Santa Monica Big Blue Bus Adding New Routes Starting Monday

SANTA MONICA, CA – Big Blue Bus will adjust its service to better connect customers to the places they live, work and play. BBB will be adding service to six bus routes, and improving schedules on seven others, beginning Feb. 19, 2017.

Major changes include:

• The reinstatement of service to downtown Santa Monica on Route 5, seven days per week. The route will serve Santa Monica via Colorado Blvd., and Palms Expo Line Station all day on weekdays creating more service connections to Century City; weekend service will also improve to every 40 minutes.
• Route 7 weekday service will increase to every 15 minutes all day, to help meet customer demand for more local service on Pico Blvd.
• Route 43 will connect to 17th St./SMC Expo Line Station, Santa Monica College’s Main Campus, and both Route 7 and Rapid 7 service on Pico Blvd.
• Rapid 10 service will be discontinued west of Broadway and 4th St. in downtown Santa Monica and offer 20-minute weekday service during peak hours.

UCLA students will see more service on Rapid 12, for better connectivity to Metro’s Expo Line, and schedule adjustments on weekends. Route 17 will serve UCLA’s Charles E. Young Terminal, instead of Hilgard Terminal; weekday service will increase to every 20 minutes. Furthermore, Route 18 will see schedule adjustments on weekday morning trips to UCLA and evening trips to Marina del Rey.

Customers can also expect to see scheduling changes and improvements on Routes 9, 14, 15, 41 and 42. Visit bigbluebus.com/servicechange to preview the new schedules.

“The changes we are implementing will enhance reliability, efficiency, and ease with which customers move across the region on our bus system,” said Ed King, Director of Transit Services at BBB. “They also address feedback received from customers since our last service change. For instance, customers indicated a desire for a one-seat ride from downtown to Century City and Palms, so we have restored Route 5 service from the Bergamot Expo Line Station to downtown Santa Monica.”

Details of the February service changes, along with system-wide timetables, can be found in the "Little Blue Book" transit guide, which is available onboard, at the Transit Store, and at local public counters, such as local libraries and senior centers; Big Blue Bus System Maps are also available at these locations.

In addition, bus arrival information is available on the NextBus real-time mobile application and Google Transit. The GTFS-real-time data which drives both applications will reflect new changes on Feb. 19, so that customers have access to up-to-date information about bus locations, arrival and departure times.

– News release from BBB. Courtesy photo