Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced her new position as LA Metro Board Chair this past Wednesday, highlighting the various successes of the bus and railway services<\/p>\n
In light of the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games, Bass announced future plans for the Metro, including a goal to make the second-largest public transportation system in the United States free.<\/p>\n
The recent expansion of the D Line was an exciting development for Angelenos, as most residents and visitors of the city rely on cars as their main form of transportation. However, the notion may not be as true as one may think. Bass said that nearly one million commuters used public transportation daily last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransit is one of the most powerful tools we have to change lives. I\u2019m deeply honored to take over as Chair of the Board of LA Metro to accelerate our work to make public transit so affordable that it is the obvious and sustainable choice for people\u2019s pocketbooks and daily lives,\u201d said Bass.<\/p>\n
Bass acknowledged that a majority of LA Metro riders use the bus. In response, she said that the Metro does plan to maintain and make further improvements to the system, particularly the Vermont, North Hollywood, Pasadena, and North San Fernando Valley Bus Rapid Transit systems.<\/p>\n
However, for riders who do use the trains (and car-commuters who wish to avoid the dreaded traffic on the 405), progress on the Sepulveda Transit Corridor, a direct rail line that will connect the San Fernando Valley to the Westside, is underway.<\/p>\n
As a part of the \u201cMetro Safe. Metro Affordable. Metro Reliable. And Metro Ready.\u201d initiative, there are a couple of plans Bass wishes to make happen. One of which, and arguably the most exciting of the list, is a fare-free metro for all.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, as Chair, I want to grow the LIFE program and develop a long-term financial strategy and plan for Metro to finally be fare-free,\u201d Bass said. \u201cThis is the Metro that I\u2019ve fought for since my first term and as Mayor in this city: a world-class system that creates opportunity for all, including our veterans, those with disabilities, and those who deserve a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Bass also plans to address safety concerns for riders, including addressing individuals with mental health and substance issues. Officers, Bass said, are not working alone to address these instances, and are working with social service support and other professionals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know on the Metro line, one of the main problems is quality of life problems associated with homelessness, with substance abuse, with mental illness \u2013 and those kinds of problems don\u2019t always require an armed officer,\u201d Bass said. \u201cMany times, a person who has other skills is perfectly able \u2013 and better \u2013 to address those problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bass is also planning to make the transit systems more reliable, adding that the Metro adjusted over 100 routes for speed and reliability. By 2028, she plans to increase these adjustments by 100 miles.<\/p>\n
These initiatives are all in line for the 2028 Olympics, and goals will hopefully be met by the summer games taking place a little under two years from now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI certainly viewed the World Cup as a dress rehearsal for the Olympics, and it was certainly a dress rehearsal of our system,\u201d Bass said. \u201cWe\u2019re ready for the Olympics! 45,000 fans safely going throughout the Metro system.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced her new position as LA Metro Board Chair this past Wednesday, highlighting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,27729,47,50,49,13825,4182,2855,47118],"class_list":["post-409795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-la28","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mayor-karen-bass","tag-metro","tag-public-transit","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}