Metro Board Approves Name Change for the San Fernando Valley Metro Rapidway Project to the Metro Orange Line
The MTA Board of Directors today approved the designation of the San Fernando Valley Metro Rapidway as the Metro Orange Line. The 14-mile dedicated busway, which will connect the North Hollywood Metro Red Line station and Warner Center in Woodland Hills, is currently under construction.
" Today's Board action designating the "Orange Line" busway officially plugs the San Fernando Valley into our regional rail transit network and pays tribute to the Valley's rich history when it was once among our nation's leading orange and citrus-growing regions," said MTA Board Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky.
MTA has identified all of its Metro Rail lines by assigning each line a different color. This has made it easier for transit riders to identify geographical areas served by these lines, making the Metro system more user friendly.
In making the motion before the MTA Board of Directors today, Yaroslavsky noted that the San Fernando Valley used to be home to many orange groves and, to this day, most of San Fernando Valley neighborhoods still have them and other citrus trees.
Yaroslavsky also noted that naming the transit line by color will help communities and neighborhoods identify with the line and will foster the linkage between the line and the rest of the transit network.
The Orange Line, scheduled to be completed in 2005, is a first-of-its-kind exclusive bus guideway project in Los Angeles County. Construction of the project began last year. Total cost of the Metro Orange Line is $329.5 million, with an additional $8.1 million for a bikeway and pedestrian path being built parallel to the project.
