Metro Approves Broad Cut to Bus Services
The decree, which will take effect in June, will also reduce fares.
 (Courtesy Metro) |
DOWNTOWN (KTLA) -- After careful review, Metro board members approved a wide sweep of changes Thursday that includes cutting bus lines to create a system of "quality over quantity."
The decree is the largest cut in over a decade and will take effect in June.
Nine routes will be eliminated and 11 will be scaled back -- about 305,000 hours of total bus service.
Since 2009, bus services, which account for 80 percent of Metro's usage, and routes have been cut 12-percent.
Protesters outside the meeting Thursday criticized the Metro for spending hundreds of millions of dollars on rail ventures that have yet to catch on with riders.
The benefit of the decrease in service means riders can also expect lower fees.
"Service changes are necessary steps to secure the financial health of the agency while at the same time providing quality service against the backdrop of the recent economic downturn," Metro said in an official statement.
In a Metro website blog, CEO Art Leahy said the present-day bus system has created a "multitude of problems for the angency and its customers." He also said that buses are running at an average of 42-percent capacity, and the change would help reduce wasteful services.
The cuts will also drop Metro’s fleet to about 1,900 buses.
The committee also approved the purchase of 700 new buses through 2015 to replace older, less fuel-efficient buses.
The decree is the largest cut in over a decade and will take effect in June.
Nine routes will be eliminated and 11 will be scaled back -- about 305,000 hours of total bus service.
Since 2009, bus services, which account for 80 percent of Metro's usage, and routes have been cut 12-percent.
Protesters outside the meeting Thursday criticized the Metro for spending hundreds of millions of dollars on rail ventures that have yet to catch on with riders.
The benefit of the decrease in service means riders can also expect lower fees.
"Service changes are necessary steps to secure the financial health of the agency while at the same time providing quality service against the backdrop of the recent economic downturn," Metro said in an official statement.
In a Metro website blog, CEO Art Leahy said the present-day bus system has created a "multitude of problems for the angency and its customers." He also said that buses are running at an average of 42-percent capacity, and the change would help reduce wasteful services.
The cuts will also drop Metro’s fleet to about 1,900 buses.
The committee also approved the purchase of 700 new buses through 2015 to replace older, less fuel-efficient buses.
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