Metro considers rolling out more buses on busy routes to increase ridership

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is hoping to roll out more buses and on its busiest routes after a steep decline in ridership.

The agency is considering the first major overhaul in its bus network in more than 25 years.

The plan calls for buses to arrive every 10 minutes or less on nearly 30 major routes.

Despite a slight increase last year, Metro's ridership has decreased 17% since 2015.

That's a drop of nearly 60 million bus trips over four years.

"The number one factor we heard from people is they want fast service, they want frequent service and they want that service to be reliable," said Metro official Rick Jager. "If we say it's going to be there at a certain time it needs to be there at a certain time."

Metro is getting ready to hold a series of community meetings in February and March to get the public's input on the new plan.

If it's approved, the first phase could go into effect at the end of this year.

Metro officials are hoping to boost ridership significantly.