Harbor Transitway
Harbor Transitway | |||
---|---|---|---|
I-110 Express Lanes | |||
Overview | |||
System | Metro Busway & Metro ExpressLanes | ||
Operator | Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) | ||
Began service | June 26, 1996 | ||
Routes | |||
Routes | |||
Locale | Los Angeles County, California | ||
Length | 10.3 mi (16.6 km) | ||
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The Harbor Transitway (also known as the I-110 Express Lanes) is a 10.3-mile (16.6 km) shared-use express bus corridor (known as a busway or transitway) and
The Harbor Transitway is utilized by the
South of the Harbor Transitway, the Harbor Freeway also has two stations on the shoulder of the highway, Carson station and Pacific Coast Highway station which opened on November 18, 2000.
History
Construction
The Harbor Transitway project built 10.3 miles (16.6 km) of new lanes (two in each direction) for buses and two-person carpools (high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes) between Downtown Los Angeles and a new transit center in Gardena, California. The most visually striking part of the project were the 2.6 miles of viaducts that elevated the transitway directly above the regular freeway traffic.[1]: 2 The project also included new stations in the median of the transitway at 37th Street/USC, Slauson, Manchester, Harbor Freeway, and Rosecrans along with the Harbor Gateway Transit Center (then called the Artesia Transit Center) located southeast of the Harbor Freeway/State Route 91 interchange and connected by a flyover ramp.[1]: 3
South of State Route 91 to San Pedro, a 9.3-mile (15.0 km) section of the Harbor Freeway was widened from six to eight lanes. On this section of freeway, buses travel in the general-purpose lanes and make stops at new stations on the shoulder at Carson Street and Pacific Coast Highway.[1]: 3 The project also built the off-highway Harbor Beacon Park & Ride in San Pedro, originally intended to be a transit center for the city.[1]: 10
The project to widen the Harbor Freeway and build the Harbor Transitway was planned and constructed concurrently with the new Interstate 105 (Century Freeway), which was highly controversial and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) was required by a consent decree to include HOV lanes and a transitway, which became the C Line.[2]
After about 20 years of planning and construction,[1]: i the Harbor Transitway opened on June 26, 1996, at a cost of $498 million.[3] Because of uncertainty on the opening date, buses would not start using the facility a few weeks later on August 1, 1996.[3] Opening of the final one-mile elevated section from 39th Street to Adams Boulevard (including 37th Street/USC station) was delayed until July 28, 1997.[4] The Harbor Freeway shoulder stations would open on November 18, 2000.[5]
Early operations
Even before opening, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) staff recognized that there was an opportunity to link the operation of the Harbor Transitway to the El Monte Busway, an older but operationally similar facility east of Downtown Los Angeles.
During the planning stages, Metro proposed to Caltrans that the transitway be extended from its terminal at 37th Street north for a more direct connection with Downtown Los Angeles or El Monte Busway.[1]: 3 That request was not implemented, but Caltrans did construct the transitway with stub end to create a provision for a future extension.[6] In 1998, Metro studied the extension but found it expensive and technically challenging, and to date there have been no further efforts to extend the transitway.[7]
In 1993, Metro studied how to operate its buses on the Harbor Transitway best and settled on three proposals: continue to run service as it had before, shift to a
Ridership on the Harbor Transitway was radically lower than expected: Caltrans had projected that 65,200 passengers would travel along the Harbor Transitway each day, but after 10 years ridership fell far below those predictions, with the route seeing just 3,000 passengers per weekday in 2004.[5] That amount is low compared to the El Monte Busway, which had 32,000 boardings a day in November 2000.[5]
Conversion to bus rapid transit and high occupancy toll
After the very successful launch of the Orange Line, a new busway in the San Fernando Valley, Metro decided to rebrand the county's other busways in an attempt to increase awareness.[8] In March 2006, Metro decided that the Harbor Transitway would be colored bronze and the El Monte Busway would be colored silver on Metro's maps and the two would be marketed as a "Combined Transitway Service." No changes were made in the operations of the buses routes operated on the lines. The changes were criticized as being difficult to understand for irregular and new riders.[9]
Metro returned to its plan for a dual-hub route in 2009, proposing a new bus rapid transit service called the
Stations along the Harbor Transitway were improved between early 2011 and late 2012 with the addition of real-time arrival signs, new wayfinding signage, improved lighting, and soundproofing. The Harbor Gateway Transit Center also received bathrooms and a law enforcement substation.[12]
Usage of the Harbor Transitway has significantly increased with the implementation of the J Line,[13] with ridership across the entire route reaching 19,277 boardings a day in February 2020.[14]
Tolls
As of August 2022[update], the
The difference between the Harbor Transitway and the El Monte Busway is that the latter charges two-person carpools the posted toll during peak hours.[17]
Bus services
The
.FlyAway buses use the transitway to travel between the Los Angeles International Airport and Union Station but do not serve any of the stations.
Stations
The Harbor Transitway has eight stations. From north to south, they are:
Station | Busway Services | Station Type | Date opened | City (Neighborhood) | Major connections and notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
37th Street/USC |
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Transitway median | August 1, 1996 | Los Angeles (Exposition Park)
|
|
Slauson | Transitway median | Los Angeles (South Los Angeles)
|
Park and ride: 151 stalls | ||
Manchester |
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Transitway median | Park and ride: 247 stalls | ||
Harbor Freeway | Transitway median | Park and ride: 253 spaces | |||
Rosecrans |
|
Transitway median | Los Angeles ( Harbor Gateway )
|
Park and ride: 338 stalls | |
Harbor Gateway Transit Center |
|
Off-freeway transit center | Park and ride: 980 stalls | ||
Carson | J Line: 950 | Freeway shoulder | November 17, 2000 | Carson | Park and ride: 140 stalls |
Pacific Coast Highway | J Line: 950 | Freeway shoulder | Park and ride: 240 stalls |
Incidents
On February 22, 2012, a drunk driver on the Harbor Freeway mistakenly entered the bus-only platform area of the Harbor Freeway station. The driver, 51-year-old Stephen Lubin of Sun Valley, was traveling 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), 15 mph (24 km/h) over the freeway's posted speed limit, in his 2009 Honda Fit as he entered the station and encountered a bus stopped at the platform. Lubin swerved to avoid hitting the bus and drove onto the platform where he hit seven people, critically injuring six, before slamming into a pole.[18]
After the crash, Metro's CEO Art Leahy asked Metro's safety committee staff to review the layout of busway stations and safety signage on the roadways leading into the station areas.[19] As a result of that investigation, Metro added concrete-filled metal bollards to all stations on the Harbor Transitway and the El Monte Busway to prevent vehicles from entering the platform and additional markings were added on roadways leading into stations.[20]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Dual Hub High Occupancy Vehicle Transitway Report" (PDF). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Scheduling and Operations Planning Staff. August 1993.
- ^ Weinstein, Henry (October 15, 1993). "A Concrete Accomplishment: Transit: Long-planned Interstate 105 opens with gala festivities. Amid the tumult, Judge Harry Pregerson takes pride in job-training and housing programs he helped ensure in the freeway corridor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ a b c Radcliffe, Jim (June 27, 1996). "Harbor Transitway opens, reducing congestion – Impact felt during evening commute". Daily Breeze. p. A3 – via NewsBank.
- ^ Radcliffe, Jim (July 28, 1997). "Final stretch of elevated Harbor Freeway to open". Daily Breeze. p. A2 – via NewsBank.
- ^ a b c Shuit, Douglas P. (November 20, 2000). "Harbor Transitway Has Everything but Riders". Los Angeles Times.
The $500-million Harbor Transitway from Wilmington to downtown Los Angeles was supposed to generate 65,000 bus rides a day along the Harbor Freeway. But usage did remain low as 3,000 boardings a day—that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has slashed the fare by more than half—from $3.35 to $1.35—in hopes of increasing ridership.
- ^ "Google maps satellite view of stub end of transitway". Google Maps.
- ^ Gabbard, Dana (June 24, 2010). "Busway Linkage Obsession Puzzler". Streetsblog Los Angeles. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ Emsden, Maya (March 16, 2006). "Approve color designations for Metro lines and fixed guideways" (PDF). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
- ^ Freemark, Yonah (December 10, 2009). "Los Angeles Integrates Service on Two Busways, with Plans to Implement Congestion Pricing". The Transport Politic. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ Kudler, Adrian Glick (November 6, 2012). "Everything You Need to Know About New 110 and 10 Toll Lanes". Curbed LA. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ Pamer, Melissa (February 22, 2013). "Metro ExpressLanes to Open on San Bernardino (10) Freeway". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ "Metro Silver Line Update Report" (PDF). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 19, 2012.
- ^ Weikel, Dan (December 2, 2014). "A cleaned-up, safer Harbor Transitway puts more commuters on the bus". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
- ^ "Metro Ridership". Metro.net. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ "Universal Fare System Contract Modification". Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 1, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ "All-Door Boarding". Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Using Metro ExpressLanes". www.metroexpresslanes.net. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
- ^ William-Ross, Lindsay (February 24, 2012). "Driver Who Plowed Into Crowded Bus Platform Failed His Sobriety Test". LAist. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ "Probe ordered into crash that injured 7 at 110 Freeway bus stop". Los Angeles Times. February 23, 2012. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ "Harbor Freeway Metro Silver Line Station platform improvements" (PDF). April 20, 2012..
Further reading
- Freeway Bus Station Area Development: Critical Evaluation and Design Guidelines. A Case Study of (I-110) Harbor Transitway Stations
- Highway Oriented Transit System: A Comprehensive Land Use/Transportation Strategy to Improve Transit Service Delivery. A Case Study of (I-110) Harbor Transitway Stations
- Dual Hub High Occupancy Vehicle Transitway A 1993 report by MTA prior to the construction of the transitway
- Harbor Transitway Map and Connections
- Harbor Transitway schedule
External links
- Metro ExpressLanes - includes FasTrak and other toll information for the HOT lanes