Bus-only Lanes on Wilshire

Who Wants Exemptions?

Sarah Peters

UP 206aFinal Project

Overview

Pacific Ocean

•Project Context•Westside Exemptions•Eastside vs. Westside•Research Questions•Method of Analysis•Comparisons•Summary•Conclusions•Data Sources

Photo credit: LA MTA website (thesource.net)

Project Context: Wilshire Boulevard

Los Angeles County

Pacific Ocean

•Major East-West corridor in LA County

•Passes through cities of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica

•Served by Metro Rapid Bus 720 and Local Bus 20

•Wilshire serves approximately equal numbers of bus riders and drivers/passengers in private vehicles

City of Los Angeles

Beverly Hills

Santa Monica

Project Context: Wilshire Boulevard

Pacific Ocean

• In 2008 LA Metro and City of LA began studying peak-period bus-only lanes for Wilshire

• Lanes proposed from just west of downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica border

• No bus-only lanes proposed for Beverly Hills

I-10

I-405

I-110

Culver City

West Hollywood

City of Los Angeles

I-5

Santa Monica

Beverly Hills

Westside Project Area

Eastside Project Area

Exemptions for the Westside: Comstock to Selby

•Summer of 2010: Holmby-Westwood Property Owners Association (HWPOA) gets LA City Council support to preserve parking and curb cuts along Wilshire

• December 2010: HWPOA wins Metro Board approval to exempt Comstock-Selby segment from bus-only lanes

I-405

Westwood Blvd.

Beverly Hills

Selby

Comstock

Federally-owned land

Exemptions for the Westside: Brentwood Exemptions

•November 2010-February 2011: Brentwood Homeowners Association lobbies for exemptions

• February 2011: LA City Council requests that Metro planners study BRT without Westside bus-only lanes

I-405

Beverly Hills

Federally-owned land

Brentwood HOA

Holmby-Westwood POA

Eastside vs. Westside

Currently under study: Exemptions from bus-only lanes for the entire Westside Project Area

I-405

Beverly Hills

Brentwood HOA

Holmby-Westwood POA

Santa Monica

City of Los Angeles

I-10

I-5

Westside Project Area(exemptions sought)

Eastside Project Area(no exemptions sought)

Research Questions

1. Are there demographic differences between residents who organized against bus-only lanes and their neighbors who did not?

2. Are there demographic differences between Westside and Eastside service areas?

Photo credit: LA WAD, flickr.com

Data Sources

•American Community Survey 2005-2009 Estimates for Census Blockgroups in LA County (data on income, race and transit commuters)

•Homeowners association boundary maps from HOA websites Photo credit: LA MTA website (thesource.net)

Method of Analysis: Define Exemption-Seeking Groups

Step 1: Select Census blockgroups that overlap homeowners associations

Brentwood HOA

Holmby-Westwood POA

Federally-owned land

Selected blockgroups (turquoise)

Beverly Hills

I-405

Method of Analysis: Define Exemption-Seeking Groups

Step 2: Create layer of homeowners associations blockgroups

Homeowners Associations Layer

Step 1: Calculate ½ mile service area around 720 Rapid bus stops

Method of Analysis: Network Analyst

Homeowners Associations Layer

I-10

I-405

I-5

Step 2: Select census blockgroups that intersect BRT service areas within City of Los Angeles

Method of Analysis: Network Analyst

Step 3: Create layers from selected blockgroups

Method of Analysis: Network Analyst

HOA blockgroups layer

Non-HOA blockgroups layer

Are there demographic differences between residents who organized against bus-only lanes and their neighbors who did not?

Comparison: HOA blockgroups vs. Non-HOA Blockgroups

HOA blockgroups

Non-HOA blockgroups

Income: HOA vs. Non-HOA

HOA blockgroups

Non-HOA blockgroups

Average Per Capita IncomeHOAs: $101,000

Non-HOAs: $64,000

Racial Composition: HOA vs. Non-HOA

HOA blockgroups

Non-HOA blockgroups

Nonwhite PopulationHOAs: 14%

Non-HOAs: 33%

Public Transit Use: HOAs vs. Non-HOAs

HOA blockgroups

Non-HOA blockgroups

Public Transit CommutersHOAs: 1%

Non-HOAs: 4%

Are there demographic differences between the Westside and Eastside service areas?

Comparison: Eastside vs. Westside

Westside service area

Eastside service areaBeverly Hills

I-10

I-405

I-5

Average Per Capita Income

Income: Eastside vs. Westside

Westside service area

Eastside service area

Beverly Hills

Eastside: $28,000

Westside: $64,000

Racial Composition: Eastside vs. Westside

Westside service area

Eastside service areaNonwhite Population

Eastside: 78%

Westside: 31%

Transit Use: Eastside vs. Westside

Westside service area

Eastside service area

Westside service area

Public Transit Commuters

Eastside: 20%

Westside: 4%

Summary: Income

•HOAs make about 1/3 per capita more than the rest of the Westside•Westside Service Area’s per capita income is 2x that of the Eastside Service

Area

Summary: Racial Composition

•8/10 people in Eastside Service Area are people of color•9/10 people in HOA blockgroups are white

Summary: Transit Use

•Transit users are a minority of commuters in all areas•Eastside has more than 4x as many transit users as the Westside, and 20x

the transit users of the HOA blockgroups

Summary: Populations

•Eastside Service Area residents outnumber Westside residents(both HOA and non-HOA) by 2-1

Summary

•HOA population: 13, 402•Everyone else: 148,791

Conclusions

•Race, income and geography are highly correlated in Wilshire corridor•Westside HOA residents exercised disproportionate power in planning process

•Westside residents overall are less likely to use transit•Therefore HOA residents opposed to bus-only lanes may not have faced local opposition

Photo credit: LA MTA website (thesource.net)

Data Sources

Wilshire BRT project history: •Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) websitehttp://www.metro.net/projects/wilshire/

•Los Angeles City CouncilMeeting Agenda for January 28, 2011

•Streetsblog Los Angeleshttp://la.streetsblog.org/2010/11/18/nimbys-in-westwood-threaten-wilshire-brt-project-west-of-beverly-hills/http://la.streetsblog.org/2011/02/02/council-votes-for-more-study-for-wilshire-bus-only-project/

Homeowners Association boundaries: •Holmby-Westwood POA websitehttp://www.holmbywestwoodpoa.org/mission.html

•Brentwood HOA websitehttp://www.brentwoodhomeowners.org/

Census Blockgroup data: •American Community Survey 2005-2009 Estimateshttp://www.socialexplorer.com/pub/reportdata/GeoSelection.aspx?Census=ACS2009_5yr&ReportId=R10039635

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