The Brief

Ah, 1923 in Los Angeles. What a different time.

It was the debut year of iconic L.A. monuments like the Hollywood sign, the Biltmore Hotel, and the Memorial Coliseum.

You had to be there, but that year was also a big deal for local public transit. L.A.’s first bus took off along Western Avenue on Aug. 18, 1923. That’s just over 100 years ago, if you’re counting.

Nowadays, Metro operates some 2,000 buses around Los Angeles. Looking back, what can we learn from the early days of public transit in L.A.? And what is the history behind the city's first bus line?

I took these questions to our transit experts: India Mandelkern, Metro’s blog editor, and Matthew Barrett, who heads Metro's research library and archive.

The bus line along Western Ave. debuted in 1923.

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Courtesy LA Metro

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Setting the scene

Q: India, you write in your piece about the first bus line that local traffic congestion was really bad back in August 1923. What climate was L.A.’s first bus entering into? 

IM: Well, L.A. already had a very robust streetcar network, but Western Avenue, where the first bus line got started, didn't actually have streetcars. For that reason, it was a really great choice for a bus line. The intersection of Wilshire and Western was the busiest intersection in pre-freeway Los Angeles. Also, traffic lights and signals, all those things were really new back then. Driving the streets was a little bit more like the Wild West. If you look at the early photos, it almost looks like a free-for-all.

MB: And there was no freeway system. The amount of time it took to get to Santa Monica in the 1920s is pretty much the same as it is today with the freeways, because of huge growth in population and congestion!

A vintage public bus from the 1920s.

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Courtesy LA Metro

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Q: Like you said, the first bus route was down Western Avenue, between Los Feliz Boulevard and Slauson Avenue. Why was that location chosen?

IM: It was very, very, congested, and it didn't already have streetcar tracks. So the bus was pretty much the only game in town if you wanted to move a large quantity of people in one vehicle.

MB: And this was a joint effort between two major transit providers in L.A. — the Pacific Electric Red Car system, the long-distance Metrolink of its day, and the Yellow Cars of L.A., the local streetcar system. The two of them got together and formed this bus company (called Los Angeles Motor Bus Co.) in order to make connections between their systems. The buses were thought of as a feeder system to the rail systems. And Western just never had any streetcars on it.

When buses were a novel concept

Q: Buses were an entirely new thing back then. What was public perception like, were people resistant or receptive? 

IM: It was really considered a novel, innovative thing to do. In this time, buses were considered more car-like than your streetcar. Early advertisements for buses tout things like, they had leather seats and really spacious aisles and you could board on the curb and you didn't have to go into the middle of the road like many streetcar stops. The public was very enthusiastic about them and within a couple months, another bus line got started and they were carrying about 10,000 passengers every day.

MB: A bus back then was as car-like as you could get if you couldn’t afford a car. It was looked at as a step up from rail.

The interior of an old public bus serving Los Angeles in the 1920s.

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Courtesy LA Metro

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Buses v. streetcars

Q: How did the new bus system interact with the streetcar system? 

IM: As Matthew pointed out, it was a joint venture between two streetcar companies that formed the first bus company. And as early as 1925, 1926, some of the less used streetcar tracks were already being converted into bus lines. There’s this perception that buses ran streetcars out of business, but that isn’t really true. Buses continued into areas where streetcar tracks weren’t going. Streetcar track was expensive to build, and buses were touted as trackless transportation. The idea that they could just go off route, make a detour — that was very innovative at the time.

Q: What were safety precautions like on those early buses? 

MB: Back in the streetcar era, buses were patrolled by special agents that were part of the staff of the L.A. Railway and Pacific Electric and L.A. Motor Coach. (Los Angeles Motor Bus Co. was later renamed Los Angeles Motor Coach Lines). You have to remember they were private companies and fare box revenue was the only revenue they had, so fare evasion was a big deal. The special agents that were employed by the company coordinated with LAPD if there were any issues that required arrests.

They also used to make exact change on buses and trains. In 1968, they went to exact change (fares), because it was too much of a temptation for some passengers to commit robberies of the operator's change belts. So, that indicates to me that things were pretty safe all the way up until maybe the late ‘60s.

Wilshire Boulevard in 1932

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Courtesy LA Metro

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A long history of alternative fuels

Q: I understand L.A. has long experimented with alternative fuel. To what extent was the bus system involved in that? 

MB: We had gas electric buses in the ‘20s. We had 60 propane-powered buses in the ‘50s. We went to propane buses for the mini-bus system, which is today's DASH system, in the ‘70s. The Rapid Transit District (RTD) even built its own in-house air quality lab to try and figure out how to reduce the particulates in diesel with particulate traps, and then they went to methanol and ethanol, and then finally CNG. In the ‘40s-’60s, L.A. had two electric trolley bus lines, and now we're moving back toward electrified buses again. So, for a city that was well-renowned for its oil wealth in the ‘20s and ‘30s, even with all of that cultural pressure and focusing on the petroleum industry, the transit system was still experimenting with alternative fuels during this entire time.

A case for buses as innovation, then and now

Q: Any closing thoughts on the role buses played back then, and now? 

IM: Before we had the resources to build rail, and after the demise of the streetcars, buses were rapid transit. That was the only way that people were able to get around. Buses came out of a moment where crippling automobile congestion was preventing people from getting around, and they reflect this way we’ve responded to situations at hand and found innovative solutions.

For more information about LA’s first bus, you can read India Mandelkern’s piece in Metro’s ‘The Source.’

Take accountability and move forward.

Those were the two points Los Angeles Fire Chief Jaime Moore hit repeatedly when speaking with LAist’s Larry Mantle this week.

On taking accountability, Moore said hazardous conditions and decisions made before the Palisades Fire erupted a year ago meant “our firefighters never had a chance” to arrest the fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of structures.

On moving forward, he emphasized that reform is already in the works.

“Things have changed since the Palisades Fire, and we're going to continue making big changes in the Los Angeles Fire Department,” said Moore, who was selected for the LAFD top job by Mayor Karen Bass in November.

Here are three takeaways from the interview, which aired on AirTalk on Tuesday.

1. Staffing decisions hampered fire response

The LAFD uses a so-called pre-deployment matrix to set firefighter staffing levels ahead of high-risk weather.

According to the department’s after-action report, however, staffing levels on the day the Palisades Fire began fell short of the LAFD standard for extreme weather conditions. The National Weather Service had warned of low humidity, high winds and dry vegetation, what it calls a “particularly dangerous situation.” It’s the highest level of alert the agency can give.

Despite the high risk, the LAFD report said the decision not to deploy more firefighters in advance was in part made to save money.

Moore said Monday that the department has updated its policies to increase staffing for especially hazardous conditions, but he said he doesn’t believe additional resources would have stopped a fire of the magnitude that leveled the Palisades.

To suppress that kind of fire, he said, the department would need to pre-deploy resources across the city’s vast geography — to places like Baldwin Hills, Franklin Canyon, the Hollywood Hills, the Palisades, Porter Ranch and Sunland-Tujunga.

Moore said the department has already made new policies to call for more resources when the Weather Service issues a “particularly dangerous situation” alert.

2. LAFD is mostly an urban firefighting department

Moore referenced a key finding of the after-action report regarding a lack of training in wildland firefighting, which contributed to confusion and struggles to effectively utilize resources during the fire.

Wildland fires pose a number of challenges that are different from what firefighters face in urban environments. Those include the need to coordinate a large number of resources over vast areas, all while dealing with fast-moving flames that can rapidly tear through dry plants and structures.

The department found in its report that fewer firefighters were trained in fighting these wildland fires in recent years and that “leaders struggled to comprehend their roles.”

Some leaders in the department had “limited or no experience in managing an incident of such complexity,” the report said. And some reverted to doing the work of lower positions, leaving high-level decision-making positions unfilled.

“What we're doing now is really furthering that training and reinforcing that education with our firefighters so that they could be better prepared,” Moore said on AirTalk.

3. Changes to the after-action report

Early versions of the after-action report differed from the version released to the public in October, a fact that was first reported by the Los Angeles Times. The Times also reported that Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook, who wrote the report, wouldn’t endorse the final version because of the changes.

Moore acknowledged to the L.A. Board of Fire Commissioners at a Jan. 6 meeting that the report had been watered down.

“It is now clear that multiple drafts were edited to soften language and reduce explicit criticism of department leadership in that final report,” Moore told the commissioners. “This editing occurred prior to my appointment as fire chief, and I can assure you that nothing of this sort will ever again happen while I am fire chief."

Some changes were small but telling. A section titled “Failures” later became “Primary Challenges.”

Moore told LAist that changes between versions “ made it easier for the public to understand,” but an LAist review found the edits weren’t all surface-level.

In the first version of the report, the department said the decision not to fully pre-deploy all available resources for the particularly dangerous wind event “did not align” with their guidelines for such extreme weather cases. The final version said that the initial response “lacked the appropriate resources,” removing the reference to department standards.

The department also removed some findings that had to do with communications.

One sentence from the initial version of the report said: “Most companies lacked a basic briefing, leader’s intent, communications plan, or updated fire information for more than 36 hours.” That language was removed from the final report.

LAist has asked the Fire Department for clarification about why these assertions were removed but did not receive a response before time of publication.

Olympic organizers announced Tuesday that registration to buy tickets will run through March 18, with sales beginning in April. LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said that locals will get the first bite at the apple.

The registration period opens 7 a.m. Wednesday.

" Our host city communities here in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City will have the opportunity to be a part of a local presale," Hoover said outside the Coliseum while surrounded by Olympic athletes from Games past. "With our thanks and as part of our commitment to making sure that those who live and work around the games, where the games will take place, can be in the stands and cheer in 2028."

Olympic organizers also provided more details on ticket prices for the first time. One million tickets will sell for $28 a pop and around a third of tickets will be under $100, according to LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman.

That means the majority of tickets to the Olympic Games will run into triple digits. If the World Cup is any indication, some tickets could get astronomically pricey.

Interested fans can go to LA28.org to register. Those who are selected will get an email with a time slot to purchase tickets.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors took a step toward banning ICE from unlawfully operating on county-owned property and to post signage designating those spaces as “ICE Free Zones.”

The board unanimously approved the motion at Tuesday’s meeting, directing staff to draft the policy.

The draft could include requirements for county employees to report to their supervisor if they see unauthorized immigration activity on county property.

The city of Los Angeles passed a similar order last July, which strengthened protocols that prohibit ICE from operating on city-owned property. The agenda staff report points to an “ICE Free Zone” ordinance passed by the city of Chicago in October.

Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Hilda Solis co-authored the motion.

Horvath said the county will not allow its property to be used as “a staging ground for violence caused by the Trump administration."

Solis added that their action as a board could have a ripple effect on other city councils and local governments.

“Even though it's taken us this long to get here …I think it's really important for our communities to understand what we're saying is you don't have the right to come in and harass people without a federal warrant,” Solis said. “And if you use our property to stage, then you need to show us documentation as to why.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in an X post that the county cannot exclude federal agents from public spaces.

"Anyone who attempts to impede our agents will be arrested and charged, including county employees," Essayli said in the post. "We have already charged more than 100 individuals for similar conduct."

Since June, ICE raids have ramped up across the nation, heavily targeting certain immigrant communities like those in Los Angeles.

The motion directs the draft to include language that prohibits all types of ICE operations on county land, including staging and mobilizing without a warrant.

The motion cites an incident on Oct. 8, when county officials say federal agents raided the Deane Dana Friendship Park and Nature Center in San Pedro, arresting three people and threatening to arrest staff.

The motion also requires that the county post 'Ice Free Zone' signage on all of its properties.

Sergio Perez, executive director of the Center of Human Rights and Constitutional Law, told LAist the policy is enforceable under Fourth Amendment case law.

“You have to make sure that when you post that signage … that means that you routinely, or semi-routinely, assess who's coming in to the property, so that you can control access,” Perez said. “But if ICE shows up with a warrant, with a subpoena, then all bets are off, and they can enter into the property and do what they need to do.”

Perez said the county has moved “incredibly” slow on this issue.

“It's embarrassing that the county is moving six months later, given how we've been facing violent, aggressive, invasive and illegal raids now for so long here in Southern California,” Perez said, adding that local governments have not been fast or creative enough in protecting immigrant and refugee communities.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, one of the region’s largest immigrant advocacy groups, supports the motion.

"We do not want our county resources being used for federal immigration enforcement activities, which disrupt, uproot, and terrorize our communities,” Jeannette Zanipatin, policy director for CHIRLA, said in a statement. “It is important for all public spaces to be really safe for all residents.”

County staff have 30 days to draft a plan to implement the new policy.