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A lawsuit was filed Wednesday against the City of Los Angeles over a shortage of updated bike lanes along the county’s busiest bus routes.
The lawsuit, filed by Joseph Linton, editor of Streetsblog LA in LA County Superior Court, appears to be the first lawsuit over a measure approved by voters last year. Among the requirements were new bike lanes on Vermont Avenue, amid ongoing and planned improvements.
Linton alleges that in the summer of 2024, the city would refund parts of Vermont Avenue without installing “secured bicycle lanes and pedestrian enhancements,” and that it would move forward with plans for the Vermont Transit Corridor without including a new bee crane.
The action granted residents the right to sue for alleged violations.
“We hope that this lawsuit will bring cities to the negotiation table, saving lives, promoting public health, promoting climate-enhancing emissions, and improving street improvements that improve the quality of life for pedestrians, bus riders and bikes on Vermont Avenue,” Linton said in a statement on the Street Blog.
The lawsuit does not seek monetary payments other than recovering legal costs.
The Metro project will add dedicated bus lanes and 26 stations to 13 locations along the 12.4-mile stretch on Vermont Avenue between 120th Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. According to the metro, the route has 38,000 buses on board every day, particularly disadvantaged communities that rely heavily on public transport.
The project is included in the Measure M spending plan, which allocated $425 million for construction.
The plan was at the heart of discussion for several months. Supporters of Safe Streets argue that it ignores voter duties while transport and city officials say the measure applies only to city-led projects. Metro claimed that the addition of bike lanes would increase the cost and timeline of the project. I’ve been studying this for nearly 10 years.
“The measurement of HLA does not apply when non-urban entities (public or private) carry out their projects on the streets of the city,” LA City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto wrote a letter to the street for everyone in November for everyone, the advocacy group behind the voting measures.
The City Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the case.
However, citing the city-Metro partnership agreement, Linton argues that the city cannot separate itself from Metro’s plans as the city funds parts of the project, reviews the project, and engages in the permitting process.
“In the end, the city is the guarantor of the HLA,” said Linton’s attorney Mike Gutt. “The city also has a relationship with Metro, a contractual relationship under certain provisions approved by both the Los Angeles City Council and the Metro Commission.”
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