 5 - 6 actually boarded at Van Nuys/Bessemer. The riders that boarded there just got off an overburdened 761 (that my 902-07 caught up to); most riders that got off at Van Nuys/Bessemer from the 761 headed for the Orange Line with a few knowledgeable riders boarding 902 knowing it's headed in the same direction. My 902 pretty much paced the Orange Line bus to NoHo. So it looks like word is getting out, still, most Van Nuys bus signs do not show line 902; there was a Metro maintenance truck parked at Nordoff, I believe probably slapping on line 902 designation.

[tobias087]

clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2010/10-0460_RPT_DOT_03-15-10.pdf

Well, if the plan is to put a median busway on Van Nuys blvd., then it seems to me that the logical thing to do would be to eliminate the 902, and tie the line in with the Orange line from Noho.

Although, with 4 proposed grade separations, and a 1-mile tunnel segment, it seems like the planners want it to be as easy as possible to someday convert this to LRT, if they ever get a chance with the rest of the Orange line.

[tonyw79sfv]

Mar 22, 2010 11:37:16 GMT -8 tobias087 said:

clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2010/10-0460_RPT_DOT_03-15-10.pdf

Well, if the plan is to put a median busway on Van Nuys blvd., then it seems to me that the logical thing to do would be to eliminate the 902, and tie the line in with the Orange line from Noho.

Although, with 4 proposed grade crossings, and a 1-mile tunnel segment, it seems like the planners want it to be as easy as possible to someday convert this to LRT, if they ever get a chance with the rest of the Orange line.

One thing that can't be ignored is that Van Nuys Boulevard is the public transit ridership powerhouse outside the Metro Red and Orange Lines. Sure, the Red Line ends in NoHo where there is sufficient density, but Panorama City is even more dense. It would be nice to have the Red Line extend to Panorama City with a spur to Westwood (as part of the I-405 Sepulveda Pass corridor), but I'm pessimistic in how much transit can be improved in the San Fernando Valley considering we couldn't get light rail on an already existing ROW; all due to the limited funding we have and the priorities (like a Wilshire Boulevard subway) that have yet to be done, the SFV will have to wait a long time to have our transit dreams realized. Therefore, we have to endure buses after buses, whether it'd be the former 560 & 561, 233, 761, and the 902 that helped alleviate both Metro Rapid 761 and the Orange Line lines that are at capacity. The bus tunnel from Aetna/Bessemer to Vanowen sounds nice, but the expense of utility relocation and obtaining land for portals would not make the bus tunnel a reality. Van Nuys, like East Los Angeles, was planned to be connected with the Red Line until both ends were truncated due to political and financial issues of the past. RTD (Metro's predecessor) had ambitious plans to run the Red Line elevated over Van Nuys and Sepulveda Boulevards and would have eliminated the need for today's 902 service as the heavily patronized north-south bus lines can stay on course and not need to be deviated to provide multi-terminus service. Also, in the document, it notes the widening of the bridge over the Pacoima Wash. That was already done two years ago, it added no extra lanes, just widened the median lane and added prohibited street parking lane. Despite my pessimistic ramblings, I'm glad the LADOT is putting forth the suggestion regarding Van Nuys Boulevard public transit service to Metro; there is not enough advocacy from riders although deep down inside, they would want improvements.

[tobias087]

Mar 22, 2010 20:21:09 GMT -8 tonyw79sfv said:

It would be nice to have the Red Line extend to Panorama City with a spur to Westwood (as part of the I-405 Sepulveda Pass corridor),

Actually I'd much rather see the red line run north to the sylmar metrolink station (hopefully a finding by the alternatives analysis mentioned in the document) but without the spur down the 405. The 405 is intrinsically a north-south corridor, and making it light rail offers it a chance to take over the portion of the green line that runs south of LAX (and the proposed extension to that). If the 405 line took off down the purple, which would be the logical thing to do if it were heavy rail, that would probably kill not only the chances of the purple line someday running to the sea (however slim they may already be) but also the chances of the rest of the 405 becoming a rail corridor

[jdrcrasher]

Tobias I think you and I are on the same page. The Harbor Subdivision project (DTLA-Inglewood-LAX-Redondo-Long Beach) is going to use the right of way south of LAX to get to Long Beach. And it is planned on being Light-Rail. Why not link the 405 and Harbor Subdivision corridors together?

We need a grade-separated 405 Light-Rail corridor from the Sylmar Metrolink station to Long Beach, instead of a purple line subway extension simply into the valley to Sylmar. At 55 Mph, it wouldn't be that much slower than a 70 Mph subway extension, making the 48 mile trip from Sylmar to Long Beach in approximately an hour, when stops are included. That's not too shabby, considering how hard it is to commute on the 405 Freeway.

If we were to make the 405 corridor a subway, it would all but kill a full 405 corridor option, because we simply can't have 2 modes of transportation on the same right of way South of LAX, going to the same stops . Not only is that politically impossible, but it just doesn't make any sense.

[Justin Walker]

Well, it looks like the 902 is done for. See June 26, 2011 service changes.

"Final service changes: Discontinue demonstration service. Alternate service available by using existing Lines 233 or and 761, and transferring to Metro Orange Line to North Hollywood Station."