Big Blue Bus

Supervisor Hahn is calling for Metro requiring all bus riders to wear masks for COVID-19 safety. The best way to accomplish this is not entirely clear; enforcement can be problematic.

Big Blue Bus (BBB) has just begun the gargantuan process of figuring out how to best integrate its system with the Metro Expo Line Phase 2, set to open in early 2016. Three of the seven new stations being built are within the City of Santa Monica, but all are within BBB’s service area. The end of the line will be at Colorado Avenue and 4th Street, just a few blocks from the beach. The line connects to Downtown Los Angeles via Culver City, ending at Metro Center, 7th St. and Figueroa St.

This week the Santa Monica city council authorized the city manager to award contracts for the installation and maintenance for the Big Blue Bus Shelter Redevelopment Program, bringing us close to implementation of a process that has dragged on for far too long. This plan to update and modernize bus stop facilities and extend amenities to more locations goes to discussions at least as far back as 2007. I still recall seeing renderings and promises in the papers many years ago, and before I was much involved in transit advocacy, that just never materialized.

(Note: Anyone wondering about Dana's adventures on the Coast Starlight can find updates with pictures on Streetsblog LITE. - DN)

This week a UCLA research team (that included our own board member and contributor Juan Matute), published their findings on life-cycle green house gas emissions impacts, energy use, smog & respiratory particulates of public transit compared with driving, using the Metro Gold Line train and Orange Line bus rapid transit corridor as case studies.

One game changing advancement to help users navigate public transit websites is the proliferation of smart phones, apps, and map services catering to public transit. While we shouldn’t assume everyone has access to these tools, it is foolish to not embrace the opportunities these new tools make possible. However, Big Blue Bus remains behind with a lack of real time updates made available. In addition, scheduling and routing data remains inaccessible to independently developed apps and websites.

(Update: I received a question on why we published the name and address of the angry homeowner, questioning whether or not he qualifies as fare game to be signaled out by name.  I chatted with a friend of mine who doesn't have a stake or opinion in the issue of how UCLA decides when to keep its transit stops open.  He advised me that it wasn't illegal, but that we should have contacted him for a quote if we were going to feature him so prominently.  It was my call to leave his name in so any blame/fallout should fall on me, not Juan.   I just removed his name, address and references to his employment from the story and comments.- DN)

Santa Monica’s transit service, the Big Blue Bus, has been in a bind for a while now due to declining revenue from the state throwing off its budget. Many transit agencies have been dealing with similar shortfalls and forced to make tough choices. Unfortunately In many cases that has resulted in trimming routes or dropping service frequency at the very moment that demand for transit service is growing.