Lincoln Blvd Gets Bus-Only Lanes Tomorrow, September 25, 2017
Westside Traffic
Here are on the westside of Los Angeles, it is very difficult to move north and south along the coast using public transportation. During peak hours, the streets are usually gridlocked. Even though Waze has shifted some of the car traffic away from major roads to residential neighborhoods, the main north/south streets (Pacific, Lincoln, Walgrove, Bundy/Centinela, and Sepulveda) all remain crowded. Rapid (fewer stops) buses run down Lincoln, but what good are they if they have to sit in traffic? Riding a bus just 4 miles from Santa Monica to Washington Blvd often takes over an hour!
Bus-Only Lanes
This is why I'm excited by Santa Monica's plans to add bus-only lanes to Lincoln Blvd starting tomororw, September 25, 2017. It will be over a 1.5 mile stretch between the I-10 freeway overpass and Ozone Ave which is the southern edge of the Santa Monica city limits. This will happen during peak commuting hours weekdays between 7-9am and 4-7pm. They are calling this project LiNC: A Reimagined Lincoln Blvd..
Reaction
I am worried that the car-driving public is going to go crazy once this goes into action. I remember the city tried to add bus-only lanes on Wilshire Blvd several years ago and there were so many complaints that they got reversed. Residents complained that they had to sit in more traffic and businesses complained that they lost money due to the reduction of street parking.