Big Blue Bus

Big Blue Bus at UCLA Hilgard Terminal
Parent	City of Santa Monica, Department of Transportation
Founded	1928 (as Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines)
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California
Locale	Santa Monica, Westwood, and Venice, California
Service area	United States
Service type	Transit Bus
Routes	20[1]
Fleet	195
Daily ridership	26,500 (weekdays, Q3 2023)[2]
Annual ridership	7,119,600 (2022)[3]
Fuel type	CNG, Electric
Operator	City of Santa Monica
Chief executive	Anuj Gupta (Interim)
Website	bigbluebus.com

Big Blue Bus (stylized in lowercase) is a municipal bus service primarily serving the city of Santa Monica and the greater Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. The service, operated by the city of Santa Monica, was founded on April 14, 1928 and throughout its existence has used a blue color scheme for its buses, leading to the Big Blue Bus nickname that would later become the official name of the agency. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 7,119,600, or about 26,500 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023. Big Blue Bus receives funding from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and offers connections to its Metro Bus and Metro Rail systems, but is operated independently from Metro.

History

A now-retired GMC "New Look" bus in service for what was then-called the "Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines".

The agency was founded on April 14, 1928 as the Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines and the agency picked a unique blue color scheme for its buses, later leading to the Big Blue Bus nickname.^[4] It holds the distinction of being the second oldest public transit bus system still operating in Los Angeles County; only the neighboring Culver CityBus (founded March 4, 1928) is older.^[5]

Santa Monica established the bus line in response to a fare increase on the Pacific Electric interurban trains between Santa Monica and Los Angeles.^[6]

While independent from other agencies in the Los Angeles area, the Big Blue Bus has always offered connections to the other systems, most notably near the intersections of Pico and Rimpau Boulevards in the Mid-City section of Los Angeles. The historic transfer point was established by Santa Monica, the Los Angeles Railway and Pacific Electric Railway and is known today as the Pico/Rimpau Transit Center and is used the Big Blue Bus and Metro Bus.^[6]

In 1978, Santa Monica became the first transit operator in California to operate a bus with a wheelchair lift, the Grumman-Flxible Model 870. It was the third agency to order the bus after Atlanta's MARTA, and Connecticut's CT Transit. The Big Blue Bus was one of the last transit agencies using the iconic GMC New Look "fishbowl" bus, the last of which was retired in 2005.

The Big Blue Bus has been honored with the American Public Transportation Association’s Outstanding Transportation System award in 1987, 1992, 1997, 2000 and 2011.^[7]

Routes

Big Blue Bus operates 19 bus lines: 14 local routes, four Rapid routes and one express route.

Bus fleet

Big Blue Bus currently maintains a fleet of 195 buses of various lengths including 29', 40', and 60' articulated. 2018 was Big Blue Bus' last year purchasing a non-zero emission vehicle. 19 of said buses are currently battery-electric.^[9] All buses feature destination signs. Newer buses (units 1801 and later) feature white LED destination signs, while older units feature a variety of other colors. The fleet is currently being equipped with passenger information displays^[10] in place of the older dot-light signs. The new displays currently feature a three-day weather forecast, upcoming stops with time to arrival, and the line's final destination. These are subject to updates. All buses currently include complementary onboard Wi-Fi. Fleet communications systems are also currently being upgraded,^[10] enabling vehicles to generate more frequent and accurate GPS data for tracking purposes, such as the Transit app.

Big Blue Bus has evaluated two main options for zero-emissions propulsion of its buses in an effort to decarbonize its fleet by 2030. Both hydrogen fuel cell and battery-electric buses have been considered.^[11] Big Blue Bus is installing charging for 100+ buses at its depot using a canopy with overhead reel dispensers,^[9] making battery-electric its preferred choice. 2010 and 2011 El Dorado EZR II- BRT 32' CNG models are currently up for replacement with 15 additional battery-electric vehicles.

Active fleet

Manufacturer	Model	Length (ft)	Fleet Numbers	Thumbnail	Year	Fuel	Engine	Transmission	Notes
Gillig	Low Floor	40	1300		2012	CNG	Cummins Westport ISL G	Voith D864.5
			1301-1344		2013		Cummins Westport ISL G	Voith D864.5
			1345-1357		2014		Cummins Westport ISL G	Voith D864.5
			1500-1510		2015		Cummins Westport ISL G	Allison B400R
New Flyer	XN60	60	1560-1566		2015		Cummins Westport ISL G	Allison B500R	Used primarily on Rapid services.
Gillig	Low Floor	40	1600-1603		2015		Cummins Westport ISL G	Allison B400R
			1701-1725		2016-2017		Cummins Westport ISL G NZ	Allison B400R
		29	1801-1807		2018		Cummins Westport L9N	Allison B400R
		40	1808-1826		2018		Cummins Westport L9N	Allison B400R	Feature old green interiors and stop request buttons in addition to the cable system
	Low Floor Plus		1827		2018	Electric	Cummins BES, now branded as Cummins Accelera	Direct drive	Originally piloted on Rapid 12, now shuffled throughout fleet Unit 1827 is a Gillig prototype and features the old livery and interior design Units 2101-2118 and newer feature the redesigned livery with dark blue on the bottom third and light blue on the top Units 2101-2118 do not have stop request buttons but do have a new interior with less seats that are now blue and more standing/disabled space, featuring power-operated wheelchair securing mechanisms
			2101-2118		2021
ElDorado	E-Z Rider II BRT	32	2900-2904		2010	CNG	Cummins Westport ISL G	Allison B300R	Originally powered with a gasoline electric hybrid system. Later converted to CNG.
			2905-2914		2012		Cummins Westport ISL G	Allison B300R	Originally powered with a gasoline electric hybrid system. Later converted to CNG.
NABI	LFW	40	3868-3876		2011		Cummins Westport ISL G	Allison B400R
	BRT	60	5300-5310				Cummins Westport ISL G	Allison B500R	Used primarily on Rapid services.
			5311-5320				Cummins Westport ISL G	Allison B500R	Used primarily on Rapid services.

Incidents

On November 20, 2012, a Big Blue Bus turned left in front of an oncoming motorcyclist, which resulted in the 25-year-old man's death. The accident occurred at approximately 10:33 a.m. at the triangular intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Marquez in the Pacific Palisades. Only buses are allowed to make the left turn, a maneuver that has been determined to be too dangerous for other vehicles.

On June 7, 2013, Bus 4057 of Big Blue Bus was among several vehicles fired at during a thirteen-minute killing spree that left six people dead, including the gunman, and four others wounded. Three women suffered minor injuries aboard the bus, one from shrapnel-type injuries and the other two from injuries unrelated to the gunfire.^[12] Approximately two dozen people were inside the bus at the time of the shooting. The attack on Bus 4057 marked the first time a Big Blue Bus came under attack by a gunman in its 85-year service.^[13]

In popular culture

References

Further reading

Ayer, Bob. History of Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus. Santa Monica, CA: City of Santa Monica, 1992.

External links

Media related to Big Blue Bus at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Google Map of Routes (last updated 2007)