California legislation would speed up light-rail, bus lane conversions, exempting them from environment review

Bus-only lanes, pedestrian walkways, bike paths, improved bus shelters and light-rail projects, which can take single-passenger cars off the roads and put passengers on mass transit — reducing tailpipe emissions and reducing gridlock — can face lengthy environmental reviews despite promising environmental benefits.

Legislation introduced in Sacramento on Tuesday, Jan. 14 will continue to let eligible transit projects bypass state environmental review, but one big difference is that Senate Bill 71 would make the exemptions from environmental review permanent and would expand their reach.

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If passed, this bill would mean that more of these projects — some of which are controversial and can face opposition — could be fast-tracked in Southern California, particularly in Los Angeles County where both LA Metro and the city of Los Angeles have stepped up alternative transportation projects.

“We need more public transportation in California and we need it in the Bay Area and Los Angeles,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, the author of SB71. “These are climate friendly sustainable projects. We don’t need to bog them down with environmental review.”

Bills passed in 2020 and 2022 authored by Wiener, and one in 2024 by Assemblymember Alex Lee, D-Milpitas, exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) projects including walkways, bicycle facilities and lanes, bus rapid transit, conversion of general purpose lanes to carpool or bus-only lanes, and light-rail projects with a dedicated right-of-way.

Wiener’s SB922 is set to go away in 2029 and its sunset clause may have prevented transit agencies and cities from taking advantage, because projects often are not ready to build for several years, extending beyond 2029. SB71 removes the sunset rule and makes the exemptions permanent, Wiener explained.

The new bill expands the list by adding the following types of projects: bus shelters and bus shelter lighting; shuttle and ferry services, and mass transit infrastructure maintenance. Under the bill, projects that would not be exempt from CEQA rules would include plans that would, for example, demolish affordable housing.

In the last four years, the CEQA exemptions have expedited 92 projects in the state, Wiener said.

“We know that adding transit lines is a boon for the environment,” Wiener said. “Having this CEQA exemption makes all the sense in the world.”

The bill is supported by Move LA, a group working for better bus and rail service in Los Angeles County.

“As we face the accelerating impacts of climate change — including the fires currently burning in Los Angeles — we need to accelerate projects that give people affordable alternatives to driving,” said Eli Lipmen, executive director of Move LA in an emailed response.

But are rides on buses traveling on separate lanes, at least during the busiest times of the day, any faster?

“Absolutely, they help,” said Joe Linton, an editor at Streetsblog Los Angeles. “I ride the bus on the Wilshire Boulevard bus lanes in downtown L.A. and it is definitely better.”

Bart Reed, executive director of The Transit Coalition, a nonprofit that supports mass transit in Southern California, said just do the math.

“On bus lanes, a bus holds 40 people and that is 40 cars,” Reed said. “So you have 40 people on a bus who get to work faster and get home faster.”

But LA Metro, which Wiener said supports the legislation, hasn’t always removed its eligible projects from a CEQA review, Linton said. One reason could be the law ending in 2029 which could affect long-term projects, he said.

Without a doubt, bus-only lanes or bus rapid transit lines that narrow roadway lanes for cars have opposition.

On its Pasadena-to-North Hollywood bus rapid transit project, Metro has received pushback from businesses and residents who don’t want the project turning a general purpose lane each way on a portion of Olive Avenue into bus-only lanes.

A group called Vision Burbank is opposed to bus-only lanes on a two-mile portion of the commercial thoroughfare, saying the reduction of general purpose lanes used by cars will negatively impact businesses and nearby residential neighborhoods, create congestion and more idling, and causing more air pollution.

Creating an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) may be a way to present more evidence to move the project forward, some said.

Yet LA Metro, often in coordination with Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), has successfully put in bus-only lanes in several Los Angeles locations in the last few years.

In the San Fernando Valley, Metro opened 5.4 miles of bus priority lanes in March.

“In the Sherman Oaks/Van Nuys area, the bus-only segment runs along Sepulveda Boulevard between Ventura Boulevard and Rayen Street. Also included is a 0.9-mile bus lane that runs along westbound Ventura Boulevard from Vesper Avenue to Sepulveda Boulevard,” according to a Metro statement.

The bus lanes will help 50,000 weekly bus riders move more quickly through a very congested area of the San Fernando Valley, increasing bus speeds by 15%, Metro reported.

In addition, LA Metro will put in bus lanes along Vermont Avenue in Los Angles and its planned in two parts.

The first to be finished by next year or later this year would establish six miles of bus-only lanes that will extend from Sunset Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard and from Gage Avenue to the Vermont/Athens C Line (Green) Station. By around 2028, the project would be extended into a bus rapid transit (BRT) from Sunset Boulevard to 120th Street in Los Angeles, according to LA Metro.

While Wiener’s legislation will help expedite future projects, the reality is different. Often bus-only lanes and bus-rapid-transit projects are fought by residents and local cities, he said.

Also, motorists park in bus-only lanes, causing buses to stop, wait for traffic, then enter all-purpose lanes to get around the parked cars.

Metro is using cameras on some buses that use bus-only lanes to capture information about parked cars. The car owners are sent a warning. In February, the warnings may turn into tickets that come with a fine, said Linton.