Burbank council reviews transit study, favors near‑term orange‑route test while pursuing funding for fuller network

Karen Pan, transportation services manager for Burbank Bus, told the Burbank City Council on March 24 that staff’s Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA) recommends four route changes and a near‑term modification to the orange route while the city seeks funding to implement a full, three‑route network.

The COA, begun in January 2025 and presented as the result of two community engagement phases and data analysis, found three primary trip markets within the city—downtown Burbank, the Empire Corridor and the media district—and recommends: improving the orange route to strengthen airport and downtown connections; adding a north–south Buena Vista route to fill a service gap; retaining the pink route as a local circulator; and monitoring integration with Metro’s planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

Pan said staff used travel‑pattern datasets (Replica), on‑board observations, interviews with neighboring agencies and a 2½‑month public survey to shape recommendations. She told the council that Burbank Bus provided close to 190,000 rides last fiscal year, that the pink route has the highest ridership, and that the city currently spends about $2.8 million annually on the system. Pan presented three budget benchmarks: the existing service (~$2.8M), the COA’s full ‘dream’ network (~$5.2M), and an estimate near $7.25M if weekend service were added. A short‑term orange‑route modification would be either no additional cost or roughly $150,000/year depending on stops and frequency, she said.

The presentation emphasized target neighborhoods with higher transit need north of the I‑5 and in the southern media district, and noted demographic differences among the three trip markets (for example, downtown trips show a slightly larger share of riders aged 65 and older). Pan described Replica as a primary big‑data source and said staff combined that analysis with stakeholder input and operator observations to identify where service changes could serve more riders.

Council members asked technical and operational questions. Council member Press asked whether Uber/Lyft or Metro Micro trip records had been used; staff responded that Replica captures a broad sample of trips and that Metro Micro ridership in Burbank has been in the 3,000–5,000 rides-per-month range (a figure staff said is roughly comparable to the orange route’s ridership), but that private ride‑hail companies generally do not make detailed trip datasets available to planners. The council discussed whether the near‑term orange pilot could overlap with Metro routes (staff identified Metro routes 165 and 294 as existing nearby services) and emphasized the need to coordinate schedules to minimize transfer waits.

Several council members expressed support for the near‑term orange‑route test to provide better access to the Empire Center and downtown while staff pursues funding for the larger network. Pan said the city would test the pilot for several months to assess safety, reliability and demand, coordinate stop locations and schedules with LA Metro and other operators, and return to council if changes or a discontinuation were needed.

The Transportation Commission reviewed the COA in three meetings and, according to staff, voted in favor of the recommendations. Jeremiah Rose, a consultant who worked on the COA, accompanied staff to the presentation.

The study session closed with the council pausing for a 20‑minute break before the regular agenda. No formal council action was taken during the study session; staff’s request is to reaffirm policy, approve the COA recommendations, implement the near‑term orange modification (conditional on final testing and coordination) and continue seeking funding to implement the full network.