The proposed Bus Rapid Transit will not work because:
Insufficient ridership, the studies are ten years out of date. COVID? Home office? Congestion at multiple intersections in Burbank will cause delays. Lack of connection at Olive Avenue with Metrolink defeats the purpose and fails to meet the objective of a connected system.
Olive Avenue bridge is obsolete and needs to be rebuilt before any high frequency bus service is added. This should be a line in the sand for the city of Burbank.
Where will the operators come from? Metro is short of operators now. Will they reduce service on local routes as they did when the Orange line was built?
Instead we should: Continue the 501 freeway express which is faster for most journeys. Combine with Glendale and Pasadena to run multiple new routes at much lower cost, including service to the airport.
Run direct buses from residential areas such as Santa Clarita to Disney, Warner, etc., as happens in the Bay Area with Google, for example.
Burbank City Council indeed can and should stop this bus project by denying construction permits. Metro’s website notes that construction of the BRT will cost between $253 and $371 million (a huge range!) Annual operations are projected to cost $16 – $18 million. But thanks to COVID, Metro is effectively bankrupt and cannot afford the operating expense without cuts elsewhere. Burbank City Council would be doing everyone a favor by shutting down this project.
Paul Dyson
Burbank Transportation Commission former chair
Burbank
First published in the February 24 print issue of the Burbank Leader.
