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Comprehensive Transit Service Analysis (TSA) / 2023 Forecast / Proposition A

Council File 18-0244-S4

In progress — the city is redesigning its transit service plan through a comprehensive analysis covering all local bus systems, with a consultant expected to be hired by summer 2025 and the full study due roughly a year later.

Introduced
2024-03-03
Last changed
2026-05-27
Status
open
Expires
2028-05-22
Committee
Budget and Finance Committee
Initiated by
Department of Transportation
References
Related Council Files: 05-2057; 05-1107-S1

Brief

The Department of Transportation initiated this file in March 2024 after finding that fully implementing the 2018 Transit Service Analysis would create a structural budget deficit. Council directed DOT to pause that plan and develop a replacement. In July 2024, Council adopted a motion by Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Heather Hutt approving the committees' work. DOT is now conducting a Comprehensive Operations Analysis covering DASH, Commuter Express, Cityride, and LAnow, with contract award expected by summer 2025 and completion within one year. The analysis will assess unimplemented 2018 recommendations, incorporate equity principles, and prepare for 2026, 2027, and 2028 major events.

Full summary

Council File 18-0244-S4 tracks the Department of Transportation's ongoing effort to reassess and update LA's transit service plan in light of financial constraints and post-pandemic shifts in ridership. The file was initiated by DOT in March 2024 with a report on Proposition A status and a multi-year revenue and expenditure forecast showing that fully implementing the 2018 Transit Service Analysis would produce a structural budget deficit. On the strength of that finding, Council directed DOT to pause further rollout of the 2018 plan and begin developing a replacement. In spring 2024, the file moved through the Transportation Committee and Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee, both of which approved it as amended. On July 2, 2024, Council adopted a motion by Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Heather Hutt to note and file those committee reports, passing 14-0-1. DOT's May 2025 status report, submitted by General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo, describes the replacement planning effort in detail. Rather than a narrower Transit Service Analysis, DOT is now conducting a Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA) covering DASH, Commuter Express, Cityride, and LAnow, with equity as a central principle. The COA will first audit which 2018 TSA recommendations were implemented and whether the unimplemented ones, including DASH Boyle Heights West and DASH Canoga Park, still make sense given current demographics, travel patterns, and available funding. DOT launched a competitive procurement in October 2024, held a mandatory pre-submittal conference in November 2024, completed consultant interviews in April 2025, and expected to award a contract by summer 2025, with the full analysis estimated to take about one year. The project will be funded with Proposition A local return funds, with no impact to the General Fund. The COA's scope also includes improving on-time performance, integrating with Metro's NextGen regional plan, preparing for transit demand surges around the 2026 World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl, and 2028 Olympics, and conducting structured community outreach in every Council district. The Transportation Committee noted and filed the May 2025 status report in May 2026, and the file remains open with both the Transportation and Budget and Finance committees listed as pending, serving as the ongoing oversight vehicle for this work.

Activity (17)

  • 2026-05-27 Transportation Committee noted and filed item(s).
  • 2026-05-22 Transportation Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on May 27, 2026.
  • 2025-05-27 Department of Transportation document(s) referred to Budget and Finance Committee; Transportation Committee.
  • 2025-05-27 Document(s) submitted by Department of Transportation, as follows:Department of Transportation report, dated May 23, 2025, relative to the status of the effort to undertake a new Transit Service Analysis.
  • 2025-01-07 Document(s) submitted by Department of Transportation, as follows:Department of Transportation report, dated January 6, 2025, relative to an update on implementation of the pre-existing DASH fares. DOCUMENT MOVED TO COUNCIL FILE NO. 18-0244-S11.
  • 2024-07-02 Council action final.
  • 2024-07-02 Council adopted Motion (Blumenfield - Hutt) to note and file the Transportation Committee report dated June 5, 2024 and adopt the Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee report dated June 26, 2024, forthwith.
  • 2024-06-28 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on July 2, 2024.
  • 2024-06-26 Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee approved as amended .
  • 2024-06-21 Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on June 26, 2024.
  • 2024-06-06 Transportation Committee transmitted Council File to Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee.
  • 2024-06-05 Transportation Committee approved as amended .
  • 2024-05-31 Transportation Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on June 5, 2024.
  • 2024-04-17 Transportation Committee continued item to to a date to be determined.
  • 2024-04-12 Transportation Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on April 17, 2024.
  • 2024-03-28 Department of Transportation document(s) referred to Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee; Transportation Committee.
  • 2024-03-27 Document(s) submitted by Department of Transportation, as follows:Department of Transportation report, dated March 27, 2024, relative to the Proposition A status and forecast for transit services.

Documents (17)

Council votes (1)

  • 2024-07-02 Vote — 14-0-1 · Regular

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