Transportation Advisory Commission to Weigh Five-Year Transit Blueprint

The Pasadena Transportation Advisory Commission is scheduled to consider whether to recommend that the City Council adopt a five-year blueprint for the city’s public bus and paratransit services when it meets May 28, including a revised Route 10 alignment between Old Pasadena and Sierra Madre Villa Station, the elimination of two lower-ridership routes, and a proposed new Route 710 connecting Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Huntington Hospital.

The draft Short Range Transit Plan, prepared by the Department of Transportation, would provide guidance for five years of programming of transit service development and investments supporting the city’s public transit services. Because the Transportation Advisory Commission is strictly advisory, its vote would constitute a recommendation only; the City Council retains final authority over whether to adopt the plan, which the staff report says is anticipated to be presented to the council for adoption in Summer 2026.

According to the staff report from Joaquin T. Siques, Director of Transportation, staff is recommending that the commission support the draft plan and its recommendations, including a modified Route 10 alignment that was revised after public concern about an earlier proposal to reduce service to 60-minute frequency. The Department of Transportation is required to update the Short Range Transit Plan every five years to continue receiving certain local, state and federal transit funding.

The plan was developed around three overarching goals: reflecting new post-pandemic travel patterns by extending service hours and standardizing Saturday and Sunday service; integrating with Metro NextGen by absorbing former Metro routes and coordinating with the planned North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit project; and enhancing the customer experience through improved frequencies, holiday service and easier-to-read schedules.

Under the route recommendations, Route 10 would be re-routed to connect Old Pasadena and Sierra Madre Villa Station at 40-minute frequency, staying on Colorado Boulevard except between Lake Avenue and Hill Avenue, where it would run on Del Mar Boulevard to continue serving Caltech. The revised alignment would no longer serve Allen A Line Station. Route 20 would see no routing change but would be recommended for an increase in frequency, though that recommendation is currently unfunded. Route 32 would be eliminated due to low ridership, while a coordinated schedule between Routes 31, 32 and 33 already provides 18-minute frequency along Washington Boulevard between Fair Oaks Boulevard and Altadena Drive, implemented in December 2024.

Route 33, which Pasadena Transit assumed from Metro Line 256 in December 2024, would continue at its post-transfer frequency. Route 40 would move part of its alignment to Orange Grove Boulevard between Lake Avenue and Allen Avenue and would see increased weekday frequency, although staff plans additional community outreach before implementation because public comments have been split. Routes 51 and 52 would be consolidated into a single alignment between Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Old Pasadena operating seven days a week at 60-minute frequency, with service to ArtCenter discontinued. Route 53 would continue the operations Pasadena Transit assumed from Metro Line 177 in December 2024. Route 60 would be eliminated, with portions of its alignment absorbed by the new Route 10. A proposed new Route 710 would run from Jet Propulsion Laboratory to Huntington Hospital via Fair Oaks, Lincoln Avenue and Woodbury Road at 60-minute frequency on weekdays and weekends, but the recommendation is unfunded.

For Dial-A-Ride, the plan would pilot same-day service in an expanded service area covering portions of South Pasadena, Arcadia, Sierra Madre and Glendale, using alternative service providers and limited to four trips per month. The regular Dial-A-Ride fare would increase from 75 cents to $1, with a new $2 fare for same-day appointments and expanded service. The Dial-A-Ride changes are also identified as unfunded.

The draft plan also includes a bus stop design framework that would classify stops as Enhanced, Standard or Basic to guide future investments in furniture, passenger information and lighting. The city is currently developing a procurement strategy for a new advertising and bus furniture program and anticipates releasing a request for proposals in the fall. Four additional directives would call for conducting a fare study for Pasadena Transit, continuing efforts to improve transit travel times, and continuing to explore funding and partnership opportunities for both the Mt. Wilson Express and service to the Huntington Library.

The Short Range Transit Plan update process began in June 2023 and included onboard surveys generating more than 1,300 responses from Pasadena Transit riders and 150 from Dial-A-Ride members in fall 2023, followed by two rounds of public meetings in 2024. Initial recommendations were presented to the Transportation Advisory Commission on Dec. 12, 2024, with Transit Subcommittee briefings on Nov. 18, 2024, and March 2, 2026. Additional outreach was paused after the Eaton Fire while the draft was completed, and the draft was finalized in February 2026. Staff also presented the plan to the Accessibility and Disability Commission, the Northwest Commission and the Senior Commission, and received 39 additional public comments through the project website.

If the City Council ultimately approves the recommendations, the Department of Transportation would develop a phased implementation plan to ensure cost-neutral rollout, with each phase including public outreach about service-change timelines. The city would continue pursuing grant opportunities, partnerships and cross-departmental efforts to address the unfunded recommendations.

The Transportation Advisory Commission is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, in the Grand Conference Room # S038 in the City Hall basement, 100 North Garfield Avenue, in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-7311 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.