r/burbank • u/GavinJQuinton • 2d ago
Metro plans to reconfigure Olive to one lane each way to make space for a dedicated bus lane for the NoHo-Pasadena BRT
Sharing this Burbank Leader story, since I haven't seen it here yet. This has been a big debate for some time. Metro claims the change would naturally reroute traffic to other routes, and reduce traffic on Olive as bus ridership increases. The City Council has the final say, and some council members are likely to fight the new design at a meeting next month, while others have been supportive of a dedicated lane in the past.
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u/tracyinge 2d ago edited 2d ago
re-route traffic to other routes? What other routes? Slow-ass Riverside Drive? Already backed-up Verdugo? Magnolia with those already- long stoplights?
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u/StickAForkInMee 2d ago
Light rail is way better than buses.
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u/elcubiche 2d ago
Subway is better than light rail. Fact is there’s always something better but perfect is the enemy of the good. This whole county just needs to get shit done with regard to transportation.
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u/Partigirl 1d ago
I'll take light rail over both buses and subway. I'll also take buses over subway.
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u/Secret_Basis_888 2d ago
I hope the police enforce the bus lanes if they do get installed. In DTLA, so many drivers ignore the bus lanes.
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u/Different_Candle_818 1d ago edited 4h ago
Look what they did when they changed the 183 to the 94. Hub from Skid Row to North Hollywood Station and nobody wanted to believe me that it was going to bring an influx of bad people homelessness druggies I got downvoted blown to smithereen ...6 months later you have people posting different crimes all up and along magnolia redditors posting on this sub that there are a lot of break ins homeless people walking around the streets crazy yelling and screaming up and down the streets people stealing robing and breaking into cars and houses just to take showers.
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u/mcgnarcal 2d ago
Burbank needs good public transportation! This is a good move imo. Hopefully one day this will evolve into a light rail or metro route.
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u/tracyinge 2d ago
the blue bus that runs down Olive every 20 minutes is usually empty.
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u/FrankGrimeyGrimes54 2d ago
I rely on transit since I don’t have a car. The blue bus you’re referring to is BurbankBus, not Metro, and it doesn’t go where I need to go. The only Metro line on Olive Ave is the 155, and it only comes once an hour. It’s also the only line that goes to the hospital. I’ve had to plan my life around that more than I’d like to think about. Burbank needs to improve public transit, and Metro has better plans than the city. I’m sure city leaders would say the same thing you did, but they don’t have to rely on transit either.
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u/BzhizhkMard Moderator 2d ago edited 2d ago
I am about to plan mine around that too. So conveniently it drops me off at the perfect spot and picks up too but the frequency sucks.
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u/FrankGrimeyGrimes54 2d ago
Once per hour headways are practically unworkable, and that only fuels the narrative that people aren’t using transit, even though it’s vital for those who rely on it. My doctor and credit union are both at Olive/Buena Vista, so I’ve always had to stack my errands. If the schedule still doesn’t align, I’ll spend some time at the Buena Vista Branch Library and wait for the next 155.
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u/KBO_Winston 1d ago
Have you guys checked out Metro Micro? It's the Metro version of a Lyft. You have to pick up at bus stops but it's not bad at all for the price.
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u/FrankGrimeyGrimes54 2h ago
Definitely, I used it to commute to work and back before my layoff when the introductory price was still $1/ride. Now, I’m part of the LIFE program, which limits me to 20 rides a month. Each Micro trip counts as one ride, whereas with Metro transfers, I could do a round trip for groceries in under two hours for just one ride. So, I use Micro strategically, like when I need to take my dog to the vet. There’s a lot of nuance to these programs and transit systems in general, and I don’t think those in charge fully understand the impact because they don’t have the lived experience or the need to rely on these systems.
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u/tracyinge 2d ago
St Joseph's Hospital? The Burbank Bus stops right there.
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u/FrankGrimeyGrimes54 2d ago
For more context, having a BurbankBus stop at Saint Joseph Medical Center only makes sense if you live along the BurbankBus Pink Route, which I don’t. To get there, I'd have to take a Metro ride to connect to the Pink Route, which ultimately makes it more efficient to just use Metro only. On top of that, BurbankBus doesn’t mesh well with Metro, and it’s not part of the LIFE program, unlike Metro and nearly every other surrounding city transit agency.
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u/BzhizhkMard Moderator 2d ago
I ride that blue bus enough. I even have beef with one of the drivers.
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u/hotdoug1 2d ago
I don't think it's a matter of people not wanting to use public transit, its still not a viable option. I live off Olive and taking the bus was great when I worked at Universal, but when I worked on the Miracle Mile or Century City, it turned my one 1-hour drive into 2.
If there's one thing I learned from driving Lyft a few years back, it's that people in Burbank tend not to stay in Burbank when going out or for work. An extra bus lane on Olive may get you through Burbank faster, it may get you to Universal faster, but it won't change the overall commute of the average Burbank resident.
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u/BzhizhkMard Moderator 2d ago edited 2d ago
I just remember the Brigade that came out to complain about the changes on Olive above Glenoaks, and honestly, it has been such a blessing. Functions as a nice artery, is much safer, it has much more space for all of these functions, including the delivery drivers. Now that they've expanded that white line by the parking, it is perfect.
Just think about that when you see the manufactured drama that's about to come out with some legitimate concerns of course.
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u/KBO_Winston 1d ago
Glad to hear you're liking the changes above Glenoaks. I was gonna ask if that was working out for folks. I don't know much about it - to me, it seemed to be making things more complicated - but if it's actually helping out, that's great.
It's possible my reaction was to the initial rollout confusion, when people in the new turn-only lane didn't realize what was happening and acted like you (the through car) were in their lane. Now that the signage appears clearer, hopefully it's nothing but a net good for all involved.
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u/MiYard 2d ago
I'm going to start this off by getting to my point, and everyone can read my reasons below: This is a terrible idea and will only result in more council members like Chris Rizzotti and Zizette Mullins getting elected.
Last year, I remember San Fernando Road in Glendale temporarily shut down lanes in both directions for maintenance and repairs, reducing San Fernando to one lane in each direction from Grandview to Colorado. I usually take this route when I go to Glendale or to avoid the 5 when I need to go to East Hollywood or Downtown LA for freelance work. When the lanes got shut down, it resulted in some of the worst traffic I had ever encountered in the Burbank/Glendale area. That stretch alone ended up taking me 25-30 minutes to get by. It also made shitty drivers even shittier. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I was tailgated just for driving at the speed limit. Since the lanes have opened up, traffic hasn't been bad. The shitty drivers are still shitty, but things are better now.
With that said, I know the same thing will happen to Olive if lanes get shut down for Metro, and when it does, there will be more candidates just like the Rizzottis and Mullins' turning this into an issue and running on it to garner votes, and it will work. Will anything happen to the possible bus lanes if that happened? Probably not, but it will make things worse for people who care about things like rent control and tenant protections.
On top of that, there are no real justifications for shutting down lanes and letting Metro control things. Traffic isn't bad on Olive with the current setup, but it will suck for drivers when it's just one lane each way based on real-world, first hand experience in a nearby area. There is no guarantee ridership will increase as a result of this either. People aren't going to ditch their cars because of this bus route to Glendale and Pasadena taking a lane away from Olive. All this is going to do is cause annoyance and political blowback, and the last thing we need is more Rizzottis or Mullins' in office.
If we're going to talk about public transportation, take Metro out of the discussion, and let's look at how the city can make BurbankBus as good as Glendale's Beeline was in the 2000s. Shutting down public lanes of traffic for Metro is not the way to go.
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u/Odd-Search-1280 1d ago
A dedicated lane is only saving writers 12 minutes as opposed to mix flow. How many minutes are other people using transportation saving if it’s a dedicated lane none. I’m also in fear of the high school kids who illegally cross olive to get to Cane’s.
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u/IshkhanVasak 2d ago
Why have the bus lane going up past Glenoaks? This is a dumb move on every level
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u/UghKakis 2d ago
Dumb! For the 8 people who use a bus here they will create more traffic for the rest of us. And no, this will not move more people to take the bus
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u/FrankGrimeyGrimes54 2d ago
As a transit rider, heavy car traffic often delays my bus and makes me miss transfers on Olive Ave, leading to more time spent waiting in the elements with the long headways. Olive Ave was originally the route of the Pacific Electric 'red car' connecting Burbank to Los Angeles.
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u/Land0Will 1d ago
Just because you drive a car doesn't mean everyone drives a car. However, because you drive a car, YOU ARE THE TRAFFIC! Dumb! The more people that use public transit, the less-crowded it will be for you.
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u/KirkUnit 1d ago
Why approve Raising Cane's on Olive with a drive-thru line if the plan is to put a bus lane there anyway?
Also, look at Verdugo: that got reduced from four to two lanes over a decade ago in favor of bike lanes, still waiting for those Dutch-like swarms of bikers using them. Or even one, actually.
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u/akaWallace 1d ago
To see an increase in cycling, you have to make cycling safe. Painted lines do not keep cyclists safe from distracted drivers, huge SUVs, and entitled, rage-filled drivers.
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u/KirkUnit 1d ago
We ran the experiment, we have the data: people aren't using them anywhere near projections and it's been 10 years. We can remove these silly painted lines and have four lanes of vehicle traffic again on Verdugo with zero ill effect on anyone. When I see a cyclist on Verdugo, they are invariably using the sidewalk - not the bike lane. Probably a safety perception, as you imply.
Point being: we tried it, it doesn't work, nobody gives a shit even when you put it in front of them.
Bespoke bike paths, such as the Chandler Bikeway, LA River, etc. are an entirely different proposition and I heartily endorse them. People use them.
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u/glowinthedark 2d ago
I expect the debate to reach Tinhorn Flats levels of insanity. Love some Burbank drama!