|
The El Monte Busway is an shared-use bus corridor (transitway) and high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane running west along Interstate 10 (San Bernardino Freeway) from Interstate 605 and El Monte Station via transitway stations at California State University Metro Station, USC Medical Center Metro Station into Downtown Los Angeles and its terminus at Union Station. Together with the Harbor Transitway it forms a key part for the Metro Silver Line bus rapid transit line which is one of Metro Transitway lines. The busway is also served by three Metro Express routes, and several Foothill Transit bus services which nearly all of the routes only run on weekday peak periods. The busway now carries 16,000 bus passengers per day with 49 buses using the system each hour at peak times〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Planning and Markets II. Alternative Transit Options )〕 and was described by the United States Department of Transportation as one of the most successful HOV facilities in the country in 2002.〔 The Metrolink San Bernardino Line runs parallel to the El Monte Busway for almost its entire length. The busway, which opened in 1973 for buses only was extended to three-person carpools in 1976. The Metro Silver Line was introduced on December 13, 2009 and the El Monte Station was rebuilt to double is capacity to 40,000 passengers by late 2012. Along with the Habor Transitway, the busway was upgraded to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes as part of the Metro ExpressLanes project in February 2013. A new station for the Metro Silver Line will be constructed at Patsaouras Transit Plaza close to Union Station and the current street stop at the entrance to the El Monte Busway/Alameda Street will be removed once the new station is completed; the project was originally scheduled to open in 2015, but project delays have pushed back its projected opening until late 2016. ==History== When the busway opened in 1973 it was exclusively for the use of buses. It was made available to private cars with three or more occupants for three months during the 1974 Southern California Rapid Transit District strike which lasted 68 days. Carpools with three or more occupants were then permitted to use the busway during peak hours starting in 1976〔 and then also at weekends from 1977 and 24 hours a day from 1981. A one mile extension into central Los Angeles opened in 1989.〔 Construction of the Harbor Transitway shared-use bus corridor in the median of Interstate 110 was approved in 1987 and was completed in 1995. In 1993 plans for a high frequency 'dual-hub' service were proposed which would operate along both busways between El Monte Bus Station in the east via downtown to the Harbor Gateway Transit Center in the south with buses very 2–3 minutes and a total journey time of about 60 minutes. A lack of funding meant that a service of this type was not introduced until December 2009.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Dual Hub High Occupancy Vehicle Transitway )〕 State bill 63 lowered the carpool occupancy requirement from three occupants to two on 1 January 2000. This was intended to be a 24-month experiment but it was cancelled after only 6 months in which period there had been a large increase in the number of vehicles using the lane, greatly increased journey-times and reduced average vehicle occupancy. Over this time speeds on the busway dropped from to and journey times increased by 20–30 minutes making it slower than the regular lanes where speeds dropped from to . Accident rates on the busway increased significantly from zero in the six months before the experiment to five during the experiment. Foothill Transit needed to hire more drivers and stage more buses to provide busway service and the change generated over 1,000 complaints to government agencies.〔 The above bill had been proposed by senator Hilda Solis and authorized by Governor Gray Davis on July 1999 and was supported many cities hoping that carpool rates would increase but had been opposed by Caltrans, Foothill Transit and the Southern California Transit Advocates (a transit users' organization). As a result of the increased congestion an emergency measure (Bill 769) was passed in July 2000 to terminate the experiment during peak hours raising the occupancy required to three occupants or more between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, in both directions. On weekends and at other times, the two occupant rule remains. This bill was supported by Hilda Solis who had proposed the original bill. Motorcycles, clean fueled vehicles, hybrid vehicles (with the appropriate sticker), and buses (with or without passengers) are allowed on the busway at all times. The busway was however still congested during peak hours and heavily congested just before and after peak hours. The Metro Silver Line operates between the El Monte Bus Station and the Harbor Gateway Transit Center via downtown Los Angeles using the El Monte Busway and the Harbor Busways which started operation on December 13, 2009 and ridership on both busways has steady increased. Frequencies for the Metro Silver Line have improved as a result of the increased ridership demands. The El Monte Station was rebuilt to double its capacity to 40,000 passengers as part of the Metro ExpressLanes project. Work began in September 2010〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Projects and programs: El Monte Station )〕 and was completed in October 2012. In January 2015, the Cal State L.A. and LAC + USC Medical Center stations were temporarily closed for one month to replace stairways and lights. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「El Monte Busway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|