Chapter 2: Proposed Bus Modifications - Metro Gold Line Foothill ...

DUARTE STATION
The Duarte Station will be located on the north side of Duarte Road, west of the intersection with Highland Avenue and
near to the City of Hope Medical Campus. There are fi ve existing bus routes that operate in the vicinity of the Duarte
Station, as seen in Figure 2-12.
Metro Route 264
This local bus route carries approximately 750 passengers per weekday between Pasadena and Duarte on an alignment
that includes the Sierra Madre Villa Station as well as the proposed Monrovia and Duarte Stations. Currently it passes the
Duarte Station site on Duarte Road. The route terminates on the south side of Durate Road. Westbound trips return via
a clockwise loop heading west on Business Center Drive, north on Denning Avenue, east on Evergreen Street, and south
on Highland Avenue. An existing eastbound stop is located across Duarte Road from the station site at the City of Hope
exit roadway; however, the nearest westbound stop to the Duarte Station site is located far to the west at the near side of
Buena Vista Avenue.
Metro ridership data (shown earlier in Figures 2-9 and 2-10) indicates signifi cant ridership activity in the vicinity of the
station site generated primarily by the City of Hope Medical Center and nearby businesses along Duarte Road. These
conditions suggest that the Duarte Station location will strengthen an already strong eastern terminus for Route 264.
Consequently, no immediate changes are proposed for this route.
Foothill Transit Route 272
This local route carries approximately 415 passengers per weekday between West Covina and Duarte via Baldwin Park and
Irwindale. Northbound buses approach the proposed Gold Line Duarte Station from the south via Buena Vista Avenue,
turn east Duarte Road and run parallel the corridor past the station site to Highland Avenue. The route continues north
on Highland Avenue and terminates at an on-street bus stop on Huntington Drive at Highland Avenue, approximately
one mile north of the station. Southbound buses depart west on Huntington Drive and turn south on Buena Vista Avenue
for the return trip to West Covina, bypassing Duarte Station.
Detailed ridership data for Route 272 were not available at the time of this analysis, making it more diffi cult to provide
defi nitive recommendations concerning this route. The results of the bus rider survey conducted for this study reported
that 66 percent of existing Route 272 riders are likely to use the Gold Line Extension and that Duarte (29 percent),
Irwindale (27 percent) and Monrovia (24 percent) are most preferred as access points. Structurally, the one-way
loop utilized to turn buses at the northern end of the route weakens the interface with the Gold Line at Duarte and is
particularly inconvenient for passengers transferring from rail to bus and heading south.
Northbound Route 272 service should be truncated at Duarte Station. Southbound buses would use Highland Avenue,
Business Center Drive , Denning Road, and Evergreen Street to loop around and return to Duarte Road westbound, similar
to Metro 264. Alternative local coverage on Highland Avenue could be provided with restructured City of Duarte shuttle
services or by diverting Route 187 to Duarte Station. Possible restructuring coinciding with the planned 2014 opening of
the Phase 2A extension also should be considered once detailed boarding and alighting data are available. The objective
of short-term restructuring would be to equalize bus travel times to and from the Duarte Station.
Foothill Extension Bus Interface Plan
CHAPTER 2 | PROPOSED BUS ROUTE MODIFICATIONS
Duarte City Routes
The City of Duarte operates three local circulator routes utilizing small buses to supplement Metro and Foothill Transit
routes in the city. Shown in Figure 2-12, they are briefl y described as follows:
• Duarte Blue Line operates a clockwise loop direction around the City generally northwest of the station area along
Huntington Drive and Buena Vista Street. Currently the Blue Line does not stop in the immediate vicinity of the Duarte
Station site.
• Duarte Green Line operates a counter-clockwise loop around the City that includes Duarte Road in the eastbound
direction passing the Gold Line station site, and in the westbound direction via Evergreen Street. Eastbound service
stops about 300 feet west of the station.
• Duarte Commuter Line is a morning peak service that transports residents to locations where they can transfer to a
Metro or Foothill Transit bus line. It currently runs on Evergreen Street, north of the station.
The results of the bus rider survey conducted for this study reported that 81 percent of existing Duarte circulator riders
are likely to use the Gold Line Extension, and that 47 percent consider Duarte Station as the preferred point of access,
followed by Monrovia (13 percent), Azusa-Citrus (9 percent), Azusa-Alameda (8 percent) and Irwindale (7 percent).
Detailed ridership data for these routes were not available for this analysis, making defi nitive systemic recommendations
more diffi cult. Generally these routes should be evaluated in context of an integrated transit plan where Metro, Foothill,
and municipal routes provide complementary services that are perceived by customers as a single network.
Station Interface
On-street bus stops suffi cient to accommodate fi ve fi xed-route bus routes and one paratransit or specialized
transportation vehicle should be provided at the Duarte Station. Physical improvements are recommended with a new
westbound stop located on the west curb of Highland Avenue near the east station portal. The eastbound stop will
remain at the existing bus turnout serving the City of Hope Medical Center. A new pedestrian crossing across Duarte
Road near the City of Hope driveway is planned.
Figure 2-13 shows the proposed bus route modifi cations. The objective of these proposed route modifi cations is to
continue to provide convenient bus connections to City of Hope Medical Center and to improve connections from this
facility and the Gold Line Station to the South and West. The proposed loop for Metro Route 264 and Foothill Route 272
on Business Center Drive, Denning Avenue, and Evergreen Street allows both routes to serve Duarte Road, the City of
Hope, and the Gold Line station in both directions.
Proposed modifi cations to local Duarte bus routes will be further coordinated with the city as the Gold Line Extension
Project advances.
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