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# Less cars, more bus use
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/less-cars-more-bus-use-editor/
- Published: 2007-08-03T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:29:35.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Ocean Park, #archive-import

*By Darrell Clarke Santa Monica*

Kudos to Bill Bauer for seeking to keep California’s transportation funding intact (“City politicians stall traffic improvements,” July 30), but I’d question adding traffic lanes to Lincoln Boulevard.

Isn’t a simpler solution to Santa Monica’s traffic and parking congestion to have more people come into the city without bringing their cars with them? Bus-only lanes can provide a speed incentive to ride instead of drive, plus greater people-carrying capacity.

That was the recommendation of the 2002-03 Lincoln Corridor Task Force. Its near-term recommendations were to use the opportunity of existing parking lanes in Venice and Ocean Park for peak-period bus-and bike-only lanes, plus to underground the power lines and add landscaped medians.

Santa Monica Big Blue Bus already operates four #3 buses and another four Rapid 3 buses per direction on Lincoln during peak periods. The ones I’ve seen are crowded beyond their 40 seats, carrying around 400 people per hour, despite being stuck in slow traffic.

A boulevard lane maxes out at around 750 vehicles per hour, but a new mixed-flow curb lane would carry fewer, with cars stuck behind frequently stopping buses, whereas a dedicated bus lane can easily expand capacity with more buses and/or longer ones.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 3, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080307.pdf?ref=smdp.com)