Why does Colorado Boulevard need a bus lane?
Note: This is not yet an official position of PasCSC
Bus service along Colorado Boulevard through Pasadena is painfully slow and unreliable. Despite thousands of people using the multiple bus routes along this street every day, riders are forced to endure long waits through this congested corridor. And what’s more, this problem may only get worse with the introduction of a new bus rapid transit line (BRT) scheduled to begin running in a few years. (Read on for more details about the BRT.) With more buses set to use Colorado Blvd in the near future and ridership projected to increase, we believe this is a problem that must be addressed, both for the benefit of current transit riders and to realize the full potential of this new transit service.
The members of the Transit Committee of PasCSC are calling for the installation of bus-only lanes along Colorado Blvd through Old Pasadena. This is a major transit corridor for the region, and dedicated bus lanes here would have substantial benefits for the people of Pasadena, reducing congestion for everyone and speeding up the journeys for the thousands of transit riders that use the street’s many bus routes. They will help Pasadena achieve its ambitious climate goals, and promote a safer, more accessible Colorado Blvd!
Below, we will make our case for why we feel this is a necessary improvement and answer some common questions about why we are pushing for this ambitious but vital proposal.
Why does Colorado Boulevard need a bus lane?
Colorado Blvd. is already used by several bus routes, including Metro #180 and #267, Foothill Transit #187, and Pasadena Transit #10. These are all important bus routes that serve thousands of people each day, with approximately 6,000 daily riders on an average weekday along Colorado between Old Pasadena and Hill Avenue. Ridership is very likely to increase in a few years, with the introduction of a new bus rapid transit service (BRT) along this stretch of Colorado, which will provide faster transit service between Pasadena, Eagle Rock, Glendale, Burbank, and the San Fernando Valley. BRT lines are bus lines with fewer stops, so they offer express-style service. The BRT that will serve Pasadena will stop only at Old Pasadena, at Lake and Colorado, and at PCC–creating an outstanding transit link for anyone who wants to, for example, spend a day that includes shopping and dining at both of Pasadena’s major regional destinations without having to worry about parking.
Buses currently get stuck in heavy traffic along the most congested portions of Colorado, particularly through Old Pasadena. During a typical weekday, bus speeds drop to an average speed of only 3 mph as they crawl through Old Pasadena. This causes delays to the bus service, making transit service less reliable and causing on-time problems for every bus route that uses Colorado. The bus rapid transit plan includes dedicated bus lanes in every community along its route except Pasadena. Without accommodations for buses along this crucial portion of the route, traffic for everyone on Colorado will only get worse.
Is there even room for a bus lane?
Yes! The space for a bus lane absolutely exists. Much of Colorado through Old Pasadena is already down to only one travel lane in each direction to accommodate diagonal street parking, which is a grossly inefficient use of the limited street space since it holds up traffic for cars and buses alike every time someone needs to back out of a parking space or waits around for a space to open up.
Even at its narrowest, Colorado is wide enough to accommodate a lane of traffic and a bus lane in each direction, and either parallel parking lanes or accommodations for bicycles or expanded sidewalks. In fact, as recently as 2019, Colorado through Old Pasadena had two lanes of traffic with a parallel parking lane in each direction. A bus lane on the right-hand side can also double as a right-turn only lane for regular traffic at the approach to any intersection.
Would the bus lane go in the median (left lane) or the side (right lane)?
We believe right-hand bus lanes (the technical term is “side-running” lanes) make the most sense for Colorado. Not only would they require less disruption to existing infrastructure, but the many local buses that already use Colorado would also be able to use them, speeding up transit service to all bus riders on Colorado.
But won't this slow car traffic down?
To state the obvious, traffic on Colorado is already very slow. Most Pasadena drivers already know to avoid the congestion on Colorado in favor of faster parallel streets such as Union/Green, Walnut, or Cordova. A bus lane along Colorado is unlikely to change traffic conditions very much, but it will take buses out of the flow of traffic, minimizing the disruption to other drivers currently caused by buses having to pull in and out of traffic as they make their stops.
There's also a broader point to be made here that we shouldn't actually want fast-moving car traffic on Colorado, since it makes things more dangerous for the many pedestrians who use the street, and reduces the visibility of local businesses. Faster traffic is better suited for the many parallel streets that are specifically designed for it, and Pasadena drivers already know this. Colorado is the place to see and be seen, as demonstrated by the owners of all the beautiful classic cars who already cruise down Colorado on the weekends.
What will get to move faster are the substantial number of people who take the bus. A single bus can–and in the case of the buses that use Colorado, often does–carry as many people as dozens of cars. Each one of them is just as important, and their time just as valuable, as anyone in a car. But while drivers can choose to take a faster parallel street, bus riders lack a fast, efficient route into and around our city.
What about parking?
Most street parking spaces can be maintained under this proposal, if the city chooses to do so. A handful of spaces would be lost from converting diagonal parking to parallel parking. But it warrants mentioning that within Old Pasadena there are no less than a dozen parking lots and garages within a couple blocks of Colorado, some of which are cheaper than metered parking, and don’t come with the problem of drivers disrupting the flow of traffic by trying to squeeze into a space.
Converting the diagonal parking to parallel parking would also allow the city to convert the parking lane to loading zones for quick drop-off and pick-up. Old Pasadena has seen a massive uptick in ride-hailing and food delivery drivers in recent years, and they are causing a lot of traffic backups in the district. Dedicating precious curb space to short-term parking makes sense!
What about emergency vehicles?
Great news! Emergency vehicles can use the bus lane, meaning they'll be able to avoid getting stuck in traffic too!
How would this affect the pedestrian environment?
For the most part, a bus lane won't change the pedestrian environment along Colorado. A parking lane can be maintained along the curb, providing the physical separation between the sidewalk and traffic that already exists. Alternatively, the city could choose to replace parallel parking with expanded sidewalks or protected bicycle lanes. Either way, the current pedestrian experience on Colorado would be either maintained or enhanced.
One major benefit to the pedestrian experience on Colorado that the bus lane would enable is curb extensions for bus stops. Rather than buses having to pull off to the curb, the curb can be extended to the edge of the bus lane where bus stops are located. This means bus benches and shelters can be moved out of the sidewalk, making more room for pedestrians and people using mobility assistive devices, who can’t easily navigate a sidewalk that’s narrowed by fixtures.
What about the outdoor dining parklets?
All the outdoor dining spaces along Colorado in Old Pasadena that were installed during the pandemic have since been removed, so a bus lane through Old Pasadena will not require the removal of any further outdoor dining parklets. We have been informed by City staff that the City Council would need to act to change the pandemic-era parklets rule, but no businesses would be affected.
How will this impact businesses on Colorado?
Businesses benefit from greater accessibility. Better transit means greater accessibility for both customers and employees. And simply put, buses can carry a lot of people–usually as many as normally fit in 30 cars! The more efficient the bus system, the more people it can carry. The more people it carries, the more foot traffic there is. And the more foot traffic there is, the better it is for the businesses on the bus route.
Would this affect the Rose Parade?
A side-running (right-hand) bus lane would only require paint to implement, ideally with curb extensions to accommodate bus stops. No physical barriers that would disrupt operations of the Rose Parade are necessary.
What about using Union/Green for buses instead?
Running the new bus rapid transit service on Union/Green Streets instead of Colorado would negatively affect the transit-riding experience in a number of ways.
First, it would complicate transfers between the new rapid service and existing local services. Not only would it require walking a block between stops to transfer, but many riders waiting for their bus on Colorado will want to take the first bus that arrives, be it local or rapid. Keeping these services together makes things simpler and more intuitive for the transit rider.
Separating east- and west-bound service also makes things more confusing for bus riders. Someone stepping off a bus should be able to immediately see where they have to go to catch their return bus. Having the return stop be two blocks away makes things more difficult and frustrating for bus riders and creates a learning curve for new riders.
In a broader sense, transit works best when it directly serves the places that people want to go. Transit riders shouldn't be sidelined onto other streets when Colorado is such a natural fit for good transit service, with lots of destinations and people who will see the buses and know where they go, which they wouldn’t be able to do if the buses were on Union/Green.
Summing up
A dedicated bus lane on Colorado Blvd. through Old Pasadena would be good for everyone: businesses that would see more foot traffic and more customers, drivers for whom traffic would flow more easily without buses in the same lanes as cars, and thousands of transit users who would get where they need to go faster and more predictably, whether their destinations are inside or outside Pasadena.
