The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board has approved the expansion of all-door boarding for Metro Rapid lines 720 (Wilshire Boulevard) and Metro Rapid 754 (Vermont Avenue) to provide speedier trips for riders and reduce the time buses have to dwell at bus stops.
Riders will be able to board at any door of a bus – front, middle or rear — and will pay their fare by using the TAP fare validator installed at each door. Riders will no longer need to line up and wait to board at only the front of the bus. Metro will implement all-door boarding on Metro Rapid Line 754 in June 2018 and on Metro Rapid Line 720 in December 2018.
“Metro is committed to getting passengers to their destinations as quickly as possible — while making sure that safety is always our top priority,” said Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Eric Garcetti. “These improvements will expedite ride times and ease congestion on some of Metro’s most popular Rapid Bus lines.”
Those paying with cash or tokens will be able to board at the front door, where they will also be able to buy a TAP card and load it with fare. To encourage more people to use TAP cards, Metro will be handing out 50,000 free TAP cards on the 720 and 50,000 cards on 754 Metro Rapid lines during their respective launch months.
“This expansion of all-door boarding is just one of the many improvements we’re making to the customer experience on Metro,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin, a member of the Metro Board of Directors and chair of Metro's Ad-Hoc Customer Experience Committee. “By decreasing wait times, the Metro Rapid service will attract even more customers and help take cars off the roads.”
“As part of our promise to reimagine our bus services, all-door boarding is one of our strategies that will help these two lines operate much more efficiently,” said Metro CEO Phil Washington. “By streamlining the boarding process, we will be helping save the precious commodity of time for the tens of thousands of riders who depend on these services on a daily basis.”
Metro Rapid Line 720 on Wilshire Boulevard carries about 29,019 boardings on the average weekday. Metro Rapid Line 754 line on Vermont Avenue carries about 20,674 boardings.
All door boarding began last year on the Metro Silver Line, where it has helped increase on-time performance by 10 percent.
