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Image: Mayor Bass speaking at Metro’s State of the Agency event. Photos by Joe Linton/Streetsblog
At yesterday’s Metro State of the Agency event, outgoing Metro Board Chair Fernando Dutra handed the ceremonial gavel to incoming Board Chair L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. Various Metro leadership spoke of the agency’s recent accomplishments, including two new rail extensions opened, and extensive support for the just concluded World Cup. Most newsworthy at the event was Bass’ speech which previewed her priorities for Metro.
The Metro board chair generally rotates between L.A. City, county, and other cities. Every third year, the L.A. Mayor serves as chair. Mayor Bass was Metro chair earlier – in 2023-24.
In New York City and Seattle, support for transit has helped elect left of center mayoral candidates. Most famously, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned on an oft-repeated pledge to make buses fast and free.
Bass generally hasn’t made transit or transportation a high profile issue in her campaigns or her mayoralty. This year, Bass is facing a November run-off election against Nithya Raman, who is running to Bass’ left. Perhaps feinting to her left, Bass appears to be focusing on a Metro agenda that at least somewhat echoes Mamdani. After four years of Bass’ Metro inaction peppered with occasional anti-transit actions, Bass’ election year conversion sounds tepid and unconvincing, even when the improvements she has pledged are worthwhile.
Bass divided her Metro priorities into four slogans: Metro Safe, Metro Affordable, Metro Reliable, and Metro Ready. She also separately pledged bike improvements.
Metro Safe
Metro is setting up its own police department, which Bass says is a priority. In yesterday’s speech (and in Metro’s existing plans), Bass touted Metro transit safety including both law enforcement officers and care-based programs, including ambassadors and homeless services. Bass spoke in support of Metro police, tempered with providing “services and support [and] even housing” – all to create “a new vision of public safety and a new model that will serve as a model for the nation.”
Yesterday, she touted her continued support for those worthwhile (but limited) student and low-income programs. Then Bass more-or-less pledged free buses, “I want to… develop a long-term financial strategy and plan for Metro to finally be fare-free.”
It’s fareless, but offered in a word salad. Mamdani: “make buses fast and free.” Bass: “develop a long-term strategy and plan” for free buses.
Metro Reliable
For “Metro Reliable” Bass pledged that “buses and trains will show up when they’re supposed to, and this system will work.”
How? Oddly Bass went on to tout “this past June, Metro adjusted timetables on over a hundred bus routes.” Twice a year Metro makes very minor adjustments to service, generally small service cuts and small route changes to improve reliability. The routine Metro June/December “shakeups” have taken place for decades; they’re an odd non-accomplishment to point out. Perhaps it’s a sound-bite that non-riders will think means something, while signaling business as usual to actual Metro riders?
For reliability, Bass continued, pledging to add more bus-only lanes – another faint echo of “fast buses” Mamdani.
Today, there are 80 miles of peak-hour bus lanes improving speed and reliability for hundreds of thousands of riders. By 2028, I want to grow that to more than 100 miles.
Bass’ fourth priority item was essentially getting Metro ready for upcoming mega-events: running “a world-class system under pressure” like Metro did for the World Cup.
Bicycling in Brief
Before detailing her four priorities, the Mayor included a few sentences to bicycling priorities, a bit less committal than the above priorities:
Now, as a lifelong bike rider, biking we know is just as much a part of L.A. as anything else — and we are pushing to expand bike infrastructure across the region. Including new stretches along the L.A. River bike path and biking Metro Bike Share. That is a whole other component. Every Angeleno should have the option of experiencing L.A. on two wheels.
Damien is the executive director of the Southern California Streets Initiative which publishes Santa Monica Next, Streetsblog Los Angeles, Streetsblog San Francisco, Streetsblog California and Longbeachize.
Damien is the executive director of the Southern California Streets Initiative which publishes Santa Monica Next, Streetsblog Los Angeles, Streetsblog San Francisco, Streetsblog California and Longbeachize.
