LA Metro Board Approves $413 Million Vermont Transit Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project

Transforming One of Southern California's Busiest Surface Transit Arteries

LOS ANGELES, California — The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) Board of Directors has officially approved the comprehensive project scope and $413 million capital budget for the Vermont Transit Corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. Spanning 12.4 miles along Vermont Avenue from Sunset Boulevard in East Hollywood south to 120th Street near West Athens, the project will transform transit mobility across the second busiest bus corridor in the entire LA Metro transit network.

Currently accommodating more than 35,000 daily passenger trips on Metro lines 204 and 754, the corridor experiences significant peak-hour surface traffic congestion. Under the approved plan, the roadway will feature center- and side-running dedicated transit lanes, off-board fare validation kiosks, level boarding platforms, and advanced Transit Signal Priority (TSP) at more than 40 signalized intersections, reducing passenger travel times along the corridor by upwards of 25 percent.

Intermodal Connectivity Across Rail and Rapid Transit Lines

The Vermont BRT alignment provides critical cross-county transfer connections, directly intersecting with the heavy rail B Line (Red) at Wilshire/Vermont and Sunset/Vermont, the D Line (Purple) subway, and the light rail E Line (Expo) at Expo/Vermont. These multimodal connections ensure fast, reliable transit for frontline healthcare workers traveling to the medical centers of East Hollywood and students commuting to the University of Southern California (USC).

All passenger platforms along Vermont Avenue will feature high-canopy weather shelters, universal audio-tactile accessible boarding features, emergency call boxes, and closed-circuit digital surveillance systems. Additionally, the route will deploy zero-emission, battery-electric 60-foot articulated buses powered by overnight inductive chargers at Metro maintenance facilities.

Catalyzing Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Under Measure ULA

The approval comes alongside the Los Angeles City Council's historic authorization of $466.6 million in local affordable housing funding generated through Measure ULA. City planning officials noted that the Vermont Transit Corridor will anchor several mixed-income transit-oriented developments (TOD), following the successful completion of the 185-unit Santa Monica/Vermont apartment complex.

Civil engineering design and utility relocation crews are slated to mobilize along northern sections of Vermont Avenue, with full Bus Rapid Transit passenger revenue service scheduled to launch ahead of major international sporting events hosted across Los Angeles.