Big Blue Bus Fall Service Changes

Due to Santa Monica College’s Academy of Entertainment & Technology being closed for construction, Big Blue Bus’s Sunset Ride will operate to Pico Boulevard only beginning this Mon. Aug. 25.

New Route: Buses will travel regular route from SMC Bundy Campus to eastbound Pico Blvd., then turn right on 20th St. and head back to Bundy Campus. Buses will no longer operate:

• North of 20th St. at Pico Blvd.
• Eastbound Colorado Ave.
• Southbound Stewart St.
• Westbound Pico Blvd.

Other route changes beginning Aug. 25 and 26 include:

Routes 1, 2, 3, 8, 12 and Rapid 12 

New transit hub: Ackerman Terminal is closed for construction so BBB will use a new transit hub located on Charles E. Young Dr. and Manning Ave.

• Weekdays from 8pm to 7am and all day on weekends: Buses heading towards campus will detour onto Charles E. Young Dr. You can disembark at the stop on Westwood Plaza (outside of the Jules Stein Eye Center) or on Charles E. Young Dr. (in front of P2). For riders leaving campus: please note that BBB is no longer able to serve the stop on southbound Westwood Blvd. at the Medical Center. You can catch a bus from Charles E. Young Dr. (in front of P2) or at any BBB stop on Hilgard Ave., Le Conte Ave, or on southbound Westwood Blvd. at Weyburn Ave.

• Rapid 12 weekdays: If you are heading towards campus, buses will follow the same detour and serve all stops noted above. For riders leaving campus: please note that BBB is no longer able to serve the stop on southbound Westwood Blvd. at the Medical Center. You can catch a bus from Charles E. Young Dr. (in front of P2) or on southbound Westwood Blvd. at Weyburn Ave. 

Please note: All weekday trips from 7am to 8pm will continue regular service to Hilgard Terminal.  

Route 1, 2, 3 and 5 

• Schedule changes: Cancellation of various weekday morning trips (due to low ridership).

Route 3  

• Until Sunday, 9/1/13: Additional evening trips Thursday through Sunday only from Santa Monica to the Metro Green Line Station.

Rapid 3 

• More service: New mid-day trips added. 

Route 6 

• Schedule changes:

• Cancellation of 6:25pm trip from Palms to SMC and 1:20pm trip from SMC to Palms (due to low ridership).
• Service will operate during fall and spring semesters; no service during SMC breaks.

Route 7 & Sunset Ride  

• Limited time service: Extra service will run the first four weeks of the SMC fall semester. 

Route 7 & Rapid 7 (June Service Change reminder)  

• Service increase: Frequency increased to every 12 minutes from every 15 minutes.

Route 8  

• New terminus: Service will begin/end on 7th St. at Broadway (outside of the fire house).
• Schedule change: Weekday frequency decreased to every 20 minutes from 9:30am until 3:00pm (due to low ridership). The span of weekday service will continue to be from 6:08am until approximately 11:30pm.

Route 9  

• Route change: Once construction of the new turnaround is completed, buses will resume end of line service on Marquez Ave. at Sunset Blvd. (i.e. buses will no longer travel westbound on Marquez Ave.). 

Rapid 10  

• Schedule changes:  

• Santa Monica College Express: The 6:31am trip from Union Station to SMC will now operate as a regular Rapid 10 trip only when SMC is in session. SMC-bound riders should disembark on Bundy Dr. at Pico Blvd., and then transfer to a westbound Route 7 or Rapid 7 bus. Riders not headed to SMC are advised to take the 6:36am trip (five minutes later) when SMC is not in session.  
• First weekday trip at 5:35am departing from 4th St. at Santa Monica Blvd. will now leave five minutes earlier at 5:30am to facilitate connections in Downtown Los Angeles.

Rapid 12  

• Schedule changes: Cancellation of three afternoon trips from UCLA to Expo and one afternoon trip from Expo to UCLA (due to low ridership).
  
  
  BBB also wishes to discontinue Route 11 beginning in early 2014, because those traveling between UCLA and SMC can take Route 8 or a combination of Route 8 or 7/R7 and 12/R12.

BBB will bring this proposal and a proposal to permanently implement the Sunset Route change before the Santa Monica City Council in an effort to reallocate operators and buses as a way to offset the structural budget deficit it has been operating under for the past two years.

These two proposals were presented at a community meeting on Wednesday night. BBB Management also hopes to implement the following in 2014:

• New fare boxes
• New smart cards to expedite boarding
• Discontinue the sales of local transfers to help keep the base fare at $1, which will reduce fraud and help keep buses on schedule.