Draft:History of bus service in Los Angeles

File:The Trackless Trolley, first in America, to Bungalow Land in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles.jpg from 1910 to 1915]]

A notable early example of bus service in Los Angeles County dates to the 1910s, when a trolleybus service was introduced to serve a new development in Laurel Canyon. The Laurel Canyon Utilities Company, developers of the Bungalow Town development in Laurel Canyon, were unable to attract streetcar service to their new development, and instead operated their own bus service to connect to the Pacific Electric system.{{Cite report |url=https://libraryarchives.metro.net/dpgtl/usdot/1979-the-trolley-coach-development-and-state-of-the-art-task-1-final-report-october.pdf |title=The Trolley Coach: Development & State Of The Art |last1=Wilkins |first1=John D. |last2=Schwartz |first2=Arthur |last3=Parkinson |first3=Tom E. |date=October 1979 |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation |access-date=2025-04-23}}

The company's experiments with motor buses failed due to the steep terrain of the area. In 1910, two 16-seat Oldsmobile motor buses were rebuilt for the service, with an electric motor replacing the gasoline engine. A single set of overhead electric lines was installed along the route, allowing the "trackless trolleys" to climb the hill under their own power, and coast down the hill disconnected from the overhead line. The Laurel Canyon trolleybus service ceased operation in 1915. Today, bus service to Laurel Canyon is provided by Metro Bus route 218.

File:Hollywood Chamber of Commerce members pose with a Los Angeles Motor Bus Co. bus, 1923.jpg members pose with a Los Angeles Motor Bus Company bus in 1923]]

The first commercial motor bus service in Los Angeles began in 1923, operated by the Los Angeles Motor Bus Company. The initial service was on Western Avenue, from Los Feliz Boulevard south to Slauson Avenue. The service expanded quickly, with {{Convert|52|mi|km}} of bus lines by 1925. Buses became the preferred method of expansion for the PE and the LARy, both of which stopped constructing new tracks shortly after the introduction of motor bus services.{{Cite web |last=Mandelkern |first=India |date=2023-08-18 |title=LA's first bus line got rolling 100 years ago today: here's to a century of innovation and grit |url=https://thesource.metro.net/las-first-bus-line-got-rolling-100-years-ago-today-heres-to-a-century-of-innovation-and-grit/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=The Source |publisher=Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority}}

The Los Angeles Motor Bus Company, later renamed the Los Angeles Motor Coach Company was one of many motor bus services founded in the early 20th century. Many were merged into Metropolitan Coach Lines and Los Angeles Transit Lines, the eventual successors of the PE and LARy.{{Cite book |last=Bail |first=Eli |title=From railway to freeway: Pacific Electric and the motor coach |date=1984 |publisher=Interurban Press |isbn=978-0-916374-61-7 |location=Glendale, CA |chapter=Metro to the Rescue: Red to Green |chapter-url=https://www.erha.org/mcl.htm |via=Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California}}

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, some Southern California municipalities began their own bus operations, supplementing private companies' services. Some of these operators remain in service today, including Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines (now Big Blue Bus), Culver City Municipal Bus Lines (now Culver CityBus), and Montebello Bus Lines.{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.bigbluebus.com/About-BBB/Timeline/Historical-Info/Our-History.aspx |access-date=2024-05-26 |work=Big Blue Bus |publisher=City of Santa Monica}}{{Cite web |date=March 2023 |title=Montebello Bus Lines Short Range Transit Plan |url=https://cdnsm5-hosted2.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_58672/File/Departments/Transportation/Attachment%20A%20-%20Montebello%20FY23-25%20SRTP.pdf |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=City of Montebello |page=4}}{{Cite web |title=Culver City Timeline: A Work in Progress |url=https://www.culvercityhistoricalsociety.org/about-culver-city/about/culver-city-timeline/ |access-date=2024-05-26 |work=Culver City Historical Society}}

File:Wrecking crew tearing out streetcar tracks on Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles, Calif., 1948.jpg in 1948. Streetcar service in Los Angeles ended in 1963.]]

After World War II, bus services increased, as replacements for streetcar service. Trolleybus service was reintroduced in the late 1940s by Los Angeles Transit Lines, using a fleet of vehicles originally intended for the Key System in Oakland.{{Cite web |last=Ward |first=Paul |title=Los Angeles Transit Lines - The Trolley Bus in Los Angeles |url=https://www.erha.org/latl.htm |access-date=2024-05-26 |work=Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California}} In 1958, Los Angeles Transit Lines and Metropolitan Coach Lines were bought out by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, bringing the bulk of Los Angeles transit service from private to public ownership. The LAMTA converted all lines to motor buses, halting service on the final ex-PE line in 1961. The era of bus-only transit service in Los Angeles began in March 1963, with the conversion of the final LARy line to bus operation.{{cite news |author= |date=March 31, 1963 |title=Streetcars Go for Last Ride |url=https://documents.latimes.com/1948-1963-los-angeles-streetcar-coverage/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |page=N5 |id={{ProQuest|168255116}}}}

File:Rapid Transit District bus traveling in El Monte-Los Angeles bus lane, passing rush hour traffic on San Bernardino Freeway, 1973.jpg, 1973]]

The Southern California Rapid Transit District (RTD) was created by an act of the California Legislature in 1964. It consolidated transit services across the Los Angeles area, purchasing ten private bus companies across Southern California. The RTD initially served a large area, including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, and Riverside Counties.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-20 |title=Southern California Rapid Transit District (1964-1993) |url=https://metroprimaryresources.info/docs/southern-california-rapid-transit-district-1964-1993/ |access-date=2024-05-26 |work=Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive}} The RTD changed its focus throughout its existence, spinning off its services outside Los Angeles County, and proposing multiple plans for rail transit systems in failed ballot measures in 1968, 1974, and 1976.{{Cite book |last1=García |first1=Robert |title=Running on empty: Transport, social exclusion and environmental justice |last2=Rubin |first2=Thomas A. |date=2004 |publisher=Bristol University Press |isbn=978-1-84742-600-0 |editor-last=Lucas |editor-first=Karen |chapter=Crossroad blues: the MTA Consent Decree and just transportation |doi=10.2307/j.ctt1t89876}}

The RTD focused on regional bus services, leaving some local services to other operators, including a number of long-established municipal operators on the Westside and in South Los Angeles.

The fragmentation of the Los Angeles bus system gained attention in the aftermath of Watts riots of 1965. A commission investigating the unrest was appointed by Governor Pat Brown, chaired by former Director of Central Intelligence John A. McCone. The McCone Commission published a report in December of that year, which argued that inadequate and fragmented bus service was one of the causes of the isolation and frustration leading to the riots. The report recommended a policy of free transfers between RTD and municipal buses, and a operating subsidies for bus operations across the region.{{Cite q|Q134513993}}{{Rp|pages=65–68}} Urban historian Robert M. Fogelson criticized the report's conclusions about transportation and other topics in a 1967 analysis, arguing that the issue of bus transit was less important than the McCone Commission stated. Fogelson found errors in the report's statistics on transportation, and argued that "the southcentral ghetto is indeed isolated, but not for reasons as simple and reassuring as dreadful bus service."{{Cite journal |last=Fogelson |first=Robert M. |date=1967-09-01 |title=White on Black: A Critique of the McCone Commission Report on the Los Angeles Riots |url=https://academic.oup.com/psq/article/82/3/337/7144042 |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=337–367 |doi=10.2307/2146769 |issn=0032-3195 |access-date=}}

File:Five RTD bus drivers waiting with strike picket signs at bus yard in Los Angeles, Calif., 1974.jpg

Rapid growth of the Southern California region increased demand for bus services in the 1970s, compounded by high gasoline prices during the 1973 oil crisis. The first segment of the El Monte Busway opened in 1973, allowing RTD express buses to bypass traffic congestion on the San Bernardino Freeway.{{Cite conference |last1=Hillmer |first1=Jon |last2=Parry |first2=Stephen T |date=1994 |title=The El Monte Busway: A Twenty-Year Retrospective |url=https://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/presentations/1994_el_monte_busway_20_year.pdf |conference=7th National Conference on High Occupancy Vehicle Systems}} In 1974, RTD drivers and mechanics struck for 68 days from August to October, demanding higher wages.{{Cite book |last1=Crain |first1=John L. |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102614567 |title=Southern California Rapid Transit District 1974 strike impact study |last2=Flynn |first2=Sydwell D. |date=January 1975 |publisher=California Department of Transportation |location=Sacramento |access-date=}}

Bus ridership rose 82% from 1976 to 1980, but funding challenges, overcrowding, and fare increases challenged the RTD and its increasingly-popular bus system. The passage of Proposition A in 1980 provided funding to construct a rail transit system, and also provided a subsidy for bus operations. As a result, the RTD reduced the base bus fare to 50 cents, {{Inflation|index=US|value=.5|start_year=1982|r=2|fmt=eq}}.{{Inflation/fn|US}} The low fares increased ridership on RTD buses by 40% from 1982 to 1985, exacerbating overcrowding.

Throughout its history, the RTD was involved in multiple conflicts with other government agencies in Southern California, on issues that included funding and rail route selection. The RTD and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC) both received Proposition A funds, and were at odds about the first steps to constructing a rail system. Ultimately, the RTD and LACTC sought to construct two separate rail lines. The RTD built the Red Line subway, and the LACTC built the Blue Line light rail line. Per the terms of Proposition A, the funding for the 50-cent bus fare program was reallocated to rail construction in 1985. The bus fare increases that followed caused bus ridership to drop significantly.{{Cite web |last=Reft |first=Ryan |date=2015-02-26 |title=A Clear Blue Vision: L.A. Light Rail Transit and Twenty Five Years of the Blue Line |url=https://www.pbssocal.org/history-society/a-clear-blue-vision-l-a-light-rail-transit-and-twenty-five-years-of-the-blue-line |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=PBS SoCal |language=en}}

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, abbreviated as Metro, was founded in 1993 from the merger of the RTD and the LACTC. It was charged with financing and constructing the rail system, operating the bus system, and coordinating other transportation programs in the region. The conflicts that had occurred between the RTD and the LACTC persisted as internal conflicts within Metro, with union leaders arguing that former LACTC staff received better benefits than former RTD staff, even after the merger.{{Cite web |last=Zamichow |first=Nora |date=1993-12-07 |title=Katz Says MTA Lacks Strategy on Transit |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-07-me-64893-story.html |access-date=2024-05-27 |work=Los Angeles Times}}

The ongoing conflict over funding rail construction and bus services continued at Metro. Only months after the agency's founding, Metro CEO Julian Burke presented a proposed budget for fiscal year 1994 to the agency's board of directors. The proposed budget would halt progress on the Union Station–Pasadena segment of the Blue Line to support continued bus operations and rail construction. Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan strongly criticized the plan, and at his insistence, the board directed Metro staff to continue planning for the Pasadena Blue Line, causing Metro to look for other sources of funding.

Metro proposed a large bus fare increase in June 1994, to take effect on September 1st of that year.{{Cite journal |last=Grengs |first=Joe |date=2002 |title=Community-based planning as a source of political change: The transit equity movement of Los Angeles' bus riders union |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/229729086/abstract/10F8E96A07A5493EPQ/1 |journal=Journal of the American Planning Association |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=165–178 |doi=10.1080/01944360208976263 |issn=01944363 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-23}} The fare for a single bus ride was proposed to increase 23% from $1.10 to $1.35 (${{Inflation|index=US|value=1.1|start_year=1994|r=2}} to ${{Inflation|index=US|value=1.35|start_year=1994|r=2}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US}}),{{Inflation/fn|US}} and all monthly passes were planned to be eliminated. A 2004 analysis found that the average monthly bus pass user took approximately 100 trips per month, which would have caused a fare increase of over 50% for the average passholder.

File:Wilshire_Western_720_stop.jpg]]

On August 31, 1994, a class action lawsuit was filed against Metro by a coalition of local and national civil rights organizations, representing Los Angeles bus riders. The civil rights organizations, including the Bus Riders Union, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates, supported by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The plaintiffs argued that Metro's large subsidies for rail construction and operation discriminated against bus riders, whose demographics were significantly different than those of rail riders. The court delayed the fare increase, and after nearly two years of discovery proceedings, the case was settled before it went to trial.

The consent decree that resulted from the settlement required Metro to significantly expand bus service.{{Cite book |url=https://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/longrangeplans/2001-draft-long-range-transportation-plan.pdf |title=2001 Long Range Transportation Plan for Los Angeles County |date=2001 |publisher=Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority |pages= |chapter=Metro Rapid Program}} One product of the consent decree was Metro Rapid, a brand of limited-stop bus service with some characteristics of bus rapid transit. A delegation from the Los Angeles city government, including Mayor Richard Riordan, visited the Brazilian city of Curitiba in early 1999. The civic leaders were impressed by Curitiba's comprehensive bus rapid transit system, the Rede Integrada de Transporte, and sought to replicate it. By the summer of 1999, planning was underway for a pilot program of bus rapid transit service on two corridors: Wilshire Blvd/Whittier Blvd and Ventura Blvd.{{Cite report |url=https://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/eirs/WilshireBRT/2010_draft_eir_ea_app_i_demonstration_program_report.pdf |title=Final Report: Los Angeles Metro Rapid Demonstration Program |last=Transportation Management & Design, Inc. |date=March 2002}}

In addition to Metro Rapid service, Metro expanded local and express bus service, purchased hundreds of new buses, and lowered bus pass prices.{{Cite report |url=https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/67540 |title=Measuring equity in public transit service: LA Metro and the Post-Decree Era |last1=Brozen |first1=Madeline |last2=González |first2=Silvia R. |last3=Butler |first3=Tamika |date=December 28, 2022 |publisher=Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center |docket=PSR-21-51TO054}} Metro Rapid service on the two pilot corridors began in June 2000, opening on the same day as the Red Line extension to North Hollywood. Both lines were immediately popular, generating ridership growth of 25% in their first 90 days of operation. Travel time was improved by over 20% on both lines, aided by the signal priority at intersections in the City of Los Angeles. Customer satisfaction increased relative to the previous local and limited-stop bus services, and the Rapid service quickly captured over 60% of bus ridership on both corridors.{{Cite report |url=https://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/eirs/WilshireBRT/2010_draft_eir_ea_app_i_demonstration_program_report.pdf |title=Final Report: Los Angeles Metro Rapid Demonstration Program |last=Transportation Management & Design, Inc. |date=March 2002}}

File:Montebello Bus Lines New Flyer - Flickr - JLaw45 (1).jpg gasoline-electric hybrid bus in the early 2000s, in response to new rules banning diesel buses]]

Metro introduced compressed natural gas-powered buses and low-floor buses in the late 1990s.{{Cite web |last=Gabbard |first=Dana |date=2012-02-21 |title=The True Story of Metro's Last Diesel Bus |url=https://la.streetsblog.org/2012/02/21/the-true-story-of-metros-last-diesel-bus |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Streetsblog Los Angeles}} By 2003, Metro was the largest operator of CNG buses in the country, with over 1,900 CNG buses operating across its service area.{{Cite web |last=TIAX LLC |date=December 2003 |title=The Transit Bus Niche Market For Alternative Fuels: Overview of Compressed Natural Gas as a Transit Bus Fuel |url=https://afdc.energy.gov/files/pdfs/mod03_cng.pdf |access-date=2025-03-31}} A rule passed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in 2000 banned new diesel-powered buses in transit fleets in Southern California, seeking to improve air quality in the region.{{Cite web |last1=Port |first1=David |last2=Atkinson |first2=John |date=2006 |title=Bus Futures 2006 |url=https://energy-vision.org/pdf/Bus_Futures_2006.pdf |access-date=2025-05-20 |publisher=Inform, Inc.}}

The South Coast AQMD rule, which was stricter than either CARB or EPA standards, greatly influenced the development of alternative fuel technology in Southern California transit bus fleets. Some operators, including Metro and Big Blue Bus, expanded their fleets of CNG buses, following a national trend. Others, including Long Beach Transit and Montebello Bus Lines, purchased New Flyer GE40LF buses, which featured custom-built hybrid propulsion systems that incorporated a Ford Triton V10 engine and supercapacitor energy storage.{{Cite report |url=http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/934388-tQcCPG/ |title=Long Beach Transit: Two-Year Evaluation of Gasoline-Electric Hybrid Transit Buses |last=Lammert |first=Mike |date=June 2008 |publisher=National Renewable Energy Laboratory |access-date=2025-05-19}}{{Cite news |last=Baumfeld |first=Amanda |date=2008-12-12 |title=City of Montebello adds to hybrid bus fleet |url=https://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20081212/city-of-montebello-adds-to-hybrid-bus-fleet/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |work=Los Angeles Daily News}}

California transit ridership began declining in the early 2000s, with a large share of the decline coming from the Los Angeles region. A 2018 study attributed some of the decline to rising car ownership among passengers, and also highlighted the effect of bus service cuts across the region. From 2007 to 2013, bus service in miles traveled dropped 13% across the entire Southern California Association of Governments region, which extends beyond Los Angeles County.{{Cite report |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0455c754 |title=Falling Transit Ridership: California and Southern California |last1=Manville |first1=Michael |last2=Taylor |first2=Brian D. |last3=Blumenberg |first3=Evelyn |date=2018-01-31 |publisher=UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies |access-date=2025-05-20}} In addition to the 2018 study's hypothesis, a 2024 study argued that some of this decline was due to the high cost of housing in areas of Southern California that had better access to public transport.{{Cite journal |last=Manville |first=Michael |last2=King |first2=Hannah |last3=Matute |first3=Juan |last4=Lau |first4=Theodore |date=December 2024 |title=Neighborhood change and transit ridership: Evidence from Los Angeles and Orange Counties |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0966692324002576 |journal=Journal of Transport Geography |language=en |volume=121 |pages=104048 |doi=10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2024.104048}}

Metro introduced the Transit Access Pass (TAP) fare payment system in 2008, creating a single fare card for most buses and trains in Los Angeles County. TAP replaced a system of magnetic stripe stored-value cards already in use by some agencies, including Big Blue Bus and Foothill Transit.{{Cite book |last=Fleishman |first=Daniel |url=https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_10-a.pdf |title=Fare Policies, Structures, and Technologies |last2=Shaw |first2=Nicola |last3=Joshi |first3=Ashok |last4=Freeze |first4=Richard |date=1996 |publisher=Transportation Research Board |others= |isbn=978-0-309-05713-4 |series=TCRP Report 10 |location=Washington, D.C |chapter=Appendix A: Transit Applications of Emerging Fare Developments |chapter-url=https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_rpt_10-e.pdf}} In 2018, TAP fully replaced the previous system of paper interagency transfers, offering discounts on rides that connected between multiple bus and rail operators.{{Cite web |last=Linton |first=Joe |date=2017-11-22 |title=Proposed 2018 Metro TAP Changes Are Effectively A Minor Fare Hike |url=https://la.streetsblog.org/2017/11/21/proposed-2018-metro-tap-changes-are-effectively-a-minor-fare-hike |access-date=2025-05-20 |work=Streetsblog Los Angeles}}

File:Face Covering Required (50220987111).jpg

At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in California, Metro Bus services were cut to approximately 80% of 2019 levels. Face masks were required on Metro buses, and passengers were required to board through the back door of buses to support social distancing between bus drivers and passengers.{{Cite web |last=Richardson |first=Hayley |date=2021-03-22 |title=How Los Angeles Advocates Built Power and Won a Major Victory for Transit Riders |url=https://transitcenter.org/how-los-angeles-advocates-built-power-and-won-a-major-victory-for-transit-riders/ |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=TransitCenter}}

File:La Sombrita passengers.jpg

In 2023, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) introduced a prototype new bus stop, which it proposed could create a higher-quality experience at bus stops for a low cost. The prototype, named "La Sombrita" (Spanish for "The Little Shade") was proposed as a low-cost way to create shade at bus stops, without the space needs or construction process required for conventional bus shelters. LADOT, which controls the streets in the city of Los Angeles and operates the DASH and Commuter Express bus services, received significant public opposition to the proposal, highlighting the issue of urban heat inequity.{{Cite news |last1=Jiménez |first1=Jesus |last2=Albeck-Ripka |first2=Livia |date=2023-05-25 |title=L.A.’s Bus Stops Need Shade. Instead, They Got La Sombrita. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/us/la-sombrita-bus-los-angeles.html |access-date=2025-05-19 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

The pandemic's impact on public transit affected ridership in Los Angeles and worldwide. In 2021, as transit ridership nationwide began to increase, bus service in Los Angeles regained patronage faster than rail services in the region, and faster than its peers in California. Los Angeles-area transit ridership outpaced Bay Area transit ridership by tens of millions of trips in 2021 for the first time in decades, driven largely by bus ridership. An analysis by the Bay Area News Group showed that the largest bus operators in the Los Angeles region were at 74% of 2019 bus ridership levels in June 2022, far higher than their peers in New York City and the Bay Area.{{Cite web |last=Kamisher |first=Eliyahu |date=2022-08-29 |title=California Sees a Big Shift in Mass Transit Ridership |url=https://www.governing.com/now/california-sees-a-big-shift-in-mass-transit-ridership |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=Governing}}

{{Reflist}}

• History of Los Angeles Metro Rail and Busway