Cityline, the City of West Hollywood’s free mini-bus service, is offering a new service beginning this month, January 2016. CitylineX is aimed at commuters and will connect the City of West Hollywood and the Hollywood & Highland Metro Red Line Station. The service began its soft launch on Monday, January 4, 2016. There will be several promotional “Pop-Ups” along Santa Monica Boulevard during the week of January 11 to inform community members about the new service. A CitylineX launch celebration offering “tacos and transit” will officially unveil the new service with snacks and refreshments on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 5 p.m. at the West Hollywood Library Auto Court, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. The launch celebration is free and open to the public; members of the media will be given the opportunity to take a ride on the CitylineX mini-bus to Hollywood & Highland and back.

“The City of West Hollywood is always looking for innovative ways to provide transportation alternatives that give people an opportunity to move around without cars,” said City of West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath. “CitylineX will provide a more direct link between West Hollywood and Metro Red Line service at Hollywood & Highland, and this will improve regional connectivity.”

CitylineX will operate during morning and evening commuting hours on weekdays, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from approximately 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., bookending regular Cityline service, which runs within West Hollywood. CitylineX will offer seven trips in the morning and five trips in the evening with mini-bus shuttles providing service at approximately 15- to 20-minute intervals. Eastbound shuttles will depart from the West Hollywood Library, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard and will follow a route along Santa Monica Boulevard to Hollywood & Highland. Westbound shuttles will depart from the west side of Highland Avenue (just south of Hollywood Boulevard, just north of Hawthorn Avenue) and will travel along Santa Monica Boulevard to the West Hollywood Library; the last evening shuttle will depart each weekday at approximately 7 p.m. Both CitylineX and Cityline are free. For more information about CitylineX and Cityline, including links to schedules and maps, please visit www.weho.org/cityline.

There will be several outdoor CitylineX Community Pop-Ups along Santa Monica Boulevard during the week of January 11 aimed at raising awareness and providing information about CitylineX. There will be giveaways, such as CitylineX commuter coffee mugs and umbrellas. Morning Pop-Ups will offer coffee and breakfast burritos, as well. The schedule is as follows:

•  Monday, January 11, 2016, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., adjacent to 24-Hour Fitness, located at 8612 Santa Monica Boulevard — (in case of rain, Pop-Up will move to West Hollywood City Hall);

•  Tuesday, January 12, 2016, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., adjacent to West Hollywood City Hall, located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard — (in case of rain, Pop-Up will move indoors at West Hollywood City Hall);

•  Thursday, January 14, 2016, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., adjacent to Starbucks, located at 8595 Santa Monica Boulevard — (in case of rain, Pop-Up will move to West Hollywood City Hall); and

•  Thursday, January 14, 2016, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., adjacent to Plummer Park Community Center, located at 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard — (in case of rain, Pop-Up will move indoors at the Community Center).

CitylineX service was approved by the West Hollywood City Council as a six-month pilot program through June 2016. City transportation staff members will assess the program and its ridership during the pilot. The scheduling of CitylineX service during peak commute hours provides the City with the opportunity to test the program with existing resources, without interrupting the current Cityline route, which will continue its regular route from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, within the City of West Hollywood.

The CitylineX launch follows several West Hollywood City Council actions in support of expanding regional transit options. The West Hollywood City Council recently approved a plan to conduct outreach and to build regional partnerships in support of a Metro Rail project that would extend the Metro Crenshaw/LAX Line to West Hollywood and connect to the Metro Red Line. The proposed Crenshaw/LAX Northern Extension light-rail transit line would provide critical north-south connections and enhance the existing Metro regional rail network.

To organize local support for the Crenshaw/LAX Northern Extension Project, the West Hollywood City Council, in July 2015, unanimously called for the formation of a local advocacy committee, West Hollywood Advocates for Metro (WHAM), and established a City Council Subcommittee to work directly with staff and Metro to secure the light rail line for the City.

The City of West Hollywood has long supported increasing its transit options. In preparation for a potential 2016 Metro county-wide ballot measure, the City has been coordinating with the County of Los Angeles and Metro to expand a 2010 Metro preliminary study of several alternative extensions of the Crenshaw light-rail line. The “Crenshaw/LAX Northern Extension Feasibility Study” has subsequently been funded by Metro and consultant teams are currently being selected. The Feasibility Study will commence in early 2016.

For more information about CitylineX and Cityline, including links to schedules and maps, please visit www.weho.org/cityline. For additional information, please contact Perri Sloane Goodman, Transportation Program Administrator, at (323) 848-6370 or at pgoodman@weho.org.

For additional information about the City’s efforts to attract a Metro rail transit extension, please contact Joanna Hankamer in the City of West Hollywood’s Community Development Department at (323) 848-6395 or at jhankamer@weho.org.

For people who are deaf or hearing impaired, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.