Culver City Council Discusses Changes to Bus Schedules, Considers City Signage

With the Expo Line expected to open soon, the Culver City Council considered expanding the schedules for the Culver City Bus Lines to accommodate the trains in a special meeting on Monday night, Nov. 7.

The council also discussed a city project to install dynamic traffic signs, including special signs indicating the number of parking spaces available on the sides of the city parking garages.

The plan to expand service on Lines 2 and 4 of the Culver City Bus system was intended as a response to increased demand expected by the coming . City Transportation Director Art Ida said that at two meetings on the issue, comments from the public were in favor of expanding the service.

But, he noted, that since there is no firm date for when the Expo Line will begin running, it seemed to make more sense to wait until that date and then determine what the actual increase in demand would be. The light rail line from downtown is supposed to begin service to La Cienega Boulevard sometime this winter, with the Culver City station expected to open in April. No firm date for either opening has been set by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).

The council agreed and voted to leave service as is.

In other council news, considerable discussion was inspired by a city project to install dynamic signs around the city informing motorists of parking availability downtown, including signs on the parking garages in that area that would indicate the number of spaces available.

According to the plan, non-garage signs would be set on poles on various city medians and could also be used to warn motorists of hazards and street closures in the downtown area, as well as the availability of parking spaces in the various public garages.

Councilman Jeffrey Cooper was concerned that the signs would be unattractive: "I just don't think that these contribute to the beauty of our city," he said.

Vice Mayor Scott Malsin was more concerned about the location of the signs.

"These seem kind of far out of town," Malsin said, pointing out that people coming into downtown from closer points than the proposed locations would miss the information.

The council ultimately asked city staff members to return with more specific information on the location of the signs and what exactly their purpose would be.

Be sure to like Culver City Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.