Bus riders name getting to work/school and reduction of toxic emissions as reasons for supporting bus-only lanes.

Transit riders unanimously support the Wilshire Boulevard Bus-Only Lanes Project. For three weeks, the Bus Riders Union collected over 500 comments on the Wilshire Boulevard Bus Rapid Transit Project to be included in the Environmental Impact Report process. The results show that riders list environmental harms and travel inefficiency as primary reasons for wanting bus-only lanes.

Bus riders voice that bus-only lanes would reduce congestion that comes from excessive private automobile use on the streets of L.A. Everyday, Wilshire Boulevard faces bumper-to-bumper congestion and as the city's busiest transit corridor continues to operate without lanes dedicated exclusively for buses. Long hours spent in traffic would continue to consume most of bus riders' travel time and further discourage drivers to get out of their greenhouse gas emitting cars. Riders see faster running buses not only vital to providing more efficient and cost-effective intra-city transportation, but also to bringing together the communities widely dispersed within the city:

"I believe in supporting buses over trains. The buses tie our city together. I know the trains perform valuable work, but if we sacrifice our buses we will lose much of our city's fabric."
- Mitch Graw

‘The full implementation of a public transportation system in LA that is actually efficient is crucial to the integration of the city (physical, racial, social, etc.)."
- Iris Fung

Struggling to get to school and work on time

An unreliable bus schedule due to traffic congestion subjects riders to the risk of job loss, truancy tickets, high stress when riders are late to school and work, and lower quality of life-- having to spend more time commuting than with family:

"As a single parent of a kid, it's hard for my 2-year-old kid to wake up at 5 in the morning, because of how long it takes me to get to work to Brentwood, CA. Reducing time will get more sleeping time to my kid."
- Carlos Garcia

"Every day after work I have to pick up my 5 year-old son from school and I am always late. If we had our own bus lane I would get there on time."
- Jonathan Hughes

"If we had bus-only lanes maybe I wouldn't have to get ready an hour before and still be late to work. The buses wouldn't also be so crowded."
- Joana Medina

"I'm a transit dependent student at Santa Monica College. I ride the bus everyday from downtown LA to Santa Monica. I've been late to class several times because the bus is slow and traffic. If I had a bus only lane, I wouldn't have to worry about being late to school."
- Cesar Chavez

Breathing in auto-source air toxins

The cost of the 7 million cars that pass through LA daily has inflicted asthma, air-born allergies, and other respiratory health problems on working class Black and Brown communities living along the city's busy streets and freeways and with the least economic and social resources to deal with these health problems. Riders on the frontlines of LA's lethal air crisis advocate for the reduction of cars and implementing bus-only lanes in order to raise air quality, combat global warming emissions, and improve public health that would benefit the region as a whole.

"This action benefits everyone, regardless of transportation vehicle, because it may help improve air quality, which along with cutting travel time, can be very beneficial to us all."
- Ryan Michael

"One of my sons and I have asthma. Reducing air pollution and greenhouse gases through the bus-only lanes would help us."
- Natasha Harrell

"We can stop destroying the planet with pollution from cars by reducing traffic."
- Jose Garcia

" We need to think about the problems we are facing with increased global warming due to cars."
- Julian de los Santos

"I absolutely support the bus-only lanes project. As an asthma patient living in Los Angeles, LA's air pollution is so horrible and hurts all the people living here."
- Hee Pok Kim

Bus-only lanes present the most cost-efficient and viable solution to MTA's goal of improving bus service and attracting more car riders onto transit than any high cost rail projects. These public statements speak to the urgency of riders' demand for a strong bus-centered mass transit network like the BRU's Clean Air and Economic Justice Plan and will hopefully guide MTA board members and city officials in implementing bus-only lanes throughout the region.