Integrating Buses, Bikes and Rail

This week, the City hosted a series of workshops to discuss the integration of the Expo Light Rail Transit and Big Blue Bus systems

"The service area of Big Blue Bus (BBB) is changing in ways that promise to have significant impact on public transportation," said the Big Blue Bus Co. in a press release. "Further expansion of the Exposition Light Rail Line in 2016 will increase the number of stations served from four to eleven, and bring rail from the fringes of the BBB service area into its center. Of these seven new rail stations, three are within the City of Santa Monica city limits, including the western terminus for the line. Projected weekday ridership for the Exposition Line is 64,000 boardings per weekday as of 2030."

"This is a significant change of conditions for a system that has served rail only at the periphery until now. Additionally, changes in demographics, zoning, and land use are forming pockets of increasing density in designated commercial and mixed use areas in order to conserve Santa Monica's existing diverse residential areas. More resources are being dedicated to walking, biking, ridesharing, and transit to optimize the efficiency of the transportation system, and this change is remaking the fabric of the service area. These changes are introducing new transit propensities and altering the transit landscape."