Los Angeles broke ground Wednesday, Oct. 21, on a nearly $414 million bus rapid transit line stretching 12.4 miles along Vermont Avenue, one of the county's busiest bus corridors.
The Vermont Transit Corridor project will add dedicated bus lanes, 26 upgraded stations and safer pedestrian crossings between Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and 120th Street in the Athens area of unincorporated Los Angeles County, according to the mayor's office. Metro aims to open the line before the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
More than 38,000 riders board buses on Vermont every weekday. The new dedicated lanes are projected to save riders 17 minutes of travel time between Sunset and the 105 Freeway, a 24 percent reduction, according to Metro. Ridership is projected to grow to more than 66,200 daily boardings by 2045.
Mayor Karen Bass, who chairs the Metro Board of Directors, joined South LA leaders at the groundbreaking. "A ZIP Code shouldn't shut someone out of opportunities," Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said in a statement released by the mayor's office. "South LA residents often spend hours traveling to work, school, or the doctor."
The project is expected to create 4,800 union construction jobs and about 260 permanent operations and maintenance positions, according to the mayor's office.
What riders will see
Buses will run in dedicated lanes all day. Stations will include shade shelters, real-time arrival displays, improved lighting, emergency call buttons and accessible curb ramps, Metro said. All-door boarding will speed up stops.
Enhanced crosswalks and sidewalk extensions called bus bulb-outs will shorten pedestrian crossing distances. Emergency vehicles and bicycles will also be allowed to use the bus lanes where dedicated bike lanes do not exist, The Eastsider reported in August.
The corridor connects to Metro's B, C, D and E rail lines and more than 13 east-west bus routes. It passes Los Angeles City College, USC, Exposition Park, Kaiser Permanente Sunset and 88 schools along the way.
How it got here
Voters approved Measure M in 2016, which included funding for Vermont corridor improvements. Metro's Board of Directors selected the 12.4-mile route in March 2025 and approved a state environmental exemption under SB 922 the same month, according to Metro's project page.
The project received a $149.9 million Federal Transit Administration Small Starts grant in September, the maximum available through the program, Urbanize LA reported. U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff supported the funding request.
After public input, Metro decided to keep street parking along the corridor, Metro spokesperson Tito Corona said at an Aug. 11 community meeting, according to The Eastsider. That decision will reduce some stretches of Vermont to one traffic lane in each direction, Metro planner Cory Zelmer said at the same meeting.
Construction work will be done mostly at night, Victor Valenzuela, a construction manager with contractor Griffith Company, said at the Aug. 11 meeting. Metro is targeting completion before the 2028 Summer Olympics, when Vermont Avenue will serve as the western border of Exposition Park, home to the LA Memorial Coliseum and BMO Stadium.
