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Residents urge better Spirit Bus connections and highlight service gaps; city pledges coordination with neighboring transit agencies
Summary
Public commenters and councilmembers raised reliability and transfer-connection concerns about the Spirit Bus and urged better signage and route coordination with Alhambra's ACT service; Public Works said riders may report issues via the app and staff will continue interagency discussions while planning remains unsettled.
Several Monterey Park residents urged the City Council to improve local transit connections and address service reliability at the April 1 meeting.
Micah Shaw told the council that morning backups at Newmark and Garfield create safety risks and asked for improved turn-signal timing or signage; he also urged more visible mental-health resource signage in the community. Bill Lam, a longtime Monterey Park resident, described missing Spirit Bus signage after system changes and urged re‑routing that would reconnect the Spirit Bus with business centers, Cal State LA and a proposed Alhambra ACT stop on Atlantic and Hellman. "It would have been nicer to have a Spirit bus route going through Atlantic and Hellman because going through it could have a better second transfer connection," Lam said.
Public Works Director "Sean Igo" told the council residents may provide feedback through the Spirit Bus app, the transit provider's customer-service line or the city's Public Works office; staff will relay operational concerns to the contracted provider. Igo said the city has been in contact with Alhambra but cannot finalize reroutes until neighboring cities complete their plans. "We've been talking with them and some of these things they were still fine tuning as part of their reorg," Igo said.
Councilmembers encouraged staff to keep coordinating with neighboring cities on transfer points and to promote channels residents can use to report missed or delayed service. Mayor Elizabeth Yang and members noted the challenge of changing routes after each city has already finalized its own modifications, but said a subcommittee or further interagency meetings could help align future changes ahead of large regional events.
The council also discussed a separate informational item to appoint two members to a San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGV COG) subcommittee to review proposed Garvey Avenue changes (including bus-rapid-transit lanes and signal prioritization) ahead of LA28; the council approved nominations unanimously and asked staff to clarify schedules and alternates.
Next steps: staff reiterated that riders should report service problems through existing feedback channels and that the city will pursue coordination with Alhambra and other neighboring jurisdictions before proposing local reroutes or formal changes.
