Confusing end to Burbank BRT meeting
tl;dr: Metro is suing Burbank, and Burbank isn’t sure if rush hour only bus lanes will prevent SB79 from activating.
I was tuning in and out so I only caught half of those 6hrs but like…
- Meeting started with a banger: Metro is suing Burbank, for… not giving them BRT construction permits yet?
- Burbank says Metro literally won’t acknowledge any of Burbank’s requests over a period of 6 years on the dedicated lanes concern (I wonder if this is related to under staffing that Nithya complains about that led to the 2yr Griffith Park bike lane delay) but also might meet with Burbanks contact David Krisky every week or two
- SB79 triggers were the primary concern though 2.5hrs of public comments meant many concerns were expressed on both sides
- SB79 might not get activated for most Burbank stations if the dedicated bus lanes are only during rush hour like Wilshire (this is their best path forwards for that)… but there’s a whole CA dept (SGAC) who decides whenever they want to gather whatever evidence they want (or may have already decided) whether any given BRT is SB79 activating or not. This sounds extremely obtuse and is the thing Burbank doesn’t want to happen, and Burbank literally can’t tell if they have any control over it or not. (trying to figure this out is where all of the final 30min went)
- Meeting kind of ended with everyone feeling powerless while their lawyer said they couldn’t talk to anyone about anything, but also I think there was some serious miscommunication by him here.
And after 6hrs of meeting I can’t blame them. Very glad to have not stayed in person.
So what’s the result?
Burbank is seriously weighing pitching to LA Metro the idea of rush hour only dedicated BRT lanes as to not activate SB79 by SGAC for most of their stations, if they are lucky. They would love to gather community feedback on this new idea but also their lawyer says they can’t do that (???), but also you’re still allowed to contact them because they’re public officials (?????) and 6hrs in I don’t think anyone had the brain power to dissect why the lawyer was confused or making things worse. I’m pretty sure he was conflating the lawsuit with their dayjob but IANAL.
Biggest plot twist: On average the council seems to really want BRT, if I saw that right? At least two of them really went to bat for it. A third lady wanted to fight Metro tooth and nail. A final guy wanted public feedback before the lawyer stepped in, I’m not sure what the guy on the right side wanted.
Next meeting June 2nd. Burbank Mayor encouraged folks to blow up her phone with feedback so go for it I guess lol.
Parting note: these people really put their hearts into it. They are people and people are flawed, esp 6hrs in, but I really admire that all of them were trying to fight for as much good as they could see from their unique perspectives. And shoutout to the Mayor’s moderation skills. I think her profession is therapy and it shows.
EDIT: oh also David Kristy’s presentation at the beginning was really good, if you have 24min to see the Burbank perspective on all this: https://www.youtube.com/live/KYA7QzUq-zI?t=500