BOARD MEETING

August 15, 2002

SUBJECT: MID-CITY/WESTSIDE TRANSIT CORRIDOR WILSHIRE BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT) PROJECT

ACTION: APPROVE THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (FEIR) AND AUTHORIZE A PEAK-PERIOD BUS LANE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

RECOMMENDATION

Certify the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Mid-City/Westside Transit Corridor, Wilshire BRT Project;

Adopt the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations (Attachment A) and the Mitigation Monitoring Plan (Attachment B);

Authorize Staff to File a Notice of Determination;

Authorize a Demonstration and Testing Program for a Dedicated Transit Lane, Subject to the Approval of Local Jurisdictions (Attachment C).

ISSUE

On June 28, 2001 the Board approved Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the Mid-City/Westside Transit Corridor-Wilshire Boulevard route. This action followed extensive public outreach and review of alternatives contained in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (DEIS/EIR).

The LPA is defined as a peak-hour dedicated bus lane that would run in the curb lane of Wilshire Boulevard, subject to the concurrence and approval of local jurisdictions. Alignments previously considered that would run in the middle lanes of Wilshire Boulevard, or would run on a 24-hour basis, were eliminated from further consideration. The curb lane configuration is preferred because it eliminates impacts to landscaped medians, left turn pockets and removes the need for any street widening. The peak-period only operation is preferred because it allows the retention of on-street metered parking in most sections of the boulevard.

During the past year, staff has worked with the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) and other affected agencies and jurisdictions to develop engineering design for the various components of the BRT project. The components of the BRT project include:

· Transit Buses – Ninety-seven (97) new 60 foot-long Metro Rapid buses would replace the existing fleet of 40 foot-long Metro Rapid buses. These buses would feature state-of-the-art, articulated, low-floor, low-emission vehicle design;

The FEIR evaluates the environmental impacts of the proposed project and provides responses to more than 5,000 comments received during the Public Comment Period. The FEIR also identifies mitigation measures that would reduce or eliminate impacts. Certification of the Final EIR by the Board is a necessary step to complete the environmental review of the project and allow the start of final design and construction.

Attachment A includes the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations. Attachment B includes the Mitigation Monitoring Plan, which identifies a number of mitigation measures that would be funded and implemented by the Metro and others, if the project is implemented. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires approval of these documents by the Metro, which is acting as lead agency for this project.

Attachment C provides a Summary of the Wilshire BRT Demonstration Project, which proposes to test and evaluate a Peak-Period Transit Lane in a segment of Wilshire Boulevard in West Los Angeles between Centinela and Federal. Upon approval by the Metro Board, Metro staff would work with the City of Los Angeles to seek approval to do a trial of this concept for a period of between 90-180 days, starting in early 2003. Evaluation and monitoring of the demonstration project would be conducted, and the results would be reported at the end of the trial period. This information would be used to help local jurisdictions evaluate the feasibility of implementing the transit lanes on a permanent basis.

The certification of the FEIR is consistent with the November 1998 Board adopted policy defined in the Regional Transportation Alternatives Analysis (RTAA) and the February 2000 Re-evaluation/Major Investment Study which provide for a Bus Rapid Transit alternative in this corridor. The certification is also consistent with the June 2001 Board approval of the DEIS/EIR Locally Preferred Alternative. The Wilshire BRT Project is included as a component of the Mid-City/Westside Transit Corridor in the Metro Long Range Plan.

The Board could defer certification of the FEIR. However, this action would delay the project schedule, increase cost and increase the risk of losing funds specifically earmarked for the Mid-City/Westside Transit Corridor under AB2928.

Adoption of the LPA does not have an impact to the Metro FY03 Budget. The Wilshire BRT costs are within the budget identified in the August 31, 2001 FTA Section 5309 Report. The current capital cost estimate for the project is $232.2 million in year of expenditure dollars. Funding is allocated in Cost Center 4350, project number 800111, task 2.2.10.01 to proceed with the next step in project development. This is a multi-year project and the cost center manager and Executive Officer will be responsible for placing the necessary funds in future year budgets.

Following the suspension of the Metro Red Line and other Metro rail projects in January 1998, the Board directed the development of the Regional Transit Alternatives Analysis (RTAA). The RTAA identified additional cost effective fixed guideway alternatives for the Eastside, Mid-City/Westside and San Fernando Valley Corridors. In February 2000 the Board adopted the Re-evaluation/Major Investment Study (MIS) for the Mid-City/Westside Transit Corridor and directed that environmental clearance proceed for a number of Bus Rapid Transit and Light Rail Transit alternatives. In June 2001, the Board adopted Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as the preferred mode for this alignment and authorized the completion of the final environmental report and preliminary engineering.

A comprehensive community outreach program was conducted throughout the development of the DEIS/DEIR. The Metro conducted two public scoping workshops and one government agency workshop, in addition to three formal Public Hearings in accordance to Federal and State environmental law. Additionally, a formal public comment period was conducted, which began on April 6, 2001, and extended through June 15, 2001. Over 5,000 comments were received during the public comment period. Most of the comments expressed preferences for or against one or more alternatives studied in the DEIS/DEIR. Several asked technical questions. The comments and responses to each of them are included in Chapter 9 of the FEIR.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15091 requires that the Metro make certain findings with respect to those environmental effects of the project determined in the EIR to be significant. These findings are contained in the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations (Attachment A). In addition, where significant environmental effects are found not to be avoided or mitigated to a less than significant level, CEQA requires the Metro must balance, as applicable, the economic, legal, social, technological and other benefits of the project against its unavoidable impacts when determining whether to approve a project. CEQA Guidelines Section 15093(a) states that if the specific economic, legal, social, technological or other benefits of the project outweigh the unavoidable adverse effects, those effects may be considered acceptable. The Metro Board must find that, notwithstanding the disclosure of these significant and unavoidable impacts, there are specific overriding economic, legal, social, technological and other reasons, for approving this project and that these reasons serve to override and outweigh the projects significant unavoidable effects. Thus, the adverse effects are considered acceptable. CEQA requires Metro to support, in writing (Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations, Attachment A), the specific reasons for considering a project acceptable when significant impacts are not avoided or not substantially lessened.

The FEIR comprehensively responds to all the community comments received during circulation of the DEIS/EIR, which have resulted in mitigation measures are incorporated in the Mitigation Monitoring Plan (Attachment B). The Mitigation Monitoring Plan will be incorporated in the project budget and implemented during construction of the project.

Because of the concern by cities to the effects of the project’s proposed peak period transit lane, a demonstration project is proposed to provide a real world test of the effectiveness of these lanes for improving mobility in the congested Wilshire corridor. Attachment C provides a description of the proposed Wilshire BRT Peak Period Transit Lane Demonstration Project. This demonstration would only be undertaken if supported by the City of Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation has reviewed proposed plans for this demonstration project and would work with Metro staff to implement the test project if directed to do so by the City Council.

Assuming Board certification of the FEIR, adoption of the LPA, as well as adoption of the Mitigation Monitoring Plan and the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations, Metro staff and consultants will proceed with preparation of contract documents and solicitation efforts for procurement of the Wilshire BRT project components. A total of 6 different construction and/or third party agreements are envisioned: