The Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies

Bus lanes in Los Angeles have rapidly increased in the past ten years. Bus lanes are lanes designated exclusively for buses on general traffic streets. Understanding if bus lanes make streets safer for all users is imperative, especially in a city like Los Angeles where traffic fatalities are rampant. This study considers if there are differences in severe and fatal traffic collisions among streets with all-day bus lanes, peak hour bus lanes, and no bus lanes. A descriptive statistical analysis of crash data revealed that collisions increased on all studied bus lane corridors except one peak hour bus lane. Collisions became less severe and less fatal on all studied bus lane corridors. Collisions either stayed constant or decreased on corridors with no bus lane, but fatality and severe-injury outcomes were mixed. Site visits to corridors with a decrease and increase in collisions found similarly accommodated bus lanes, but other key differences that may have contributed to their divergent safety outcomes such as block length and left turn availability. Parked cars often obstructed bus lanes on both corridors, specifically near restaurants. Still, bus lanes can enhance street safety if installed in tandem with context-sensitive, complementary design elements such as painting bus lanes red, operating off-set running bus lanes, limiting left turns, and providing short-term parking on nearby streets during operating hours. Bus lanes are an effective tool to increase bus efficiency, but their inclusion in streetscapes must be done thoughtfully and effectively to promote safer streets.