Why a bus lane on a dangerous city road is now a flashpoint for voter-approved safety measures

Traveling up and down Vermont Avenue is anything but relaxing. It’s congested and unsafe: The street sees one of the highest rates of pedestrian and cyclist deaths and serious injuries in Los Angeles.

On Thursday, the L.A. Metro Board is set to move forward on a bus transit project that it hopes will make Vermont Avenue a more efficient and safer passageway.

But the project has become a flashpoint between the countywide transportation agency and street safety advocates, who say the project ignores additional upgrades that city voters overwhelmingly approved last year when they passed Measure HLA.

About the project

The Vermont Transit Corridor project will add dedicated side-running bus lanes and 13 stations along a more than 12-mile-long stretch of the busy corridor. It’s slated to be up and running by the 2028 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The project will also include infrastructure upgrades that help with pedestrian accessibility and decrease the distance people have to walk to get to bus stops.

Thursday’s vote is for the Metro Board to approve the route and configuration of the project, which it is expected to do.

Alfonso Directo Jr., the advocacy director of ACT-LA, which advocated for the bus project, said existing transit service on the corridor is “pretty poor.”

So why is it controversial?

The project’s design is controversial because of what it doesn’t include: bike lanes.

Transportation safety advocates say adding bike lanes is critical to establishing a more multimodal city as required by Measure HLA and minimizing deadly or serious collisions along the corridor.

Why it matters

The project could be consequential for a question that has lingered since city voters approved Measure HLA last year: Does Metro, a countywide agency, have to follow the rules of the city-level initiative?

Metro says it isn’t required to install the bike lanes as part of Measure HLA because the ordinance only applies to projects that the city — rather than a non-city agency — undertakes.

Meanwhile, Streets for All, the group that spearheaded Measure HLA, sent a letter Tuesday to Metro Chief Executive Stephanie Wiggins requesting the vote be delayed a month to “provide room for dialogue” about adding the bike lanes to Metro’s project design.

“ What we don't want is we don't want to establish a precedent where Metro can go do whatever they want on city of L.A. streets and ignore HLA,” Michael Schneider, the chief executive and founder of Streets for All, told LAist.

A quick refresher on HLA

In 2015, the City Council adopted Mobility Plan 2035, which identified networks of streets to improve with protected bike lanes, pedestrian signal improvements, bus lanes and other enhancements.

Seven years later, frustrated with a lack of progress on the plan, Streets for All began campaigning for Healthy Streets L.A., or Measure HLA.

The initiative that voters overwhelmingly approved last year requires the city to implement Mobility Plan upgrades when it repaves at least one-eighth of a mile of a street specified in one of the networks.

The Mobility Plan calls for bike lanes along the same stretch of Vermont Avenue that Metro is working on. It also specifies transit and pedestrian improvements are due for the road, but those are mostly covered by the project’s current design.

More on the disagreement

The question of how Metro projects would or wouldn’t be affected by Measure HLA has been simmering for months.

It was brought up in a letter that Streets for All sent to Metro and city officials in September about the same bus project, and the L.A. city attorney has also said in the past that the ordinance doesn’t apply to Metro projects.

The issue most recently resurfaced March 19, after the L.A. City Council approved a plan to implement Measure HLA that included a directive requesting city staff to report back on how to require Metro and other third parties to comply with the voter-approved initiative “without any additional cost to the City.”

That directive prompted a letter that a lawyer representing Metro sent to L.A. City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, saying the transportation agency has authority over the public rights of way, Measure HLA as written applies only to city-run projects and that the city would be responsible for paying for any work “incidental to a Metro project.”

In the letter, the lawyer wrote that Metro would pursue legal action if it’s forced to comply with Measure HLA.

Schneider said the argument isn’t as simple as saying Metro doesn’t have to comply with Measure HLA because it isn’t a city entity.

“The city permits Metro’s work,” Schneider said. “They contribute financially to Metro’s work. City planners sign off on Metro’s work, so it’s sort of a technicality who’s leading the project.”

Schneider also said public funds would be wasted if the bike and bus lanes don’t go in at the same time.

The 'Master Cooperative Agreement'

How Metro and the city work together is outlined in a nearly 200-page document known as the Master Cooperative Agreement.

Metro’s position, according to the letter its lawyer sent last week, is that it would be a violation of the agreement to make the transportation agency comply with Measure HLA.

Schneider said he believes the Master Cooperative Agreement is actually on his side — he says the document calls for Metro projects to be done in accordance with applicable law, including initiatives and referendums — initiatives such as Measure HLA, Schneider noted.

“We don’t see how there’s a world where HLA doesn’t apply to Metro projects that are being done in the city,” he said.

In a statement to LAist, Metro said it’s “supportive of the goals & objectives of Measure HLA” and will continue to work with the city of L.A. and other jurisdictions within the county to improve transit and make streets safer.

“However, HLA does not apply to Metro projects,” the statement added.

What happens next

For now, the item concerning the Vermont Avenue project is on the consent calendar for the Metro Board meeting on Thursday. That means it’s considered non-controversial and will likely pass in one swift motion with other similar items — unless a board member calls for a larger discussion.

Schneider said Streets for All is working to broker a deal with the city and Metro to add bike lanes to the project without having the issue escalate to the courts.

“ Everybody would lose if a lawsuit is filed and then a judge issues an injunction, saying, ‘You can't complete this project until we sort this out,’" Schneider said, adding that he believes the bus lanes are “sorely needed.”

Have city or county officials chimed in?

The L.A. city attorney has repeatedly asserted Measure HLA doesn’t apply to Metro projects, both in letters to Streets for All and in committee meetings about the ordinance.

It’s unclear where other city and county officials stand on HLA’s applicability to Metro projects.

Councilmember Heather Hutt chairs the council’s transportation committee and put forward the directive that prompted Metro’s letter last week.

“Our office looks forward to continue working with Metro to ensure Measure HLA is fully implemented,” Devyn Bakewell, the councilmember’s director of communications, said in a statement.

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez told LAist the Vermont Avenue bus project could be "transformational."

LAist has reached out to other City Council members who supported Measure HLA, as well as Metro Board members, but did not immediately get a response.