~ Progress Report

on

Bus Planning Activities

Prepared by

Southern California Rapid Transit District

Planning Department

September 10, 1974

T}ie work program for the bus planning section of the

SC}tTD Planning Department for the 1974-75 fiscal year will

consist of efforts in three different areas: (1) implementa-

tion of Lhe County-requested bus service; (2) ongoing bus

planning matters; and (3) refining the near-term program.

Staff efforts will be supplemented in these areas by consult-

ant activities in: (1) route planning studies; and (2) near-

term service criteria. These activities will be supervised

by the planning staff. Upon completion of the planning pxo

cess for the County-requested bus service, the pilot pro-

gram for decentralized Surface Planning staff activities in

the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys will he initiated.

T'lie work flow for bus planning as described herein is also

depicted in the attached work flow chart. Also attached is

a copy of t}ie current approved organization chart for the

llistrict's Planning Department.

County-Requested Bus Service

As part of the agreement with the County of Los Angeles

to subsidize losses incurred from instituting the 25¢ flat

fare program, it was stipulated that the District would insti-

tute pilot systems of grid bus routes in two areas of the

County, and a saturated hus service program. The cost of

operating the additional buses required to create or complete

-1-

the grid systems and operate the saturation service would be

included in the contract.

Two geographical areas were selected for pilot bus grid

operation -- the San Fernando Valley and the South Central

area. It is proposed that two groups of planners be assigned

to do the route planning for these projects -- one for each

area -- and that development of the plans for their respective

areas be their sole responsibility during this phase. Work

tasks would be similar on both projects, and would he generally

as indicated herein.

During the planning phase of the grid system work, plan-

ning staff will work closely with Operations Department staff

to assure the operability of the plans that are devised. Route

planning will be accomplished by the planning group to meet

the reQuirements of route spacing and schedule freQuency as

stipulated by the County contract. Bus test trips will be

operated under the auspices of the planning group and will in-

clude representatives from the operations group, including In-

struction, Schedules, Stops ~ Zones, and Maintenance. The test

trips will be designed to acquaint operations personnel with

the proposed routes and to give them the opportunity to make

suggestions for changes in the tentative routes and schedules

to improve actual operation. The planning group will also

work closely with operations staff on finding suitable tempor-

ary locations for support facilities (Divisions). Inasmuch as

-Z-

all existing Divisions are currently functioning at capacity,

it will be necessary to establish facilities at new locations

in the two pilot areas. If the service improvements are re-

t~ined, and/or if general system service improvements are insti-

tuted throughout the system, then a large number of permanent

support facilities will he required. However, for the purpose

of beginning operation of the grid systems at an early date,

it is suggested that temporary sites be used, such as existin~T

truck facilities, or vacant industrial land.

Once plans for bus routes, schedules and the location and

operating schemes for the sup}~ort facilities have been devel-

opccl, the plans \will be submitted to the Neer Services Review

t3oarcl (NSIZB) for approval; upon approval by NSRB, or after

adjustments requested by that body, the plans will he submitted

to t}ie llistrict's Board of Directors (BoD) For final approval,

and then to the County for concurrence.

Once the grid system plans have received proper approval,

the ~~rojects will be turned-over to the Operations Department

for implementation, at this time work ~tiTill commence on develop-

in~; final schedules, tariff and route instructions, driver

training, bus stop location and sign-posting, and acquisition

and i~reparation of the temporary support facilities. The agree-

ment with the County of Los Angeles calls for operation of the

pilot grid systems for a minimum of 13 weeks during the 1974-75

fiscal year. If this demonstration period is assumed to end

-3-

at the end of June, then operation of the grids must start

before the beginning of April. Because of the complexity o£

the San Fernando Valley grid system, it is felt that at least

two months for planning and five mont}is for preparation will

he required. This implies that ~TSRB/BoD approval must be

accomplished by the end of October, and operations commencing by

the first of npril. Fox the South Central grid, it is antici-

pztecl that one and one-half months for planning and four and one-

llal f months for preparation iti~ill be sufficient. In this case,

i~'S1~I>/RoD approval would be reotuested in mid-October and operation

~vaul cl start around March 1 .

1'he saturation l~us service grogram is to consist of a pro-

ject to test tree value of_ very frequent bus service in a heavy

travel corridor. The test is to occur on a portion of Fairfax

Avenue-Line 89 het~ti7een Sunset and j+tilshire boulevards, and i~~ould

improve the f-rec~uency of the existing Line 89 service in the test

area daily from 12 to S minutes.

Ongoing Thus Planning Platters

1lnother group of the plannin;~ staff ~ti~ill be involved in on-

goii147 bus planning matters. The main brunt of this work caill be

on either routine matters such as ne~a service requests and can-

tiriuing system monitorization. Put an equally major effort c~ri.11

he spent on the Nety Services development Program (NSDP). The

NSllP work will consist of identifying specific route or schedule

improvements that could be implemented under present funding and

vehicle availability, to prioritize the order of implementation,

anti to report these findings to NSP.B/BoD. A report containing

a recommended listing of priorities will he presented to the

E~oll at the second meeting in September. Another project that

will receive early attention will he the saturation bus service

program. The remainder of the ongoing effort included in this

category will he preparation of reports for and Partici~~ation

in NSRB and BoD meetings, public meetings and in liaison with

(:ommunity Relations staff. Included in the latter function will

be preparation of and periodic updating of a handbook that will

outline proposed improvements to he instituted in each of the

several-communities in the District; this handbook is to he used

by Community Relations staff, and will he disseminated to ttie

communities.

`The final area of work under ongoing programs will be the

development of the Decentralized Surface Planning program. The

pur~>ose of this program will be to create closer ties between

community representatives and bus planning staff by having per-

sonnel physically located in their area of concern. It is

anticipated that the decentralized planning groups will handle

all service requests, participate in all public meetings, and

lie t}ie main source for communication to and from the individual

~~reas. It is proposed that two areas be selected to test the

<lecentralized planning concept, the San Fernando and San Gabriel

Valleys. It is proposed to initiate these programs as soon as

practicable by staffing these t~tito groups with personnel that had

-5-

been involved in route planning for the San Fernando Valley

anti Sout}i (ventral grid systems . Personnel previously working

on the San Fernando Valley grid would be appropriate to staff

the San Fernando ~"alley Decentralized Planning Group; this

~rou~~~aould work on refining the grid network and handle all

routine service requests for this area. In addition, it will

supervise and provide input into evaluation of the San Fer-

nanclo Valley grid system operation. The San Gabriel Valley

llecentralized Planning Group will be manned by personnel w}io

had worked on route planning for the South Central grid system.

1'liis group will provide input to and work closely with consul-

tants on the San Gabriel P.oute Study; they will also act upon

all routine service requests for this area.

Near-Perm Program

The ;tear-Term. Program is a plan to provide improved bus

transportation service throughout the County until such time as

the ~,1ass IZa~id Transit (MRT) system can he built and placed in

o~~eration. This plan assumes passage of financing measures at

t}ie November election, and would delineate the distribution of

1,700 additional buses between 1975 and 1985.

I~rior to November, the Near-Term group will develop a ten-

year plan for possible deployment of 1,700 additional buses at

the target goal of 1,000 during the first three years and 100 a

year for t}le next seven years. The group will supervise and

provide input for the work done by consultants in the area of

service allocation criteria.

~ contingency plan will also be devised that would he

lased on the assumptions of an unsuccessful financing election.

One plan would assume continued County support, while the other

would assume no such subsidy.

Subsequent to the financing election, and assuming a posi-

tive vote, the Short-Term group will commence a process of re-

fining the Short-Term Bus Improvement Program, developed by

staff and consultants under Phase III of the Rapid Transit study

program, using service allocation criteria developed by a consul-

tant. The Short-Term refinement will take place in three primary

areas: (1) park-ride express services; (2) inter-community serv-

vices; and (3) local circulation services. The refinement work

will be done with the assistance of the consultant that developed

the guidelines for service improvements.

Work on refining thenear-term program will be a continuing

process that will parallel actual implementation of the program.

After t11e election, and assuming a successful vote, planning

staff will intensify activity in the area of long-range bus plan-

ning, and will institute a series of community meetings to gain

input into this plan. Particular attention will he given at that

time to providing feeder service to areas identified by the Dis-

trict's Board of Directors as being the initial locations for TIRT

construction.

- 7-

Consultant Activity

Consultant activity in bus planning activities is proposed

to take place in two fields: (1) development of service alloca-

tion criteria and implementation of this service on a near-term

basis; and (2) area route studies and grid system operation

evaluation.

iVork on allocation criteria is to he done by staff with

the assistance of the firm of flan TT. Voorhees F~ Associates

(nhN). Prior to the election, AMV will develop service alloca-

tion formula, a bus distribution formula, service level criteria,

and a cost sharing formula for additional or specialized ser-

vices requested. This work will he done by October 15, 1974,

and will be input into the route studies to he done by the

other consultants. After the election, ATiV will assist the

Short-Term group in refining the bus deployment program and in

developing a specific implementation plan.

In the field of needed route planning, a series of plan-

ning areas were defined on the basis of need as ascertained

from service requests received from the public, from planning

staff's knowledge of community needs, and from a survey of the

District's Board of Directors. Four specific geographical

areas were found to be in the greatest need for service improve-

ments: (1) the San Gabriel Valley; (2) the Southeast area; (3)

t}ie South Bay area; and (4) the Los Angeles Central Business

District. On the basis of the criteria listed above, the

south-east area was found to be in the greatest need of atten-

tion; this was also felt to Ue so because the area is one of the

fastest growing, and has received very little attention in re-

cent years. The second most important area was found to be

the San Gabriel Valley. Although service improvements

were instituted recently with the inauguration of service on

the F1 nionte ~usway, local service in the Valley, particularly

t}le eastern section, is very sparse, wit11 virtually no nort}i-

south linkage. The third most important region was felt to be

the South Bay area. The South Bay has also experienced a high

population growt}i (particularly in the Palos Verdes area), and

very little attention has been given to service improvements in

recent years. The study of destinations in downtown Los Annele~

was originally considered to he of greater importance than either

the San Gabriel Valley or South Bay areas, because of the shift

in t}ie center of activity to the westside of the area. But

because of the strike, it was felt that it would be better to

delay the start of the study for a period of time following the

resumption of service to allow travel patterns to return to

normal. X11 four studies are scheduled to be completed in six

months. t~ tentative schedule is given below:

Study Area

Southeast

San Gabriel Valley

South Bay

LA CBD

'~'~

Initiation Pate

Early August

Early September

Early November

Early December

Route planning studies will be assigned on a one-for-one

basis to the firms of Wilbur Smith F, Associates (1VSA) and

Centers for Studies (CENTS). CENTS was assigned a route study

in the Southeast area (this was started on August 6), and WSA

will he assigned to do a route study of the San Gabriel Valley.

Upon completion of the Southeast route study, CENTS will be

assigned to the South Bay 'route study; and upon completion of

the San Gabriel Va11ey route study, WSA will be assigned to do

a study of destinations in the Los Angeles Central Business

District. F.ach of these four route studies is expected to take

three months, for a total of six months per consultant.

Upon completion of route planning studies, and following

initiation of the grid systems operation, taSA and CENTS will be

assigned the job of evaluating the operation of the San Fernando

and San Gabriel Valley grid systems. This evaluation will con-

sist of documenting the effect of the existence of the two grid

systems upon patronage, in travel time and user statisfaction.

-10-

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