South of the Harbor Transitway, the Harbor Freeway also has two stations on the shoulder of the highway, Carson station and Pacific Coast Highway station which opened on November 18, 2000.
2.6 miles of the Harbor Transitway runs on viaducts elevated above regular traffic on the Harbor Freeway.
The Harbor Transitway project built 10.3 miles (16.6 km) of new lanes (two in each direction) for buses and two-person carpools (high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes) between Downtown Los Angeles and a new transit center in Gardena, California. The most visually striking part of the project were the 2.6 miles of viaducts that elevated the transitway directly above the regular freeway traffic.[1]: 2 The project also included new stations in the median of the transitway at 37th Street/USC, Slauson, Manchester, Harbor Freeway, and Rosecrans along with the Harbor Gateway Transit Center (then called the Artesia Transit Center) located southeast of the Harbor Freeway/State Route 91 interchange and connected by a flyover ramp.[1]: 3
South of State Route 91 to San Pedro, a 9.3-mile (15.0 km) section of the Harbor Freeway was widened from six to eight lanes. On this section of freeway, buses travel in the general-purpose lanes and make stops at new stations on the shoulder at Carson Street and Pacific Coast Highway.[1]: 3 The project also built the off-highway Harbor Beacon Park & Ride in San Pedro, originally intended to be a transit center for the city.[1]: 10
After about 20 years of planning and construction,[1]: i the Harbor Transitway opened on June 26, 1996, at a cost of $498 million.[3] Because of uncertainty on the opening date, buses would not start using the facility a few weeks later on August 1, 1996.[3] Opening of the final one-mile elevated section from 39th Street to Adams Boulevard (including 37th Street/USC station) was delayed until July 28, 1997.[4] The Harbor Freeway shoulder stations would open on November 18, 2000.[5]
During the planning stages, Metro proposed to Caltrans that the transitway be extended from its terminal at 37th Street north for a more direct connection with Downtown Los Angeles or El Monte Busway.[1]: 3 That request was not implemented, but Caltrans did construct the transitway with stub end to create a provision for a future extension.[6] In 1998, Metro studied the extension but found it expensive and technically challenging, and to date there have been no further efforts to extend the transitway.[7]
In 1993, Metro studied how to operate its buses on the Harbor Transitway best and settled on three proposals: continue to run service as it had before, shift to a hub-and-spoke system with a trunk route on the Harbor Transitway, or create a "dual hub" system with a trunk route that served both the Harbor Transitway and the older El Monte Busway.[1]: 5 The study took into account that because the Harbor Transitway was a Caltrans project, no additional operating funds were provided to transit agencies in the region to operate over the new facility. Metro staff recommended the dual hub proposal, saying that it would be the most efficient and cost less to run.[1]: 6 Ultimately, the Metro Board of Directors decided to largely continue running bus routes as they had before.[3] Because most of the buses traveling on the Harbor Freeway served commuters' needs, service was frequent along the corridors during the weekday peak hours but infrequent during other times.
Ridership on the Harbor Transitway was radically lower than expected: Caltrans had projected that 65,200 passengers would travel along the Harbor Transitway each day, but after 10 years ridership fell far below those predictions, with the route seeing just 3,000 passengers per weekday in 2004.[5] That amount is low compared to the El Monte Busway, which had 32,000 boardings a day in November 2000.[5]
Conversion to bus rapid transit and high occupancy toll
New bollards, security cameras, and digital message signs were added to stations after the start of bus rapid transit as seen here at Slauson station in September 2012.
After the very successful launch of the Orange Line, a new busway in the San Fernando Valley, Metro decided to rebrand the county's other busways in an attempt to increase awareness.[8] In March 2006, Metro decided that the Harbor Transitway would be colored bronze and the El Monte Busway would be colored silver on Metro's maps and the two would be marketed as a "Combined Transitway Service." No changes were made in the operations of the buses routes operated on the lines. The changes were criticized as being difficult to understand for irregular and new riders.[9]
Metro returned to its plan for a dual-hub route in 2009, proposing a new bus rapid transit service called the Silver Line (now J Line) utilizing both the Harbor Transitway and the El Monte Busway. The new higher frequency service would be funded by converting both corridors into high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, to be branded as the Metro ExpressLanes. The Silver Line began operations on December 13, 2009, with Metro planning to refurbish the aging stations along both corridors over the coming years. The electronic toll collection equipment for the HOT lanes on the Harbor Transitway went into service on November 10, 2012.[10] The El Monte Busway's HOT lanes opened on February 22, 2013.[11]
Stations along the Harbor Transitway were improved between early 2011 and late 2012 with the addition of real-time arrival signs, new wayfinding signage, improved lighting, and soundproofing. The Harbor Gateway Transit Center also received bathrooms and a law enforcement substation.[12]
Usage of the Harbor Transitway has significantly increased with the implementation of the J Line,[13] with ridership across the entire route reaching 19,277 boardings a day in February 2020.[14]
Transit Access Pass (TAP) card ticket vending machines were added to most stations (except Carson and Pacific Coast Highway) in early 2017 to support all-door boarding on the J Line.[15] Pre-payment of fares and all-door boarding reduces the time buses need to remain stopped at stations.[16]
Tolls
As of August 2022[update], the high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes are a 24/7 service. Solo drivers are tolled using a congestion pricing system based on the real-time levels of traffic. Carpools with two or more occupants are not charged.[17] All tolls are collected using an open road tolling system, and therefore there are no toll booths to receive cash. Each vehicle using the HOT lanes is required to carry a FasTrakFlex transponder, with its switch set to indicate the number of the vehicle's occupants (1, 2, or 3 or more). Solo drivers may also use the FasTrak standard tag without the switch. Drivers without any FasTrak tag will be assessed a toll violation regardless of whether they qualified for free.[17]
The difference between the Harbor Transitway and the El Monte Busway is that the latter charges two-person carpools the posted toll during peak hours.[17]
37th Street/USC station, stairs from lower level to northbound platformMetro Express routes 460 & 550 departing Manchester stationPassengers boarding the Metro J Line to Downtown Los Angeles & El Monte Station at Harbor Gateway Transit Center.
The Harbor Transitway has eight stations. From north to south, they are:
Bollards were installed at Harbor Freeway station and all similar stations after the crash.
On February 22, 2012, a drunk driver on the Harbor Freeway mistakenly entered the bus-only platform area of the Harbor Freeway station. The driver, 51-year-old Stephen Lubin of Sun Valley, was traveling 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), 15 mph (24 km/h) over the freeway's posted speed limit, in his 2009 Honda Fit as he entered the station and encountered a bus stopped at the platform. Lubin swerved to avoid hitting the bus and drove onto the platform where he hit seven people, critically injuring six, before slamming into a pole.[18]
After the crash, Metro's CEO Art Leahy asked Metro's safety committee staff to review the layout of busway stations and safety signage on the roadways leading into the station areas.[19] As a result of that investigation, Metro added concrete-filled metal bollards to all stations on the Harbor Transitway and the El Monte Busway to prevent vehicles from entering the platform and additional markings were added on roadways leading into stations.[20]
^ abcRadcliffe, Jim (June 27, 1996). "Harbor Transitway opens, reducing congestion – Impact felt during evening commute". Daily Breeze. p. A3 – via NewsBank.
^Radcliffe, Jim (July 28, 1997). "Final stretch of elevated Harbor Freeway to open". Daily Breeze. p. A2 – via NewsBank.
^ abcShuit, Douglas P. (November 20, 2000). "Harbor Transitway Has Everything but Riders". Los Angeles Times. The $500-million Harbor Transitway from Wilmington to downtown Los Angeles was supposed to generate 65,000 bus rides a day along the Harbor Freeway. But usage did remain low as 3,000 boardings a day—that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has slashed the fare by more than half—from $3.35 to $1.35—in hopes of increasing ridership.
