Public Transit Can't Dent Century City Traffic
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The light rail Metro Expo Line, opened in April 2012, was supposed to change the game for the traffic-choked Westside. 
Century City has unique infastructure issues due in part to its population's financial standards. (Wan Xu, Neon Tommy)
Though 27,000 people ride on an average weekday, the public transit line hasn't altered travel patterns for most office people in Century City, one transfer away from the Culver City station. Some of those who avoid the light rail do so with pleasure, content with their current means of daily conveyance. But many of the city's commuters crave alternative transit methods.
In 0.7-square-miles, Century City is a major jobs and entertainment center. The Century City Shopping Mall and Fox Studios occupy important acreage in the neighborhood. Southern California Association of Governments, the regional metropolitan planning organization, estimates that more than 44,000 employees travel to and from Century City everyday. The Culver City Expo station connects bus lines: four Metro, two Culver City, and two Big Blue buses. However only Big Blue Bus Line 5 has been rerouted to the heart of Century City at Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars. Another choice would be taking Culver City Bus Line 1 or Line 7 and transferring to Line 3 that stops at the Century City Mall. Metro is not allowed to operate direct bus lines due to the legislation of “Reserved Service Area”.
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According to the California Public Utilities Code Section 99280, “an included municipal operator shall not establish a public transportation system either by adding new routes or extending existing routes, by acquisition or otherwise, outside of its boundaries and outside of the reserved service area consisting of the area that would be formed by joining all points that are distant three-quarters of one mile from any point of any of its regularly scheduled routes in existence and in operation on March 1, 1971.”
“For example, we have our Line 3 operating direct connection from Westwood station to the Century City. So in that case, other transit agencies would not want to overlap our service,” says Diana Chang, Senior Transportation Planner of Culver City, “This is the way of basically not having transit agencies competing with each other, having overlapping service.”
Metro reports in the 2013 fiscal year approximately 5.6 million unlinked passenger trips for the Expo Line, 5 percent up from last year. The Line also saw 27,679 average weekday boardings in the past month, 5,000 more than a year earlier. By contrast, Big Blue Bus Line 5 merely has one hundred more ridership everyday on average, according to Big Blue Bus Transit Planning Administrator Tim McCormick. Culver City buses are similar, though more vehicles were added to welcome the opening of the Line.
“Expo Phase One didn’t bring a substantial amount of ridership to our system,” says Chang, “We typically get about 3 percent increase annually by ridership, which is basically due to other reasons like the growth in population and the rise of gasoline price. This year we get slightly more, but it’s not a lot more that we had hoped.”
Free parking space for almost every employee in Century City dampens the enthusiasm to use more public transportation. Elsewhere in Los Angeles, the average cost for a monthly parking spot is $192; you can expect to pay an average price of $25 for a daily parking spot, according to a 2007 study of Colliers International, a commercial real estate company.
“I guess I’m kind of spoiled, so I’m just so used to getting in my car and going. I haven't really considered maybe changing my schedule around, so I can't take public transportation,” says Tyy Sams, who works for the Fox Studios.
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The high-income population in the neighborhood is another reason why public transportation is not so favored. According to Los Angeles Times’ Mapping L.A., the median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $95,195, a high figure for Los Angeles. It is minimum-wage earners there who usually travel by bus or train.
“I don't have a car. I’ll take the bus, because from where I live to get over here, there’s too much gas,” says Fausta Sosa, part-time worker at Subway, “And the bus is cheaper, and you already know it’s reliable as well. I just use my student ID. It’s like money coupon. I can use the Blue Bus for free.”
What’s more, private practices and small-sized branches, quite the majority of the local companies, are not subject to South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Rule 2202. Applying to any employer or agency that has 250 or more people on a full or part-time basis at a worksite, the Rule is a menu of options to reduce mobile source emissions generated from employee commutes.
Some Century City businesses are actively working to alleviate traffic congestion and improve workplace environment. Though shuttle bus is unavailable, a lot of companies are using Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies to entice employees to use alternative modes of transportation.
“Things like that may include incentive ride subsidy. Companies may pay for your transit passes if you decide not to take your car to work. That’s called ‘Parking Cash-Out,” says Chang, “It is a win-win situation, employees can get some extra money, and the company is successful in enticing people to use transit or bike.”
“We already have a Bruin-go Program with UCLA, in which we actually reduce the fare. If Century City Mall wants to encourage employees to use public transit, then we may be able to work with them on doing transit passes,” she adds, “And in this case, since Century City is served by so many transit agencies, we may want to see how actually negotiate a deal with Metro on the regional transit passes.”
“If you take public transportation most days, I think it’s 80 percent of the days you go to work, then they will refund you the monthly pass,” says Lillian Wunsch, employee at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, “a few but not very many of my colleagues use public transit, probably because they don’t like to drive. They don't like the traffic.”
“My company pays the half. That’s $155 per month, and that’s a way cheaper than driving,” says Maria Navarro, who works for a private law firm in Century Park East. She takes the bus to work everyday, which drops her off right in front of the building. “I don't wanna be stuck in traffic, it’s terrible. I’d rather take bus and take a nap, or do whatever I need to do.”
There is also a free online resource Commute 90067 that offers flexible commuting options for employers and employees alike. Currently, more than 40 employers have joined the community, including Westfield Century City and MGM Studios. All commuters who participate in the ridesharing program are matched with likeminded commuters with similar schedules and they all have a guaranteed ride home.
What’s more, all public transit authorities attended a meeting just a couple of months ago with Chamber of Commerce of Century City, where they talked about how to get office people out of cars and start using transit. Some major employers of the Century City area were there at the meeting.
“Another thing that we talked about is, if we deploy additional bus services, which means more buses would be going to the Mall or the Century City, we’ll need more space for the bus to stop and to lay over,” says Chang, “So that’s something that the Century City is looking at, potentially providing the bus companies.”
“A group of people that go out from our Rideshare Department meet with organizations such as Century City Business Association,” says Metro Service Planning Manager Scott Page, “We have a Employer Annual Pass Program, where the employer kicks in a certain amount of money, and then the employee might have to pay a little extra money to get a monthly pass.”
“We also have a Vanpool Program. Basically Metro owns the van, and then it’s leased out to the employer. Users are a group of employees at a company, and for reduced cost, they are able to provide a vanpool for themselves without buying a vehicle,” Page adds, “We have a lot of vans from all over Los Angeles county, doing the vanpool program.”
Metro is also working with other bus companies to encourage the use of public transport. They have had a number of meetings regarding “Bus/Rail Interface,” assisting each other in improving access to rail stations, taking advantage of new transfer facilities, and reducing bus and rail service duplication. There is a “Reciprocal Fare Agreement” as well among Big Blue Bus, Metro, Culver City and Gardena.
“People can ride our bus, pay 50 cents, and we give them a card that they can take on the second bus or train, and transfer for no more money. And the same comes for the other way,” says McCormick, “If we didn’t have the 50 cents transfer, people would not be inclined to do the transfer, because it would be very expensive to ride both systems.”
According to Commute 90067, 665% more commuters used public transportation, vanpooling and other forms of alternative transportation in Century City in 2012, taking 52.5 cars off the street per day. But it is far from enough. Changing people’s travel patterns is not a simple matter and could take a long time to resolve.
