Need for Speed: Opportunities for Peak Hour Bus Lanes Along Parking Corridors in Los Angeles

Expanding the network of bus lanes in Los Angeles can alleviate slow bus speeds, which are caused by the fact that most buses share a lane with general traffic. Many corridors in the city feature curb lanes that allow traffic during peak hours, but restrict access to allow parking in the off-peak. Introducing a bus lane on these corridors during peak periods, instead of a travel lane, offers an opportunity to improve bus service while preserving parking outside of peak hours. This report examines bus performance along 75 miles of peak-hour parking restriction (PHPR) corridors to determine whether bus lanes could improve travel times for riders and increase net person throughput. I developed a novel methodology to scrape the real-time position of LA Metro buses from a publicly accessible application programming interface (API) and convert collected coordinates into accurate representations of bus speeds on PHPR lanes. Using two months of data, I describe the speed of buses on PHPR lanes and calculate the potential travel time savings provided by bus lanes. With these findings in hand, I draw on historical traffic counts and the planned person capacity of LA Metro bus service to weigh the potential benefits of bus lanes. I find that bus speeds and travel times on PHPR lanes will likely universally benefit from bus lanes. However, only one-half of studied corridors will see an increase in net person throughput with the addition of a bus lane, typically on corridors with more frequent bus service.