Eyes on the Street: More Bus-Only Lanes in DTLA

Over the past weekend, the city Transportation Department (LADOT) installed 1.3 miles of new bus lane on Olive Street through much of downtown Los Angeles. The new bus lane is part of a collaboration between LADOT and Metro that produced recent new bus lanes on Flower Street, 5th and 6th Streets, Aliso Street, and Alvarado Street – with more coming soon on Grand Avenue, La Brea Avenue, and more of Alvarado Street.

For background on how the Olive Street bus lane came about, see earlier SBLA coverage from September, and from 2020.

The nearly-completed new bus lane is located on Olive from Pico Boulevard to 2nd Street. It is the northbound half of a planned couplet that will soon also include a southbound bus lane on Grand Avenue. Per Metro’s The Source, the Grand Avenue bus lane will be installed this Saturday, November 13.

According to Metro, Grand and Olive currently see 60 buses per hour at peak times. These streets carry many Metro lines – including the J (Silver) Line Bus Rapid Transit – plus LADOT DASH and other municipal buses.

The Olive (and soon Grand) bus lane operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays.

Below are photos of the new bus lanes – taken yesterday afternoon.