North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Project


The North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Project is a proposed bus rapid transit line in the Los Angeles Metro Busway system in Los Angeles, California. It is planned to operate between Pasadena — where it will connect with the A Line — and the North Hollywood station in the San Fernando Valley — where it will connect with the B Line in the Los Angeles Metro Rail system and the G Line in the Los Angeles Metro Busway system. The project completed its scoping phase in 2019, was approved by the Metro board on April 28, 2022 and is estimated to be completed by 2027. It is part of Metro's Twenty-eight by '28 initiative.
The east to west/west to east route will have signal priority at traffic lights, and will have exclusive lanes for most of the route. Metro reports the cost is $448 million. Metro received comments it would have to accommodate the annual Rose Parade route on Colorado Boulevard. Destinations along the route include Old Pasadena, The Paseo, and Pasadena City College and The Americana at Brand outdoor mall. It would also connect with Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, The Walt Disney Studios, Burbank Studios, the Downtown Burbank Metrolink station, and Universal Studios.
Two express bus services currently operate in the North Hollywood–Glendale–Pasadena corridor, as precursors to the bus rapid transit service. Metro Express route 501 began operation in 2016 between North Hollywood station, Glendale, and Pasadena, as a pilot project which was later made permanent. LADOT Commuter Express route 549 operates from Encino to Pasadena via North Hollywood during weekday rush hours. Both routes use State Route 134, a highly-traveled and congested corridor.

Service Description

Station list

In April 2021, Metro presented a community update sheet which narrowed the list of alternatives down to one route based on community feedback. Significant changes to the preferred alternative included a re-routing from Olive Avenue in Burbank onto Alameda Avenue and Buena Vista Street, while consolidating the two nearby proposed stations into one on Alameda and Naomi Street, as well as the elimination of the station connection to the Downtown Burbank Metrolink station due to safety concerns regarding the existing Olive Avenue bridge. In its place, a station was added nearby to Lake Street.

History

In 2016, Los Angeles County voters passed referendum Measure M, which included dedicated funding for a North Hollywood–Pasadena bus rapid transit project.

Studies and planning

In November 2020, Metro launched the details of the route, its stops, where the lanes reside, and whether or not they are exclusive or in mixed traffic. In April 2022, Metro approved the Environmental Impact Report for the line, but was later sued in July 2022 as the meeting where the EIR was approved allegedly violated California's Brown Act. The lawsuit failed in December 2023.

Construction

At a May 2025 presentation to the Glendale City Council, Metro stated that construction on the line will begin as soon as June 2025. In September 2025, Metro began locating and identifying underground utilities along the route.

Proposed developments

Conversion to rail

In May of 2024, Metro released a report on possible light rail or heavy rail conversion of the line. A feasibility study has been requested to study the following routes:
  1. New Rail Alternative: The route would travel east from North Hollywood station at-grade along Chandler Boulevard — with an optional Hollywood Burbank Airport connection — then possibly interlining with Metrolink and travelling along the Verdugo Wash, before being routed along the median of State Route 134 to Pasadena, where it would end in an underground connection with the Metro A Line.
  2. BRT Conversion Alternative: The route would mostly travel at-grade along the BRT route, likely tunneling below downtown Burbank and downtown Glendale.