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ChineseThe Busiest Bus Stop* (*not actually a childrens’ book)
I’ve been thinking about this for while, but when sitting at my computer to post, it kept slipping my mind. So instead of writing anything at all I’d just end perusing other LA public transit sites. Today, during such a perusing, I came across the always sarcastic and informative Metro Mole and an article he wrote addressing some of the dirtiest bus stops in the county. Now I’ve definitely seen my fare share of dirty azz bus stops, the 14,18, 720 stop at 5th and Grand downtown comes to mind, but not really enough to truly break down which one rightfully deserves 2006’s Dirtiest Bus Stop Award. Though it should be in the running, along with under the 10 overpass stop at Fairfax and Washington. Both nominees if nothing else. But to my point.
What his post reminded me of was not which was dirtiest so much as which was busiest. Which bus stop is the busiest out there? This post was first thought of while I was waiting for the 720 Eastbound at the corner of Westwood and Wilshire. There were at least a hundred people standing around me with hopeful eyes to the West and the setting sun. But as time continued to pass and the sun went to bed the number just continued to grow and no big red Rapid seemed to show up. Now that was a very specific occasion, one I’ve never witnessed before or since, the number standing really was amazing. I quickly realized what it must be like for all those people that camped out for the PS3 or at Target the day after Thanksgiving, watching the front doors of the store as if they were the gates to heaven.
However, that is not the only extremely busy stop that I’ve witnessed. In fact, and rightfully so being the busiest corridor in the United States, stops all along Wilshire are obscenely busy. But stops elsewhere are as well. Take for instance the stop at Hollywood and Western. The sheer number of people waiting for the 757 Southbound is amazing. Starting at Hollywood, the line that fills the sidewalk goes as far as the end of the building and the storefronts passed that. A number that just from looking at seems to break a hundred. Luckily it’s the first stop on that Rapid journey south so most of the time all of the passengers are able to board where as the Wilshire/Westwood is about the fourth and on almost every occasion about 10 or so people are left.
So I ask you fellow MetroRiders, which is your vote for busiest stop? Train stops are included, though the only one that seems to compete is North Hollywood and 7th/Metro, but that’s cheating because they can hold so many more people.
Discussion
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I nominate the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue. You have lines 18, 20, 21, 66, 207, 209, 720, 757, two DASH lines and the Red Line. I would estimate at least 25,000 boardings a day there.
Wilshire and Westwood boulevards is definitely a busy intersection. Santa Monica alone says the intersection accounted for over 10,000 boardings on Big Blue Buses alone!
For a long time, though, the El Monte Bus Station held the crown. It generated over 40,000 boardings.
I’ll second the nomination for Wilshire/Western, and Wilshire/Vermont for the 720 westbound can be a zoo as well. But I’m not sure that anything other than a transitway or 7th St/Union Station is going to beat WIlshire/Westwood. It’s an absolute zoo there, a major transfer point, and any metro red line extension needs to account for this and deal with it.
There’s an open question as to whether the attraction is the intersection itself or UCLA (my guess is that the Big Blue numbers mean the problem is UCLA) and if it’s UCLA, there’s a decent argument to routing the subway up to Hildegarde.
It’s not just for the students; UCLA is a major westside employer and its little community up on the hill draws a lot of secondary businesses too. But Wilshire/Westwood itself is crowded of its own right, with the towers lining Wilshire, and I think the only way to get a real answer to which would be more efficient would be to get some real numbers on the subject.
I nominate the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Western Avenue as one of the busiest. Sometimes I wonder if the Red Line should have gone up Western instead of Vermont because of this density of transit users…
at first i was convinced by the arguement that the Wilshire / Western intersection was the busiest
but then i was quickly swayed by the intersection of Wilshire / Westwood which is so crowded that some lines have to have their stops well off the actual intersection.
regarding the Red Line being on Vermont, i bet someone like LA City Nerd might be able to get his hands on the actual proposal, I would imagine that even though i agree that Western is particularity congested, my guess is that it goes up Vermont so that people would have access to the various hospitals around Vermont and Sunset.
i agree that was most likely the case, la city college and kaiser and the children’s hospital and the like. rail lines are always having to justify their existence by making sure they go along paths that include such public services. def a good thing.
The reason the Red Line goes up Vermont
is due to the famous methane explosion during construction of the line along Wilshire. Apparently the area around the La Brea Tar Pits has a lot of natural gas, which was deemed (until a few months ago) to make tunnelling too dangerous. Originally I believed it was supposed to go up La Brea.
Originally the line was supposed to go up Fairfax Avenue, but Chris is right, the methane explosion intervened and forced a routing change. Good thing, because Vermont Avenue is the busiest north-south bus line in the county.
At this point I don’t think I can add anything to the busiest debate, but i would like to revisit the idea of dirtiest, moreso the ratio of busiest to dirtiest. So which stop is home to the filthiest and most careless compared to the ridership? My nomination goes to the 30/31/330 stop on hoover and pico.
Dirtiest bus stop?
I nominate any bus stop in the Skid Row area. Take your pick. Any one between Main and Central, and about Third Street and Seventh.
Makes even the stops along Broadway seem calm and well groomed.