Metro and LADOT Planning Bus Lanes on Florence Avenue in South L.A.

Metro and the city of Los Angeles Transportation Department (LADOT) are partnering to add new bus-only lanes to Florence Avenue in South Los Angeles. Plans for the proposed new bus lane will be presented at a virtual public meeting next week – on Wednesday, May 11 from 6-8 p.m. For meeting details, see Metro’s The Source.

The proposed new Florence bus lanes would operate in both directions during peak hours on weekdays.

The west end of the lanes would be at West Boulevard, where L.A. City borders the city of Inglewood, a block from the future Crenshaw/LAX Line Fairview Heights Station (expected to open this year). The lanes would span the 4.5 miles to Central Avenue, then continue eastward about three-fourths of a mile through the unincorporated community of Florence-Firestone to the A (Blue) Line Florence Station. The Florence-Firestone portion of the lanes will be the first recent bus-only lanes in unincorporated L.A. County (they join a short stretch of Wilshire bus lanes in unincorporated West L.A. at the VA).

The project will benefit riders on Metro’s Line 111 and LADOT’s Chesterfield Square DASH. Prior to COVID, Line 111 saw 15,000-16,000 boardings daily. Like many Metro bus lines that serve predominantly low-income communities of color, the 111 saw less ridership loss and recovered ridership more quickly than Metro’s overall average. The line saw 11,378 riders in March 2022, the most recent month the Metro ridership data portal currently shows.

The new Florence bus lanes are part of Metro’s NextGen Bus Study, which includes targeted investment in improving bus speeds. In the past couple years, Metro and LADOT have collaborated to add new bus lanes on Flower Street, 5th and 6th Streets, Aliso Street, Alvarado Street, Olive Street, and Grand Avenue, with La Brea Avenue and additional Alvarado mileage coming soon.

More information on the Florence bus lanes at The Source.