Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines

The Big Blue Bus has been a lifeline in our community for decades. I rode the bus to Samohi as a student and it is the only form of transportation for many of our citizens. We have clean, great buses with professional, courteous, drivers...the best in the business. But, our bus service needs to adjust for the demands of our community.

I hear of buses traveling on Lincoln Blvd that are jammed and pass by our citizens waiting at stops, of teens whose parents drive them to Samohi because the Big Blue Bus no longer caters to the students of our community, and of seniors who can't get to the route stops because those stops are too far from their homes. There are too many examples of poor service offered by the Big Blue Bus. Among these are the "bus stools" that I opposed in 2014-2015 and bus routes that serve those in Cheviot Hills but not our residents and visitors.

The Big Blue Bus must serve Santa Monica residents first and foremost. With the Expo line in operation for several years now we still have not adjusted routes properly, nor thought outside the box to provide innovative new ways for our residents to reach their rail connections. Students in our schools must get priority for bus service. Our buses must serve our residents first. As we see the results of the pandemic unfold we know we will need to implement further changes to our Big Blue Bus system. We may need to downsize many of our buses to "little blue buses" to better serve our community.

I believe we should join other cities who provide free municipal transit within our shopping corridors for the residents of Santa Monica. I believe the Big Blue Bus needs to serve the people of our city and serve them well.