Montebello Bus Lines

Parent	City of Montebello
Founded	July 28, 1931 (1931-07-28)[1]
Headquarters	400 Taylor Avenue South
Locale	Montebello, California
Service area	see #Service area
Service type	bus service, paratransit
Routes	8 [2]
Stops	950 (FY2014)[2]
Fleet	66 fixed-route fleet (FY2014)[2]
Annual ridership	7,934,976 (FY2014)[2]
Fuel type	hybrid, CNG, diesel
Website	RideMBL.com

Montebello Bus Lines is a municipal bus operator in Montebello, California, USA, mainly serving East Los Angeles, Commerce, and Montebello.

History

Montebello Bus Lines began on 28 July 1931, with a small lot on the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Olympic Boulevard, where the four buses the agency operated were housed. The conception of Montebello Bus Lines came after several other transport services had served the area.

Two years after the City of Montebello was incorporated in 1920, the City launched its first attempt at operating a municipal bus route. But the City then decided to sell its bus operation to the Motor Transport Company in 1928.

Former Montebello bus 17, a 1944 Ford Transit Bus, is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum, repainted and renumbered for a former Chicago-area bus company.

Three years later, in 1931, the City purchased the route back from the Motor Transport Company, and Montebello Bus Lines was born.^[3] In the agency's early days, passengers paid a nickel to ride the bus and bus operators earned $120 per month.

Montebello Bus Lines has grown to be the third largest municipal transport agency in Los Angeles County, operating seven local routes, an express route, a semi-fixed-route feeder service and a Dial-a-Ride service. Montebello Bus Lines serves 15 communities, providing transport to 8 million passengers on an annual basis.

As of September 2013, Montebello Bus Lines has 7 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, 44 hybrid buses and plans to replace its 15 remaining diesel fuel buses with CNG in next few years.^[4] It also owns a CNG fuelling station to service the fleet.^[5]

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has recognised Montebello Bus Line's service. Montebello Bus Lines is the recipient of APTA's Outstanding Transport System Award and APTA's top Silver Safety Award in 1999, as well as the Achievement Award in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2002.^[3]

Service area

Within its service area of approximately 67 square kilometres,^[4] Montebello Bus Lines serving the communities of:^[2]

Fixed-route service

Montebello Bus Lines consists of 8 routes in the San Gabriel Valley Central and West. Montebello Bus Lines fixed route services can broadly be divided into three types: Major Local Services, Minor Local Services, and Peak Express Service. Routes 10, 20, and 40 are the major service routes. Routes 30, 50, 60, and 70 are the minor service routes. Route 90 is the express route.^[6]

Bus fleet

Flexible Transport Services

Notes

References