From the streetcar days until the early 1980’s, most transit routes started in Downtown LA, and fanned out to the far suburbs. Crosstown routes (not serving downtown) were uncommon. Even a simple trip on Vermont Boulevard from 120th St to Sunset Boulevard required a transfer.

The “Grid Bus System” of the early 1980’s not only put crosstown buses on every major street, but also straightened out several bus routes so that they would run consistently on a certain street. So now Vermont would have one continous bus route from South LA to Hollywood, for example. People used to taking a radial route into Downtown would have to transfer, but usually they would only have to transfer once per trip.

Since most of Los Angeles and its neighboring suburbs have streets laid out in a grid pattern, it would seem, at least at first glance, to be the most logical bus routing pattern. In fact, the grid works pretty well in the high-density, high-ridership areas such as South Central, East LA, West LA and the east San Fernando Valley.

The grid has proven somewhat less effective in less-dense areas such as the western San Fernando Valley, or the South Bay area. Many of the bus routes in those areas get low ridership (they run through residential or industrial areas that have reduced demand during large parts of the service day. These routes become targets for service cutbacks during difficult economiic times, making the grid less effective.

In late 2003, MTA staff proposed a new method of service implementation, called Hub and Spoke (the name has since been changed to Metro Connections). Just like the airline routing pattern of the same name, what Metro Connections proposes to do is reroute several bus lines to serve transit hubs (both already existing and under development).

The transit centers would range from simple on-street bus stops, to high-density mixed used developments. Often, an existing rail station, mall transfer point, or other similar facility will be used as a transfer center.

Linking the transit centers will be different types of corridors:
Regional corridors would connect each subregion (yet to be defined, but probably having to do with the current MTA sectors)
Subregional corridors would connect a subregional hub to a community transit center
Community corridors would connect the community transit center to nearby neighborhoods.

This plan will not only affect MTA routes, but municipal operators (Santa Monica, Foothill, etc.) will also be affected. At this time, just which bus lines are to be rerouted is a mystery. But, we at SO.CA.TA will do our best to keep all members, and the public at large, informed of any planned changes.