Glendale Beeline

(The maps on this page come from timetables for the dates indicated, except as indicated.)

EARLY GLENDALE TRANSIT SERVICE (1904-1984)

The earliest transit service in Glendale was the Pacific Electric Glendale-Burbank Red Car line.

Originally, the Glendale-Burbank line operated on Brand Blvd. and then across Broadway to Glendale Ave. When the line was extended on Brand Blvd. in 1904, the Broadway segment became a separate line, which was discontinued in 1907 due to Glendale residents boycotting the separated shuttle line. Subsequently, the Glendale & Eagle Rock Railway (later known as the Glendale & Montrose) ran service on Broadway to Eagle Rock where the Los Angeles Railway operated service to downtown.

In 1914 PE and G & M entered into an agreement for joint operation on Broadway, which continued until December 31, 1930 when G & M ceased operation and PE once again assumed full responsibility for service on that route. Beginning in late 1921, PE began feeder bus service in Glendale.

The maps in this section were created by Eli Bail to accompany his 1978 articles in Motor Coach Age on Pacific Electric feeder buses; we have used his "line numbers" to cross-reference the official Pacific Electric route descriptions (there were no line numbers indicated on public timetables and service was throughlined in different combinations over the years).

	#1: Service was established December 7, 1921 via Pacific Ave. - San Fernando Rd. - Cypress Ave. - Glendale Ave. - Palmer Ave. - Adams St., then rerouted via San Fernando Rd. on November 6, 1923. #2: Service on Pacific Ave. - Kenneth Rd. was established in 1922, then extended via Broadway November 6, 1923. #3: Service on Wilson Ave. - Salem St. - Chester St. - Doran St. was established November 6, 1923. Map shows service as of November 6, 1923.
	#1: Service was extended to Rossmoyne via Broadway - Jackson St. - Glenoaks Blvd. on September 9, 1928 #2: Service was rerouted to Colorado Ave. in the summer of 1924 and then extended eastward via Verdugo Rd. - Chevy Chase Dr. and westward via Bel Aire Dr. on November 20, 1924. A western branch to Lake St. was established September 9, 1928. The Wilson Ave. - Salem St. - Chester St. - Doran St. service was discontinued September 9, 1928. Map shows service as of September 9, 1928.
	#1: Extended and rerouted via Chevy Chase Dr. - Brunswick Ave. - Atwater Ave., and Adams Square service connected at opposite end of route via Broadway, on June 1, 1930 . #2: Bel Aire service rerouted to Kenneth Rd. on September 18, 1929. #3: Lake branch replaced by establishment of new service via Wilson Ave. - Concord St. - Glenwood Rd. - Grandview Ave. - Sonora Ave., Chevy Chase Dr. service extended (it had been previously extended for a brief period from October, 1926 to October, 1928) and branch established via Glenoaks Blvd. on June 1, 1930. Map shows service as of June 1, 1930.
	#1: Brunswick-Atwater service rerouted via Los Feliz Dr. and Adams Square service rerouted via Colorado St. on March 1, 1934. #2: Rossmoyne service extended via Canada Blvd. on March 1, 1934. #3: Glenoaks branch cutback and Chevy Chase rerouted via Lexington Dr. on March 1, 1934. #4: Replacement service on Broadway - Verdugo Rd. established March 1, 1934. Map shows service as of March 1, 1934.
	#1: Broadway-Verdugo service was discontinued and the Adams Square service was extended to Verdugo Rd. July 23, 1934; the Adams Square service was combined with the Lake service January 15, 1940 via Colorado St. #2: Rossmoyne service cutback July 23, 1934; Bel Aire Dr. service reestablished January 15, 1940. #3: Chevy Chase branch discontinued and Glenoaks service combined with the Brunswick-Atwater service January 15, 1940. #4: Kenneth Rd. service extended through Burbank Highlands to downtown Burbank May 25, 1936; extended on Broadway July 12, 1936 to replace cancelled rail service. Map shows service as of January 15, 1940.

Service remained unchanged, except for relatively minor route changes (primarily in the Burbank Highlands and near Kenneth Rd.) over the next two years. All of the feeder bus lines were sold to Glendale City Lines December 12, 1941 and the remaining rail service on the Broadway branch ceased operation permanently in 1946.

The Glendale-Burbank rail line, along with the rest of PE's passenger operations, was sold to Metropolitan Coach Lines in October, 1953 and rail service was replaced by bus service in June, 1955 (today's Metro Line 92 continues to operate on essentially the same route between Downtown L.A. and Burbank). MCL was acquired by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority in March, 1958. Glendale City Lines' bus service continued until 1962, when a strike halted service. In December of that year service on the streets those lines had served was begun by LAMTA.

In November, 1964, LAMTA was replaced by the Southern California Rapid Transit District. The major portions of the previous Glendale City Lines routes, over time, became RTD Lines 183 and 201.

In 1984, the city of Glendale began operating its own service.


BEELINE ESTABLISHMENT & EARLY YEARS (1984-1990)

No map available	Glendale Beeline began service December 3, 1984. Service operated from the Galleria north to the 134 freeway and east to Glendale City Hall on two routes; clockwise (north on Central Ave. and south on Brand Blvd.) and counter-clockwise (north on Brand Blvd. and south on Central Ave.). Fares were set at 25 cents, although that fare was suspended from November 1, 1988 until August 16, 1993.
	On February 2, 1987, service was extended north of the freeway, with the clockwise route ("Diamond") operating via Arden Ave. - Glenoaks Blvd. - Dryden St. and the counter-clockwise route ("Dash") operating via Stocker St.
	A new one-way loop ("Dot") connecting the Glendale Galleria to the Amtrak Station (later also used by Metrolink and now called Glendale Transportation Center) began operation October 1, 1990.

METROLINK SHUTTLES (1992)

Effective October 28, 1992 (two days after Metrolink service began) two peak-hour "express" shuttles began operation. Route 11 (left) operates northbound into downtown Glendale in the morning, with a slightly modified southbound route to the Glendale Transportation Center (Metrolink Station) in the afternoons. Route 12 (right) operates bi-directional between the Glendale and Burbank Metrolink Stations. Neither route has been modified in any way since beginning operation.

NORTHERN & EASTERN EXPANSION (1993)

In October, 1993, expansion of the Beeline system was made north to La Crescenta and east to the edge of Glenoaks Canyon.

	All three routes on Brand Blvd. and Central Ave. (the Dash and Diamond Routes north of the Galleria and all of the Dot Route) were combined into Routes 1 & 2 and service was extended farther north to Mountain St.
	Route 4 began operating between the Galleria, Glendale College, and Palmer Park, incorporating the eastern portions of the Dash and Diamond Routes.
No map available	Route 3 began operation along Chevy Chase Ave. to/from Adventist Medical Center and Route 5 began operation between Verdugo Hills Hospital and the La Crescenta area. These two lines were canceled the following June.

WESTERN EXPANSION & RESTRUCTURING (1999-2002)

In 1999, a major expansion, including four new lines and restructuring of two lines, was begun. (The maps in this section were produced for the public hearings.) The changes were not introduced in numerical order, as seen below:

Route 5 on Pacific Ave. began operation November 15, 1999. Routes 1 & 2 were modified at the same time to operate direct via Central Ave.




Route 3 was based on a proposal in the 1994 San Fernando Valley Transit Restructuring Study combining previous Route 5 with the northernmost portion of existing Route 4, the westernmost portion of MTA Line 177, and the La Cañada-Flintridge Shuttle. The reconfigured route began service April 10, 2000.



Route 4 was modified April 10, 2000 to operate only between the Galleria and Palmer Park, as the previous Glendale Ave. segment to Glendale College became part of new Route 3.



Route 7 on Glenwood Rd. - Stocker St. - Glendale Av. began operation April 10, 2000 and replaced MTA Line 183 on Kenneth Rd.



Route 6 on Colorado St. began operation September 3, 2002 (its original target date was July, 2000).




CHANGES 2002-2006

	The Route 1 & 2 extension to Mountain St., which had existed for nearly ten years, was eliminated as service was modified to operate via Stocker St. September 3, 2002. (Map shows Route 2 only; both routes used identical routing in opposite directions.)
	Route 7 was realigned via Allen Ave. between Kenneth Rd. and San Fernando Rd. (dashed lines on map) September 3, 2002 and realigned to Glenoaks Blvd. (in response to Allen Ave. residents) November 15, 2004.
	The Route 3 deviation to/from Verdugo Hills Hospital was eliminated April 16, 2005.
	Route 7 was realigned from Allen Ave. to Alameda Ave. February 13, 2006.

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On December 18, 2006, Glenoaks Canyon "special service", replacing a cancelled segment of Metro Line 201, began operation. The line was designated Route 13 effective August 20, 2007 and was extended to downtown Glendale via Chevy Chase Dr. - California Ave. - Glendale Ave. - Broadway on the same date. Service was reduced and now operates weekdays only, with two round trips each in morning and afternoon peak hours and one round trip at the noon hour.


(Thanks to Jano Baghdanian at the City of Glendale, Lionel Jones, and former Glendale transportation planner Mark Maloney for their assistance in confirming dates. Much of the early information comes from the Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California website.)

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