The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) sought to make improvements along the Vermont Corridor, a 12.4-mile-long corridor that traversed six Los Angeles City Council Districts, two Supervisorial Districts, 14 neighborhood councils, and many key educational, cultural, medical, social, and faith-based centers. As part of this effort, Metro wanted to gather and consider public input.

Community Engagement

Prior to the Vermont Transit Corridor project moving into the pre-environmental review process phase, Metro conducted engagement activities as part of a community-based planning effort aligned with the agency’s Equity Platform Framework to elevate the voices of stakeholders who live, work, play, study, and/or worship along Vermont Avenue.

Kleinfelder Construction Services (KCS) supported the prime outreach consultant to increase project awareness of the Vermont Transit Corridor project and help ensure that community stakeholders had an opportunity to understand the transit options being considered. KCS partnered with community-based organizations to provide meaningful engagement with stakeholders and identify near-, mid-, and long-term transit improvements for the corridor. KCS developed graphic design concepts and collateral, based on Metro’s branding, to support the agency’s community events and activities. The team also developed the project’s story map, which integrated maps, project information, and videos with more interactive functionality than a typical website.

Listening Sessions

The KCS team assisted with listening sessions located along the corridor including at the Irmas Youth Center, Los Angeles City College, and the Ward African Methodist Episcopal Church. These sessions allowed the team to collect feedback from the community to determine preferred transit options and identify important landmarks and potential stations that would be most beneficial to those using public transportation in the area. Additionally, KCS curated special virtual reality simulations for the listening sessions that showed a virtual flyover of the Vermont Transit Corridor. Attendees were able to view various landmarks throughout the corridor through virtual reality goggles. From there, they were invited to plot the landmarks that meant the most to them on a live interactive map feed.

Project Results

Short-term bus improvements along the Vermont Corridor may be implemented as early as 2025. Rapid bus transit improvements are forecasted to be complete by around 2028. Through active listening and community engagement, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be better able to serve the communities along the Vermont Corridor with its improvement project.

Project Details

Location:
Los Angeles County, CA
Owner:
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority