14 DASH Bus Routes Get Real-Time Tracking

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Department of Transportation has added more than a dozen routes to the real-time tracking information of DASH buses throughout Los Angeles.

Riders have been able to get real-time information for downtown DASH buses for the past two years, but information about bus routes to Hollywood, the Wilshire Center or the Fairfax area have been absent from the system.

Now, the real-time monitoring system will allow riders to get the expected arrival times of buses on the following routes:

-- Beachwood Canyon;
-- Crenshaw;
-- Fairfax;
-- Highland Park/Eagle Rock;
-- Hollywood;
-- Hollywood/Wilshire;
-- King-East;
-- Leimert/Slauson;
-- Lincoln Heights/Chinatown;
-- Los Feliz;
-- Midtown;
-- Observatory Shuttle;
-- Southeast; and
-- Wilshire Center/Koreatown.

The addition of the new routes to the system cost the city about $600,000. Thirteen Community DASH routes remain without real-time tracking.

The DASH bus lines take about 22 million riders across downtown and 27 other neighborhoods each year.

Riders can check the status of DASH buses in three ways: online at www.ladotbus.com, by texting "ladot" and the bus stop number located on the sign to 41411 or by dialing (213) 785-3858.

he department last year completed a two-year fare increase for DASH buses. Fares rose to $0.50 for most riders, up from $0.25 in 2010.

The system is funded primarily by a 1980 half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters to fund public transit. Those funds have been down significantly during the Great Recession.

LADOT had never raised DASH fares prior to 2010 and has no plans to further raise fares, department spokesman Jonathan Hui said.

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