Metro Orange Line (LACMTA)

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Metro Orange Line
A Metro Liner with a bicycle rack at North Hollywood Station.
Info
Type	Transitway
System	Metro Liner
Locale	Los Angeles, California
Terminals	North Hollywood Warner Center
No. of stations	14
Service routes	901
Daily ridership	25,475
Operation
Opened	October 29, 2005
Operator(s)	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA)
Rolling stock	North American Bus Industries 60-BRT and 65-BRT
Technical
Line length	14 mi (22.5 km)
Line map

The Metro Orange Line is a dedicated transitway operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority which began its operation on October 29, 2005. It travels fourteen miles between Warner Center and the North Hollywood Metro Red Line subway station in the San Fernando Valley.

The Orange Line is designed with characteristics similar to an urban light rail system such as a dedicated right-of-way, more broadly dispersed stations approximately one mile apart, platform ticket machines for faster boarding, public art, park-and-ride lots, and other amenities.

Because of its many differences from a standard bus service, the authority has branded the transitway as part of the region's network of light and heavy rail lines. It appears on the Metro Rail System Map. Orange Line vehicles, called Metro Liners, are painted in the silver and gray color scheme of Metro Rail vehicles. Likewise, it is the authority's only bus line that has been marketed with a color designation rather than its line number (901).

The transitway's color name, the Orange Line, refers to the many citrus trees that once blanketed the San Fernando Valley. The name was adopted in January 2004 by the Board of Directors. In the planning stages the transitway was known as the San Fernando Valley East-West Transitway, and later the Metro Rapidway. The idea for the transitway itself was inspired by the Rede Integrada de Transporte, which board supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky noticed during a visit to Curitiba, Brazil.

The Orange Line has two other official names: the E Line^{[citation needed]} and Line 901. These are rarely used by residents, but occasionally appear on documents.

[edit] History

The majority of the Orange Line is built on part of the former Southern Pacific Railroad Burbank Branch right-of-way. This had passenger service from 1904 to 1920, with stations at several locations including North Hollywood and Van Nuys. It had Pacific Electric Red Car service from North Hollywood to Van Nuys again from 1938 to 1952.[1]

The right of way was purchased by the Los Angeles MTA (now MCTA) in 1991, considering it for use as a Metro rail line. However, the California Legislature passed a law in 1991 introduced by Alan Robbins which prohibited the use of the corridor for any form of rail transit other than a "deep bore subway located at least 25 feet below ground"[2]. Then Los Angeles County passed Proposition A in 1991, promoted by supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, which prohibited Metro from using its county sales tax funding to build subways.[3]

This made it essentially impossible to construct a rail line in the right-of way. Both legal prohibitions remain in force. Accordingly, Metro built a busway which opened in 2005. Because it was funded with Proposition 108 money, Metro owes the State of California $44.8 million dollars if it does not convert the Orange Line to a rail line by 2015[4], unless the State waives repayment.

[edit] Construction delays

During construction the contractor experienced several delays. There was a dead body found tucked in a barrel along the alignment and toxic soil had to be removed.

Twenty-two months after construction began, on July 19, 2004, the California Court of Appeals ordered the temporary halt to construction activity on the Orange Line. This action was the result of a successful appeal by a citizens' group known as C.O.S.T (Citizens organized for Smart Transit), which claimed a network of Rapid Lines should have been studied as a possible alternative to the Metro Orange Line. The 30-day shutdown cost $70,000 per day.

On October 22, Metro issued a Revised Final Environmental Impact Report (RFEIR) that concluded that the Metro Orange Line was superior to each of three Rapid Bus Alternatives studied in the revised report. The RFEIR studied:

1. Three East-West Rapid Bus Routes Alternative (Sherman Way, Vanowen Street and Victory Boulevard)
2. Five East-West Rapid Bus Routes Alternative (Sherman Way, Victory Boulevard, Oxnard Street, Burbank Boulevard, and Chandler Boulevard)
3. Rapid Bus Network Alternative (as submitted by Citizens Organized for Smart Transit, this network of nine Rapid Bus routes would consist of three east-west routes and six north-south routes)

The revised FEIR examined the environmental impacts, costs and benefits of each Rapid Bus alternative and concluded:

1. The Metro Orange Line would attract substantially more new riders than any Rapid Bus alternatives.
2. The Metro Orange Line would result in the greatest system-wide travel time savings.
3. The Metro Orange Line would maintain the most consistent travel time, which would not be compromised over time as the result of increasing traffic congestion.
4. The Rapid Bus alternatives would all have lower capital costs than the Metro Orange Line because of their minimal construction requirements. However, because the Rapid Bus alternatives would attract fewer new riders than the Metro Orange Line, the Rapid Bus alternatives exhibit poor cost-effectiveness measured on a per-new-rider basis.
5. The exclusive transitway operation of the Metro Orange Line has distinct land use benefits that would encourage transit-oriented development at/around stations and is consistent with adopted local planning documents.
6. Operating costs for the Rapid Bus Network Alternative would be up to $10 million more each year than the cost to operate the Metro Orange Line

[edit] Operations

[edit] Parking lots

The large North Hollywood parking lot is completely filled by early mornings by inward-bound Red Line users. Parking lots at various Orange Line stops along the route will provide more passenger traffic for both Orange and Red Metro lines. This will also take many cars off the freeways and surface streets. At present, the parking lots along the Orange line are being utilized at below 10% capacity. There is no signage on most busy arteries directing car-using, potential Orange/Red Line customers to the huge free parking lots. However, studies show that an increasing number of Simi Valley, Northridge, and Sylmar auto commuters are beginning to use these parking lots. If a reduction of Freeway and cross-valley arterial auto traffic results from using the parking lots, a major public convenience will be achieved.

[edit] Vehicles

The large buses, which have been dubbed "Metro Liners" by the LACMTA, are twenty feet longer than the standard forty-foot bus, which enables them to carry up to 57 passengers, which is about 50% more passengers. The buses are articulated in the center due to this longer length. They have three doors for faster boarding and alighting. Like most other Los Angeles Metro buses, the Metro Liners are made by North American Bus Industries and are fueled by compressed natural gas.^{[citation needed]} Vehicles have no fareboxes because the Metro Orange Line operates on a proof-of-payment system, like the Metro Rail network.

[edit] Ridership

The ridership average for the first five full months of operation, from November 2005 to March 2006, was 16,766 boardings per weekday. A strong upward trend, from January 2006 on, suggested that ridership during the first full year of operation might fall between 5.5 and six million annual boardings (statistics for the first 11 months of operation, November 2005 - September 2006, implied 5.9 million passengers per year).^[1]

However, annual passenger traffic density is a more useful indicator than crude boarding counts for comparison between modes, lines, and systems. This is calculated by dividing annual passenger-miles (or km) by the line length. The result, expressed as "passenger-miles per mile of route" (or "passenger-km per km of route"), is simply a measure of the number of passengers who, on average, travel over each mile (or km) of line during some interval (e.g. weekday, year). Although seldom used in the U.S., annual traffic density is an important measure of line capacity and is a major determinant of operating expense.

The estimated number of boardings for the first full year of operation (based on actual results for the first 11 months of operation) is 5.9 million. The reported (annual) average travel distance per boarding is 6.2 mi (10.1 km) on the transitway. (It should be noted that the majority of passengers arrived at the North Hollywood terminal by Red Line trains or regular bus and are using joint route fares in many cases.) The Orange Line is 14 miles (23 km) long. These statistics imply an (annual) traffic density of 2.6 million pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per year.

The accompanying (weekday) traffic density figure, based on results for the first 11 months of operation (November 2005 - September 2006), is 8,800 pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per weekday.

Comparative figures for the Metro rail lines, based on MTA statistics for the 2006 fiscal year, are:

• Red Line: 11.1 million pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per year; 35,000 pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per weekday.
• Blue Line: 8.5 million pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per year; 26,000 pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per weekday.
• Green Line: 3.5 million pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per year; 11,000 pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per weekday.
• Gold Line: 2.9 million pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per year; 9,100 pass-mi (km) per mi (km) of route per weekday.

In April of 2007, the Orange Line averaged 23,814 weekday boardings (the "average" for the first 11 months of operation, November 2005 - September 2006, was 18,767). The loading factor has continued to grow such that, in many peak periods, coaches depart the North Hollywood station completely full with little standing room for riders wanting to board at points west. Studies of its use suggest that most riders are long haul and in fact travel east to or travel west from the Red Line subway service. This "extension" effect of Red Line service is more "traffic productive" than the more typical boarding and dropping off of a passenger along the bus line.

Creating better service with higher frequency or longer coaches on the Orange Line, will further stimulate traffic on the subway.

[edit] Collisions

An Orange Line bus heading toward North Hollywood crosses Burbank Boulevard and Fulton Ave. Notice the yellow LED BUS sign on the right traffic light pole.

Another bus at the same intersection, heading toward Warner Center

During the first few months of operations on the Orange Line, there were several collisions, approximately one per week. In each case, the driver of the vehicle other than the MetroLiner was determined to be at fault. There were several injuries but no fatalities. The collision issue is reminiscent of a similar issue with the Blue Line, which currently has the highest fatality rate in North America.^[2] Like the Orange Line, this is because most of the line runs at grade and is thus open to driver mistakes.

The LACMTA has noted that the Orange Line had about the same accident rate as other bus lines in the city on a per-mile basis,^[3][4] and has stated more recently that the line's accident rate is "less than half" of the MTA's entire fleet of buses.^[5]

Some residents have protested aspects of the Orange Line, saying that the buses should have been painted orange to be more noticeable (instead of the silver scheme they currently have). Others have concerns that the transitway does not employ railroad crossing-style arms or lights (or grade separations) to prevent motorists from crossing that roadway while a bus approaches, relying instead on traffic lights and warning signs. Perhaps more importantly is people observing traffic signals and stopping at red lights, as red-light runners have caused most of the accidents.

On October 27, 2005, two days before the line's official opening, a motorist driving with a suspended license ran a red light and collided with an eastbound bus at Vesper Avenue. There were no injuries.^[6]

Two collisions involving Orange Line buses occurred on November 2, 2005:

• A 65-year-old female driver illegally made a right turn against a red light and struck an Orange Line bus near the crossing at Corbin Avenue^[7] in Reseda, at about 11:15 a.m.. A fare inspector on the bus was taken to a hospital for minor injuries.

• At about 2:00 p.m., at the crossing near Woodman Avenue and Oxnard Street^[7][8] in Valley Glen, a 78-year old woman driving a Toyota Camry ran a red light and slammed into Metro Liner 9218 that had nearly cleared the intersection. The Camry spun around and hit the bus a second time and the airbags were deployed. Officials say that 37 people were aboard the bus, and at least 15 passengers were injured; the driver of the Camry was critically injured. A witness said that the driver was talking on her cell phone at the time of the accident. This accident remains the most serious accident on the Line to date.^[5]

After the second accident, the MTA issued a "slow order" for every driver of every Orange Line bus; until further notice, all buses had to slow down to 10 miles per hour (15 km/h) while going through every intersection along the transitway, as opposed to the 25-30 mph (40-50 km/h) speed limit originally put on line intersections.^[9] MTA officials pledged that they would review any and all ideas to improve safety on the line and report back to the public in a timely manner. They also installed white strobe lights on the sides of the buses to improve visibility.^[10] The Orange Line continued operations.

In December 2005, MTA called for the installation of red-light cameras at many of the Orange Line's intersections.^[11] As of May 2006, installation is still continuing,^[12] and the cameras are supposed to be operational by August 2006.

[edit] Future expansion

On September 28, 2006, the LACMTA board approved a plan to extend the Orange Line to the district of Chatsworth, terminating at the Chatsworth Metrolink station. The expansion will cost $135 Million and should be completed in 2012.^[13][14] This continues to follow the Burbank Branch railroad right-of-way.

Another possible extension of the Orange Line proposed by transit advocates, including members of The Transit Coalition,[5] is an extension from North Hollywood station to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, which would approximately go north on Vineland Avenue and east on Vanowen Street to the airport, to connect with the Metrolink station.

In January 2007, Metro began testing a new, longer 65-foot bus on the Orange Line for a test during the summer as a way of expanding capacity on the line. The agency had to receive a special waiver from Caltrans to operate the bus for testing purposes, since current state law only allows the operation of buses 60 feet or shorter.^[15] 65 foot buses have a seating capacity of 66 passengers and can accommodate 100 passengers.^[16] Officials have also looked into possibly using 80-foot buses for future expansion.

When purchased in 1991, the MTA originally considered the route for use as either light rail or a Red Line extension, and both of these ideas have been floated repeatedly by critics (see below). A rail route would allow longer vehicles, higher speed limits, and greater frequency.

[edit] Criticism

Many people have criticized the LACMTA for removing railroad tracks that were already in place for a significant length of the Orange Line's route, tracks which could have been revitalized and used as part of a true light rail system, which tends to draw a significant number of commuters as opposed to buses. ^[17] In addition, the Orange Line crosses intersections with little safety features (see below), and in many places, uses the same roads as cars, which further dissuades would-be commuters from using the line, as they would be subjected to the same gridlock that they're facing while driving. This has earned the Orange Line the informal nickname of "Orange Lie" by some. ^[18]

[edit] Conversion

Critics point out the possibility of converting the Orange Line to a light rail system. The conversion would be relatively cheap -- former mayor Richard Riordan described it as the "least expensive rail alternative" of the lines under consideration[6] -- but faces huge legal and political challenges (described above under History). The MTA is currently prohibited by law from converting it to any form of rail other than a deep-bore subway, and also prohibited from spending its sales-tax funding on deep-bore subways.

There has been strong criticism of the Orange Line from opponents citing collisions as an unacceptable risk. A rail line would have crossing gates.

There is also concern that the Orange Line will soon reach its engineered capacity.^[19] During peak hours, the signaling system is designed to balance the Orange Line buses with vehicle cross traffic. Adding more buses would either cause bus bunching or shorter green times at cross streets. The other practical alternative would be purchasing bi-articulated (80 foot long) buses as used in Curitiba, Brazil -- assuming state law was changed to allow them. Buses longer than 80 feet do not exist, so any further capacity increases would require conversion to rail.

Meanwhile, the transitway is wearing out faster than expected and faster than planned. On December 12, 2006, Metro closed the transitway between Tujunga Avenue in North Hollywood and Fulton Avenue in Valley Glen (at the Valley College station) to repave the transitway surface that is "showing signs of wear."^[20] The closure was expected to last approximately two weeks to rebuild the busway's crumbling pavement. No similar problems have occurred with the track on Metro's rail lines.

Additionally, there is a call for an expansion of the system to the Chatsworth Metrolink station via Canoga Ave.

[edit] List of stations, from east to west

[edit] Gallery

NABI 60-BRT Orange Line bus at Warner Center Transit Hub

Side view of the NABI 60-BRT at Warner Center Transit Hub

Interior view of the NABI 60-BRT.

North Hollywood Orange Line Station.

[edit] References

• Orange Line bus Collides With Car by Amanda Covarrubias and Megan Garvey, Los Angeles Times, November 2, 2005, retrieved November 2, 2005

[edit] External links

• Orange Line official web site
• Orange Line schedule
• Orange Line history
• A Bus by Any Other Name Is Still ... a Train? - the problems of designing buses to resemble light rail trains. Mentions the problem of calling the "San Fernando Valley Busway" the "Metro Orange Line."