Major Changes For Metro Orange Line

LOS ANGELES -- One of the buses on the new Metro Orange Line will operate today with flashing white strobe lights as part of a plan to increase the vehicles' visibility and reduce collisions.

New signs and traffic light adjustments are among the other changes made following a series of collisions along the 14-mile busway from Woodland Hills to North Hollywood, transportation officials told the City Council during a meeting last night at Van Nuys City Hall.

Crews have posted new 36-inch-by-36-inch diamond-shaped bus crossing signs at 16 intersections along the route, according to James Okazaki, assistant general manager of the city's Transportation Department.

"We're continuing to look at each intersection and dissecting the problems we find by working with the police department, the sheriff's department and the MTA drivers who work this route to identify any problems," Okazaki told council members.

Capt. Ron Marbrey, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division, said officers are working with Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in writing citations to motorists running red lights along the route.

The officers ask drivers why they are ignoring the lights and share the information with MTA and the city's Traffic Department for further study, Marbrey said.

Fifteen people were injured in a collision between one of the specially designed buses and a car in the 6000 block of Woodman Avenue, near Oxnard Street, at 2:05 p.m. on Nov. 2, according to Los Angeles police and fire officials.

A 78-year-old woman from Woodland Hills was injured when her car struck the side of the 60-foot bus, spun around and struck the bus a second time, police said. Fourteen people aboard the Orange Line bus were hospitalized with minor injuries.

Earlier that day, an elderly woman allegedly ran a red light and hit an Orange Line bus near Topham Street and Corbin Avenue. No serious injuries were reported.

A minor accident also occurred Oct. 28 during a test run, just one day before the Orange Line opened to the public.

Following the collisions, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel held a closed-door meeting Nov. 3 with officials from the MTA, law enforcement personnel, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's office and Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's office to discuss safety measures along the route.

"I am so pleased that several things occurred, but within 72 hours we were able to make some changes," Greuel told her council colleagues last night.

Among the changes implemented since the meeting: