Glendale Beeline 2009 Restructuring Study

After Glendale's short term transit plan was proposed in 2007 but never implemented, the city commissioned a full study by an outside consultant of the Beeline system. The study contradicted virtually all of the 2007 proposals, calling instead for maintaining the existing route structure with changes in service levels and a few minor route modifications.

(We apologize for the poor quality of the graphics; out of necessity, they were copied from a PDF version of the consultant's report.)

	Routes 1 and 2 were proposed to be unlinked, with service on Brand Blvd. operated as Route 1.
	Route 2 would have operated the Central Ave. side of the existing Route 1/2 linked service, but with service levels half that of Route 1 on Brand.
	Route 3 would have operated on a modified schedule so that only every other trip would operate the full alignment, with remaining service operating only between downtown and Glendale Community College and a separated La Cañada-Flintridge Shuttle also operating between full line trips.

	Route 4 would have been extended on its western end to San Fernando Rd. and service levels would be increased.
	Route 7 would have had the eastern portion of its route -- and the loop serving two schools along the route -- made weekday-only and the shortened route would have operated less frequently (hourly) on Saturdays.

Route 13, which was extended to downtown Glendale as a replacement for Metro Line 201 on August 20, 2007, was proposed for cancellation, as it -- like the Metro service it replaced -- had ridership figures too low to justify subsidizing the service.

One interesting concept hidden in one paragraph of the study was the possibility of Glendale Beeline replacing Metro Line 183 at some point in the future, since much of its route duplicates existing Route 4 on Chevy Chase Dr., Route 5 on Pacific Ave., and Route 6 on Colorado Ave. In addition, the study pointed out that Line 183 operates only on weekdays, at low service levels and that most ridership on Line 183 in Glendale appeared to be passengers traveling between that city and Burbank, using a route duplicating Metro Line 94 on San Fernando Rd.

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Most of the second study was also shelved; with the recession bringing lower retail sales and declining sales tax revenues, Glendale ultimately decided to propose only relatively minor changes to its system, rather than a complete restructuring. In mid-2010, the proposed list of changes became:

• Continue to operate Routes 1 and 2 as a single service, but renumber so Route 1 is the designation for Brand Blvd. service in both directions and Route 2 is the designation for Central Ave. service in both directions. Reduce service frequency to 30 minutes (from 20) and cancel the first and last trips of the day.
• Operate 50% of Route 3 service only as far north as Glendale College. Add shortline trips during weekday peak hours, but cancel the first and last trips of the day.
• Cancel the first and last trips of the day on Route 6, the last trip of the day on Route 7, and first trip of the day on Route 11.
• Cancel Routes 12 and 13. These are the two lowest-ranked routes, based on boardings per revenue service hour, and carry the highest cost per passenger as a result, at $4.81 and $5.68 respectively; by comparison, the cost per passenger on the rest of Beeline service ranges from $1.13 on Route 4 (the highest ridership line) to $1.83 on Route 7 (the fifth highest), $2.12 to $2.50 on Routes 1/2 (ranked #6 and #8, depending on direction of travel), and $2.28 on Route 11 (ranked #7 of 10 lines). The weekday system average is $1.87 per passenger.

The proposals were taken to the Glendale City Council on September 21 and a "study session" was scheduled for November 2. Thus far, the only change that has taken place was the attempted cancellation of Line 13 on December 9, 2011 (based upon Metro resuming operation of Line 201 through Glenoaks Canyon), but due to Metro suspending its December 2011 service change program, Line 13 continues to operate.

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