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Friday, October 10, 2025
Moving Cities: Los Angeles
Joseph Shortell

How do you make transit competitive with car travel in a city where auto-centric planning has dominated for decades? This is a challenge that the city of Los Angeles has been grappling with since it opened its first metro line in 1993. Since then, the Metro Rail system has dramatically expanded access and now operates a system reaching over 109 miles, including six lines with 107 total stations.

Of the six lines, two (B and D) are heavy-rail subways, while four (A, C, E, and K) are light rail. The rail network is complemented by two Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems, the G Line, covering 18 miles across the San Fernando Valley and the J Line linking El Monte, Downtown, and the Harbor Gateway Transit Center. The G line, opened in 2005, is widely regarded as one of the most successful BRT lines in the country after tripling initial ridership estimates.

As the city works to expand its rail system for daily users, it is also under a deadline to complete new transit infrastructure for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, a games which the mayor has declared will be “transit-first”. With an estimated 15 million visitors set to arrive, realizing this goal will be critical to avoid gridlock on the city’s infamously congested road network.

Some of these recent improvements include the Regional Connector, a 1.9 mile tunnel underneath downtown L.A. that opened in 2023 and merged several existing rail lines, eliminating the need for transfers when making trips that pass through downtown and drastically reducing trip times on the system.

The recently completed K line is another valuable addition to the system. Its stop at the LAX/Metro Transit Center opened in 2025 and will allow for direct rail connections to Los Angeles International Airport via the automated people mover (expected completion in 2026).

Finally, the first phase of extending the underground D line from its current terminus at Western Avenue in Koreatown to Beverly Hills is nearing completion. This project, which will include two additional phases extending further west (expected completion in 2027), has the potential to drive significant increases in ridership on the system as it passes through some of the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods.

These improvements to the Metro system increase access, frequency, and reliability, strengthening the network’s reach and usefulness. However, making transit a “system of first choice” requires more than successful just infrastructure projects. Despite the system’s vast reach, with over 88% of households in the city owning a car, transit is still a secondary option for many city residents.

To address this challenge, LA Metro, as well as state and local policymakers, have been exploring ways to increase density around transit stations and turn those neighborhoods into destinations. When popular trip origins and destinations are clustered around stations, transit becomes the most convenient travel option for a greater share of people.

Through its “Transit Neighborhood Plans”, the City has eased density restrictions, allowed mixed uses, and introduced pedestrian-oriented design standards on land around select rail and BRT stations. This, along with a state law that eliminated minimum parking requirements from most development within a half mile of major transit stations unlocks more efficient use of land around stations, supporting more housing units and commercial activity.

LA Metro has also become directly involved in transforming station-area neighborhoods by partnering with developers via competitive bids and long-term leases to build housing on Metro-owned land. These projects explicitly prioritize increasing transit ridership and intensifying activity around stations.

At the state level, the governor is currently deciding whether to sign the recently passed SB79, which would override local zoning restrictions to allow multifamily housing development within a half mile of all subway, light rail, and BRT stations in counties with at least 15 passenger rail stations.

Together, these efforts underscore that land-use is a key piece to solving the mode-shift puzzle in Los Angeles, along with new infrastructure. These initiatives combined with system expansion can make transit a strong alternative to driving, creating meaningful change in the region, even after Olympics crowds return home.

Moving Cities is a series of posts dedicated to exploring the vast diversity of cities and how their transit systems shape them. Moving Cities examines the organizational structure of transit in relation to the city, the economics of the transit system, and the role of the transit system in the economics of the city, and last, but certainly not least, the experience of the city from the perspective of the transit user.

Joseph Shortell, Senior Analyst |Jshortell@econsultsolutions.com

Joseph Shortell is a senior analyst at ESI. He brings to the position six years of academic research experience in the U.S., China, and Spain and a passion for solving economic and social problems via empirically supported strategies. Joseph believes that the efficacy of public policy should be continuously evaluated using data and analytical tools.

Econsult Solutions, Inc.
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