The Los AngelesDepartment of Transportation, commonly referred to as LADOT, is a municipal agency that oversees transportation planning, design, construction, maintenance and operations within the city of Los Angeles. LADOT was created by city ordinance, and is run by a general manager appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles, under the oversight of a citizens' commission also appointed by the mayor. LADOT is best known for providing public transportation to the City of Los Angeles. It currently operates the second-largest fleet in Los Angeles County next to Metro. It consist of over 300 vehicles, serving nearly 30 million passengers a year and operating over 800,000 hours. LADOT also develops the traffic signal timing and transportation planning for the city. Actual road maintenance and construction is provided by the Los Angeles City Department of Public Works. LADOT performs many transportation related duties, with six main operating groups: Parking Enforcement & Traffic Control, Operations, Project Delivery, Parking Management & Regulations, Transit Services, and Administration.
Current LADOT transit services
DASH
The DASH is a transit bus that currently operates 30 routes covering Downtown Los Angeles and many outlying communities within the city. Its primary function is to provide localized service, and is a feeder into the countywide MTA Metro service. DASH Community Routes include:
Most DASH buses are El Dorado EZ-Rider vehicles powered by propane, although CNG Gillig BRTs have since been introduced. The first two digits of DASH bus numbers denote which year the bus came into service. For instance, 98001 denotes 1998 and 06301 denotes 2006. All DASH buses are long, making it easier to navigate in dense neighborhoods where there are narrower streets and tighter turns.
Commuter Express is an express bus service, consisting of 15 routes, all but one running during rush hours only. Service started in 1985. Routes 419, 423, 431, 437, 438, and 448 are former Metro lines that were cancelled; Route 142 was previously operated byLong Beach Transit. Fares are based on a flat rate for travel on streets plus an extra charge based on the distance traveled on freeways. Unless otherwise noted, all services operates towards Downtown LA during the morning rush and from Downtown LA during the afternoon rush. For the purposes of this chart, closed-door means that customers are not allowed to use buses for local trips and open-door means that customers are allowed to use buses for local trips. Commuter Express services are provided by a variety of suburban vehicles, including Gillig Phantoms, Neoplan Metroliners, and Stewart & Stevenson Apollo T-40s. Also part of the fleet are a small number of CNG powered Orion V coaches.
CityRide
CityRide is a program for individuals in the city of Los Angeles, aged 65 or older and for qualified disabled persons.
The transit agency makes a cameo appearance in the Animaniacs episode "Hooray for North Hollywood Part 2", where Dot Warner spots an LADOT bus, thinking it was named in her honor. She then sings gleefully about it, but Yakko corrects his sister, telling her what LADOT actually means. Realizing her mistake, Dot nevertheless finishes her song on a positive note.
