S2 Ep 4: Jessica Meaney & Scott Frazier - Restoring Bus Service in Los Angeles

At the onset of the pandemic, LA Metro made deep cuts to its bus service despite retaining the highest proportion of bus riders among large transit agencies in 2020. Over the past year, a coalition of transit advocates put pressure on LA Metro to reverse the cuts. The advocacy culminated in a commitment from the agency in January 2021 to restore service to pre-pandemic levels later this year. 

The win follows years of advocacy to make bus service a higher priority at LA Metro. Investing in Place is a Los Angeles advocacy organization that has been changing the conversation on bus investments. In this episode, Jessica Meaney and Scott Frazier of Investing in Place discuss the campaign that led to the January 2021 commitment. Jessica and Scott also reflect on the political nature of transit advocacy, and share their thoughts on what an equitable transit system looks like.

"I'm focused on taking all these wonderful ideas from the Better Bus Initiative, and putting them into a budget with real resources directed at our equity focused communities. We've had such a tremendous focus at the agency over the past several years on building giant projects. We need someone who really cares about the rider experience and the transit system as it exists today."

For more on Investing in Place, click here.

For more on TransitCenter, visit us here.

Disclaimer: Political views raised by guests on the podcast do not reflect the views of TransitCenter.

Hosted by Kapish Singla

Edited by Ali Lemer and Kapish Singla

Produced by TransitCenter

Music: “Comma” - Blue Dot Sessions