1 2024
Exis�ng Condi�ons Report
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 2 Table of Contents
Big Blue Bus Planning Context............................................................................................................7
1.1 Overview of Big Blue Bus Services and Service Area .......................................................................7
1.2 Recent Changes Affecting Service....................................................................................................8
1.3 Upcoming Projects Affecting Service.............................................................................................19
1.4 Planning Context Key Takeaways ..................................................................................................26 Market Assessment..........................................................................................................................27
2.1 Density ...........................................................................................................................................27
2.2 Demographics................................................................................................................................32
2.3 Destinations...................................................................................................................................41
2.4 Design.............................................................................................................................................43
2.5 Demand..........................................................................................................................................45
2.6 Market Assessment Key Takeaways..............................................................................................66 On-Board Survey Findings................................................................................................................67
3.1 Background ....................................................................................................................................67
3.2 Ridership Patterns..........................................................................................................................67
3.3 Importance & Satisfaction with BBB Services................................................................................73
3.4 Rider Encouragement ....................................................................................................................76
3.5 Service Design Tradeoffs................................................................................................................79
3.6 Rider Demographics.......................................................................................................................82
3.7 On-Board Survey Findings Key Takeaways ....................................................................................86 Service Evaluation............................................................................................................................87
4.1 Santa Monica Transit Service Overview.........................................................................................87
4.2 How Riders Use the Network.........................................................................................................89
4.3 How the System Performs.............................................................................................................98
4.4 What is the Quality of the Service? .............................................................................................108
4.5 Service Evaluation Key Takeaways...............................................................................................121 List of Figures
Figure 1: Big Blue Bus Service Area Popula�on Density .......................................................................................7 Figure 2: Forecasted Increases of Popula�on and Employment by 2035 ...........................................................14 Figure 3: LA Metro K Line....................................................................................................................................19 Figure 4: Metro D (Purple) Line Extension..........................................................................................................20 Figure 5: Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project ......................................................................................................21 Figure 6: Popula�on Density...............................................................................................................................28 Figure 7: Jobs by NAICS Industry Sector .............................................................................................................29 Figure 8: Density of All Jobs................................................................................................................................30 Figure 9: Jobs by Worker Age..............................................................................................................................31 Figure 10: Jobs by Race and Ethnicity .................................................................................................................31 Figure 11: Jobs by Worker Educa�onal Atainment............................................................................................32 Figure 12: Jobs by Earnings.................................................................................................................................32 Figure 13: Density of Youth Residents ................................................................................................................33 Figure 14: Density of Young Adults.....................................................................................................................34 Figure 15: Density of Senior Residents ...............................................................................................................35 Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 3 Figure 16: Density of Low-Income Households...................................................................................................36 Figure 17: Density of Minority Residents............................................................................................................37 Figure 18: Density of Persons with Disabili�es...................................................................................................38 Figure 19: Density of Zero Vehicle Households in the Big Blue Bus Service Area...............................................39 Figure 20: Transit Demand Poten�al in the Big Blue Bus Service Area...............................................................40 Figure 21: City of Santa Monica Zoning ..............................................................................................................42 Figure 22: Na�onal Walkability Index, Big Blue Bus Service Area.......................................................................44 Figure 23: Zones of Interest for Big Blue Bus Origin-Des�na�on Analysis..........................................................46 Figure 24: Weekday Trips to the Westside by Origin Zone .................................................................................48 Figure 25: Average Daily Weekday Trips to Big Blue Bus Core Service Area by Origin Zone (2019 and 2023) ...49 Figure 26: Weekday Trips to Westside by Origin Zone Compared to Daily BBB Boardings by Zone (2023)........50 Figure 27: Weekday Trips Origina�ng in Central LA by Des�na�on Zone (2023)................................................52 Figure 28: Weekday Trips Origina�ng in the Pico Corridor by Des�na�on Zone (2023).....................................54 Figure 29: Weekday Trips Origina�ng in Zones Served by Route 5 (2023 Census Block Group Level) ...............55 Figure 30: Average Hourly Weekday Trips between Playa del Rey and Zones Served by BBB Route 16 ............56 Figure 31: Zones Served by Big Blue Bus Route 14 (2023)..................................................................................58 Figure 32: Average Daily Weekday Trips Origina�ng in Downtown Santa Monica by Des�na�on Zone ............59 Figure 33: Weekday Trips Origina�ng in Downtown Santa Monica (2023 Census Block Group Level)...............60 Figure 34: Weekday Trips Origina�ng in UCLA Westwood by Des�na�on (2023)..............................................62 Figure 35: Weekday Trips Origina�ng in the Valley by Des�na�on (2023).........................................................63 Figure 36: Survey Response by Zip Code ............................................................................................................68 Figure 37: Trip Origin & Des�na�on....................................................................................................................69 Figure 38: Origin-Des�na�on Pairs.....................................................................................................................69 Figure 39: Trip Purpose .......................................................................................................................................70 Figure 40: Frequency of Riding – Before COVID-19 ............................................................................................71 Figure 41: Frequency of Riding – In the Past Year...............................................................................................72 Figure 42: Frequency of Riding Before & A�er COVID-19 - Excluding New Riders.............................................72 Figure 43: More Frequent Service by Time of Day..............................................................................................77 Figure 44: Expanding Opera�ng Hours by Time of Week ...................................................................................78 Figure 45: Age of Riders......................................................................................................................................82 Figure 46: Household Income .............................................................................................................................83 Figure 47: Race/Ethnicity of Riders.....................................................................................................................84 Figure 48: Employment Status of Riders.............................................................................................................85 Figure 49: Big Blue Bus System Map (Aug 2023) ................................................................................................87 Figure 50: Big Blue Bus Monthly Bus Ridership, January 2019 - July 2023.........................................................90 Figure 51: Big Blue Bus Change in Monthly Bus Ridership and Revenue Hours, January 2019 - July 2023........90 Figure 52: 2023 Ridership and Vehicle Revenue Hours of LA Transit Providers as Percent of 2019 Values........91 Figure 53: Percent of Total BBB Bus Boardings by Hours, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023 ...........................................92 Figure 54: Percent of Total BBB Bus Boardings by Hours, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023............................................92 Figure 55: Percent of Total BBB Bus Boardings by Hours, Sundays, 2019 & 2023 ..............................................93 Figure 56: Average Daily Ridership by Day of Week, BBB Bus Services, 2019 & 2023........................................93 Figure 57: Average Ridership by Route, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023 ......................................................................94 Figure 58: Average Ridership by Route, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023.......................................................................95 Figure 59: Average Ridership by Route, Sundays, 2019 & 2023, ........................................................................95 Figure 60: Average Weekday Ridership by Stop, 2019 & 2023 ...........................................................................96 Figure 61: Top 10 Stops by Average Daily Weekday Boardings, 2019 & 2023 Boardings...................................97 Figure 62: Average Weekday Passenger Trip Length and Route Length .............................................................98 Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 4 Figure 63: Average Weekday Produc�vity by Route, 2019 & 2023.....................................................................99 Figure 64: Average Saturday Produc�vity by Route, 2019 & 2023 .....................................................................99 Figure 65: Average Sunday Produc�vity by Route, 2019 & 2023......................................................................100 Figure 66: Produc�vity by Time Period and Day Type ......................................................................................100 Figure 67: Segment Produc�vity – Top 10 Performing Segments.....................................................................101 Figure 68: Segment Produc�vity – Botom 10 Performing Segments...............................................................102 Figure 69: Opera�ng Cost per Boarding, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023...................................................................103 Figure 70: Opera�ng Cost per Boarding, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023 ...................................................................104 Figure 71: Opera�ng Cost per Boarding, Sundays, 2019 & 2023......................................................................104 Figure 72: Subsidy per Passenger Trip, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023......................................................................105 Figure 73: Subsidy per Passenger Trips, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023.....................................................................106 Figure 74: Subsidy per Passenger, Sundays, 2019 & 2023 ................................................................................106 Figure 75: Percent of Total Running Time Composed of Recovery Time, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023 .................107 Figure 76: Percent of Total Running Time Composed of Recovery Time, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023 ..................107 Figure 77: Percent of Total Running Time Composed of Recovery Time, Sundays, 2019 & 2023 ....................108 Figure 78: Route Frequencies, Weekdays, 2019 ...............................................................................................109 Figure 79: Route Frequencies, Weekdays, 2023 ...............................................................................................110 Figure 80: Route Frequencies, Saturdays, 2019................................................................................................111 Figure 81: Route Frequencies, Saturdays, 2023................................................................................................112 Figure 82: Route Frequencies, Sundays, 2019 ..................................................................................................113 Figure 83: Route Frequencies, Sundays, 2023 ..................................................................................................114 Figure 84: On Time Performance at Timepoints by Route, Weekdays, Oct 2022 - Oct 2023 ...........................115 Figure 85: On Time Performance at Timepoints by Route, Saturdays, Oct 2022 - Oct 2023............................116 Figure 86: On Time Performance at Timepoints by Route, Sundays, Oct 2022 - Oct 2023 ..............................116 Figure 87: Scheduled Opera�ng Speed in Miles per Hour, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023........................................117 Figure 88: Actual Run Times vs Scheduled Run Times, Weekday Trips.............................................................118 List of Tables
Table 1: Summary of Service Changes by Route, March - May 2020....................................................................8 Table 2: Summary of Service Changes by Route Since the 2015 COA...................................................................9 Table 3: Developer TDM Requirements in City Municipal Codes .......................................................................16 Table 4: TDM-Related Efforts by City ..................................................................................................................17 Table 5: Top 10 Employers in the City of Santa Monica ......................................................................................29 Table 6: Average Daily Weekday Trips by Origin Zone to Big Blue Bus’s Core Service Area................................47 Table 7: Weekday Ridership Recovery at BBB stops near Linea Mixed-Used Development (Passenger Counts)64 Table 8: Weekday Ridership Recovery near Millennium Santa Monica Mixed-Used (Passenger Counts)..........64 Table 9: Weekday Ridership Recovery near UCLA Medical School Housing Development (Passenger Counts).65 Table 10: Transfer Rate by Route ........................................................................................................................67 Table 11: Top 10 Zip Codes of Riders ..................................................................................................................68 Table 12: Trip Purpose by Route .........................................................................................................................70 Table 13: Average Ra�ngs of Importance & Sa�sfac�on for BBB Services.........................................................73 Table 14: Importance of BBB Services by Rider Type..........................................................................................74 Table 15: Sa�sfac�on of BBB Service by Rider Type ...........................................................................................75 Table 16: Comparing Importance and Sa�sfac�on of BBB Services by Rider Type.............................................75 Table 17: Improvements to Encourage Riders to U�lize BBB More O�en..........................................................76 Table 18: More Frequent Service by Time of Day – by Route.............................................................................77 Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 5 Table 19: Expand Hours by Route .......................................................................................................................79 Table 20: Design Tradeoff Responses by Route...................................................................................................80 Table 21: Service Design Tradeoffs by Rider Type...............................................................................................81 Table 22: Age of Riders by Route ........................................................................................................................82 Table 23: Household Income by Route ...............................................................................................................83 Table 24: Race/Ethnicity of Riders by Route .......................................................................................................84 Table 25: Employment Status of Riders by Route ...............................................................................................85 Table 26: Big Blue Bus Service Span and Frequency ...........................................................................................88 Table 27: Transit Service in Big Blue Bus Service Area Operated by Other Service Providers ............................89 Table 28: Top Ten Performing Route Segments ................................................................................................101 Table 29: Botom Ten Performing Route Segments..........................................................................................102 Table 30: Service and Ridership Characteris�cs, Route 7 and Rapid 7..............................................................120 Table 31: Service and Ridership Characteris�cs, Route 3 and Rapid 3..............................................................120 Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 6 Introduction
The City of Santa Monica Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue Comprehensive Opera�ons Analysis (COA) is an opportunity to improve transit service in Santa Monica and West Los Angeles and to create a more equitable, effec�ve, and efficient transit network. This is the first comprehensive review of Big Blue Bus services since its last COA in 2015. Since then, factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, emergence of new technologies, and construc�on of new developments have impacted the demand for transit within the Big Blue Bus service area. In order to improve the experience of its customers, it is important for Big Blue Bus to evaluate the services it is delivering and make adjustments to beter respond to customer travel needs, priori�es, and preferences.
This COA will develop a five-year service plan for Big Blue Bus services that restores service back to preCOVID levels. The mobility landscape in Santa Monica and West Los Angeles will experience significant changes during this period – the much-an�cipated opening of the D Line subway along Wilshire Blvd. and extension of the K Line to LAX, the 2028 Olympics, and the transi�on to a zero-emission bus fleet. The COA plan seeks to address these upcoming changes as well as reflect recent changes in travel behavior and rider demand.
This report provides an overview of the exis�ng condi�ons faced by Big Blue Bus and is broken into four sec�ons.
1. Planning Context – overview of land use policies, planned developments, and other transit services affec�ng demand for transit service in Santa Monica and West Los Angeles
2. Market Assessment – analysis of the market demand for transit within the service area based on popula�on characteris�cs, employment opportuni�es, regional travel demand paterns, and the design of the built environment.
3. On-Board Survey Results – summary of findings from the Fall 2023 on-board survey ascertaining rider characteris�cs, sa�sfac�on with Big Blue Bus services, priori�es for service design, and desired areas of improvement.
4. Service Evalua�on – analysis of the performance of current Big Blue Bus routes with a comparison to pre-COVID service evalua�ng the efficiency and effec�veness of service delivery.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 7 1. Big Blue Bus Planning Context
1.1 Overview of Big Blue Bus Services and Service Area The Big Blue Bus and its predecessor (The Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines) have been providing public transporta�on services since 1928. The service area has always extended beyond the City of Santa Monica municipal boundaries into neighboring Westside communi�es and to the Pico-Rimpau area. The City of Santa Monica has a land area of 8.3 square miles while the BBB service area is 69 square miles. The City has a popula�on of 93,706 while the BBB service area has a popula�on of 1,022,273. Figure 1 is a map showing the boundaries of the City compared to the larger service area for the BBB network.
Figure 1: Big Blue Bus Service Area Population Density
The current BBB network has 18 routes which serve the City of Santa Monica with connec�ons to Los Angeles Interna�onal Airport (LAX), Culver City, Century City, UCLA/Westwood, Koreatown, and Downtown Los Angeles. The service is operated with a fleet of 195 vehicles with 124 buses on the road during weekday peak commute hours. BBB is the primary fixed-route bus service provider within the City and the route coverage dissipates as you get further from the City where service overlaps with LA Metro Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 8 and Culver City Bus. The “Service Evalua�on” sec�on of this report provides more details regarding the BBB routes and their performance.
The City of Santa Monica is a “Municipal Operator” and receives regional transit funding through an alloca�on formula administered by LA Metro. This formula includes a mixture of local, state, and federal funding. BBB par�cipates in regional ini�a�ves including the Metro TAP card program to allow for seamless travel between transit agencies in Santa Monica and those across LA County.
1.2 Recent Changes Affecting Service
1.2.1 Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on BBB’s ridership and the level of service provided. BBB carried 629,190 riders in July 2023, thirty-nine (39%) percent less than the 1,033,892 carried in July 2019.
Comparing the same period, service provided as measured by vehicle revenue hours is 23% less from 45,543 monthly vehicle revenue hours to 34,908 hours.
Big Blue Bus implemented significant changes in how it provided service as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic reflec�ng both reduced passenger demand and more limited operator availability. In the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic, service was reduced by 37% and included the following changes:
Table 1: Summary of Service Changes by Route, March - May 2020 Route Service Change
Rapid 3 Route suspended
Rapid 7 Route suspended
Route 16 Route suspended
Route 42 Route suspended
Route 44 Route suspended
All routes except 1, 3, and 7 Reduced service
In order to reduce unnecessary opportuni�es for the virus to spread, fare collec�on was suspended on all BBB services but was reinstated in February 2021. When the need to pay fares at the farebox was suspended, BBB also implemented a rear-door only boarding policy.
By July 2023, average monthly ridership was 61% of pre-COVID levels and service levels were restored to 77% of pre-COVID levels. Trends in ridership growth were not consistent across all routes; service was also not restored equally across all routes. Routes with service fully or mostly restored generally saw higher ridership recovery. In October 2021, Routes 1, 3, 9, 14 and 17, which had 80 to 96% of their service restored were carrying 57 to 75% of pre-COVID ridership. Ridership was lowest on routes that had service reduced the most at the onset of the pandemic and have yet to be restored to near pre-COVID levels such as Routes 2, 5, 8, Rapid 10, Rapid 12, 15, 18 and 41. The excep�on to the high-service recovery-high ridership rela�onship were routes that primarily serve Santa Monica College, which can be atributed to the reduc�on in in-person instruc�on. These routes, Routes 7, Rapid 7, 16 and 43, had their service mostly restored on weekdays but remain at or below systemwide ridership recovery levels. Revenue service hours on weekends for all routes were at 89-92% of pre-COVID levels and weekend ridership is at 61-66% of preCOVID levels.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 9 Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Big Blue Bus has atempted to restore both ridership and service levels to what they were before the pandemic. BBB is pursuing a series of systemwide and routelevel ini�a�ves for improving service post-COVID that include:
• Improving travel �mes on targeted corridors
• Researching free and/or reduced fare programs
• Implemen�ng technology including, a new computer aided dispatch/automa�c vehicle loca�on so�ware, improved real-�me arrival predic�ons signs and apps, and mobile �cke�ng • Transi�oning to a zero-emission fleet
• Iden�fying transit hubs to facilitate transfers and for layovers • Bus stop inventory and improvements
• Procuring a turnkey vendor for the Mobility on Demand Every Day (M.O.D.E.) transporta�on service for seniors and people with disabili�es
• Safety measures targe�ng customers and operators
• Installing state-of-the-art on-board surveillance systems on the Big Blue Bus fleet Big Blue Bus also pursued route-level ini�a�ves to make each route more atrac�ve, faster, more frequent and more reliable. Ini�a�ves that were pursued but ul�mately not accomplished included implementa�on of transit improvements such as bus only lanes, queue jumps, transit signal priority and improved layover loca�ons.
Restora�on of service has been hindered by a shortage of bus operators, a trend that has affected transit operators na�onally since the pandemic. Despite extensive efforts to atract and retain operators, efforts to maintain the workforce levels needed to deliver planned services have so far had limited success. As of January 2023, BBB was s�ll facing a shor�all of 45 operators out of the Santa Monica Department of Transporta�on’s 317 budgeted posi�ons. The shortage of operators has impacted BBB’s on-�me performance, and the customer experience has been eroded by service reduc�ons. While the Department forecasts labor market changes that could help address its staffing gap, it will con�nue to expand its recruitment and reten�on efforts to fill vacant posi�ons.
1.2.2 Service Changes since the 2015 Comprehensive Opera�ons Analysis Big Blue Bus
The following changes to Big Blue Bus service have occurred since the last Comprehensive Opera�ons Analysis which was completed in 2015. The majority of these changes were made to capitalize on the opening of seven new sta�ons on the Expo light rail line in the BBB service area.
Table 2: Summary of Service Changes by Route Since the 2015 COA Route Service Change since 2015
Route 1 Alignment adjusted to serve Expo Sta�on
Route 2 Alignment adjusted to serve Expo Sta�on
Route 3 Alignment adjusted near LAX, frequency improved, span reduced Rapid 3 Alignment adjusted near LAX, service reduced to peak only Route 4 Service discon�nued
Route 5 Alignment adjusted to avoid Expo duplica�on
Route 6 Service discon�nued
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 10 Route 7/Rapid 7 Alignment rerouted in Downtown Santa Monica Express 7 New route; service suspended
Route 8 Alignment adjusted
Route 9 Alignment adjusted
Route 10 Alignment rerouted in Downtown LA
Route 12/Rapid 12 Alignment adjusted
Route 13 Service discon�nued
Route 14 Alignment adjusted
Route 15 New route
Route 16 New route
Route 17 New route
Route 18 New route
Route 20 Temporary bus bridge service; Service discon�nued Route 41 Route adjusted
Route 42 Service suspended
Route 43 New route
Route 44 Service suspended
Metro NextGen Changes
The Metro NextGen Bus Plan was developed to make their system more compe��ve for the current travel market. The plan was approved in October 2020 and is in the process of being implemented. The following sec�on includes the recommenda�ons for Metro Lines providing service within Big Blue Bus’s service area and provides a summary of the status of each change.
Line 4: Santa Monica Blvd (Exis�ng)
NextGen Recommenda�on:
Merge Lines 4 and 704 on Santa Monica Bl:
• New Line 4 would follow the exis�ng Line
4 & 704 routes between Downtown
Santa Monica and Downtown LA via
Santa Monica Bl and Sunset Bl
• Bus stops between Westwood and
Downtown LA would be adjusted
through consolida�on of underu�lized
stops to balance speed, reliability, and
accessibility, with only bus stops for
exis�ng Line 704 retained between
Westwood and Downtown Santa Monica
except during overnight OWL periods all
bus stops would be served in Santa
Monica.
• The highest frequency of service shown
would be available at all bus stops
between Westwood and Downtown LA
Original Line 4 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 14 15 21 30
Saturday 16 15 23 30
Sunday 20 17 24 30
NextGen Line 4 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 6 7.5 10 30
Saturday 7.5 10 10 30
Sunday 7.5 10 10 30
Fall 2023 Line 4 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 7.5 7.5 10-16 30
Saturday 10 10 10-15 30
Sunday 10 10 10-15 30
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 11 Current Status (Fall 2023):
Lines 4 and 704 have been merged. The new Line 4 frequencies generally meet the proposed frequenies in the NextGen plan except during weekday and weekend peak periods.
Line 20: Wilshire Blvd (Exis�ng)
NextGen Recommenda�on:
Merge Line 20 and Line 720 between
Downtown Santa Monica and Downtown LA via
Wilshire Bl., following the exis�ng Line 20/720
route:
• The highest frequency of service shown
would be available at all bus stops
between Westwood and downtown LA
• Underu�lized Line 20 bus stops between
Westwood and Downtown LA would be
consolidated to balance speed, reliability,
and accessibility, with Line 20 moving
from 7th to 5th and 6th Sts in Downtown
LA.
• New Line 20 would serve exis�ng Line
720 stops west of Sepulveda Bl to Santa
Monica except during overnight OWL
periods when all bus stops would be
served in Santa Monica.
• New Line 720 would operate peak
periods weekdays serving only exis�ng
Line 720 stops between Downtown LA
and Westwood
Original Line 20 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 15 12 28 30
Saturday 20 16 31 30
Sunday 23 20 29 30
NextGen Line 20 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 5 5 7.5 30
Saturday 6 6 7.5 30
Sunday 6 6 7.5 30
Fall 2023 Line 20 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 10-15 12 20-30 30
Saturday 20-30 12 20-30 30
Sunday 20-30 12 20-30 30
Current Status (Fall 2023):
The proposed merging of Lines 20 and 720 has not taken place yet.
Line 33: Venice Blvd (Exis�ng)
NextGen Recommenda�on:
Merge Line 33 and Line 733 between
Downtown Santa Monica and Downtown LA via
Venice Bl., following the exis�ng Line 33/733
route:
• Line 33 would be modified to serve Pico
Sta�on in Downtown LA
• Increased service frequency for all new
Line 33 bus stops between Santa Monica
and Downtown LA
• Underu�lized Line 33 bus stops between
Santa Monica and Downtown LA would
Original Line 33 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 17 18 30 60
Saturday 23 20 27 60
Sunday 28 23 28 60
NextGen Line 33 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 7.5 10 10 60
Saturday 10 10 10 60
Sunday 10 10 10 60
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 12 be consolidated to balance speed,
reliability, and accessibility
• New Line 33 would serve exis�ng Line
733 stops in Santa Monica except during
overnight OWL periods when all bus
stops would be served.
Fall 2023 Line 33 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 7 8 15 60
Saturday 14 10 15 60
Sunday 14 10 15 60
Current Status (Fall 2023):
Lines 33 and 733 have been merged. The new Line 33 frequencies generally meet the proposed frequenies in the NextGen plan except during evening and weekend peak periods.
Line 602: UCLA – Pacific Palisades via Sunset Blvd (Exis�ng) NextGen Recommenda�on:
More frequent service would be provided midday
weekday, evenings and weekends.
Current Status (Fall 2023):
The weekday frequencies on Route 602 do not
meet the NextGen plan and are actually worse
during the peak periods than pre-NextGen.
Sunday frequencies have improved to during the
peak and midday.
Original Line 602 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 29 43 46 -
Saturday 45 45 45 -
Sunday 55 69 46 -
NextGen Line 602 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 30 30 30 -
Saturday 45 45 45 -
Sunday 45 45 45 -
Fall 2023 Line 602 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 45 45 60 -
Saturday 45 45 60 -
Sunday 45 45 60 -
Line 720: Wilshire Blvd Rapid (Exis�ng)
NextGen Recommenda�on:
Merge Line 20 and Line 720 between
Downtown Santa Monica and Downtown LA via
Wilshire Bl., following the exis�ng Line 20/720
route:
• The highest frequency of service shown
above would be available at all bus stops
between Westwood and downtown LA
• Underu�lized Line 20 bus stops between
Westwood and Downtown LA would be
Original Line 720 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 8 11 16 -
Saturday 11 11 16 -
Sunday 14 12 17 -
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 13 consolidated to balance speed, reliability,
and accessibility, with Line 20 moving
from 7th to 5th and 6th Sts in Downtown
LA.
• New Line 20 would serve exis�ng Line
720 stops west of Sepulveda Bl to Santa
Monica
• Except during overnight OWL periods
when all bus stops would be served in
Santa Monica.
• New Line 720 would operate peak
periods weekdays serving only exis�ng
Line 720 stops between Downtown LA
and Westwood
NextGen Line 720 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 10 - - -
Saturday - - - -
Sunday - - - -
Fall 2023 Line 720 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 3-5 7.5 7.5-20 -
Saturday 7.5 7.5 12-20 -
Sunday 7.5 7.6 12-20 -
Current Status (Fall 2023):
The proposed merging of Lines 20 and 720 has not taken place yet.
Line 761: Van Nuys Blvd. Sepulveda Pass Rapid (New)
NextGen Recommenda�on:
New Line 761 would replace exis�ng Line 788,
serving high travel demand between San
Fernando Valley and the Westside
• New Line 761 would feature similar
service to former peak hour only Line 788
but would now operate frequent service
all day on weekdays and provide
weekend service
• Service through the Sepulveda Pass will
operate along Sepulveda Bl instead of I405 Freeway for improved access to the Gety Center, Skirball Center and
adjacent neighborhoods
• Owl service between Discovery Cube,
Van Nuys Bl, Sepulveda Bl and
Westside/E Line (Expo) would be
provided by Line 233
Original Line 788 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 20 - - -
Saturday - - - -
Sunday - - - -
NextGen Line 761 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 15 15 30-60 60
Saturday 30 30 30 60
Sunday 30 30 30 60
Fall 2023 Line 761 Frequencies
Peak Midday Evening Owl
Weekday 15 15 15-30 60
Saturday 30 30 30 60
Sunday 30 30 30 60
Current Status (Fall 2023):
Line 761 was implemented and Line 788 was discon�nued. The new Line 761 frequencies meet or exceed the NextGen plan goals.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 14 1.2.3 Recent Policy Changes and Housing Ini�a�ves
Changing state and local policies and new rail construc�on in the Big Blue Bus service area could both shi� transit rider paterns and increase overall demand for BBB services in the coming decade. Among the most influen�al changes will be the California Regional Housing Needs Alloca�on (RHNA) effect on land use and density, especially around Metro Rail sta�ons.
Future development is expected to be concentrated along the Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Colorado Avenue, Lincoln Boulevard, and Pico Boulevard corridors within Santa Monica, as well as in Downtown Santa Monica and surrounding Metro E Line sta�ons. Growth is also expected along Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard in Westwood and Sawtelle, and along Overland Boulevard and around Metro E Line sta�ons in Palms and Culver City. Planned development in the en�re Big Blue Bus area (i.e., Santa Monica and West Los Angeles) areas is expected to lead to an increase of over 36,000 new residents and poten�ally 10,000 new jobs by 2035 per es�mates from the Santa Monica Travel Demand Model, mostly along Big Blue Bus lines 1, 2, 7, Rapid 12, 14, and 17. The West LA VA Medical Center and UCLA Student Housing plans will add thousands of new units of permanent suppor�ve housing and student housing in and around their respec�ve campuses, both of which are already significant ac�vity hubs.
Figure 2: Forecasted Increases of Population and Employment by 2035 Source: Santa Monica Travel Demand Model
Finally, the Metro D Line subway extension to Wilshire/Westwood and the VA Medical Center, the comple�on of the Metro K Line to LAX, and the exis�ng Metro E Line in between will further drive the need for frequent and dependable north-south connec�ons par�cularly in the eastern por�on of the service area.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 15 To mi�gate poten�al increased traffic and vehicle-miles travelled from new development, Big Blue Bus can leverage planned bus lane and transit priority streets projects. The Westside Ci�es Council of Governments (COG) Westside Mobility Study and LADOT Livable Streets Program propose improvements along Lincoln Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard, and Pico Boulevard. In addi�on to the aforemen�oned corridors, Bundy/Cen�nela Avenue and Overland Boulevard are iden�fied within the Transit Enhanced Network (TEN) of the City of Los Angeles Mobility Plan 2035, all of which may see increased priori�za�on of transit improvements. Corridors with expected development but without planned transit priority projects—including Palms Boulevard, Westwood Boulevard, and Sawtelle Boulevard—should be monitored, as bus speed and reliability may be degraded as development occurs.
With the recent passing of Los Angeles Safe Streets for All Ini�a�ve (measure HLA), which requires the City to priori�ze street improvement measures described in the City’s Mobility Plan, these projects have a greater likelihood of being implemented.
Santa Monica City Council adopted the 2021-2029 update of the Housing Element of the Santa Monica General Plan in October 2022. The latest update con�nues to site housing in mixed-use areas with easy access to transit op�ons with a further emphasis on affordable housing and equitable housing access across all of Santa Monica’s neighborhoods.
The Housing Element has a target to build 8,895 units, of which 6,168 would be affordable housing units, mostly located in the Downtown, Bergamot, and Mid-City neighborhoods of Santa Monica. For this COA, the City should an�cipate increased demand on Santa Monica Boulevard (Route 1), Wilshire Boulevard (Route 2), Colorado Avenue (Route 5), and routes serving Downtown Santa Monica.
1.2.4 Current Transporta�on Demand Management Programs
City-led Transporta�on Demand Management (TDM) efforts present an opportunity for Big Blue Bus (BBB) to gain ridership and improve its service. TDM refers to strategies aimed at reducing vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions by shi�ing trips from single occupancy vehicles to alterna�ve modes of travel.1 TDM requirements o�en include pos�ng informa�on about transit services and, in some cases, require developers to invest in pedestrian infrastructure and transit ameni�es. By proac�vely working with developers to implement transit-related TDM requirements, BBB could raise awareness of its services and ensure transit-related infrastructure investments align with BBB priori�es and design standards. However, as more projects are being shi�ed to by-right development, these poten�al infrastructure investments will be harder to come by. Addi�onal opportuni�es include collabora�ng with ci�es on upda�ng their TDM requirements and exploring how TDM-generated revenue could go towards transit.
Overview of TDM within Big Blue Bus Core Service Area
Each city within BBB’s service area has a TDM ordinance in their municipal code. The ci�es’ TDM ordinances specify physical and programma�c requirements developers must implement if their project exceeds a certain size, which are summarized in Table 3. The City of Santa Monica includes about 30 percent of BBB service, the City of Los Angelesincludes about 65 percent of BBB service, and the remaining five percent is distributed between unincorporated Los Angeles County, Culver City, and Inglewood. All four ci�es, as well as por�ons of LA County, within BBB’s service area require developments above a certain size to display transporta�on informa�on, including maps and schedules of public transit routes serving the site, in a prominent area accessible to employees/residents. The City of Santa Monica has the most 1 Southern California Associa�on of Governments, “Transporta�on Demand Management.” htps://scag.ca.gov/TDM Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 16 robust requirements, as it applies to both residen�al and nonresiden�al developments and mandates both developers and employers to prepare a TDM plan. The Santa Monica TDM requirements strive to reduce the inherent subsidies for automobile ownership and travel while encouraging the promo�on of nonsingle occupancy vehicle (SOV) modes of travel. The Santa Monica TDM ordinance does not require developers to invest in pedestrian or transit infrastructure. All capital requirements (outside of the transit screen) are part of the zoning ordinance and are not triggered by the TDM ordinance or thresholds. Santa Monica is also the only city that requires developers to provide a transporta�on allowance, which must be equal to 50-100% of the current cost of a monthly regional transit pass, depending on where the development is located.
Table 3: Developer TDM Requirements in City Municipal Codes City Applicable
Developments
TDM Requirements
Posted
transportation
information
Designated
carpool/
vanpool
parking
Bicycle
parking
Bus stop
improvements1
Carpool/
vanpool
loading
area
Transportation
allowance
Incentives2
Culver
City
New development
greater than 25k sf (>50k+ sf) (>50k+ sf) (>100k+ sf) (>100k+ sf) N/A N/A Inglewood
Nonresidential
development
greater than 25k sf (>100k+ sf) (>100k+ sf) N/A N/A
Los
Angeles
Nonresidential
development
greater than 25k sf (>50k+ sf) (>50k+ sf) (>100k+ sf) (>100k+ sf) N/A N/A Santa
Monica
New development
meeting specific
thresholds3
(Commercial
uses with >50
parking
spaces)
N/A N/A
Sources:
• City of Culver City, “The Municipal Code of the City of Culver City, California.” https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/culvercity/latest/culvercity_ca/0-0-0-33516 • City of Inglewood, CA, “Inglewood, California Municipal Code.” https://library.qcode.us/lib/inglewood_ca/pub/municipal_code/item/chapter_10-article_12-section_10_151 • City of Los Angeles, “Official City of Los Angeles Municipal Code.” https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/los_angeles/latest/lapz/0-0-0-1 • City of Santa Monica, “Code of Ordinances.” https://ecode360.com/42781804#42781804 Notes: 1 Only required if city determines it is necessary to mitigate the impacts of the development project. 2 Includes parking cashout for nonresidential projects, incentives for employees that live within a ½ mile radius of their workplace, and customer incentive programs.
3 TDM requirements are triggered in Santa Monica if the new development is a commercial development of 7,500 square feet or more, a residential development of 16 or more dwelling units, or a mixed-use development with either “16 or more residential units with any associated nonresidential floor area or 7,500 square feet or more of nonresidential floor area with any number of residential units.”
In addi�on to a TDM ordinance, Los Angeles and Santa Monica have TDM programs in place, which provide developers and employers with resources to meet city TDM requirements. Inglewood has a more targeted TDM program in partnership with Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), which provides free shared van rides to LAX employees who live in the City of Inglewood. LAWA operates a broader TDM program for all airport employees called LAWA Rideshare, which provides carpool match assistance, a vanpool program, bike lockers for bike commuters, and incen�ves for employees who commute on transit, in a vanpool, or in a carpool. Culver City is in the process of developing a TDM program and Los Angeles is in the process Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 17 of upda�ng its TDM program—both program updates include revisions to the ci�es’ exis�ng TDM ordinance. Table 4 summarizes ongoing ini�a�ves related to TDM in each city within BBB’s service area.
Table 4: TDM-Related Efforts by City
City TDM Ordinance TDM Program
Culver City In process of revising existing
ordinance
In process of developing a
program
Inglewood Ordinance in place Program with LAX in place
Los Angeles In process of revising existing
ordinance
In process of updating existing
program
Santa Monica Ordinance in place Program in place
Sources:
• Culver City Transportation Department, “Short Range Mobility Plan FY 2022-2026.” https://www.culvercitybus.com/files/assets/bus/v/1/documents/shortrangemobilityplan_fy2022-2026.pdf; • Los Angeles City Planning, “Mobility.” https://planning.lacity.org/plans-policies/initiatives-policies/mobility. • LAWA, “LAWA Mobility.” https://www.lawa.org/lawa-environment/lawa-mobility TDM Opportuni�es for Big Blue Bus
The TDM ordinances and programs in place within BBB’s service area, together with the revisions underway, present an opportunity for BBB to gain ridership and improve its service. This sec�on outlines three poten�al strategies for leveraging city led TDM efforts to atract more riders and funding for service improvements.
Support developers in satisfying existing requirements
Pos�ng transporta�on informa�on is a requirement for new developments above a certain size in Culver City, Inglewood, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica. BBB can leverage its transit marke�ng exper�se to develop materials that incorporate messaging that best atracts new riders and share these with employers and large residen�al developments within its service area. Outreach efforts encouraging the use of these materials should priori�ze employers and large residen�al developments in Santa Monica, where developers are required to provide a transporta�on allowance to employees and residents. In Santa Monica specifically, the City’s Transporta�on Management Organiza�on (TMO) has created the mul�- modal new resident packet for residen�al projects that features BBB, Metro and other non-SOV op�ons adjacent to the residen�al project and usually includes a TAP card.
In Santa Monica, Culver City, Inglewood, and Los Angeles, bus stop improvements are required for larger developments if the city iden�fies the project will have a transporta�on impact. Developing a clear process for ci�es and developers to align with BBB on desired stop ameni�es and design standards would ensure these bus stop improvements are coherent and meaningfully improve the rider experience. BBB can set the expecta�on for developers to reach out when they are required to make bus stop improvements; however BBB should also consider dedica�ng resources internally to tracking new developments that meet city thresholds for TDM measures. This could take the form of a staff or contractor posi�on whose role includes monitoring development news and short-term plans on a regular basis.
Provide input on the ongoing revisions to TDM ordinances and programs Many of the ci�es within BBB’s core service area are currently revising their TDM ordinance, developing a TDM program, or upda�ng an exis�ng TDM program. While these efforts are in their later stages, BBB should connect with ci�es’ transporta�on departments to understand what transit-related strategies are Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 18 being proposed and determine whether any high impact levers for encouraging transit use are missing.
The California Air Pollu�on Control Officers Associa�on (CAPCOA) Handbook for Analyzing Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions, Assess Climate Vulnerabilities, and Advancing Health and Equity (2021) quan�fies the poten�al vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduc�on from implemen�ng various transporta�on measures. CAPCOA research shows that offering subsidized or discounted transit passes to employees can reduce employee commute VMT by up to 5.5% and that requiring employers to price onsite parking and offer employee parking cash-out can reduce employee commute VMT by 20% and 12% respec�vely. These es�mated VMT reduc�ons suggest requiring developers or employers to provide transit pass subsidies and price onsite parking/offer parking cash-out can shi� trips from single occupancy vehicles towards other modes, such as transit. Programs that would eliminate free/subsidized employee parking and provide employees with a more universal transporta�on allowance (that could be used for transit, but other modes as well), has also been shown to significantly reduce VMT, according to research by the Federal Highway Administra�on. BBB should also coordinate with ci�es developing or upda�ng their TDM programs to ensure future investments in bike and pedestrian infrastructure include improved access to BBB stops.
1.2.5 2022 Fare Policy Changes
In April 2022, BBB staff proposed and City Council adopted a series of changes to the system’s fare structure. The goals of these fare changes were to:
• Lower fares for customers and increase Big Blue Bus ridership: Following the significant impacts that COVID-19had on ridership, Big Blue Bus is using fare policies to assist in increasing ridership. • Align fare products with customer preferences
• Simplify the fare structure
• Maintain customer safety: In an atempt to maximize social distancing to reduce the threats of illness, Big Blue Bus wanted to ensure that contactless fare payments were possible • Improve on-�me performance: Contactless payment op�ons allow for quicker payment of fares, decreasing dwell �mes and increases on-�me performance.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, BBB suspended all fare payment collec�on between March 2020 and February 2021. Having made significant changes to fare collec�on, BBB began to explore more sustainable changes to its fare structure in order to retain some of the benefits associated with not collec�ng fares. The specific changes to atain the goals listed above included:
• Free transfers for contactless fare media users: Users receive a free BBB to BBB transfer within two hours on contactless single ride and mul�-ride passes • Change to mul�-ride passes: The $14 Regular 13-Ride Pass was replaced with $9 10-Ride Pass; the $6 Senior, Disabled and Medicare 13-Ride Pass was replaced with a $4.50 10-Ride Pass. • Introduc�on of a youth pass: Temporary $19 Youth 30-Day Unlimited Pass was made permanent. • Free rides for children 5 years and younger: Previously 4 years and younger. • Accep�ng Metro 1-Day Passes
• Discon�nua�on of paper passes: All pass sales were moved to contactless fares. • Discon�nua�on of Big Blue Bus Tokens
• Con�nuing no fare/par�al fare policies: The COVID policy of allowing customers with no fare or par�al fare was made permanent.
• Making BBB fare media available in more loca�ons: Pay a 3.75% commission to incen�vize TAP retailers to carry BBB passes, which is in line with Metro policy Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 19 1.3 Upcoming Projects Affecting Service
1.3.1 Future Opening of Metro Rail Lines
Metro K Line (Crenshaw)
The Metro K (Crenshaw) Line is a north/south light rail connector between the east/west E (Expo) and C (Green) Lines. In October 2022, the K (Crenshaw) Line opened between Expo/Crenshaw and Westchester/Veterans in Inglewood. Once the full route is opened in 2024, the line will directly connect with LAX via an automated people mover at the new LAX/Metro Transit Center (96th Street) sta�on. This new sta�on will serve as the primary transit center for LAX, replacing the LAX City Bus Center and reducing the dependence on the exis�ng Avia�on/LAX C (Green) Line sta�on. In addi�on to LAX, the K Line provides connec�ons to Downtown Inglewood and the future Inglewood Transit Connector people mover to The Forum, SoFi Stadium, and the Intuit Dome (Clippers Arena).
Figure 3: LA Metro K Line
Source: htps://kline.metro.net/
BBB currently serves the K Line via Route 14 linking Westchester/Veterans sta�on to Playa Vista and West LA via Cen�nela Avenue and Bundy Drive. Addi�onally, following the comple�on of the project, Routes 3 and Rapid 3 on Lincoln Boulevard will connect with the line, and all bus services to LAX from the north are expected to terminate at the LAX/Metro Transit Center.
As of June 2023, LA Metro has adopted an opera�ng plan for the K and C lines that will restructure their respec�ve alignments. The K line will take over the Mariposa, El Segundo, Douglas, and Redondo Beach sta�ons on the C line, providing a more north/south alignment. The C line will start at the new LAX/Metro Transit Center, providing the rest of the line with direct access to LAX. Significant transit-oriented Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 20 development is planned through the Westchester/Veterans, Downtown Inglewood, and Fairview Heights sta�ons, increasing demand for transit service in this area.
Metro D Line Extension (Purple Line)
The extension of the D Line subway from Koreatown to Westwood represents a poten�ally transforma�onal opportunity for mobility across LA. The project is set to open in phases between 2025 and 2027, with the opening of Westwood/UCLA sta�on and Westwood/VA Hospital sta�on as a part of the final phase in 2027. This high-capacity transit corridor will link Downtown LA and the Westside in approximately 25 minutes, a 50% �me reduc�on compared to exis�ng transit services. The completed D Line will also reduce transit travel �mes between Santa Monica and other regional des�na�ons such as Pasadena and North Hollywood. The service could have a significant effect on regional travel to and from the Westside, shi�ing riders from exis�ng bus lines like the R7 to others like Routes 1, 2, 8, 12, 17 and 18 that interface with the future rail line. Addi�onally, BBB is well-posi�oned to provide first/last mile transit services north of Wilshire Boulevard into the UCLA campus using Routes 1, 2, 8, R12, 17, and 18.
Figure 4: Metro D (Purple) Line Extension
Source: htps://www.metro.net/projects/westside/
Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project
The Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project is a plan for construc�ng rail transit service between the San Fernando Valley and Westside Los Angeles. The project's northern terminus will be located at the Van Nuys Metrolink/Amtrak Sta�on and its southern terminus would be at either the Expo/Sepulveda or Expo/Bundy Metro E Line sta�ons. Metro is currently in the environmental review phase of the project.
Five alterna�ves with service being provided by monorail or heavy rail are currently being evaluated. The forecasted opening date for the service is 2033-2035. The project could have a significant impact on regional travel to and from the Westside. BBB service could play a first/last mile role for passengers Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 21 traveling from the San Fernando Valley. Routes that would most likely be affected are those serving UCLA, and routes 5, 7, 14, and/or 15, depending on the ul�mate southern terminus of the route.
Figure 5: Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project
Source: htps://www.metro.net/projects/sepulvedacorridor/
1.3.2 Planned Developments Within the Service Area
Santa Monica Downtown Community Plan (2017)
The Downtown Community Plan (DCP) is intended to be the regulatory document which will guide the development in Downtown Santa Monica over the coming decades. The DCP incorporates the most aggressive Transporta�on Demand Management (TDM) measures in the city to encourage walking, bicycling, and transit use over automobile use. Circula�on interven�ons and improvements for the DCP area include wayfinding and first/last mile connec�ons that will make transit use an easier and more appealing op�on for the thousands of visitors to Downtown Santa Monica.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 22 Today, 12 out of 18 Big Blue Bus routes operate through Downtown Santa Monica, and it is the start/end point of routes on major corridors such as Wilshire Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, and Lincoln Boulevard. BBB services are supported in the area by the nearby BBB maintenance facility, encompassing most of the area bounded by 5th Street, Colorado Avenue, 7th Street, and Olympic Boulevard.
Chapter 3 of the DCP, Access and Mobility, provides the following policy direc�on for transit and other transporta�on modes in downtown:
• 3.3A. Transporta�on is a key part of realizing community values o Transporta�on should be used to further community values of sustainability, wellbeing, safety, diversity and innova�on.
• 3.3B. Priori�ze pedestrians
o Streets should have sidewalks that are safe and comfortable, provide width to meet demand and allow people to walk side by side, are visually s�mula�ng and provide an interes�ng walk.
o Public projects to increase pedestrian ligh�ng Downtown should be pursued in phases to increase the effec�ve walking distance and reduce the need for people to depend upon vehicles for evening travel.
• 3.3C. Reduce the frustra�on of vehicle conges�on by increasing reliability and shortening driving distances
o Improve wayfinding to provide guidance to transit riders and other downtown travelers. • 3.3D. Increase the carrying-capacity of public streets for all users o Transit is a crucial element of Downtown Santa Monica’s transporta�on environment. o Con�nued investment in dedicated transit facili�es and well-located stops and layover zones will increase reliability, decrease travel �mes, and ensure rider safety and comfort. • 3.3E. Create a downtown that enjoys the richest diversity of transporta�on op�ons o Explore an internal circulator for downtown.
o Leverage the area of street adjacent to curb.
• 3.3F. Lead innova�on and ac�vely incorporate new technologies o Use data to inform change.
• 3.3G. Complete, high quality, and safe streets for all modes o Vehicle speed downtown exceeding 25 miles per hour should be evaluated to assess the tradeoffs between travel �me and safety.
• 3.3H. Carefully manage parking as part of the transporta�on system Some of these improvements have already been implemented and some priori�es have changed since the DCP was completed:
• A fixed route hop-on/hop-off circulator service to augment access for visitors and persons with disabili�es. Tested briefly within the last five years but not continued. • Reconfigura�on and/or increasing frequency of bus routes serving Downtown. • Improved bus traveler informa�on (e.g., NextBus). This has been completed. • Reloca�on of bus stops in the Downtown area to beter serve the Downtown Santa Monica E Line sta�on. This appears to be complete.
• Bus stop pull-outs on 4th Street in the vicinity of Downtown Santa Monica sta�on. • Possible bus transit plaza at the BBB yards. Bus layovers surrounding the yards have been implemented as recommended by the DCP.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 23 • New public bus service on Lincoln Boulevard between Wilshire Boulevard and Pico Boulevard.
There has been since modification to routes with service established between Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, but not as far as Pico. In the meantime, several high-density redevelopments have begun near the intersection of Lincoln and Colorado which is directly served only by the hourly Line 5.
The updated Housing Element modified the requirements for residen�al development within the DCP to increase poten�al for dense development at the core of the BBB service area. Housing produc�on since the DCP was adopted has been slow, although some developments are now planned. Similar to the Land Use and Circula�on Element (LUCE), this is a good �me to reevaluate the planned improvements for improved transit circula�on through downtown.
Bergamot Area Plan
The 2013 Bergamot Area Plan (BAP) was created to guide an�cipated future development around the E Line sta�on located at Olympic Boulevard & 26th Street. The BAP is centered on the historic Bergamot sta�on industrial neighborhood. Service in the BAP area consists of Routes 5, 16, and 43, which link the area to several local des�na�ons such as Playa del Rey and Century City, albeit at low frequencies. Routes 16 and 43 fulfill objec�ves in the BAP to expand transit service around eastern Santa Monica, linking des�na�ons such as employment centers on Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards and the Santa Monica Business Park.
There are measures included in the BAP that could increase demand for transit service. The BAP allows for a higher floor area ra�o (FAR) without the provision of addi�onal parking, a transformed circula�on system in which exis�ng blocks are subdivided with pedestrian and bicycle-only pathways increasing the safety and convenience of alterna�ves modes to driving, and many aggressive TDM measures. However, the 2021-2029 Housing Element noted that since the 2013 adop�on of the BAP, only three residen�al projects have been proposed in the Bergamot area, as a result of complex design standards defined by the BAP.
Therefore, through the Housing Element, the city has launched a program to revise the BAP over the next three years to provide more clarity and incen�vize housing produc�on around the Bergamot sta�on area.
Meaningful change in this area is unlikely for several more years and connec�ng lines 5, 16, and 43 to the E Line sta�on could be reconsidered based on produc�vity.
Memorial Park Neighborhood Plan
The 2016 Memorial Park Neighborhood Plan (MPNP) is a dra� plan for the area encompassing Memorial Park and the 17th Street/SMC E Line sta�on located at Colorado Avenue & 17th Street. The plan called for enhanced recrea�onal facili�es, improved pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, new local retail, and a variety of types of residen�al development which would increase the density of the area in a similar – though less intense – fashion to the BAP. As the MPNP never progressed past the dra� stage, it was never adopted.
Four circulator routes were implemented by BBB to improve connec�vity to the 17th Street sta�on and MPNP plan area with Santa Monica College and other neighborhoods throughout Santa Monica.
Redevelopment has been slow in this area. Reevalua�on of the circulator routes with respect to their larger area anchors (especially SMC) is warranted.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 24 East of Santa Monica: The Expo Transit Neighborhood Plans VA and UCLA Student Housing Several plans in the greater West LA area could have a cumula�ve effect on transit demand for lines to the east of the BBB service area: The Expo Transit Neighborhoods Plan, the West LA VA Campus Master Plan, UCLA student housing, and the extension of the D Line subway.
The Exposi�on Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan (Expo TNP) is a specific plan adopted in 2019 applicable to developments in the City of Los Angeles within a half mile of the Bundy, Sepulveda, Westwood/Rancho Park, Palms, and Culver City sta�ons. The Expo TNP incen�vizes increased residen�al and mixed-use development in sta�on areas while also providing policies such as unbundled parking and transit benefits to encourage non-car modes. The plan recommends streetscape and ac�ve transporta�on interven�ons that improve access to transit.
The 2022 West Los Angeles VA Campus Master Plan envisions the redevelopment and restructuring of uses over the coming 15 years. Central to the plan is the requirement to add a minimum of 1,200 permanent suppor�ve housing units to the VA campus over the next decade. The Master Plan addresses the transforma�onal change of the opening of the Westwood/VA Hospital D (Purple) Line sta�on on the property in 2027 and resul�ng transit and mobility hub that will develop. The Plan includes provisions to increase vehicular and pedestrian access and improve circula�on throughout the campus. Many of the new suppor�ve housing units will be constructed on the north side of the campus, and increased access points will provide beter connec�ons to Routes 14 and 15 on Bringham and Barrington Avenues. Finally, new circulator shutle services are envisioned to link the future D Line sta�on with both the north and south por�ons of the campus.
The 2016 UCLA Student Housing Master Plan puts a strong emphasis on developing housing on campus and at proper�es directly adjacent to the campus. Today, about 38% of the over 30,000 student popula�on resides on campus, and the Housing Master Plan seeks to raise this to 51% of students. Off-campus housing purchases by the university north of Westwood Village are also expected to be priori�zed.
Given that UCLA students and commuters have tradi�onally made up a significant por�on of BBB ridership, this shi� may result in changes to travel paterns across the network. More UCLA students residing on campus may necessitate the need for service paterns to serve off-campus student trips for recrea�on and social ac�vi�es as opposed to an emphasis on commu�ng towards campus. However, staff and faculty commu�ng to UCLA will con�nue to be a large tradi�onal ridership base, and the Housing Master Plan indicates off-campus housing developments may be purchased by the university up to five miles from campus, encompassing much of the BBB service area. To date, housing development plans made public have focused on infill development within Westwood.
With these developments, there is likely to be increased demand along Rapid 12, and Routes 1, 2, 8, 14, 15, 17 and 18 which serve UCLA, Westwood, the VA, and the neighborhoods in West LA, Sawtelle, Westwood, and Palms where the Expo TNP will drive increased development. There are already signs of these changes around the Expo/Bundy sta�on with three blocks of single-family homes about to be replaced by over 600 residen�al units while the former Mar�n Cadillac site is about to open the “West Edge” development, also with 600 apartment units.
Santa Monica Airport Redevelopment
In January 2023, the City of Santa Monica ini�ated a public process to determine the future of the Santa Monica Airport. The airport is authorized to close a�er December 31, 2028, pending City Council ac�on. 25 Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report The airport occupies over 200 acres of land in the southeastern corner of the city. Closure of the airport presents a rare opportunity for Santa Monica to design, program and develop one of the largest remaining spaces in Los Angeles County. The “Future of Santa Monica Airport Project” will be a mul�-year effort to engage the community in how this space can best serve the City and how it can fund and govern the asset.
Several alterna�ves are expected to undergo future evalua�on. Transit demand to the site should increase under any alterna�ve, but the amount of increase will depend on the alterna�ve chosen (for example, whether the land is turned into a park or a housing site). BBB should engage in the Future of Santa Monica Airport alterna�ves process to refine transit service decisions. There is also an opportunity to build a mobility or transit center at the site for the mul�ple Big Blue Bus routes that serve the area. It is important for BBB to stay engaged in conversa�ons from the beginning to ensure that mobility considera�ons are an integral part of the proposed plan rather than an a�erthought.
1.3.3 Implementa�on of the Batery Electric Bus Fleet
In 2021, the City of Santa Monica conducted a feasibility study for transi�on to a fleet of batery-electric buses (BEB) in response to a commitment made by Santa Monica City Council to have the Big Blue Bus fleet be 100% zero-emission by 2030. As of the �me of this analysis, BBB had 19 BEB vehicles in its fleet.2 The study analyzed whether it was possible to operate its current (as of 2019) service schedule while accommoda�ng the charging �me needs of a BEB fleet, assuming that buses would never fall below 20% batery charge. The study found that two different batery sizes would be required to operate its current schedule, along with the ability to schedule and dispatch vehicles to ensure that vehicles were assigned to appropriate scheduling block. Big Blue Bus preferred a fleet that used a uniform batery size, but this op�on was found to require an average of six addi�onal buses throughout the day, needing a maximum of 14 addi�onal vehicles to provide the current schedule of service.
The implementa�on strategy recommended that vehicle purchases be made through 2030, with the bulk of purchases made between 2024 and 2027. This strategy assumed that the number of vehicles in the fleet would remain stable at 195 vehicles. As of the wri�ng of the report, the lead �me for vehicles was 12 to 18 months. The transi�on to a BEB fleet will also require a phased installa�on of chargers at Big Blue Bus’s facili�es and an increase to the facility’s electrical service capacity. Installa�on of vehicle charging infrastructure and u�lity improvements to Big Blue Bus’s facili�es are to occur in phases through 2030.
1.3.4 The 2028 Olympics
In the Summer of 2028, the Los Angeles area will host its third Olympic games, drawing athletes and spectators from across the country and around the world. Over the mul�-week event, many events are expected to occur at several venues across the BBB service area.
UCLA will also be the site of the Olympic Village with the training center and athlete housing. BBB should be prepared for large passenger loads to these and other des�na�ons. Addi�onally, major traffic disrup�ons are likely during this �meframe near Olympic venues. BBB should an�cipate and plan for the need for stop closures/reloca�ons during events and temporary transit lanes to maintain bus speed and reliability. The Olympics streets and transit management planning efforts are already underway to address these issues.
2 htps://smmirror.com/2023/05/big-blue-bus-gets-closer-to-zero-emission-status-with-23m-grant/ Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 26 1.4 Planning Context Key Takeaways The following are key takeaways from the Planning Context which should be taken into consideration when developing the COA recommendations.
• BBB has a history of providing transit service outside the City of Santa Monica to key destinations in West LA and connections to the regional transit system. • Bus service levels have not returned to pre-pandemic levels as the City has faced motor coach operator shortages and lower ridership to key destinations. • The last BBB COA in 2015 focused on integration with the Metro E Line. • Metro has implemented most of the recommendations in the NextGen plan within the City of Santa Monica. The exception is the consolidation of Lines 20 and 720 which has not been implemented yet. The substantially increased frequencies on the Metro Line 20 and Line 4 will create competition for riders on the Wilshire Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd corridors where BBB operates Routes 2 and 1.
• Future development in the BBB service area is expected to be concentrated along the Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Lincoln Boulevard, and Pico Boulevard corridors within Santa Monica, as well as in Downtown Santa Monica and surrounding Metro E Line stations. • Big Blue Bus can leverage planned bus lane and transit priority streets projects. These include LADOT Livable Streets Projects along Santa Monica Boulevard (City of LA) and Lincoln Boulevard (City of LA), as well as proposed improvements along Wilshire and Pico Boulevard through the Westside COG Westside Mobility Study and along Bundy/Centinela Avenue and Overland Boulevard through the Los Angeles Mobility 2035 Transit Enhanced Network. • There is an opportunity for BBB to work with the cities in their service area to implement existing TDM measures and include additional measures as part of updates to TDM plans. The City, through its TMO, should continue providing information regarding transit service options to residents and employees at major developments, as well as encourage these developments to provide discounted transit passes or more flexible transportation allowances to their tenants. BBB can help by verifying the accuracy of the information provided. • As cities move to a VMT-based analysis for traffic impacts, there is an opportunity for BBB to tie service increases to mitigation fees for new developments. • The full opening on the Metro K Line (Crenshaw) will change transit travel patterns to LAX which is served by BBB.
• The phased opening of the Metro D Line (formerly Purple Line) to UCLA and the VA Medical Center should be a major consideration for route changes proposed in this COA. BBB should look at how to best serve the interim and final station locations and consider how this subway extension will impact Routes 7, Rapid 7, and 10.
• BBB should re-evaluate how to circulate people in Downtown Santa Monica as the Downtown Community Plan continues to be implemented, and more broadly how people get around the City as a whole.
• BBB is planning to transition the entire bus fleet to battery electric buses by 2030. The service design for the COA should take the limitations of BEBs into consideration including the limited operating range and charging requirements.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 27 2. Market Assessment
The Market Assessment seeks to understand the local demand for public transit service, looking at travel paterns, the design of the built environment, and the distribu�on of popula�on sub-groups more likely to use public transit. The Market Assessment helps iden�fy where densi�es, key des�na�ons, and origindes�na�on paterns align to iden�fy where an investment in transit service may be most successful.
2.1 Density The density of popula�ons and employment greatly influence the local demand for transit use. To visualize its influence, residen�al and mixed-use density is an�cipated to increase primarily along Routes 1, 2, 7, 12, and 14. This is driven in part by the frequency of transit services, which affects incen�ves for future development. The rela�onship between current service levels and the developer incen�ves associated with them creates a close rela�onship between current service levels and poten�al future demand. As a result, having 15-minute or beter headways has a meaningful effect on land use decisions and density.
To fully understand density’s influence on Santa Monica’s BBB service, both current and future, maps for popula�on, demographics (including age, income, minority status, disability, and car ownership), employment, and trip ac�vity have been created. These characteris�cs, combined with a profile of current transit riders, will then be compiled into a transit demand poten�al map, which will iden�fy where in BBB’s service there is enough density of popula�ons using transit to support a more robust transit service.
2.1.1 Popula�on
In any given area, the greater its popula�on density is, the greater the likelihood that there are people that will u�lize transit. Higher-density areas generate more transit trips because more people live there (a larger market) and because people living in higher-density areas tend to make more trips by transit. As a general rule, residen�al densi�es of three (3) households per gross acre along a route can support hourly weekday transit service, with a gross acre defined as total land area, including land used for streets, parks, schools, and other non-residen�al uses. Higher densi�es can support more frequent service.
Figure 1 shows popula�on density in terms of people per acre for the City of Santa Monica and the greater BBB service area. Within the service area, the highest popula�on densi�es are found around downtown Santa Monica, Ocean Park, Palms, Brentwood, Downtown Inglewood, Central Los Angeles communi�es (e.g., La Brea, Koreatown), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Areas of lower popula�on density are found in the northern por�on of the service area, par�cularly around Pacific Palisades.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 28 Figure 6: Population Density
2.1.2 Employment
Public transit is essen�al in providing access to jobs and job centers. Subsequently, it is crucial to iden�fy whether BBB’s current services and network orienta�on is providing sufficient access to dense job centers.
In 2020, there were 83,000 employees working in the city of Santa Monica. Santa Monica is an important employment des�na�on in the Los Angeles region; 75,300 employees travel into the city to work, 35,800 Santa Monica residents leave for work, and 8,000 people both live and work within the city. The large number of nonresidents traveling into Santa Monica for work requires strong connec�ons to the greater regional transit network to ensure the success of the transit system.
The three largest industries in the City of Santa Monica include Professional, Scien�fic, and Technical Services (19.1%), Informa�on (17.5%), and Health Care and Social Assistance (11.9%). Figure 2 provides a list of the top ten North American Industry Classifica�on System (NAICS) industries within the City.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 29 Figure 7: Jobs by NAICS Industry Sector
The top employer in the City of Santa Monica is the city itself, followed by the UCLA Medical Center- Santa Monica Campus and Santa Monica College. Entertainment companies and so�ware companies are also major employers in the city.
Table 5: Top 10 Employers in the City of Santa Monica
Employer Employees Address
City of Santa Monica 2,059 1685 Main Street
UCLA Medical Center- Santa Monica 1,965 1250 16th Street Santa Monica College 1,865 1900 Pico Boulevard
Snap, Inc. 1,667 3340 Ocean Park Boulevard
Universal Music Group 1,400 2220 Colorado Ave
Providence Saint John’s Health Center 1,386 2121 Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District 1,358 1651 16th Street Hulu 1,320 2500 Broadway
Oracle 950 1620 26th St
Ac�vision 919 2701 Olympic Boulevard
Figure 8 shows employment density for Santa Monica and the greater service area. The largest concentra�on of jobs is seen along Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard, corridors served by Routes 1, 2, and 5. The east-west orienta�on of employment densi�es allows direct transit alignments to effec�vely serve a large propor�on of employment in the area. Another large cluster of jobs are found along Wilshire Boulevard which, while currently served by bus service, will be covered in the future with the extension of the Metro D Line. The extension of the D Line will include three new metro rail sta�ons near several routes in BBB’s service area.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 30 Figure 8: Density of All Jobs
2.1.3 Employee Demographics
According to the 2020 Census, there are just over 83,000 jobs in the City of Santa Monica. The majority of workers are between the ages of 30 to 54 (59%), while 22% are age 29 or younger and the remaining 19% are 55 or older (Figure 9). With regards to race, most people employed in the city are White (73%), while 15% are Asian and 8% are Black. Of the individuals iden�fied by the Census, 27% are of Hispanic or La�no ethnicity. See Figure 10 for the full breakdown of worker race and ethnicity.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 31 Figure 9: Jobs by Worker Age
Figure 10: Jobs by Race and Ethnicity
Over 30% of Santa Monica workers have a Bachelor’s degree and/or advanced degree, 21% have atended some college or have received an Associate degree, 14% have a high school diploma or equivalent, and 12% have less than a high school educa�on (Figure 11). Over 61% of workers earn more than $3,333 per month, while 19% earn $1,250 per month or less and 19% earn between $1,251 to $3,333 per month (Figure 12).
21.9%
58.7%
19.4%
0 10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
Age 29 or younger Age 30 to 54 Age 55 or older
Workers
Jobs by Worker Age
72.6%
27.4%
3.2%
72.7%
0.3%
8.2%
14.8%
0.8%
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000
Not Hispanic or Latino
Hispanic or Latino
Two or More Race Groups
White Alone
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander Alone
Black or African American Alone
Asian Alone
American Indian or Alaska Native Alone
Workers
Jobs by Race and Ethnicity
Race
Ethnicity
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 32 Figure 11: Jobs by Worker Educational Attainment
Figure 12: Jobs by Earnings
2.2 Demographics Different segments of the popula�on u�lize transit at different rates. These rates are driven by the differences between demographic groups’ travel paterns, needs, social/poli�cal outlook, and impediments to using alterna�ves to transit. Therefore, in order to beter understand the nature of transit demand for BBB services, it is important to understand the demographic makeup of popula�ons within the BBB service area.
21.9%
12.3%
14.4%
21.2%
30.2%
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000
Educational attainment not available
(workers aged 29 or younger)
Less than high school
High school or equivalent, no college
Some college or Associate degree
Bachelor's degree or advanced degree
Jobs
Jobs by Worker Educational Attainment
18.8%
19.3%
61.9%
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000
$1,250 per month or less
$1,251 to $3,333 per month
More than $3,333 per month
Jobs
Jobs by Earnings
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 33 2.2.1 Youth Popula�on (Under 18)
The youth popula�on, or those under 18 years of age, have limited mobility op�ons and must rely on rides from parents, public transit, school buses (where provided), walking, or biking, some of which may be unavailable, unreliable, or deemed unsafe by parents. The youth popula�on of Santa Monica is approximately 15,000, or 16% of the city’s popula�on.
Figure 13 shows the share of youth popula�on (under 18 years) for Santa Monica and the greater service area. Areas with a higher density of youth generally coincide with single-family residen�al areas near schools par�cularly in Inglewood and around the Pico-Robertson neighborhood. While school bus services may service this popula�on during the school year, offering addi�onal services to various youth-based ac�vi�es may be appropriate to consider – especially for summer and out-of-school mobility.
Figure 13: Density of Youth Residents
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 34 2.2.2 Young Adults (18 to 24 years old)
Typically, the popula�on of young adults (18-24 years) are people who atend university or are early in their career. Transit access for this popula�on is crucial due to the cost of driving rela�ve to income paired with the usual daily commute to educa�onal ins�tu�ons and job centers. Effec�vely serving this popula�on is crucial in Santa Monica due to the prevalence of major colleges and universi�es in the service area, which serve as a key des�na�on for this age cohort in par�cular; this is evidenced by the fact this age cohort makes up 31% of Big Blue Bus riders, the largest of any age group. Young adults make up 6% of the city of Santa Monica’s popula�on and 10% of the popula�on within Big Blue Bus’s service area.
Figure 14 shows the density of young adults for Santa Monica and the greater service area. As highlighted, the highest propor�ons of young adults are found at the UCLA campus and in Inglewood.
Figure 14: Density of Young Adults
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 35 2.2.3 Seniors (65 years old and older)
The popula�on of older adults (65 and older) has witnessed a sizable increase due to the aging of the “Baby Boomer” genera�on. This genera�on is reaching re�rement age and are consequently less likely to drive on their own. In general, older adults are more likely to u�lize public transporta�on, as it becomes more difficult to drive themselves or maintain a car on a fixed income. Seniors make up 18% of Santa Monica’s popula�on.
Figure 15 highlights the prevalence of older adults in Santa Monica and the greater service area. The highest propor�ons of this popula�on are found in the Wilshire Montana, Ocean Park, Westwood, and Central Los Angeles areas.
Figure 15: Density of Senior Residents
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 36 2.2.4 Income
The density of income groups within a service area, par�cularly low-income popula�ons, is an important considera�on for transit service design. Low-income popula�ons can be especially reliant on public transit service as a means of affordable transporta�on. To be considered a low-income household, household income must be less than 200 percent of federal poverty level (FPL). Of Santa Monica’s popula�on, 22% have an income lower than 200 percent of the FPL.
Figure 16 shows the number of low-income households per acre within Santa Monica and the greater service area. The highest propor�ons of this popula�on are found in the Inglewood area, near PicoRobertson, and around the UCLA campus.
Figure 16: Density of Low-Income Households
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 37 2.2.5 Minority Households
While the distribu�on of minority households is not a direct indicator of higher transit use, it is important to be aware of the concentra�on and distribu�on of minority households in the service area. It can assist Santa Monica in assessing whether BBB’s current services and overall network orienta�on is equitably serving its customers and can provide insight as to whether local or cultural barriers to marke�ng and delivering transit services exist. The minority popula�on makes up 37 percent of Santa Monica’s popula�on.
Figure 17 highlights the density of minority residents for Santa Monica and the greater service area. While most areas have a fairly high density of minority residents, the east area of Santa Monica, areas near Pacific Palisades, and Beverly Hills have less concentra�on.
Figure 17: Density of Minority Residents
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 38 2.2.6 Persons with Disabili�es
Persons with disabili�es may have mobility or vision impairments that make it difficult to operate a motor vehicle; consequently, this group has a greater likelihood to rely on and u�lize transit for travel. This makes it par�cularly important for transit to be located close to where people with disabili�es live and work. Nine percent of the Santa Monica popula�on has a disability, while 5 percent of the Santa Monica popula�on has an ambulatory disability.
Figure 18 shows the density of persons with disabili�es for Santa Monica and the greater service area. The highest propor�ons of this popula�on are found along the corridor of Route 2, the Inglewood area, and along the east end of Route 7.
Figure 18: Density of Persons with Disabilities
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 39 2.2.7 Zero Vehicle Households
The density of car-owning households – par�cularly households without a car – is an important considera�on. The lack of access to a private vehicle is one of the top indicators of a person’s likelihood to u�lize transit services. However, these households may face challenges in accessing transit if stops and services are located far away, making it important for these ameni�es to be located close to the households and their work. Ten percent of Santa Monica households do not own a private automobile.
Figure 19 outlines the density of zero vehicles households within Santa Monica and the greater service area. The highest density of this popula�on is seen on the beachfront of Santa Monica, in and around the UCLA campus, and along the east end of Route 7.
Figure 19: Density of Zero Vehicle Households in the Big Blue Bus Service Area
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 40 2.2.8 Transit Demand Poten�al
Demand for transit service varies across the Big Blue Bus service area. As reflected in passenger surveys, different popula�on groups use transit at different rates. In order to best understand how transit demand within the Big Blue Bus service area varies, it is necessary to account for demographic groups that ride transit at higher rates and other factors that increase the likelihood of taking transit. The factors taken into account in this analysis include: popula�on, youth (under 18 years old), college age (18-24 years old), seniors (65+ years old), zero-vehicle households, low-income popula�on, minority popula�on, and walkability defined by intersec�on density, proximity to transit stops, and diversity of land uses.
Figure 20 shows which areas in the Big Blue Bus service area are most likely to generate transit demand based on these factors. Block groups are ranked based on their poten�al transit demand rela�ve to other block groups within the service area. A block group designated as having the lowest poten�al transit demand does not necessarily have low transit demand, but it does have the lowest poten�al transit demand when compared to the rest of the BBB service area.
The highest levels of transit demand within the service area are found within the city limits of Santa Monica south of Montana Avenue, around UCLA, Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards east of Santa Monica, along Pico Blvd par�cularly around Western Avenue, and around Culver City. Big Blue Bus service successfully serves the areas with the highest levels of transit demand within the City of Santa Monica.
The lowest areas of transit demand are typically within the northern service area including areas north of Montana Avenue and areas north of LAX including Playa del Rey.
Figure 20: Transit Demand Potential in the Big Blue Bus Service Area Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 41 2.3 Destinations
2.3.1 Land Use and Zoning
In the City of Santa Monica, the largest zoning type are single-unit residen�al homes, which make up 31% of the city by area. Single family residences can be found primarily north of Montana Ave. and in the southern por�on of the city, south of Pico Blvd. and east of Lincoln Blvd. Approximately another 30% of the city is dedicated to mul�family uses, with Low Density mul�family uses being predominant (20% of the city). Low density mul�family residen�al uses can be found primarily between Montana Ave. and Pico Blvd. Higher density mul�family uses can be found between Wilshire Blvd. and Interstate 10 east of downtown and north of downtown between Ocean Avenue and 4th Street. Figure 21 shows the most recent zoning map for the City of Santa Monica.
Commercial uses are found primarily in downtown Santa Monica and along the major east-west thoroughfares: Montana Ave., Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica Blvd., Colorado Ave., Pico Blvd. and Ocean Park Blvd. The commercial corridors that are oriented to the north and south are Lincoln Blvd. and Ocean Ave.
The Transit Adjacent Use zone can be found within a two-and-a-half block radius from the Downtown Santa Monica light rail sta�on. This area was designated to minimize new automobile trips by using land use strategies that support increased ac�vity in close proximity to transit service. This area is defined by allowing increased densi�es within its boundaries. Other land uses which generate travel demand within the city of Santa Monica include the Healthcare Mixed Use zone in Mid-City which includes the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center and Saint John’s Health Center and the areas zoned for crea�ve uses on the east side of the city between Colorado Ave. and Olympic Blvd.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 42 Figure 21: City of Santa Monica Zoning
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 43 2.4 Design
2.4.1 Street and Roadway Design
The design of the built environment has a significant influence on the ability of people to conveniently use transit. In turn, it is important to understand how the design of the built environment within Santa Monica and the greater service area impacts transit-friendliness. This is accomplished by assessing form, street and transit network paterns, the area’s pedestrian environment, and any physical constraints.
In regard to the City’s form, the area itself is dense with short blocks. This helps makes Santa Monica a walkable area, and in turn means it is very transit friendly.
In terms of network paterns, many bus lanes within the BBB service area are planned. This allows for BBB to use its service improvements, ridership data, and the upcoming Olympic Games as leverage to advocate for Mobility Plan corridor enhancements.
Downtown Santa Monica may con�nue to be a rela�vely slow area for route circula�on considering future housing projects – several of which are near the Metro E Line sta�on. This presents an opportunity to reconsider the circula�on patern in the area and realign bus lanes and other treatments to the planned network configura�on. For example, BBB routes in downtown used to run along Santa Monica Boulevard between Lincoln and Ocean, but routes crossing the Promenade twice were considered a very high source of delay. When the Expo Line opened, almost all routes were shi�ed to run up 4th Street, so the bus lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard are now underu�lized while buses sit in conges�on along 4th Street.
2.4.2 Walkability
The United States Environmental Protec�on Agency (EPA) has developed the Na�onal Walkability Index tool to measure the rela�ve walkability of the na�on’s communi�es. Every block group in the United States is assigned a Na�onal Walkability Index score. The score is based on measures of the built environment that affects the probability of whether people walk as a mode of transporta�on. These measures include:
street intersec�on density, proximity to transit stops, and diversity of land uses. To determine walkability scores, these variables are used to measure every block group in the United States. Using the index each block group is assigned a score from 1 to 20. The scores are categorized as:
• 1 – 5.75: Least Walkable
• 5.76 – 10.5: Below Average Walkable
• 10.51 – 15.25: Above Average Walkable
• 15.26 – 20: Most Walkable
According to the Na�onal Walkability Index, the City of Santa Monica and the Big Blue Bus service area are categorized as having above average walkability or being in the most walkable category. The highly walkable nature of the BBB service area makes the poten�al for transit usage high.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 44 Figure 22: National Walkability Index, Big Blue Bus Service Area
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 45 2.5 Demand Overall vehicle trip paterns, in combina�on with transit rider trip paterns within Big Blue Bus’s (BBB) service area, provide insight on how well transit is capturing the travel market and how travel paterns may have changed over the past few years. The COVID-19 pandemic upended tradi�onal commu�ng paterns as more jobs were conducted remotely and businesses were disrupted by the vola�le economy.
Since then, many office workers have transi�oned to a hybrid work-from-home schedule. This and other factors are affec�ng how and when people travel. Transit must recognize these changing travel paterns and adapt to atract riders. This report uses origin-des�na�on data for vehicle and transit trips to evaluate how closely BBB service aligns with current travel demand paterns and iden�fies opportuni�es to beter serve riders on the Westside.
2.5.1 Methodology
The market assessment leverages a variety of data including loca�on-based data from StreetLight, Big Blue Bus passenger coun�ng data, and Big Blue Bus “GO data” from Transit app.
Loca�on-based data from StreetLight3 informs regional trip ac�vity and travel demand between key local markets. We aggregated origin-des�na�on data from StreetLight into 25 zones of interest, shown in Figure 23, and analyzed average weekday trips overall and by �me of day for all zones as well as relevant zone pairs. The key travel market analysis relied on StreetLight data from November 2022-May 2023. Average daily weekday trips to and from each zone were normalized by “service popula�on” (residen�al popula�on plus employment) using the most recent (2021) ACS 5-year popula�on es�mates and (2020) LEHD jobs data. The 25 zones of interest include BBB’s core service area as well as nearby areas of Los Angeles County that are important for understanding regional travel to and from the Westside and that represent poten�al markets for transit riders (for example, areas that are or will be accessible within an hour by Metro Rail).
We also used StreetLight data to evaluate how COVID-19 and working from home has affected travel demand in the region. Pre-pandemic regional trip ac�vity relied on StreetLight data from June 2019- December 2019 and was also normalized by service popula�on.
To compare overall travel demand to transit travel paterns, Fehr & Peers brought in GO data from Transit app and passenger coun�ng data provided by Big Blue Bus. Transit app is a freely available and officially sponsored app for Big Blue Bus riders with about 1,100 average daily users within BBB’s service area.
Transit app’s “GO data” reflects trip plans presented to users in the app that were followed by a GO trip in 2022 and 2023. We aggregated start and end points for each planned transit trip into the 25 zones of interest used in the StreetLight origin-des�na�on analysis. Daily weekday transit trips to and from each zone were normalized by service popula�on.
We used BBB passenger counter data from 2019 and 2023 to evaluate transit rider demand by route and to drill down on how recently completed mixed-use developments may have contributed to ridership increases. This data was validated against total ridership sources and provides a reasonable sample for ridership recovery comparisons across routes and �mes.
3 StreetLight Data uses “naviga�on-GPS and other loca�on-based data from connected cars, trucks, and loca�on apps collected on an “opt-in” basis. StreetLight also uses publicly available Census, traffic counts, and points of interest data.” (“StreetLight Data privacy principles.” htps://www.StreetLightdata.com/StreetLight-data-privacy-principles/.) Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 46 Figure 23: Zones of Interest for Big Blue Bus Origin-Destination Analysis Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 47 2.5.2 Regional Trip Ac�vity
Within the study area, the Venice/Marina, Playa Vista/Del Rey, and Downtown Santa Monica zones generate the most vehicle trips to des�na�ons within Big Blue Bus’s service area (Figure 24). Table 6 compares vehicle trip volume origina�ng in each of the analysis zones to vehicle trips per capita origina�ng in each zone. The top origin zones in terms of vehicle trip volume remain top origin zones a�er normalizing for service popula�on. We also observe that the North of Montana, Wilshire Montana, and Pacific Palisades zones generate a high number of vehicle trips to the Westside rela�ve to their service popula�on. Big Blue Bus has coverage across all these zones.
Table 6: Average Daily Weekday Trips by Origin Zone to Big Blue Bus’s Core Service Area Origin Zone
Average Daily
Weekday Trips
Average Daily
Weekday Trips
per Capita
Venice/Marina 82,000 1.37
Playa Vista/Del Rey 72,700 1.54
Downtown Santa Monica 59,200 2.25
Sawtelle/VA 56,300 1.17
Palms/Culver 52,600 0.76
Mar Vista 51,600 1.01
Bergamot Station 48,400 0.78
Ocean Park 47,500 0.44
Fox Hills 43,500 0.18
Purple Line 38,700 0.14
Central LA 37,500 0.04
Expo/Crenshaw 37,400 0.08
West LA 33,800 0.44
Wilshire Montana 32,100 1.33
Brentwood South of Sunset 29,900 0.82
Pacific Palisades 29,400 0.99
Westchester 28,500 0.32
Century City/Pico 26,500 0.39
UCLA Westwood 26,400 0.22
Pico Corridor 19,900 0.18
North of Montana 19,500 1.47
Inglewood/Sofi 16,500 0.12
Valley 15,700 0.03
LAX Airport 12,700 0.70
Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 48 Figure 24: Weekday Trips to the Westside by Origin Zone Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 49 Big Blue Bus boardings are generally similar to regional travel paterns to the Westside. Figure 26 compares aggregated BBB boardings in each zone to average daily vehicle trips to the Westside that start in each of these zones. BBB boardings and daily vehicle trips to the Westside are both high in the Downtown Santa Monica and Sawtelle/VA zones. However, BBB boardings are rela�vely higher in the UCLA and West LA zones compared to vehicle trips, sugges�ng these areas have strong transit demand. On the other hand, vehicle trips to the Westside star�ng in the Playa Vista/Del Rey and northwest Westside zones are high compared to BBB boardings in these zones. This gap between vehicle and transit travel demand suggests there is an opportunity to capture more transit riders in these areas.
Figure 26 also compares daily BBB boardings to daily BBB boardings normalized by service popula�on in each zone. This analysis highlights where BBB ridership is high or low rela�ve to the number of residents and jobs in a given area. BBB boardings in the Pacific Palisades, Brentwood south of Sunset, north of Montana, Venice/Marina, and LAX Airport are high rela�ve to the service popula�on in these zones, sugges�ng these areas have a higher transit mode share than other Westside zones. BBB boardings in the UCLA Westwood, Palms/Culver, and Westchester zones appear low in the context of these zones’ service popula�ons, poin�ng to an opportunity to grow transit mode share in these areas.
2.5.3 Changes in Regional Travel Paterns
Regional travel paterns to the Westside are largely in line with pre-pandemic travel paterns, with a few key excep�ons. Figure 25 compares average daily weekday trips from each zone to the Westside in 2019 versus today. While the absolute trip volumes should be treated as rough es�mates, comparing rela�ve trip volumes reveals shi�s in travel paterns post-pandemic. Trip volume from Palms/Culver and Fox Hills to the Westside is rela�vely higher post-pandemic. On the other hand, trip volume from the UCLA Westwood and Century City/Pico zones to the Westside saw a substan�al rela�ve decrease postpandemic. Pre-pandemic, UCLA Westwood was the fi�h most common origin zone for trips ending on the Westside while today, it is the nineteenth most common origin zone of the 25 zones analyzed. The decreased travel to and from areas like Westwood and Century City where large amounts of office space exist suggest people con�nue to work from home at a greater rate than before the pandemic.
Figure 25: Average Daily Weekday Trips to Big Blue Bus Core Service Area by Origin Zone (2019 and 2023) Source: StreetLight
0 15,000
30,000
45,000
60,000
75,000
90,000
Venice/Marina
Playa Vista/Del Rey
Downtown Santa Monica
Sawtelle/VA
Palms/Culver
Mar Vista
Bergamot Station
Ocean Park
Fox Hills
Purple Line
Central LA
Expo/Crenshaw
West LA
Wilshire Montana
Brentwood South of Sunset
Pacific Palisades
Westchester
Century City/Pico
UCLA Westwood
Pico Corridor
North of Montana
Inglewood/Sofi
Valley
LAX Airport
Playa del Rey
2019
2023
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 50 Figure 26: Weekday Trips to Westside by Origin Zone Compared to Daily BBB Boardings by Zone (2023) Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 51 2.5.4 Key Travel Market Analysis
In addi�on to analyzing regional trip ac�vity, we used loca�on-based data from StreetLight to understand travel demand between certain parts of BBB’s service area and evaluated how well BBB serves these travel markets today. This type of travel market analysis relies on origin-des�na�on data, which requires specific study ques�ons to use the data effec�vely. The guiding ques�ons below are responsive to issues raised by the project team related to future developments in the service area.
1. What is the potential impact of the D Line extension on BBB services? a. How do travel patterns from Central LA to the Westside inform how to serve riders from the new D Line extension?
b. Where are people travelling to along the Pico Corridor? Are these trips that will be well served by the D Line extension?
2. How do travel patterns in the areas surrounding Route 5 east of Olympic/Bundy align with its current route?
3. What do travel patterns look like to and from the Playa del Rey zone, knowing BBB just expanded service to that area?
4. Are there stronger travel patterns between the Westside and Downtown Inglewood/Sofi or LAX Airport?
5. Is there a market for a BBB connection between Downtown Santa Monica and Inglewood/Sofi?
6. Are current BBB services in UCLA Westwood reflecting travel patterns to and from campus?
7. In the future, how would people want to connect from the Sepulveda Pass Line to the BBB service area?
8. How has ridership changed as a result of large development projects coming online? Impact of D Line Extension
Travel Demand to and from Central LA
The extension of the D Line will provide a new transit connec�on to the Westside from Central LA and is likely to increase demand for transit services in the UCLA Westwood and Century City/Pico zones.
Downtown Santa Monica is a top Westside des�na�on for vehicle trips and transit trips origina�ng in the Central LA zones. “GO data” indicates that the Bergamot Sta�on zone is the second most common Westside des�na�on from Central LA among transit trips, though less common among vehicle trips. BBB should expect heavy loading on bus routes between Westwood and Downtown Santa Monica following the opening of the D Line extension, especially if Metro discon�nues Route 720 to Santa Monica and shi�s connec�ng bus responsibility to BBB. Figure 27 highlights vehicle travel paterns between Central LA and the Westside and illustrates how connec�ons between Westwood and Palms/Culver and between Westwood and Venice/Marina will also increase in importance with the D Line extension.
In prepara�on for the D Line extension, BBB should consider the future frequency of Routes 1 and 2 and how the agency might market or delineate these two services to distribute demand. While weekday trip volume from Central LA to the Westside is highest during Peak AM and Peak PM periods, it does not fall below 80 percent of the Peak AM volume at any point between 7am and 7pm, sugges�ng Routes 1 and 2 will be a good fit for regular frequent service throughout the day.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 52 Figure 27: Weekday Trips Originating in Central LA by Destination Zone (2023) Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 53 Travel Demand Along the Pico Corridor
As the D Line is extended westward, it is unclear how crucial the Route 7 and Rapid 7 connec�on to the Wilshire/Western D Line sta�on will be. According to the StreetLight analysis, people traveling along the Pico Corridor are predominantly traveling along the corridor itself (Figure 28 shows the highest degree of travel is within the same Pico Corridor Zone), which suggests the extension of the D Line may not have a substan�al effect on BBB Pico service. The next most common des�na�on from the Pico Corridor is the Purple Line zone immediately to the north (Mid-City), which is well served by Metro. Downtown Santa Monica is also a strong des�na�on, but rela�vely few people are likely taking the D Line to BBB Route 7 to reach Downtown Santa Monica. An analysis of “GO data” and checker data suggests transit travel paterns supports these findings; transit trips origina�ng in the Pico Corridor zone most o�en end in the Downtown Santa Monica, Sawtelle/VA, Bergamot Sta�on, and Pico Corridor zones and half of Route 7 and Rapid 7 boardings occur within the Pico Corridor zone.
Connec�ng Routes 7 and R7 to a D Line sta�on west of Wilshire/Western (one of the extension sta�ons) would require backtracking from Pico/Rimpau. Following the opening of the D Line extension, BBB should evaluate the benefits of keeping the exis�ng connec�on at Wilshire/Western versus ending Routes 7 and R7 at Pico/Rimpau and reinves�ng service hours into higher frequency along the remainder of the route.
Travel Demand Along Route 5
BBB Route 5 runs parallel to the Metro E line for much of its length and is currently a rela�vely lowridership route. Based on StreetLight data, Route 5 already serves areas with the highest travel demand across Sawtelle, West LA, Century City/Pico, and Palms/Culver, illustrated in Figure 29. Checker data indicates a majority of Route 5 boardings occur within the Century City/Pico zone. Because the analysis suggests the route is already serving the busiest des�na�on zones east of Bundy Drive, low frequency may be driving low ridership on the route today. In addi�on to reevalua�ng the frequency of Route 5, BBB should consider how Route 5 could serve as a connec�on between the Expo Line and the D Line extension.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 54 Figure 28: Weekday Trips Originating in the Pico Corridor by Destination Zone (2023) Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 55 Figure 29: Weekday Trips Originating in Zones Served by Route 5 by Destination (2023 Census Block Group Level) Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 56 Travel Demand to and from Playa del Rey
As Metro intends to transfer their service along Manchester Avenue in Playa del Rey to BBB, BBB has an opportunity to review the recent Route 16 extension and refine their service in the area to capture more riders. Travel between Playa del Rey and the Westside is highest in the zones immediately adjacent to Playa del Rey, while travel between Playa del Rey and the northern Westside zones served by Route 16 is limited.
When looking at the subset of zones served by BBB Route 16, most vehicle trips to Playa del Rey start in Westchester and most vehicle trips from Playa del Rey end in Westchester. Figure 30 illustrates vehicle trip volume between Playa del Rey and zones served by Route 16 by �me of day and suggests transit service in this area is a good fit for regular service throughout the day. Transit travel paterns informed by “GO data” similarly indicate Westchester is the most common des�na�on for trips origina�ng in Playa del Rey among zones served by Route 16.
Figure 30: Average Hourly Weekday Trips between Playa del Rey and Zones Served by BBB Route 16 Metro and Culver CityBus also provide transit services within the Westchester zone. A new BBB route between Playa del Rey and the K Line could address demand in sec�ons of Westchester currently underserved by transit—these sec�ons include residen�al areas between 77th Street and 82nd Street and Loyola Marymount University.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 57 Travel Demand to and from LAX Airport vs. Inglewood/Sofi BBB Route 14 currently ends at the Westchester/Veterans K Line sta�on, as shown in Figure 31, but could be extended to serve Downtown Inglewood, SoFi stadium, or LAX Airport at the future 96th Street AirportMetro Connector sta�on. Vehicle trip volume per service popula�on from zones served by Route 14 is greater to LAX Airport than to Inglewood/SoFi and highest between Playa Vista/Playa del Rey and LAX Airport. Transit trips to zones served by Route 14 from LAX Airport and Inglewood/SoFi are rela�vely low, though volume from LAX Airport is twice as high as volume from Inglewood/SoFi. Hourly vehicle trip volumes suggest service to Inglewood/SoFi would benefit from service with higher frequencies around peak hours, while service to LAX Airport would be a good fit for regular headways throughout the day.
Other factors to consider when evalua�ng extending BBB Route 14 service to Inglewood/SoFi versus LAX Airport include:
• Connections to bus and rail services at LAX are more extensive and serve a greater area (including into Inglewood) relative to bus connections at Downtown Inglewood. • Concentrated versus distributed trip origins & destinations: while the City of Inglewood may present an opportunity for greater trip-making at certain times of day, it is a much larger area to serve to reach those destinations.
• Planned mixed use development around SoFi Stadium could present an increased market for transit ridership to and from BBB’s core service area in the near future. • Special event versus consistent traffic generators: offering direct service to the entertainment district developing in Inglewood could attract more transit riders but would be very underutilized at other times of day; special events also pose significant risks for on-time performance. • Layover space & other operational factors that are undetermined at either potential terminus.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 58 Figure 31: Zones Served by Big Blue Bus Route 14 (2023) Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 59 Travel Demand Between Downtown Santa Monica and Inglewood/Sofi BBB does not currently provide a direct transit connec�on between Downtown Santa Monica and the Inglewood/Sofi zone, which could present an opportunity to grow ridership. Among transit trips star�ng in the Westside and ending in the Inglewood/SoFi zone, Santa Monica is the second most common origin zone a�er Venice/Marina. Average weekday vehicle trip volume from Downtown Santa Monica to Inglewood/Sofi is comparable to vehicle trip volume from Downtown Santa Monica to UCLA Westwood.
Figure 32 contextualizes vehicle trip volume from Downtown Santa Monica to the Inglewood/Sofi zone rela�ve to vehicle trip volume from Downtown Santa Monica to other zones. Vehicle trip volume between Downtown Santa Monica and the Inglewood/Sofi zone is highest in the Peak AM and Peak PM �me periods.
Figure 32: Average Daily Weekday Trips Originating in Downtown Santa Monica by Destination Zone Source: StreetLight
Vehicle trips from Downtown Santa Monica to the Inglewood/Sofi zone are distributed across the Inglewood/Sofi zone, with the highest concentra�on of trips ending around the Westchester/Veterans K Line sta�on, northeast areas of the zone, and the area southwest of Downtown Inglewood. Figure 33 illustrates these travel paterns. BBB Route 3, in combina�on with the K Line, connects Downtown Santa Monica to areas in the Inglewood/Sofi zone with the highest travel demand. A realignment of BBB Route 14 could provide beter connec�ons between northern areas of Inglewood/Sofi and the Expo Line.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 60 Figure 33: Weekday Trips Originating in Downtown Santa Monica by Destination (2023 Census Block Group Level) Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 61 Travel Demand to and from UCLA Westwood
Several BBB routes converge around the UCLA campus, an area with historically high demand for transit.
A changing housing market coupled with COVID-19 had major impacts on where students and employees live as well as how o�en and when they commute to campus. This analysis looks into whether current travel paterns to and from campus s�ll align with BBB services. Top Westside des�na�ons for vehicle trips star�ng in the UCLA Westwood zone include West LA, Sawtelle/VA, and Brentwood. Figure 34 demonstrates that exis�ng BBB routes s�ll serve these travel paterns well. Transit trips from UCLA Westwood o�en end in Palms/Culver and Downtown Santa Monica, which are also well served by exis�ng BBB routes. Vehicle trip volume between UCLA Westwood and other Westside zones peaks between 12pm and 6pm but is s�ll substan�al from 7am un�l 8pm. These travel demand paterns by �me of day suggest riders traveling between UCLA Westwood and the Westside would benefit from regular frequent transit service throughout the day. Con�nuing to offer high frequency service and good coverage between campus and nearby zones will be an important first/last-mile solu�on for accessing the D Line extension.
If UCLA ridership is changing over �me, strategies to atract riders may be more important than service changes. Strategies that can be employed include improved bus priority lanes to maintain speeds and service reliability and promo�onal and marke�ng techniques to engage with the university community about the value of transit, par�cularly about the availability of several subsidized and/or fare free transit pass op�ons for the university community.
Travel Demand to and from the Valley
The future Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor will create a direct transit connec�on between the Valley and the Westside. Although the �meline for implementa�on of this future transit corridor is uncertain, there is no ques�on that a substan�al contributor to conges�on in Los Angeles is a lack of transit connec�vity over the Sepulveda pass to the many ac�vity centers on either side of the mountains. Top Westside des�na�ons among vehicle trips from the Valley zone include Downtown Santa Monica, Sawtelle/VA, and Century City/Pico. Figure 35 illustrates these travel paterns and other popular Westside des�na�ons for trips that start in the Valley zone. Transit trip data indicated transit volume between the Valley and Westside is limited today. As with the D Line extension, BBB should expect heavy loading on bus routes between Westwood and Downtown Santa Monica following the opening of the future Sepulveda Pass Line. In addi�on to frequency adjustments for Routes 1 and 2, BBB should explore opportuni�es to provide first/last mile connec�ons between the Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor and the Sawtelle/VA and Brentwood zones.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 62 Figure 34: Weekday Trips Originating in UCLA Westwood by Destination (2023) Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 63 Figure 35: Weekday Trips Originating in the Valley by Destination (2023) Source: StreetLight
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 64 2.5.5 Ridership Recovery Related to Land Use Development Recent development may also influence future market opportuni�es for Big Blue Bus. As discussed in the land use context sec�on of this report, an increase in transit-oriented development and addi�onal mixeduse buildings coming online over the coming years is to be expected across Big Blue Bus’s service area.
These programs, especially through compliance with TDM ordinances, Assembly Bill 2097, and other housing accelera�on policies may become a major component of ridership growth for Big Blue Bus. Several major mixed-use development projects have been completed and occupied between 2019 and 2023, including Linea, Millenium Santa Monica, and UCLA Medical Housing at Santa Monica & Granville. The following case studies analyze how these developments may have impacted ridership recovery on some of BBB’s core routes.
Linea Development (Expo/Sepulveda TOD)
Linea, a mixed-use development adjacent to the E Line sta�on at Expo/Sepulveda, opened in early 2020.
The development includes 595 apartments as well as retail space. With close proximity to the light rail sta�on, the development is served by mul�ple transit lines across several providers. It is served by Routes 7 and Rapid 7 on Pico as well as Route 17 on Sawtelle/Sepulveda. Boardings at select stops for BBB services are presented below.
Table 7: Weekday Ridership Recovery at BBB stops near Linea Mixed-Used Development (Passenger Counts) Stop 2019 2023 % Recovered Routes
Pico/Sepulveda EB 375 221 59% 7, R7
Pico/Sepulveda WB 294 160 54% 7, R7
Sawtelle/Expo NB 18 18 100% 17
Sepulveda/Expo SB 144 109 76% 17
Stops near this development have seen above average ridership recovery rates on weekdays as compared to the BBB system.
Millennium Santa Monica
Millennium Santa Monica is a mixed-use development that opened in the Bergamot neighborhood near the 26th/Bergamot E Line Sta�on in late 2020. It includes 395 apartments as well as a variety of retail uses.
The development is close to several Big Blue Bus services, including Route 16 on Colorado Boulevard and Route 43.
Table 8: Weekday Ridership Recovery at BBB stops near Millennium Santa Monica Mixed-Used Development (Passenger Counts) Stop 2019 2023 % Recovered Routes
Colorado/Stanford EB 0 2 New Trips 16
Colorado/Stanford WB 6 6 100% 16
Stewart/Pennsylvania NB 8 6 72% 16, 43
Stewart/Pennsylvania SB 63 13 21% 16, 43
We observe a rela�vely small increase in total daily BBB boardings for the scale of the development. The development is near the Metro Bergamot Sta�on, which is likely the primary link to major regional des�na�ons. While this development is not adjacent to any major BBB corridors, it s�ll represents a poten�al opportunity for BBB to conduct outreach to new and exis�ng residents.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 65 UCLA Medical School Housing @ Santa Monica & Granville In 2021, the UCLA Medical School opened 153 new residen�al units at Santa Monica Boulevard & Granville Avenue. Ground-floor commercial uses are also available at the site. Several other mixed-use developments have been recently opened or in the planning phase along this corridor, which is served by BBB Route 1. The development is roughly equidistant to stops at Barrington and Westgate.
Table 9: Weekday Ridership Recovery at BBB stops near UCLA Medical School Housing Development (Passenger Counts) Stop 2019 2023 % Recovered Routes
Santa Monica/Barrington EB 96 71 74% 1
Santa Monica/Barrington WB 64 42 66% 1
Santa Monica/Westgate EB 176 175 100% 1
Santa Monica/Westgate WB 103 91 88% 1
Barrington/Santa Monica NB 20 7 35% 15
Barrington/Santa Monica SB 22 7 32% 15
Stops near this development have seen ridership recover at a rate above the agency average. Affordable, non-profit, and student-oriented housing developments have the poten�al to be increasing generators of trips across Big Blue Bus’s service area.
Other Areas to Watch
In addi�on to the areas above, mixed-use projects recently completed in the first half of 2023 may yield increases in ridership recovery for routes and stops that they serve. A few to watch include:
• The West Edge: 600 apartments, retail, and office space completed in early 2023 near the Expo/Bundy Sta�on. An addi�onal ~400 apartments are expected to soon break ground on the south side of the sta�on at 2217/2301 Bundy Drive. Routes 5, 14, 15, and R10 serve these developments. When the D Line Phase 2 opens to Century City, Route 5 will be the fastest and most direct route for this development to reach the D Line. • Developments along Overland Avenue in Palms: Several 50-to-150-unit complexes are under construc�on between Motor Avenue and Venice Boulevard and expected to open in the coming year or two. These will be served by the Rapid 12 and Route 17. • Downtown Santa Monica: This area is expected to con�nue to grow in housing importance, with several large projects proposed in this core area of the Big Blue Bus service area. • The West LA Civic Center Redevelopment on Santa Monica Boulevard in the West LA/Sawtelle area represents a massive new residen�al and mixed-use opportunity along BBB Routes 1 and 17, but also located near one of the most congested and unreliable road segments in the service area.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 66 2.6 Market Assessment Key Takeaways The following are key takeaways from the Market Assessment which should be taken into consideration when developing the COA recommendations.
• The BBB service area has mostly a high population density focused around downtown Santa Monica, Ocean Park, Palms, Brentwood, Downtown Inglewood, Central Los Angeles communities (e.g., La Brea, Koreatown), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). • Santa Monica is an important employment destination in the Los Angeles region; 75,300 employees travel into the city to work, 35,800 Santa Monica residents leave for work, and 8,000 people both live and work within the city. The largest concentration of jobs is seen along Santa Monica Blvd., Wilshire Blvd. and Olympic Blvd., corridors served by Routes 1, 2, and 5. • The census block groups bounded by Colorado Ave., Montana Ave., 7th St., and 3rd St. have very high concentration of transit supportive demographics including seniors, low-income residents, residents with disabilities, and zero car households.
• Over 30% of the City is zoned for single-family housing and 30% is zoned for multifamily housing.
The commercial uses are focused along Montana Ave., Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica Blvd., Colorado Ave., Pico Blvd. and Ocean Park Blvd.
• The tight grid network makes most of the BBB service area very walkable. As you move into hilly, single-family residential areas north of Montana Ave, the walkability decreases. Other areas with lower walkability are around Santa Monica Airport and Cheviot Hills. • The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shift toward hybrid and remote work have altered demand for travel across Big Blue Bus’s service area. With high office vacancies and hybrid work policies in place, the agency can expect these disruptions to impact demand for transit service for the foreseeable future.
• Big Blue Bus can implement service improvements focusing on providing a core service that operates relatively frequently throughout the day and on weekdays and weekends to cater to a wide range of trip purposes.
• Transitservices should be improved in areas that are experiencing rapid mixed-use and affordable housing development such as Palms/Culver City, Downtown Santa Monica, and areas around Metro E Line stations.
• BBB should work with Metro to determine expectations for bus service west of UCLA following the opening of the Metro D Line Phase 3.
• BBB has a significant opportunity to gain ridership particularly on Routes 1, 2, and 18 between Westwood and Downtown Santa Monica after the extension of the Metro D Line and may need to be prepared for capacity limitations on Route 1.
• Route 5 between Bundy Drive and Century City could increase in importance following the opening of D Line Phase 2 to Century City but may need a substantial boost in frequency given the current hourly schedule attracts few riders.
• Routes 3 and 14 will become significant connectors to the Metro K Line for Downtown Santa Monica and Brentwood/West LA, respectively. This improved transit connection will further extend the reach to new venues in Inglewood as well as speed service to LAX with the 2025 completion of the Automated People Mover.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 67 3. On-Board Survey Findings
3.1 Background As part of Santa Monica’s Comprehensive Opera�onal Analysis for their Big Blue Bus (BBB) service, an onboard rider survey has been cra�ed to build a rider demographic profile, iden�fy rider preferences and their sa�sfac�on with exis�ng BBB services, and detect rider origins, des�na�ons, and transfer paterns.
The survey was conducted between May 8th and 26th, 2023. In total, 1,127 valid responses were collected using a sampling plan with 40 to 67 responses per route based on average daily ridership.
3.2 Ridership Patterns
3.2.1 Transfer Rates
Respondents were asked how many buses and trains they will ride for the one-way trip they are currently on. 58% of respondents were taking a direct route to their des�na�on while 31% needed to make one transfer to get to their des�na�on, and 11% needed to make more than one transfer. For those who specified which buses riders were transferring to, 36% referenced another BBB route and 55% referenced LA Metro (bus or rail).
Table 10: Transfer Rate by Route
Route Transfer Rate
1 14%
2 17%
3 64%
5 44%
7 64%
8 45%
9 56%
R10 33%
R12 30%
14 60%
15 64%
16 31%
17 17%
18 16%
R3 52%
R7 50%
41/42 52%
43 56%
Respondents were asked to give their home zip code, drawing from a broad sample of Los Angeles County.
The most commonly listed zip code covered a por�on of the Sawtelle/West Los Angeles area (90025), followed by a sec�on of the Palms area (90034), the Mar Vista/Culver City area (90066), and Santa Monica (90404). A map of all listed zip codes is shown in Figure 36, and the top 10 listed zip codes are outlined in Table 11.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 68 Figure 36: Survey Response by Zip Code
Table 11: Top 10 Zip Codes of Riders
Zip Code 90025 90034 90066 90404 90019 90049 90024 90403 90405 90064 Count 125 82 67 57 38 36 36 31 31 29
Percentage 12% 8% 7% 6% 4% 4% 4% 3% 3% 3%
3.2.2 Trip Origins and Des�na�ons
Respondents were asked to list the neighborhood/city and major cross streets of where they were star�ng and ending their trip (Figure 37). This was a free response ques�on, and responses were cleaned and categorized based on the informa�on available. A majority of respondents (29%) indicated that they had started their trip in Santa Monica, followed by Westwood (7%) and UCLA (6%). The most popular trip des�na�on was Santa Monica (26%), followed by UCLA (18%) and Westwood (7%).
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 69 Figure 37: Trip Origin & Destination
In terms of origin-des�na�on pairs, the top pairs are as follows: Downtown Santa Monica and UCLA (82 trips), UCLA and Westwood Blvd/Na�onal Blvd/Overland Ave (77 trips), and Westwood and Culver City (53 trips). All other aggregated pairs by census tract had fewer than 15 results.
Figure 38: Origin-Destination Pairs
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Percent of Responses
Trip Origin & Destination
Trip Origin
Trip Destination
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 70 3.2.3 Trip Purpose
Respondents were asked to iden�fy the main purpose of their current trip based on six pre-selected op�ons and an “Other” op�on allowing for free response. Half of the respondents indicated that they were using Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus (BBB) for work, followed by 24% for university, 12% for shopping and various errands, and 9% for K-12 school.
Figure 39: Trip Purpose
Table 12: Trip Purpose by Route
Route Work Shopping/
Errands
College/
University
School
(K-12)
Social/
Recreation
Medical/
Social Other Total
1 42% 15% 32% 8% 10% 8% 3% 62
2 31% 21% 38% 8% 10% 7% 2% 61
3 42% 24% 8% 6% 18% 6% 10% 62
5 65% 22% 13% 5% 11% 4% 0% 55
7 49% 8% 32% 5% 11% 3% 5% 63
8 57% 6% 38% 2% 12% 5% 5% 65
9 57% 17% 5% 11% 8% 5% 3% 63
R10 88% 0% 3% 3% 5% 0% 3% 40
R12 52% 4% 46% 4% 6% 1% 0% 67
14 53% 15% 15% 21% 3% 9% 3% 66
15 63% 11% 2% 16% 5% 5% 0% 57
16 35% 13% 37% 13% 3% 0% 3% 63
17 46% 7% 36% 21% 7% 7% 0% 61
18 47% 22% 12% 5% 10% 7% 7% 60
R3 52% 10% 11% 11% 16% 2% 5% 63
R7 39% 9% 45% 6% 6% 11% 2% 64
41/42 41% 13% 33% 13% 2% 5% 2% 61
43 63% 7% 23% 12% 5% 7% 0% 57
Total 50% 13% 24% 10% 8% 5% 3% 1,090
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Work College/University Shopping/Errands School (K-12) Other (Specify) Social/Recreation Medical/Social Services
Percent of Responses
Trip Purpose
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 71 Trip purpose varies greatly by route, with each route serving a unique role within BBB’s network. Rapid 10 and Routes 5, 15, and 43 are most heavily used for work, with over two-thirds of riders using them for this purpose. College/university travel is most prominent on Rapid 7 (SMC) and Routes 12 (UCLA), 2 (UCLA) and 8 (UCLA) with close to 40% of riders using these routes to get to school. Routes 14 and 17 carry the highest percentage of K-12 students with each route serving mul�ple schools along its alignment. (21%) Social/recrea�on trip purposes are highest (16-18%) on Route 3 and Rapid 3 which both serve LAX as well as Venice and Marina del Rey.
3.2.4 Frequency of Use
Respondents were asked how o�en they used BBB services in the year prior to COVID-19 and in the past year. In the year prior to COVID-19, 32% of respondents iden�fied that they had not u�lized the BBB, indica�ng that they are newer riders to the system. In reviewing new ridership amongst students, 5% are K-12 students while 18% of these are university students. University students are likely candidates to be new riders since they are generally only in school for a few years. However, since only 18% of new riders are university students, this means that BBB is also atrac�ng many new riders from around the broader community.
Figure 40: Frequency of Riding – Before COVID-19
In the past year, 28% of respondents rode BBB 5 days a week while 27% rode it 3-4 days a week and 21% rode it 6-7 days a week meaning that three-quarters of BBB users are regular riders who use the service the majority of the week.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
1-2 days a
week
3-4 days a
week
5 days a week 6-7 days a
week
Less than once
a week
Less than once
a month
I did not ride
the bus prior to
COVID-19
Percent of Responses
Frequency of Riding Before COVID-19
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 72 Figure 41: Frequency of Riding – In the Past Year
Figure 42 looks only at respondents who said they rode BBB both before and a�er the pandemic to see how riding frequency has changed. Overall, survey respondents are using BBB services more o�en than they did before the pandemic – the percentage of riders using BBB 3+ days a week increased from 70% before the pandemic to 78% post-pandemic. This is interes�ng because it does not follow paterns seen elsewhere in the country where trips made per person have declined in the face of increased working from home, online shopping, and virtual health opportuni�es.
Figure 42: Frequency of Riding Before & After COVID-19 - Excluding New Riders 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
1-2 days a
week
3-4 days a
week
5 days a week 6-7 days a
week
Less than once
a week
Less than once
a month
Never, today is
my first time
Percent of Responses
Frequency of Riding in the Past Year
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
1-2 days a week 3-4 days a week 5 days a week 6-7 days a week Less than once a month
Less than once a
week
Percent of Responses
Frequency of Riding Before & After COVID-19
Excluding New Riders
Before COVID-19
Past Year
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 73 3.3 Importance & Satisfaction with BBB Services To fully understand rider’s percep�ons of BBB’s ameni�es and services, respondents were asked to rate 14 different categories in terms of their perceived importance of the service and their current sa�sfac�on with it. The ra�ng was conducted on a scale of 1-5, with 1 indica�ng a service that is not important (or has a low sa�sfac�on to the rider) and 5 indica�ng a service that is very important (or has a high sa�sfac�on to the rider). Addi�onally, these two measures were compared to iden�fy services that may have a low/high sa�sfac�on compared to their perceived importance.
In terms of average importance, services were viewed with a similar importance, with categories such as bus and stop safety, �meliness of buses, and arrival �me info scoring the highest at 4.5 out of 5. Cost, customer service, trip �me, and transfer ease scored the lowest at 4.1 out of 5. The average sa�sfac�on between categories showed more variability than importance. Respondents were most sa�sfied with ease of payment at 4.3 out of 5 and stop distance, seat availability, and cost at 4.2 out of 5. Conversely, they were least sa�sfied with bus frequency at 3.5 out of 5 and �meliness of buses at 3.6 out of 5.
Categories that score high in importance but low in sa�sfac�on are key target areas for service improvements. Categories with the largest gaps are bus reliability (.90) and bus frequency (.88).
Frequency of service is the number one factor that atracts new riders to transit and service reliability is the number one factor that retains them, so improving these two areas will be a cri�cal part of the COA effort. Other categories such as stop safety, arrival �me info, BBB safety, and service availability are also key areas in need of improvement, but issues of safety and availability of stop ameni�es are not within the scope of the COA.
Table 13: Average Ratings of Importance & Satisfaction for BBB Services Category Importance Satisfaction Difference
Bus on Time 4.47 3.57 0.9
Bus Frequency 4.4 3.52 0.88
Stop Safety 4.49 3.78 0.71
Arrival Time Info 4.46 3.83 0.63
BBB Safety 4.52 4.04 0.48
Service Availability 4.25 3.78 0.48
Bus Clean 4.42 4.03 0.39
Customer Service 4.11 3.93 0.19
Transfer Ease 4.09 3.94 0.16
Trip Time 4.1 3.98 0.11
Stop Distance 4.21 4.17 0.04
Seat Availability 4.19 4.16 0.03
Paying Ease 4.21 4.29 -0.08
Cost 4.1 4.2 -0.11
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 74 Table 14-15 consider the importance and sa�sfac�on of BBB services by type of rider. Within each type of rider, the top 3 (highlighted in green) and botom 3 (highlighted in orange) important or sa�sfactory services have been outlined.
Across all riders, the least important BBB service is cost. When compared to the overall ra�ngs, frequent riders have shown a greater importance in all services – par�cularly in transfer ease (.41 increase in importance), trip �me (.34 increase), and customer service (.34 increase). Frequent rider’s importance in services was most similar to the overall ra�ngs – except for trip �me at a .23 increase. Notably, all types of riders expressed a larger importance in trip �me compared to the overall ra�ng, indica�ng that other characteris�cs of riders are lowering the overall ra�ng. In terms of BBB and stop safety, students and those earning over $75,000 showed a high importance compared to the overall ra�ng. Older riders expressed a large importance in transfer ease and paying ease and less of an importance in stop safety (.19 decrease in importance), bus frequency (.18 decrease), and bus cleanliness (.18 decrease).
Table 14: Importance of BBB Services by Rider Type
Importance Overall
Type of Rider Age Income
Student Frequent
Rider
Infrequent
Rider
25-61
Years
62+
Years
Under
$35k
$35k-
$75k
Over
$75k
Bus Frequency 4.40 4.58 4.39 4.54 4.45 4.23 4.54 4.42 4.60 Transfer Ease 4.09 4.06 4.11 4.50 4.05 4.38 4.02 4.25 3.86 Bus on Time 4.47 4.62 4.47 4.57 4.48 4.43 4.63 4.45 4.60 Service Availability 4.25 4.24 4.28 4.45 4.33 4.21 4.30 4.30 4.33 Stop Distance 4.21 4.16 4.27 4.21 4.22 4.33 4.37 4.34 4.14 Cost 4.10 4.01 4.11 4.31 4.08 4.10 4.14 4.25 3.92
Trip Time 4.10 4.26 4.32 4.43 4.25 4.17 4.25 4.29 4.38
Paying Ease 4.21 4.10 4.20 4.46 4.18 4.40 4.19 4.27 4.29 BBB Safety 4.52 4.63 4.56 4.61 4.45 4.37 4.60 4.46 4.64 Stop Safety 4.49 4.61 4.53 4.64 4.45 4.30 4.46 4.44 4.60 Bus Clean 4.42 4.45 4.43 4.56 4.36 4.23 4.46 4.38 4.43
Seat Availability 4.19 4.12 4.20 4.45 4.10 4.30 4.16 4.30 4.01 Customer Service 4.11 3.92 4.09 4.45 4.03 4.20 4.18 4.21 3.84 Arrival Time Info 4.46 4.53 4.46 4.66 4.44 4.43 4.57 4.39 4.54 Universally, all types of riders expressed their lowest sa�sfac�on in bus frequency and bus �meliness and their highest sa�sfac�on in paying ease. Compared to the overall ra�ng, older riders have shown a greater sa�sfac�on in services – par�cularly in customer service (.67 increase in sa�sfac�on), bus �meliness (.58 increase), transfer ease (.54 increase), and arrival �me info (.52 increase). Conversely, students and frequent riders expressed a lower sa�sfac�on in those services. Frequent riders have a lower sa�sfac�on in all services compared to the overall ra�ng.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 75 Table 15: Satisfaction of BBB Service by Rider Type
Sa�sfac�on
Type of Rider Age Income
Overall Student Frequent
Rider
Infrequent
Rider
25-61
Years
62+
Years
Under
$35k
$35k-
$75k
Over
$75k
Bus Frequency 3.52 3.54 3.49 3.83 3.61 3.78 3.57 3.73 3.35 Transfer Ease 3.94 3.85 3.85 4.17 4.01 4.48 3.86 4.07 4.06 Bus on Time 3.57 3.48 3.49 4.02 3.63 4.15 3.58 3.73 3.60 Service Availability 3.78 3.86 3.67 4.09 3.81 3.96 3.85 3.85 3.78 Stop Distance 4.17 4.15 4.14 4.27 4.19 4.56 4.27 4.13 4.47 Cost 4.20 4.28 4.15 4.30 4.29 4.48 4.30 4.15 4.60
Trip Time 3.98 4.02 3.90 4.04 4.11 4.33 4.19 4.06 4.18
Paying Ease 4.29 4.36 4.24 4.41 4.39 4.70 4.37 4.31 4.69 BBB Safety 4.04 4.06 3.96 4.19 4.03 4.22 4.04 3.97 4.23 Stop Safety 3.78 3.77 3.66 4.07 3.82 4.15 3.65 3.77 3.95 Bus Clean 4.03 3.97 4.00 4.24 4.08 4.46 3.98 4.01 4.29
Seat Availability 4.16 4.12 4.05 4.09 4.20 4.48 4.13 4.14 4.33 Customer Service 3.9 3.9 3.8 4.1 4.0 4.6 4.0 4.0 4.1
Arrival Time Info 3.8 3.8 3.7 4.3 3.9 4.3 3.9 3.9 3.9
Table 16 below considers the difference in importance and sa�sfac�on of BBB services by type of rider.
Within each type of rider, the lowest difference (highlighted in green) and largest difference (highlighted in orange) when comparing the two ra�ngs has been outlined.
Table 16: Comparing Importance and Satisfaction of BBB Services by Rider Type Difference
Type of Rider Age Income
Overall Student Frequent
Rider
Infrequent
Rider
25-61
Years
62+
Years
Under
$35k
$35k-
$75k
Over
$75k
Bus Frequency 0.88 1.03 0.91 0.71 0.84 0.45 0.97 0.70 1.25 Transfer Ease 0.16 0.21 0.26 0.33 0.04 -0.10 0.16 0.19 -0.20 Bus on Time 0.90 1.15 0.98 0.55 0.84 0.29 1.05 0.72 0.99 Service Availability 0.48 0.38 0.61 0.36 0.53 0.25 0.45 0.45 0.55 Stop Distance 0.04 0.01 0.13 -0.05 0.03 -0.22 0.10 0.21 -0.33 Cost -0.11 -0.27 -0.04 0.00 -0.21 -0.38 -0.17 0.10 -0.69 Trip Time 0.11 0.24 0.42 0.39 0.14 -0.17 0.06 0.23 0.20 Paying Ease -0.08 -0.25 -0.04 0.05 -0.20 -0.30 -0.17 -0.04 -0.40 BBB Safety 0.48 0.57 0.59 0.42 0.43 0.14 0.56 0.49 0.41 Stop Safety 0.71 0.84 0.87 0.56 0.63 0.15 0.81 0.67 0.65 Bus Clean 0.39 0.48 0.42 0.32 0.29 -0.23 0.48 0.37 0.14 Seat Availability 0.03 0.01 0.15 0.36 -0.10 -0.18 0.04 0.16 -0.32 Customer Service 0.19 0.05 0.32 0.32 0.04 -0.40 0.22 0.25 -0.22 Arrival Time Info 0.63 0.73 0.79 0.37 0.55 0.09 0.66 0.54 0.62 Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 76 Across all types of riders, bus frequency, bus �meliness, and stop safety (except for older riders) have the largest gap between importance and sa�sfac�on. The gap in bus frequency and �meliness is highest among those earning over $75,000, students, and the lowest income riders. The smallest gap is cost and paying ease across all riders. When compared to the overall ra�ngs, older riders have a smaller gap across all services – par�cularly with bus cleanliness, bus �meliness, and customer service. Infrequent riders have the largest gap in seat availability and those earning between $35-$75,000 have the largest gap in cost and stop distance. Across income levels, those earning between $35-$75,000 are the only riders where their sa�sfac�on of cost does not meet their importance. Frequent riders have a larger gap across services with trip �me, arrival �me info, and stop safety at the top. This shows that while other riders’ sa�sfac�on of BBB services is mee�ng their importance, this is not the case for BBB’s most frequent riders.
3.4 Rider Encouragement Respondents were asked to indicate what would encourage them to ride BBB more o�en through a free response format (Table 17). At the top of the list was more frequency (24%), followed by increased overall safety (16%), more accurate arrival �mes (11%), and more buses and bus lines (10%). These results align with those of the previous ques�on where increased frequency and more accurate arrival �mes had a high perceived importance with rela�vely low sa�sfac�on rate.
Table 17: Improvements to Encourage Riders to Utilize BBB More Often Trends Percent of Responses
More Frequency 24%
Increased Safety 16%
More Accurate Arrivals 11%
More Buses & Bus Lines 10%
Increased Cleanliness 6%
Lower Fares 5%
Morning & Evening/Night Service 5%
Faster Buses 3%
More Direct Routes 2%
Rides Closer to DTLA 2%
Weekend Service 2%
Less Wai�ng 2%
Friendlier Drivers 2%
Fast & Reliable to School 1%
Less Homeless 1%
More Connec�vity 1%
Dedicated Bus Lanes 1%
Closer to Home 1%
More/Beter Service 1%
Accurate App 1%
WIFI & Charging 1%
Overall Accessibility 1%
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 77 3.4.1 Frequency by Time of Day
To gather more insight into the need for increased frequency, respondents were asked to iden�fy the �me of the day that would be most important to have more frequent service. Figure 43 shows that 45% of riders indicated that the AM peak period (6:00-9:00 am) is the most important part of the day to have frequent service, outweighing all other categories by a factor of 3:1. This is followed by the midday period (9:00 am-3:00 pm) with 16%. Riders tend to place a high value on AM Peak service since that tends to be the �me of day when trips are most �me-sensi�ve – people have to be at work, school, or appointments by a certain �me. Riders have a lot more flexibility when making discre�onary trips during the middle of the day or returning home from work or school in the a�ernoon/evening.
Figure 43: More Frequent Service by Time of Day
Preferences for increased frequency by �me of day vary by route. Early morning (4:00-6:00 am) service is rated highly on Rapid 3 (32%) as the service does not begin opera�ng un�l 7:00 am. AM Peak service is most desired on Rapid 10 (69%) and Routes 41/42 (63%) and 43 (62%). Rapid 10 carries commuters into Downtown Los Angeles while both Routes 41/42 and 43 feed into Metro Rail sta�ons.
Table 18: More Frequent Service by Time of Day – by Route More Frequent Service by Time of Day - by Route
Route 4:00 am -
6:00 am
6:00 am -
9:00 am
9:00 am -
3:00 pm
3:00 pm -
6:00 pm
6:00 pm -
9:00 pm
6:00 pm -
12:00 am Total
1 12% 46% 15% 10% 7% 10% 41
2 15% 38% 15% 15% 3% 15% 34
3 16% 46% 5% 14% 5% 14% 37
5 19% 42% 12% 4% 23% 0% 26
7 22% 49% 16% 7% 2% 4% 45
8 9% 52% 15% 6% 3% 15% 33
9 16% 43% 27% 2% 6% 6% 51
R10 6% 69% 8% 11% 6% 0% 36
R12 4% 37% 24% 22% 10% 2% 49
14 22% 27% 19% 27% 3% 3% 37
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Early morning
(4:00-6:00 am)
AM rush hour
(6:00-9:00 am)
Midday (9:00 am
to 3:00 pm)
PM rush hour
(3:00-6:00 pm)
Early evening
(6:00-9:00 pm)
Late evening
(6:00-12:00 am)
Percent of Responses
More Frequent Service by Time of Day
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 78 15 22% 32% 16% 19% 8% 3% 37
16 10% 35% 13% 18% 13% 13% 40
17 4% 58% 13% 4% 8% 13% 24
18 3% 48% 23% 16% 3% 6% 31
R3 32% 29% 6% 9% 12% 12% 34
R7 12% 53% 26% 3% 3% 3% 34
41/42 9% 63% 13% 9% 3% 3% 32
43 15% 62% 0% 23% 0% 0% 13
Total 14% 45% 16% 12% 7% 7% 634
3.4.2 Expanding Opera�ng Hours
Similar to the previous ques�on, respondents were asked to iden�fy the �me of the week that would be the most important to expand opera�ng hours. Overall, 40% of respondents said earlier on weekday mornings, followed by 31% later on weekday evenings, and 20% later on weekend evenings (Figure 44).
Out of BBB’s 18 routes, only seven start earlier than 6:00 am. With long commutes, transfers to LA Metro rail or bus service, and worsening traffic as the day progresses, it makes sense that riders want to be able to start their commutes earlier in the day.
Figure 44: Expanding Operating Hours by Time of Week
As with desired frequency improvements, responses also vary by route. Rapid 10 had the greatest request for later weekday evening service (in part because it does not operate on weekends) since service stops opera�ng at 6:00 pm. Route 43 has a short span as well, with no service a�er 6:00 pm. Routes 15 and 41 had the highest percentage of requests for earlier weekend morning service even though neither of these routes operates on weekends. Routes 1, 3, and 5 had the most requests for later weekend evening service, and Route 5 does not operate on weekends.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Earlier on weekday
mornings
Later on weekday evenings Later on weekend evenings Earlier on weekend mornings
Percent of Responses
Expanded Operating Hours by Time of Week
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 79 Table 19: Expand Hours by Route
Percent of Expand Hours by Route
Route
Earlier on
weekday
mornings
Later on
weekday
evenings
Earlier on
weekend
mornings
Later on
weekend
evenings
Total
1 34% 26% 5% 34% 38
2 35% 26% 10% 29% 31
3 33% 15% 6% 45% 33
5 42% 23% 4% 31% 26
7 51% 22% 15% 12% 41
8 40% 30% 7% 23% 30
9 51% 24% 12% 12% 49
R10 35% 65% 0% 0% 34
R12 19% 56% 12% 14% 43
14 38% 29% 9% 24% 34
15 49% 17% 20% 14% 35
16 31% 38% 8% 23% 39
17 48% 39% 0% 13% 23
18 29% 29% 13% 29% 31
R3 36% 39% 0% 24% 33
R7 50% 33% 3% 15% 40
41/42 56% 13% 22% 9% 32
43 54% 46% 0% 0% 13
Total 40% 31% 9% 20% 605
3.5 Service Design Tradeoffs Redesigning a transit network involves making trade-offs in service design, priori�zing certain elements over others. To further understand preferences of BBB riders, respondents were asked three different trade-off ques�ons.
First, riders were asked if they preferred a route with 10-minute peak and 20-minute off-peak service or a route with consistent 15-minute service throughout the day. In a close contest, 52% of respondents indicated that they would prefer 10-minute frequencies during peak hours and 20-minute frequencies during the middle of the day (peak frequency) while 48% would prefer steady 15-minute frequencies throughout the day (all-day frequency).
Second, riders were asked if they would prefer a shorter wait for the bus in exchange for a longer walk to the stop. 72% of respondents said yes, compared to 28% of respondents who would prefer a shorter walk to the bus in exchange for a longer wait at the stop. This split is closer to 50/50 in many other ci�es, and the fact that the preference is so high towards longer walks reflects the strong pedestrian environment present in Santa Monica. When walking is pleasant, safe, and convenient, people are willing to walk farther distances.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 80 Finally, riders were asked if they preferred tradi�onal fixed-route with a set schedule and designated bus stops or an on-demand service requested through their phone. Overwhelmingly, 85% preferred tradi�onal fixed-route service over on-demand service.
When looking at responses by route, there are not many obvious trends. Rapid 10 has the highest demand for peak service, which is consistent with previous findings, followed by Rapid 7 and Route 17 while Routes 18, 5, 14, and 43 have the highest demand for midday service. On the walk vs. wait tradeoff, the routes with wider stop spacing – Routes R3, R7, and R12 – do not have a higher preference for shorter walks and are on average with the rest of the system. This suggests that the wider stop spacing on these routes does not nega�vely impact the func�onality of these routes. Route 9, which serves the Pacific Palisades was very strongly opposed to on-demand service.
Table 20: Design Tradeoff Responses by Route
Route
Peak vs. Midday Walk vs. Wait Fixed vs. On-Demand
Peak Midday Shorter Wait Shorter Walk Fixed On-Demand
1 50% 50% 81% 19% 85% 15%
2 45% 55% 73% 27% 86% 14%
3 42% 58% 65% 35% 86% 14%
5 38% 62% 69% 31% 92% 8%
7 66% 34% 79% 21% 70% 30%
8 61% 39% 65% 35% 86% 14%
9 51% 49% 80% 20% 98% 2%
R10 69% 31% 69% 31% 91% 9%
R12 54% 46% 73% 27% 81% 19%
14 40% 60% 69% 31% 69% 31%
15 42% 58% 66% 34% 82% 18%
16 53% 47% 66% 34% 86% 14%
17 67% 33% 58% 42% 89% 11%
18 32% 68% 80% 20% 89% 11%
R3 53% 47% 72% 28% 73% 27%
R7 68% 33% 76% 24% 88% 12%
41/42 53% 47% 77% 23% 86% 14%
43 40% 60% 67% 33% 83% 17%
Total 52% 48% 72% 28% 85% 15%
Different rider demographic groups have different preferences when it comes to evalua�ng these three tradeoffs. For peak-oriented vs. consistent all-day service, students (and consequently also riders ages 18- 24) are more likely to prefer all-day service since they are traveling to and from class throughout the day.
Riders ages 35-61 and with higher incomes prefer peak-oriented service much more strongly than the average, as many in these age groups solely use transit to commute to and from work. Those who use transit less frequently prefer shorter walks to their stops as well as on-demand service when given as an alterna�ve. Older riders prefer shorter walks to stops but also have a much stronger preference for fixed- Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 81 route over on-demand service, likely due to the technological barriers of using such services. Finally, those riders with higher incomes most strongly prefer on-demand service.
Table 21: Service Design Tradeoffs by Rider Type
Category
Peak or All-Day
Frequency
Walk or Wait Longer at Fixed-Routes or
Bus Stops On-Demand Services
Peak All-Day Shorter Wait Shorter Walk Fixed On-Demand
Overall 52% 48% 72% 28% 85% 15%
Type of Rider
Student 45% 55% 71% 29% 89% 11%
Frequent 56% 44% 74% 26% 87% 13% (5-7 days a week)
Infrequent 53% 47% 66% 34% 76% 24%
Age
Under 18 54% 46% 85% 15% 77% 23%
18-24 Years 43% 57% 74% 26% 88% 12%
25-34 Years 47% 53% 64% 36% 81% 19%
35-44 Years 61% 39% 70% 30% 85% 15%
45-54 Years 67% 33% 79% 21% 84% 16%
55-61 Years 65% 35% 79% 21% 83% 17%
62 and Older 44% 56% 63% 37% 93% 7%
Annual Household Income
Under $25,000 51% 49% 71% 29% 84% 16%
$25,000-$34,999 58% 42% 77% 23% 91% 9%
$35,000-$49,999 38% 62% 71% 29% 81% 19%
$50,000-$74,999 48% 52% 71% 29% 83% 17%
$75,000-$99,999 67% 33% 70% 30% 83% 17%
Over $100,000 58% 42% 69% 31% 76% 24%
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 82 3.6 Rider Demographics
3.6.1 Age
31% of respondents were between 18-24 years old, reflec�ng BBB’s large student demographic. Over half of riders on Routes 2, 17, and 27 are 18-24 years old – serving the local universi�es of UCLA (Routes 2 and 17) and SMC (Route R7). Riders aged 25-34 years old ride Rapid 12 (which also serves UCLA) and Routes 5 and 3. Rapid 10 and Routes 5 and 15 more heavily cater to seniors, with riders over age 62 represented at 2-3 �mes the system average.
Figure 45: Age of Riders
Table 22: Age of Riders by Route
Route <18 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-61 62+
1 7% 27% 33% 17% 13% 3% 0%
2 13% 57% 13% 13% 4% 0% 0%
3 6% 16% 39% 19% 3% 6% 10%
5 0% 13% 43% 4% 22% 0% 17%
7 0% 37% 7% 27% 27% 0% 3%
8 0% 32% 32% 14% 7% 7% 7%
9 10% 12% 5% 27% 20% 17% 10%
R10 0% 5% 14% 9% 18% 27% 27%
R12 3% 33% 45% 10% 8% 0% 3%
14 14% 31% 21% 17% 14% 0% 3%
15 9% 22% 22% 4% 17% 0% 26%
16 14% 52% 17% 7% 3% 3% 3%
17 0% 56% 25% 13% 0% 0% 6%
18 14% 24% 29% 10% 0% 14% 10%
R3 4% 26% 26% 26% 9% 4% 4%
R7 0% 63% 20% 3% 10% 3% 0%
41/42 0% 35% 15% 20% 25% 0% 5%
43 13% 0% 13% 13% 13% 38% 13%
Total 6% 31% 24% 15% 12% 6% 7%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
<18 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-61 62+
Percent of Responses
Age of Riders
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 83 3.6.2 Household Income
When asked to iden�fy their household income, 36% of households earned less than $25,000, 18% earned between $25,000-$34,999, and 14% earned more than $100,000. Circulators within the City of Santa Monica (Routes 41/42 and 43) carry the highest percentages of low-income riders (over 50%). On the other hand, over half of riders on Rapid 10 have annual household incomes over $100,000.
Figure 46: Household Income
Table 23: Household Income by Route
Route Less than
$25,000
$25,000-
$34,999
$35,000-
$49,999
$50,000-
$74,999
$75,000-
$99,999
More than
$100,000
1 38% 19% 12% 15% 8% 8%
2 43% 0% 21% 7% 0% 29%
3 41% 19% 15% 15% 7% 4%
5 32% 16% 16% 16% 0% 21%
7 50% 18% 21% 4% 4% 4%
8 50% 9% 9% 5% 5% 23%
9 50% 21% 9% 9% 3% 9%
R10 0% 10% 0% 21% 17% 52%
R12 21% 26% 7% 23% 12% 12%
14 48% 24% 0% 14% 0% 14%
15 26% 21% 11% 16% 11% 16%
16 29% 24% 5% 10% 10% 24%
17 37% 21% 26% 5% 5% 5%
18 26% 11% 11% 16% 21% 16%
R3 29% 21% 11% 25% 4% 11%
R7 40% 20% 23% 7% 7% 3%
41/42 54% 21% 13% 8% 4% 0%
43 57% 14% 29% 0% 0% 0%
Total 36% 18% 12% 13% 7% 14%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Less than $25,000 $25,000-$34,999 $35,000-$49,999 $50,000-$74,999 $75,000-$99,999 More than $100,000 Percent of Responses
Household Income
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 84 3.6.3 Race & Ethnicity
A majority of respondents iden�fied as Hispanic or La�no (43%), followed by White (29%), Asian/Pacific Islander (14%) and African American/Black (10%). Those who iden�fied as White predominately use Rapid 10 and Routes 18 and 8. Respondents that iden�fied as Hispanic consist of over half of a route’s ridership for a total of six routes. Specifically, they predominantly ride Routes 43 (80%), 15 (75%), and Rapid 7 (71%).
Figure 47: Race/Ethnicity of Riders
Table 24: Race/Ethnicity of Riders by Route
Route
African
American/
Black
Asian/
Pacific
Islander
Caucasian/White
(not Hispanic/
Latino/Latinx)
Hispanic/
Latino/
Latinx
Native American/
Alaskan Native
MultiRacial Other
1 10% 24% 31% 26% 0% 10% 7%
2 18% 18% 32% 26% 0% 12% 6%
3 21% 3% 38% 41% 0% 3% 3%
5 13% 21% 38% 33% 0% 0% 4%
7 7% 10% 12% 69% 0% 0% 7%
8 0% 23% 42% 29% 0% 3% 6%
9 12% 0% 28% 50% 4% 4% 4%
R10 9% 20% 63% 14% 0% 0% 3%
R12 9% 27% 31% 22% 0% 2% 9%
14 14% 9% 29% 46% 0% 3% 6%
15 0% 13% 13% 75% 0% 0% 0%
16 18% 8% 31% 31% 0% 5% 10%
17 4% 32% 16% 48% 0% 0% 0%
18 0% 17% 45% 31% 0% 3% 3%
R3 24% 6% 21% 41% 3% 9% 3%
R7 10% 12% 17% 71% 2% 7% 5%
41/42 0% 13% 26% 58% 0% 6% 3%
43 13% 7% 0% 80% 0% 0% 0%
Total 10% 14% 29% 43% 1% 4% 5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Hispanic or Latino White Asian/Pacific
Islander
African
American/Black
Other Multi-Racial Native
American/Alaskan
Native
Percent of Responses
Race/Ethnicity of Riders
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 85 3.6.4 Employment Status
Overall, 69% of respondents indicated they were full-�me (46%) or part-�me (23%) employed. Out of a total of 39% of students, 31% indicated that they were in university while 8% indicated they were in K-12.
Respondents employed full-�me overwhelmingly u�lize Rapid 10 (94%), followed by Routes 43 and 23.
University students unsurprisingly u�lize Routes 17, 12, 2, and 16 – all of which serve UCLA or SMC.
Figure 48: Employment Status of Riders
Table 25: Employment Status of Riders by Route
Route Employed
Full-Time
Employed
Part-Time
Student
(college/
university)
Student
(K-12) Retired Have adisability
Veteran or
active-duty
Homeless/
unhoused
1 39% 20% 39% 10% 5% 0% 0% 0%
2 14% 20% 51% 23% 3% 0% 0% 3%
3 58% 21% 15% 3% 6% 6% 0% 3%
5 60% 16% 20% 0% 12% 0% 0% 0%
7 56% 12% 29% 7% 2% 0% 0% 5%
8 47% 31% 41% 0% 6% 3% 0% 0%
9 31% 40% 10% 12% 15% 4% 2% 2%
R10 94% 0% 3% 0% 0% 3% 0% 0%
R12 42% 25% 58% 4% 0% 0% 0% 0%
14 43% 20% 20% 14% 3% 6% 0% 0%
15 63% 9% 9% 9% 3% 6% 0% 3%
16 26% 26% 51% 15% 0% 3% 0% 0%
17 26% 26% 59% 7% 4% 4% 4% 0%
18 38% 24% 31% 10% 7% 0% 0% 0%
R3 65% 15% 24% 3% 0% 3% 3% 3%
R7 25% 48% 45% 2% 5% 5% 5% 2%
41/42 55% 27% 24% 6% 3% 0% 0% 0%
43 80% 13% 13% 7% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Total 46% 23% 31% 8% 4% 2% 1% 1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Veteran or Active-Duty Service Member
Homeless/Unhoused
Have a Disability
Retired
Student (K-12)
Employed Part-Time
Student (College/University)
Employed Full-Time
Percent of Responses
Employment Status of Riders
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 86 3.6.5 Other Key Characteris�cs
A few other key takeaways include:
• For respondents’ identified gender, a majority identified as female (53%), followed by male (42%), nonbinary (2%), and 3% of riders preferred not to disclose their gender. • Regarding household size, 63% of respondents indicated that 2 (22%), 3, (21%) or 4 (20%) people lived in their household. 16% of riders indicated that they lived alone. • The number of accessible household vehicles varied, as 38% of respondents have access to one car, followed by 26% having access to two cars. Conversely, 27% of riders indicated that they do not have access to any vehicle at home. When looking at access to household vehicles by route, no routes carried a majority of riders with no access to a car. However, Routes 41/42, 8, and 17 carried the largest number of riders with no vehicle access (over 40%). Routes 16, 12, 43, 10, and Rapids 3 and 7 all had at least 80% of their riders having access to a vehicle. • The vast majority of respondents (95%) have access to a smartphone with a reliable data plan. • By a slim majority, 51% of respondents said they have a valid driver’s license.
3.7 On-Board Survey Findings Key Takeaways
• The top origin-des�na�on pairs are between Downtown Santa Monica-UCLA, Westwood BlvdUCLA, and Westwood-Culver City. • 49% of respondents use Big Blue Bus five or more days a week. • Respondents ranked bus and stop safety, �meliness of buses, and having accurate real-�me arrival �me informa�on as the most important service atributes with a score of 4.5 out of 5. • Respondents were least sa�sfied with bus frequency and �meliness of buses (reliability), giving scores of 3.5 and 3.6 out of 5, respec�vely. These categories had the largest gap between the average importance and average sa�sfac�on ra�ngs.
• When asked for a free-response answer on what would encourage them to ride more o�en, 24% of respondents cited more frequency.
• 45% of respondents said the AM Peak is the most important �me of day to increase frequency. • 40% of respondents said earlier on weekday mornings is the most important �me of the week to expand service hours.
• 72% of respondents prefer a shorter wait for the bus compared to a shorter walk to the stop. • 85% of respondents prefer fixed-route service over an on-demand service. • 31% of respondents are 18-24 years old, reflec�ng the large influence of UCLA and Santa Monica College on Big Blue Bus ridership.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 87 4. Service Evaluation
The Service Evalua�on seeks to understand how riders use the BBB network and how the various routes perform compared to one another. The goal is to understand the strengths of the current opera�on as well as iden�fy opportuni�es for improvement – both in eleva�ng the customer experience and in increasing the efficiency and effec�veness of service delivery.
4.1 Santa Monica Transit Service Overview
4.1.1 Big Blue Bus
BBB operates 18 routes that serve the City of Santa Monica with connec�ons outside of the city to Los Angeles Interna�onal Airport (LAX), Culver City, Century City, UCLA/Westwood, Koreatown, and Downtown Los Angeles (see Figure 49). An overview of route-level frequencies and spans by day type can be found in Table 26.
Figure 49: Big Blue Bus System Map (Aug 2023)
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 88 Table 26: Big Blue Bus Service Span and Frequency
Route Name Service Type Weekday Span Weekday
Frequency Saturday Span SaturdayFrequency Sunday Span SundayFrequency 1 Main St & Santa Monica Blvd/UCLA Local 5:15 AM-10:45 PM 10 6:30 AM-10:45 PM 15 6:30 AM-10:45 PM 15 2 Wilshire Blvd/UCLA Local 6:45 AM-8:45 PM 20 8:30 AM-8:45 PM 20 8:30 AM-8:45 PM 20 3 Lincoln Blvd/LAX Local 4:45 AM-11:00 PM 12 5:30 AM-11:00 PM 15 5:30 AM-11:00 PM 15 R3 Lincoln Blvd/LAX Rapid Rapid 7:00 AM-5:15 PM 60
5 Olympic Blvd Local 7:15 AM-6:30 PM 60
7 Pico Blvd Local 5:00 AM-11:00 PM 15 6:00 AM-11:00 PM 15 6:00 AM-11:00 PM 15 R7 Pico Blvd Rapid Rapid 6:00 AM-6:45 PM 20
8 Ocean Park Blvd & Westwood Bl/UCLA Local 6:30 AM-10:00 PM 24 6:30 AM-9:45 PM 30 6:30 AM-9:45 PM 30 9 Pacific Palisades Local 6:30 AM-9:15 PM 30 7:30 AM-7:15 PM 60 7:30 AM-7:15 PM 60 R10 Downtown LA Freeway Express Rapid 6:00 AM-8:00 AM;
3:00 PM-6:00 PM
60 R12 Westwood/UCLA-Palms Rapid 5:30 AM-10:15 PM 12 6:30 AM-10:15 PM 20 6:30 AM-10:15 PM 20 14 Bundy Dr/Centinela AveWestchester/VeteransLocal 5:15 AM-8:30 PM 20 6:00 AM-8:00 PM 30 6:00 AM-8:00 PM 15 Barrington Ave Local 6:45 AM-6:15 PM 60
16 Wilshire Bl/Bundy Dr-Playa del Rey Local 6:15 AM-6:30 PM 30 30 17 UCLA-VA Medical Center-Culver City Local 5:45 AM-9:15 PM 20 7:45 AM-7:45 PM 30 7:45 AM-7:45 PM 30 18 UCLA - Abbot Kinney – Marina Del Rey Local 6:45 AM-7:45 PM 30 8:15 AM-6:30 PM 30 8:15 AM-6:30 PM 30 41 17th St Station - SMC Circulator 6:15 AM-6:45 PM 20
43 San Vicente Blvd & 26th St Local 6:30 AM-5:45 PM 30
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 89 4.1.2 Other Transit Providers
In addi�on to Big Blue Bus, LA Metro and Culver CityBus provide service in BBB’s service area. Some of these routes provide overlapping service along the highest traffic corridors in Santa Monica, including Wilshire Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd. Other routes fill gaps in the service area by providing service along corridors not served by other transit service providers. Important regional des�na�ons are also served by other service providers including downtown Santa Monica, UCLA and LAX. A summary of the services provided by other transit service providers in the Big Blue Bus service area can be found in Table 27.
Table 27: Transit Service in Big Blue Bus Service Area Operated by Other Service Providers Service Provider Route Service Description Frequency (Weekday) Metro Expo East LA – Downtown LA – Downtown Santa
Monica 10 minutes
Metro 4 Downtown LA – Downtown Santa Monica via
Santa Monica Blvd 6-8 minutes
Metro 33 Venice – Downtown Santa Monica –
Downtown LA 8 minutes
Metro 134 Downtown Santa Monica – Malibu via PCH 30-60 minutes Metro 602 UCLA – Pacific Palisades via Sunset Blvd 30-60 minutes Metro 20
Downtown LA – Westwood/Santa Monica via
Wilshire Blvd; Santa Monica service peak
only, off peak terminates at
Wilshire/Westwood
8-12 minutes
Metro 720 Downtown LA – Downtown Santa Monica via
Wilshire Blvd 5-7 minutes
Metro 761 Expo/Sepulveda Station – UCLA via
Westwood 13 minutes
Culver CityBus 6/Rapid 6 LAX - Culver City Transit Center – UCLA via Sepulveda Blvd
15 minutes
(30 minutes Rapid)
4.2 How Riders Use the Network This sec�on analyzes how riders use the network – travel paterns by �me of day, day of week, route, and stop – to understand where/when demand for transit service is most prevalent. Overall, BBB generates an average of 25,700 boardings on weekdays, a 42% decrease compared to 44,500 boardings pre-pandemic in 2019.
4.2.1 System Level Ridership
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, BBB ridership had already been declining since 2010, with ridership declining every year between 2010 and 2019 at an average rate of 6% per year. Peak ridership in the past 20 years was in 2010 with annual ridership at 21,170,600; by 2019 ridership had declined 45% to 12,640,800. Ridership declines seemed to have plateaued between 2017 and 2019, but significant declines occurred due to COVID-19 with ridership declining 73% at the onset of the pandemic. Ridership was s�ll down 57 percent in 2021 compared to 2019. Since 2021, ridership has seen some improvement, increasing 30% between 2021 and 2022, but with annual ridership at 7,095,000, ridership is s�ll far below pre-COVID rates.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 90 4.2.2 Impacts of COVID-19
As was the case with transit systems throughout the country, BBB’s ridership declined significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between April 2019 and April 2020, monthly ridership declined by 73%.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic ridership has steadily increased, monthly ridership on BBB services had grown 121% between April 2020 and July 2023. Ridership was s�ll below 2019 levels; July 2023 monthly ridership was 61% of July 2019 ridership.
Figure 50: Big Blue Bus Monthly Bus Ridership, January 2019 - July 2023 BBB has not been able to restore their service levels to 2019 levels, since ini�al service reduc�on in 2020, service levels have remained steady at around 70% of 2019 service levels. The lack of motor coach operators has been the largest contribu�ng factor to restoring the service to pre-pandemic levels. As shown in Figure 51, stagna�on of service levels in the face of increasing ridership demand shows how urgent it is that BBB improve service levels.
Figure 51: Big Blue Bus Percent Change in Monthly Bus Ridership and Revenue Hours, January 2019 - July 2023 0 200,000
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Percent Change in Monthly Bus Ridership and Revenue Hours January 2019 - July 2023
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Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 91 Transit Ridership and Service Levels in the Greater Los Angeles Region During COVID-19 Among the major transit service providers opera�ng in the Los Angeles region, ridership recovery on Big Blue Bus services has been close to average; BBB’s 2023 ridership was 64% of 2019 levels, compared to the regional average of 66%.
BBB is behind other Los Angeles transit service providers in returning service to pre-COVID levels, BBB’s 2023 service hours were 70% of 2019 levels; among major LA transit service providers the average was 88% (see Figure 52). That is not to say that ridership would necessarily rebound if BBB service were restored to pre-COVID levels. Other agencies’ results from restoring service levels to pre-COVID levels had mixed results in restoring ridership, LADOT had the greatest recovery in ridership among LA providers and above average restora�on of service levels, but the two service providers with the weakest ridership recovery, Torrance Transit and Montebello Bus Lines, had 2023 service levels around 90% of 2019 levels.
In order for BBB to restore ridership to what it was before COVID will require strategies that go beyond restoring service to past levels.
Figure 52: 2023 Ridership and Vehicle Revenue Hours of Los Angeles Transit Providers as Percent of 2019 Values
4.2.3 Ridership by Time of Day
When comparing pre and post-COVID �me-of-day ridership trends in 2019 to 2023 (Figure 53), the overall trends are much the same – ridership is concentrated during peak periods, with 47% of daily boardings taking place between 6-9 am and 3-6 pm in 2023 compared to 48% in 2019. However, there was a notable shi� from the AM to the PM peak. Ridership dropped considerably between 6-7 am and significantly increased between 3-4 pm. This is likely due to the new work-from-home culture and more flexible work schedules, allowing riders to commute at later �mes (or in some cases, possibly go home early which may explain part of the rela�ve ridership increase from 3-4pm). 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Percent of 2019 Values
Ridership and Vehicle Revenue Hours of Los Angeles
Transit Providers as Percent of 2019 Values
2023 Ridership 2023 Revenue Hours
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 92 Figure 53: Percent of Total BBB Bus Boardings by Hours, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023 As on weekdays, as shown in Figure 54 and Figure 55, weekend trends by �me of day did not change substan�ally between 2019 and 2023. Both Saturdays and Sundays saw the largest rela�ve increases in ridership between 2-5 pm. Unlike weekdays with a double peak, weekends follow a bell curve, with a single peak around 2pm.
Figure 54: Percent of Total BBB Bus Boardings by Hours, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023 0%
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Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 93 Figure 55: Percent of Total BBB Bus Boardings by Hours, Sundays, 2019 & 2023
4.2.4 Ridership by Day of Week
Weekdays account for 87% of monthly or annual passenger boardings. In 2023 Big Blue Bus had 26,000 boardings on an average weekday; 13,700 boardings on an average Saturday, and 11,600 boardings on an average Sunday. Out of the three service days, weekdays had the biggest declines in ridership resul�ng from the pandemic, s�ll down about 43% from an average weekday in 2019.
Weekend service is doing beter in recovering to their prepandemic ridership levels compared to weekdays. Saturday ridership is down from 19,600 to 13,700 daily boardings (30%) and Sunday ridership is down from 14,800 to 11,600 daily boardings (22%) – both substan�ally less than ridership s�ll being down 43% on weekdays from prepandemic levels.
Figure 56: Average Daily Ridership by Day of Week, BBB Bus Services, 2019 & 2023 0%
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Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 94 4.2.5 Ridership by Route
Weekdays
A significant por�on of BBB’s ridership is concentrated on its highest ridership routes. Routes 7-Pico Blvd, 1-Main St & Santa Monica Blvd, and 3-Lincoln Blvd have the highest ridership in the BBB network and collec�vely account for 47% of system ridership in 2023, up from 37% of total ridership in 2019.
Addi�onally, Routes 7 and 3 have Rapid counterparts (Rapid 7 and Rapid 3); when ridership on the top three routes is combined with the Rapid routes, they accounted for 55% of all weekday BBB boardings in 2023, up from 50% in 2019. Due to the concentra�on of ridership on these services, BBB can improve the ridership experience for over half of all riders by focusing service improvements on these three corridors.
Ridership has not recovered to their pre-pandemic levels on any BBB route. Route 17 was the only route that saw an increase in ridership between 2019 and 2023 (4% increase), likely due to the service change in 2020 that re-routed the service through UCLA graduate student housing on Weyburn, and its extension through the UCLA campus. The Bruin Grad Pass referendum which was implemented in 2020 also expanded access to fare free transit for UCLA graduate students, likelyalso contribu�ng to ridership increases.
Routes with low service levels compared to their pre-pandemic service levels con�nue to have the lowest ridership, Routes with the lowest ridership, Rapid 3, Rapid 10, and Routes 5, 15, and 43 now operate only during peak hours or operate at frequencies of 50 minutes or greater. Routes 16 and 41, with Santa Monica College as a key des�na�on, con�nue to have low ridership, due to the increase in opportuni�es for remote learning.
Similarly, the Rapid counterparts to Routes 3 and 7, Rapid 3 and Rapid 7, have low ridership compared to their pre-pandemic levels (s�ll down 85% on Rapid 3 and down 59% on Rapid 7) due to a decrease in service levels during the pandemic. Since 2019, Routes 42 and 44 con�nue to be suspended.
Figure 57: Average Ridership by Route, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023 0 1,000
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Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 95 Weekends
Big Blue Bus operates less service on weekends. Less routes operate on weekends and for those that do operate, they run at less frequency compared to their weekday service levels. Ridership declines resul�ng from the pandemic on weekend services were less pronounced than those experienced on weekdays.
Average Saturday ridership is down 30% in 2023 compared to 2019, while average Sunday ridership is down 22%. Compared to weekdays, weekend ridership likely fell less a�er the onset of the pandemic due to remote and hybrid opportuni�es for students and commuters that made up a significant share of weekday boardings.
As on weekdays, Routes 1, 3, and 7 are the most popular routes on weekends, accoun�ng for almost twothirds of Saturday ridership in 2023. Ridership on Route 9, already the second lowest ridership route on weekends before the pandemic, is s�ll down 41% on Saturdays, while Route 2 ridership is s�ll down 34% on Sundays. As on weekdays, Route 17 was the only route with a ridership increase between 2019 and 2023, with ridership up 11% on Saturdays and 13% on Sundays.
Figure 58: Average Ridership by Route, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023 Figure 59: Average Ridership by Route, Sundays, 2019 & 2023, 0 1,000
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Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 96 4.2.6 Ridership by Stop
Boarding ac�vity is spread across BBB’s service area. Just under 3,000 boardings each day take place at LA Metro rail sta�ons, accoun�ng for 12% of daily boarding ac�vity. Westwood and the UCLA campus account for 3,330 boardings each day (13%). Combined, LA Metro rail transfers and UCLA/Westwood represent about one-quarter of all daily boarding ac�vity. Other major boarding loca�ons include LAX, Santa Monica College, Overland/Venice and Pico/Rimpau. Boardings at the ten most ac�ve bus stops account for 21% of average daily boardings.
Figure 60: Average Weekday Ridership by Stop, 2019 & 2023 Santa Monica College saw one of the greatest declines in ridership. Boardings at Pico & 18th dropped 65% between 2019 and 2023, and boardings at the 17th/SMC Expo Line sta�on declined 76%. In comparison, ridership on the UCLA campus (excluding Westwood stops) only declined 24% between 2019 and 2023.
Of the 897 bus stops in the Big Blue Bus system with recorded boarding ac�vity in 2023, over half (485) generate fewer than ten boardings on an average weekday. In other words, 61% of ac�ve stops generate only 6% of the boardings. This indicates there is a great opportunity for stop consolida�on or reconfigura�on to ensure that BBB’s resources are being aligned with where there is demand for service.
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 97 Figure 61: Top 10 Stops by Average Daily Weekday Boardings, 2019 & 2023 Boardings
4.2.7 Average Trip Length
Passenger trip length is an important indica�on of how riders are using the BBB system and affects how service should be designed. Routes with longer average trip lengths should be designed to priori�ze speed.
Riders are on the bus for longer periods of �me trying to cover longer distances and will be more sensi�ve to out-of-direc�on movements, frequent stops, and slow speeds. On the other hand, riders traveling shorter distances will have rela�vely shorter travel �mes. They become much more sensi�ve to out-ofvehicle wait �mes (frequency of service) as no one wants to wait 30 minutes for a bus if they will only be on the bus for 10 minutes.
As shown in Figure 62, overall trip lengths are rela�vely short compared to route lengths. Very few riders are using the routes from end to end, and there is a lot of seat turnover along the way. Average trip lengths have goten slightly longer since 2019, increasing from an average of 3.3 miles in 2019 to 3.5 miles in 2023 on weekdays (weekend trip lengths follow a similar patern and are just slightly longer than weekdays, Saturdays are 3.4 miles and 3.6 miles respec�vely, and Sundays are 3.5 and 3.7 miles respec�vely). The percentages show how much of the overall route length the average passenger is riding.
Rapid 10 has the longest average trip length (and percent u�liza�on) given its status as a freeway-based express service to Downtown Los Angeles. It is also unsurprising that Route 41/42 has the shortest average trip length since it is designed to provide internal circula�on within Downtown Santa Monica.
Routes with longer average trip distances are candidates for limited stop service, and the three routes/corridors with the longest trip distances – Routes 3, 7, and R10 – already have Rapid service.
Ridership paterns suggest that riders use Routes 3 and 7 and their Rapid variants in a similar manner, with trip distances being very similar. These high ridership/long trip distance routes serve different purposes with a large number of riders using Route 7 to access downtown Santa Monica and des�na�ons along Pico 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600
Hilgard & Westholme
Overland & Venice
Westwood Station
Downtown SM Station - Colorado
Pico & 18th
Aviation/LAX Station
Gateway Plaza (Westwood & Strathmore)
Wilshire/Western Station
Westwood & Weyburn
Top 10 Stops by Average Daily Weekday Boardings
2019 & 2023 Boardings
2023 Ridership 2019 Ridership
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 98 Boulevard from Wilshire/Western Sta�on and many Route 3 riders using it to connect to the Metro C Line at Avia�on/LAX Sta�on and surrounding area by LAX, including the airport itself.
Route 1 is an example of high ridership/low average trip distance route. This highlights Route 1’s successful role as circulator to and from UCLA, Downtown Santa Monica, and points along Santa Monica Boulevard.
Route 1’s high frequencies complement its role as a useful circulator along this corridor.
Figure 62: Average Weekday Passenger Trip Length and Route Length
4.3 How the System Performs
4.3.1 Produc�vity (Passenger Boardings per Revenue Hour) Produc�vity serves as a key metric for the efficiency of a given transit service. The produc�vity of a route is determined by the number of passenger boardings generated per revenue hour of service. Since each route has a different length and offers different service levels, normalizing ridership by the amount of service provided allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of the performance of each route. Produc�vity is influenced both by the ridership generated and by the efficiency of the route design. Routes that are direct, with few devia�ons, and have low layover percentages use hours more efficiently than routes that are circuitous or have high layover ra�os.
On average, Big Blue Bus routes carry an average of 19.1 boardings per hour on weekdays in 2023, dropping from 25.8 in 2019. Rapid 12 has the highest produc�vity with 30.5 passenger boardings. It’s a short, direct, frequent route. Meanwhile, Route 5 has the lowest produc�vity with only 7.8 passengers per hour in 2023, likely the result of significant service decreases that made the route less atrac�ve paired with a doubling of its layover ra�o. The largest decrease in produc�vity is Route 41, dropping 49% from 2019 (24.5 passengers per hour) to 2023 (12.5 passengers per hour). Route 41 provides clockwise service, 72%
43%
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33%
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.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0
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Average Weekday Passenger Trip Length & Route Length
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Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 99 while Route 42 provides the alternate counterclockwise service. This decrease may be due to the suspension of Route 42 in response to COVID-19 in 2020. Route 17 is the only route with an increase in weekday produc�vity (4%) between 2019 (18.1 passenger boardings) to 2023 (18.9 passenger boardings), likely due to the re-route through Westwood to serve the UCLA graduate student housing, and through the UCLA campus to serve intra-campus trips.
Figure 63: Average Weekday Productivity by Route, 2019 & 2023 On Saturdays, again Rapid 12 has the highest produc�vity with 23.9 passengers per hour in 2023, 9% down from 2019 (26.2 passengers per hour). Route 18 has the lowest produc�vity with 11.5 passengers per hour in 2023 compared to 13.3 passengers per hour in 2019. Produc�vity on Route 8 is down 33% from 19.7 in 2019 to 13.1 in 2023, the most among all routes. This may be due to ridership changes in response to COVID-19, reduced service on weekdays, as well as the cut in service on Saturday nights; the last start �me in 2019 was at 11:40 PM and has been cut back to 9:45 PM. Produc�vity on Saturdays for Route 17 is up to 16.1 in 2023 from 13.4 in 2019.
Figure 64: Average Saturday Productivity by Route, 2019 & 2023 0 5
10 15
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40 Passengers per Revenue Hour
Average Weekday Productivity by Route
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Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 100
Route 1 is the most produc�ve on Sundays in 2023 with 20.8 passenger boardings per hour, however, s�ll down 15% from 2019 (24.4 passenger boardings). Route 18 has the lowest produc�vity on Sundays at 10.3 passenger boardings per revenue hour yet only 1% down from 2019 (10.4 passenger boardings). Route 14 saw the greatest change in produc�vity, dropping 38% from 19.2 boardings per hour in 2019 to 11.9 boardings per hour in 2023. This drop reflects the extension of the route to serve the new K Line sta�on in Inglewood when it opened in October 2022. The extension required adding more resources to the route, but even with the extension, overall ridership was lower than it was in 2019.
Figure 65: Average Sunday Productivity by Route, 2019 & 2023 Analyzing produc�vity by �me period yields insights into how efficiently BBB is alloca�ng their services throughout the day and where the greatest return on investment can be found by expanding service levels.
On weekdays the AM and PM peaks have the highest produc�vi�es found throughout the day. On weekends the Early AM is the produc�ve �me period, unlike on weekdays during which it is the least produc�ve �me period; this patern may be caused by the limited number of Early AM weekend trips skewing the data.
Figure 66: Productivity by Time Period and Day Type
0 5
10 15
20 25
30 35
40 1 R12 7 3 17 2 14 9 8 18 41
Passengers per Revenue Hour
Average Sunday Productivity by Route
2019
2023
0 5
10 15
20 25
30 Early AM AM Peak Midday PM Peak Evening Late Evening Passengers per Revenue Hour
Productivity by Time Period & Day Type
Weekday
Saturday
Sunday
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 101
While the charts above show average produc�vity by route, it is also important to examine how produc�vity varies along a route’s alignment. It may be that a route carrying 20 passengers per hour actually carries 10 passengers per hour on one half and 30 passengers per hour on the other. In this case it may make sense to vary the service levels or adjust the service design such that the more produc�ve segment can benefit from addi�onal frequency. The top performing weekday segments are documented in Table 28 and Figure 67. The top segments represent a range of routes and markets. Three of the top ten segments serve UCLA. A few are adjoining segments on the same route on Routes 1, 12, and 14. The segments on R12 Overland/Venice to Westwood/Pico and Route 8 Ocean Park/Bundy to Westwood/Pico are overlapping segments serving the Westwood/Rancho Park E Line Sta�on.
Table 28: Top Ten Performing Route Segments
Route Segment Productivity
14 Bundy Station to Bringham/Gorham 40.1
1 4th/Colorado to SM/Bundy 34.3
R12 Westwood/Pico to UCLA 32
14 Centinela/Venice to Bundy Station 29
R12 Overland/Venice to Westwood/Pico 28.8
8 Ocean Park/Bundy to Westwood/Pico 27.7
1 SM/Bundy to UCLA 23.2
9 Civic Center to Marquez Loop 22.9
3/R3 Lincoln/Washington to Arizona/5th 22.9
17 Sepulveda Station to UCLA 21.1
Figure 67: Segment Productivity – Top 10 Performing Segments Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 102
The botom-performing segments are documented in Table 29 and Figure 68. All three segments from Route 5 are included in the botom ten segments as well as mul�ple segments on Route 16. Route 14 is the only route that has segments in both the top ten and the botom ten. The low-performing segments include the recent extension to the K Line Sta�on. Industry best prac�ces generally call for evalua�ng route segments that generate fewer than ten boardings per hour as these segments generate less ridership return for the resource investment. An hour of service currently used to carry eight boardings an hour can be reallocated to a route where it would carry 24 passengers an hour, serving three �mes as many riders and genera�ng three �mes the fare revenue - at the same cost to Big Blue Bus.
Table 29: Bottom Ten Performing Route Segments
Route Segment Productivity
41/42 17TH Station - SMC 12.5
5 Bundy Station to Century City 11.1
16 Lincoln/Mindanao to 26th St Station 9.4
18 Marina del Rey to SM Station 8.5
14 Hindry/Florence to Centinela/Venice 8.1
5 Century City to Palms Station 7.7
43 Pico/16th to 26th St Station 6.6
16 26th St Station to Saltair/Wilshire 5.9
5 Civic Center to Bundy Station 4.8
14 Montana/Barrington to Paul Revere MS 3.4
Figure 68: Segment Productivity – Bottom 10 Performing Segments Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 103
4.3.2 Cost Effec�veness
Opera�ng Cost per Boarding
Opera�ng costs per boarding serve as a measure of the financial effec�veness of a given route. Overall, average weekday opera�ng costs per boarding were $6.15 in 2019 and $7.65 in 2023. When adjus�ng for infla�on, 2019 opera�ng costs per boarding were $7.33 in 2023 dollars (19.2% cumula�ve infla�on). Even a�er adjus�ng for infla�on, service has become less cost effec�ve due to the drop in ridership.
On weekdays in 2019, the three routes with the highest opera�ng cost per boarding were Route 5 ($12.58), Route 16 ($10.67), and Rapid 10 ($8.98). In 2023, the routes with the highest cost were the same as 2019; however, costs significantly increased within those four years. Routes 5 and Rapid 10 increased by 69% ($21.31 and $15.14, respec�vely), while Route 16 increased by 64% ($17.49). Weekday routes with the lowest opera�ng cost in 2019 include Rapid 12 ($3.80), Route 1 ($5.11), and Rapid 7 ($5.49). Rapid 12 and Route 1 remained low in 2023 ($4.66 and $6.54 per boarding, a 23% and 28% respec�ve increase), as well as Route 9 ($6.47). Route 41/42 was the route with the largest change in opera�ng cost (72% increase), while Route 17 was the only route that experienced a decrease of 6%. These costs align with the routes with the highest and least ridership and produc�vity. In addi�on to infla�on and lower ridership, the cost per boarding increased because some fixed admin, opera�ons, and maintenance costs are being allocated over a lower total number of revenue hours.
Figure 69: Operating Cost per Boarding, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023 The routes with the highest costs on Saturdays in 2019 were Route 41/42 ($13.74), Route 18 ($12.01), and Route 17 ($11.81). Meanwhile, the routes with the highest opera�ng cost per boarding in 2023 were Route 18 ($14.06, a 17% increase), Route 8 ($12.58, a 51% increase), and Route 9 ($10.87, a 4% decrease). These high costs are reflec�ve of Saturday routes with low ridership and produc�vity. In 2019, Route 1 ($5.29), Rapid 12 ($5.72), and Route 7 ($6.23) experienced the lowest opera�ng cost per boarding. In contrast, the routes with the lowest opera�ng cost per boarding in 2023 were Rapid 12 ($6.13, up 7%), Route 1 ($6.52, up 23%), and Route 7 ($8.20, up 31%). All three routes have a high produc�vity on Saturdays, while Routes 7 and 1 addi�onally have high ridership. In 2023, Route 8 experienced the largest change in opera�ng cost, while Route 17 experienced a decrease of 15%.
-$25
-$20
-$15
-$10
-$5
$0
44 R12 9 1 3 7 R7 R3 2 17 8 14 15 41/42 43 18 R10 16 5
Wekday Operating Cost per Boarding
2019 2023
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 104
Sunday opera�ng cost per boarding is very similar to Saturdays in both 2019 and 2023. The routes with the highest cost in 2019 are Route 41/42 ($20.61), Route 18 ($15.54), and Route 9 ($15.52). In 2023, the highest-cos�ng routes are Route 18 ($15.64, a 1% increase), Route 8 ($15.07, a 40% increase), and Route 14 ($13.43, a 54% increase). While Route 18 tends to have low ridership and produc�vity, Routes 8 and 14 are otherwise rela�vely in the middle of the pack. The routes with the lowest opera�ng cost per passenger boarding in 2019 were Route 1 ($6.15), Rapid 12 ($7.11), and Route 7 ($7.54). These routes remained as those with the lowest opera�ng costs in 2023, with Route 1 increasing by 20% ($7.40), Rapid 12 by 8% ($7.64), and Route 7 by 23% ($9.23). Between 2019 and 2023, Route 14 had the largest change in opera�ng cost per boarding by 54%, while Route 17 had the lowest with a decrease of 16%.
Figure 70: Operating Cost per Boarding, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023 Figure 71: Operating Cost per Boarding, Sundays, 2019 & 2023 -$25
-$20
-$15
-$10
-$5
$0
41/42 R12 1 7 3 2 17 14 9 8 18
Saturday Operating Cost per Boarding
2019 2023
-$25
-$20
-$15
-$10
-$5
$0
41/42 1 R12 7 3 2 17 9 14 8 18
Sunday Operating Cost per Boarding
2019 2023
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Subsidy per Trip
Subsidy per passenger trip measures opera�ng expenses not covered by farebox revenue. On weekdays, the three routes the largest subsidies were Route 5, Rapid 10, and Route 16. Between 2019 and 2023, these routes saw an increase between 70-76%. See Figure 72 below to see the change in subsidy amounts for these routes. Conversely, the routes with the lowest weekday subsidies in 2019 were Rapid 12 ($2.91), Route 1 ($4.22), and Rapid 7 ($4.60). In 2023, Rapid 12 and 1 s�ll had the lowest subsidies with Rapid 12 increasing by 29% ($3.77), and Route 1 by 34% ($5.65). The route with the third lowest subsidy was Route 9 ($5.58). Between 2019 and 2023, the routes with the largest subsidy increases were Rapid 10 (75%), Route 5 (75%), and Route 14 (73%), while the routes with the lowest subsidy changes were Route 17 (7% decrease), Route 9 (11% increase), and Route 3 (12% increase).
Figure 72: Subsidy per Passenger Trip, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023 On Saturdays in 2019, the three routes with the largest subsidies were Route 41/42 ($12.85), Route 18 ($11.12), and Route 17 ($10.92). Meanwhile, the routes with the largest subsidies in 2023 were Route 18 ($13.17), Route 8 ($11.69), and Route 9 ($9.98). In both 2019 and 2023, the least subsidized routes were Route 1, Route 7, and Rapid 12, which saw an average increase of 24% over the three years. The change in subsidy amounts for these routes can be found in Figure 73 below. The routes with the greatest change between 2019 and 2023 were Route 8 (57%), Route 14 (38%), and Route 7 (37%). In contrast, the routes with the least amount of change were Route 17 (16% decrease), Route 9 (4% decrease), and Rapid 12 (8% increase).
In regard to Sundays, the largest subsidized routes in 2019 were Route 41/42 ($19.72), Route 18 ($14.65), and Route 9 ($14.63). In 2023, Route 18 ($14.75), Route 8 ($14.18), and Route 14 ($12.54) were the routes with the highest subsidies. Similar to Saturdays, the routes with the lowest subsidies on Sundays in 2019 were also Route 1, Rapid 12, and Route 7. The subsidy changes for these routes are shown in Figure 74 below. Routes 14, 2, and 8 experienced the greatest subsidy change (60%, 45%, and 43%, respec�vely), while again Routes 17, 9, and 18 had the least change with decreases of 17% and 15%, as well as a 1% increase.
-$25
-$20
-$15
-$10
-$5
$0
R12 9 1 3 7 R7 R3 2 17 8 14 15 41/42 43 18 R10 16 5 44
Weekday Subsidy per Passenger Trip
2019 2023
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Figure 73: Subsidy per Passenger Trips, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023 Figure 74: Subsidy per Passenger, Sundays, 2019 & 2023
4.3.3 Recovery Time
Recovery �me is the scheduled �me at the end of a trip when the bus is not ac�vely in service, which allows the bus to “recover” if running late and begin its next trip on �me. During the recovery �me, operators also take their layover breaks mandated by Wage Order 9, guaranteeing a minimum 50 minutes of breaks in an eight-hour shi�. Recovery percentage is calculated by taking the total scheduled recovery hours and dividing it by the total in-service hours. Weekday scheduled recovery percentage doubled from
17.2% in 2019 to 33.9% in 2023, meaning that one-quarter of the �me, buses are si�ng idle at the end of the lines. This is mostly due to the fact that when running �mes decreased as a result of less traffic -$25
-$20
-$15
-$10
-$5
$0
R12 1 7 3 2 17 14 9 8 18 41/42
Saturday Subsidy per Passenger Trip
2019 2023
-$25
-$20
-$15
-$10
-$5
$0
1 R12 7 3 2 17 9 14 8 18 41/42
Sunday Subsidy per Passenger Trip
2019 2023
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 107
conges�on during COVID-19, the running �me savings were just added as addi�onal layover/recovery �me. Given that conges�on levels have increased, actual recovery �me is less than scheduled. Weekend schedule recovery was rela�vely unchanged between 2019 and 2023 at around 20%.
In 2019, the routes with the largest scheduled recovery percentage were Route 15 (33%), Route 41/42 (28%), and Rapid 12 (25%). The lowest recovery rates in 2019 belonged to Route 7 (13%), Rapid3 (13%), and Rapid 10 (7%).
Figure 75: Percent of Total Running Time Composed of Recovery Time, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023 Figure 76: Percent of Total Running Time Composed of Recovery Time, Saturdays, 2019 & 2023 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
R10 2 9 3 R27 41/42 7 14 15 43 R12 16 8 17 5 1 18 R23
Percent of Total Running Time Composed of Recovery Time Weekdays, 2019 & 2023
2019
2023
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
R12 9 14 2 8 17 3 1 18 7 41/42
Percent of Total Running Time Composed of Recovery Time Weekends, 2019 & 2023
2019
2023
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 108
Figure 77: Percent of Total Running Time Composed of Recovery Time, Sundays, 2019 & 2023
4.4 What is the Quality of the Service?
4.4.1 Service Frequency
Frequency is the number one factor that atracts new riders to transit. The BBB 2018 Non-Rider Survey asked par�cipants what they considered to be an acceptable wait �me for a transit trip. Two-thirds of all par�cipants (66%) responded with “10 minutes or less.” BBB currently only has one route, Route 1, that meets this threshold and three others that operate at least every 15 minutes. Providing frequent service has the benefit of atrac�ng new riders and makes the service faster for exis�ng ones.
The Figures on the following pages show Weekday, Saturday, and Sunday frequencies for 2019 and 2023.
Overall frequencies are worse in 2023 than in 2019. This reflects both the decrease in ridership and service discussed previously in this document. It will be important to iden�fy which corridors warrant returning to their pre-pandemic frequencies or beter.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
R12 9 14 2 8 17 3 1 18 7 41/42
Percent of Total Running Time Composed of Recovery Time Sundays, 2019 & 2023
2019
2023
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 109
Figure 78: Route Frequencies, Weekdays, 2019
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
AM
Approximate Headway
8 Ocean Park Blvd & Westwood Bl/UCLA
7 Pico Blvd
44 SMC Campus Connector
43 San Vicente Blvd & 26th St
41/42 17th St Station - SMC
27 Pico Blvd Rapid
23 Lincoln Blvd/LAX Rapid
18 UCLA - Abbot Kinney
17 UCLA-VA Medical Center-Palms
16 Wilshire Bl/Bundy Dr-Marina del Rey
15 Barrington Ave
14 Bundy Dr & Centinela Ave
AM PM
WEEKDAYS (2019)
≤ 15 min. 16 - 20 min. 21 - 30 min. ≥ 31 min.
5 Olympic Blvd
3 Lincoln Blvd/LAX
BBB ROUTES
Hour
2 Wilshire Blvd/UCLA
1 Main St & Santa Monica Blvd/UCLA
12 Westwood/UCLA-Culver City Sta
10 Downtown LA Freeway Express
9 Pacific Palisades
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 110
Figure 79: Route Frequencies, Weekdays, 2023
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
AM
Approximate Headway
5 Olympic Blvd
3 Lincoln Blvd/LAX
2 Wilshire Blvd/UCLA
1 Main St & Santa Monica Blvd/UCLA
12 Westwood/UCLA-Culver City Sta
10 Downtown LA Freeway Express
9 Pacific Palisades
8 Ocean Park Blvd & Westwood Bl/UCLA
7 Pico Blvd
18 UCLA - Abbot Kinney
17 UCLA-VA Medical Center-Palms
16 Wilshire Bl/Bundy Dr-Marina del Rey
15 Barrington Ave
14 Bundy Dr & Centinela Ave
≥ 31 min.
BBB ROUTES
WEEKDAYS (2023)
AM PM
Hour
≤ 15 min. 16 - 20 min. 21 - 30 min.
44 SMC Campus Connector
43 San Vicente Blvd & 26th St
41/42 17th St Station - SMC
27 Pico Blvd Rapid
23 Lincoln Blvd/LAX Rapid
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 111
Figure 80: Route Frequencies, Saturdays, 2019
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
AM
Approximate Headway
SATURDAY (2019)
≤ 15 min. 16 - 20 min. 21 - 30 min. ≥ 31 min.
AM PM
41/42 17th St Station - SMC
18 UCLA - Abbot Kinney
17 UCLA-VA Medical Center-Palms
14 Bundy Dr & Centinela Ave
12 Westwood/UCLA-Culver City Sta
9 Pacific Palisades
8 Ocean Park Blvd & Westwood Bl/UCLA
7 Pico Blvd
3 Lincoln Blvd/LAX
2 Wilshire Blvd/UCLA
1 Main St & Santa Monica Blvd/UCLA
BBB ROUTES
Hour
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 112
Figure 81: Route Frequencies, Saturdays, 2023
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
AM
Approximate Headway
1 Main St & Santa Monica Blvd/UCLA
BBB ROUTES
Hour
SATURDAY (2023)
≤ 15 min. 16 - 20 min. 21 - 30 min. ≥ 31 min.
9 Pacific Palisades
8 Ocean Park Blvd & Westwood Bl/UCLA
7 Pico Blvd
3 Lincoln Blvd/LAX
2 Wilshire Blvd/UCLA
41/42 17th St Station - SMC
18 UCLA - Abbot Kinney
17 UCLA-VA Medical Center-Palms
14 Bundy Dr & Centinela Ave
12 Westwood/UCLA-Culver City Sta
AM PM
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 113
Figure 82: Route Frequencies, Sundays, 2019
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
AM
Approximate Headway ≤ 15 min. 16 - 20 min. 21 - 30 min. ≥ 31 min. 9 Pacific Palisades
8 Ocean Park Blvd & Westwood Bl/UCLA
7 Pico Blvd
3 Lincoln Blvd/LAX
2 Wilshire Blvd/UCLA
41/42 17th St Station - SMC
18 UCLA - Abbot Kinney
17 UCLA-VA Medical Center-Palms
14 Bundy Dr & Centinela Ave
12 Westwood/UCLA-Culver City Sta
BBB ROUTES
1 Main St & Santa Monica Blvd/UCLA
SUNDAY (2019)
Hour
AM PM
Big Blue Bus Brighter Blue COA Existing Conditions Report 114
Figure 83: Route Frequencies, Sundays, 2023
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
AM
Approximate Headway ≤ 15 min. 16 - 20 min. 21 - 30 min. ≥ 31 min. 12 Westwood/UCLA-Culver City Sta
14 Bundy Dr & Centinela Ave
17 UCLA-VA Medical Center-Palms
18 UCLA - Abbot Kinney
41/42 17th St Station - SMC
SUNDAY (2023)
Hour
BBB ROUTES AM PM
1 Main St & Santa Monica Blvd/UCLA
2 Wilshire Blvd/UCLA
3 Lincoln Blvd/LAX
7 Pico Blvd
8 Ocean Park Blvd & Westwood Bl/UCLA
9 Pacific Palisades
115
4.4.2 On-Time Performance
Service reliability is a key factor in retaining ridership. Riders have to be able to confidently rely on the bus to get them where they need to go, or else they are more likely to choose other travel modes if they are available. Big Blue Bus defines a bus as on-�me when it departs a �mepoint stop up to one minute earlier than scheduled or five minutes later. Early trips are very detrimental to perceived reliability since, riders refer to a published schedule to �me their arrive and if buses leave earlier than scheduled, they may be le� behind. Late trips are also detrimental to perceived reliability since they impact a BBB rider’s ability to make a transfer and arrive at their des�na�on on �me.
Big Blue Bus has a system-wide goal of 85% on-�me performance, in-line with common industry standards.
On weekdays, no routes meet the on-�me performance standard. Weekday trips are 67% on �me, 10% early and 23% late across all �mepoints. Low on-�me performance is likely due to the fact that Big Blue Bus is s�ll using the scheduled speeds from the pandemic and has not yet reverted back to pre-pandemic speeds. Since traffic conges�on has since increased, many trips are not able to travel as quickly as they once could.
The route with the best performance was the Rapid 12 with 79% of �mepoints on-�me. Routes with higher on-�me performance tend to be shorter routes like Rapid 12, Routes 41/42 and 43 or operate on streets perpendicular to major flows of traffic like Routes 15 and 16.
The routes with the lowest on-�me performance were Rapid 7 and Rapid 3; the low performance on Rapid 3 may be because it only operates during peak travel hours. Both Rapid 3 and 7 may also suffer from inadequate scheduled run �mes; both routes operate on congested corridors and ridership paterns show that the rapid routes are not offering significant travel �me savings to passengers.
Figure 84: On Time Performance at Timepoints by Route, Weekdays, Oct 2022 - Oct 2023 Source: Swi�ly
On-�me performance at the system level is slightly improved on weekends, Saturday on-�me performance is 70% and Sunday on-�me performance is 76%. The only route to meet on-�me performance standards 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
R12 41 R10 15 16 43 18 2 1 14 9 7 17 8 3 5 R7 R3
On Time Performance at Timepoints by Route
Weekdays, Oct 2022 - Oct 2023
Early On Time Late
Brighter Blue Existing Conditions Report
116
is the Rapid 12 on Sundays. Routes that travel on congested corridors that aren’t subject to travel behaviors of students see less reliable performance with Route 7, 9 and 17 con�nuing to perform poorly.
Figure 85: On Time Performance at Timepoints by Route, Saturdays, Oct 2022 - Oct 2023 Source: Swi�ly
Figure 86: On Time Performance at Timepoints by Route, Sundays, Oct 2022 - Oct 2023 Source: Swi�ly
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
R12 41 14 1 8 3 18 2 7 9 17
On Time Performance at Timepoints by Route
Saturdays, Oct 2022 - Oct 2023
Early On Time Late
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40%
60%
80%
100%
R12 14 9 1 18 7 8 3 2 17
On Time Performance at Timepoints by Route
Saturdays, Oct 2022 - Oct 2023
Early On Time Late
Brighter Blue Existing Conditions Report
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4.4.3 Speed and Reliability
The 2018 Non-Rider Survey asked respondents what a reasonable amount of travel �me for a bus trip would be. Sixty percent of respondents said the trip should be 25% faster or take the same amount of �me as their trip on their current mode (adjus�ng for the 11% of respondents who said they would never use transit). In many cases, taking the bus is not faster than alterna�ve modes, especially those that use private vehicles, since they do not follow direct paths from the riders’ origin to their des�na�on. However, this finding does suggest that transit can be compe��ve in areas where it provides a travel �me advantage over driving such as dense areas with high levels of traffic conges�on or areas where it is difficult to find parking. It also suggests that on-street improvements that can help improve bus opera�ng speeds are cri�cal to consider. If a bus is si�ng in the same conges�on as all of the other cars, there is no advantage.
However, if buses are able to take advantage of their own lane or other forms of priority and provide a faster alterna�ve to driving, they become much more atrac�ve.
Service Speed
In 2023, the average scheduled speed for BBB routes was 12.2 miles per hour on weekdays, and 11.9 miles per hour on weekends. All routes have a faster weekday opera�ng speed in 2023 than 2019 which shows that BBB adjusted running �mes based on new traffic paterns and passenger loads during the pandemic.
Rapid 10 has the highest average scheduled speed since it runs primarily on the I-10 freeway. The slowest routes in the system are Routes 1 and 2, routes which primarily operate on some of the most trafficked local corridors in the service area. Worth no�ng are the scheduled speeds of the Rapid services when compared to their non-Rapid counter parts; the Rapid 7 only operates one mile per hour faster than the regular Route 7 while the Rapid 3 actually has a slower scheduled opera�ng speed than the regular Route
3. The lack of travel �me saving on the Rapid routes warrants further considera�on as to what the role of these routes isand whether or not they are fulfilling these roles.
Figure 87: Scheduled Operating Speed in Miles per Hour, Weekdays, 2019 & 2023 0 2
4 6
8 10
12 14
16 18
R10 43 R7 14 9 3 5 7 41 8 R3 R12 16 17 18 15 1 2 42 44
Scheduled Operating Speed in Miles per Hour
Weekdays, 2019 & 2023
2019 Scheduled Speed 2023 Scheduled Speed
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118
When comparing actual run �mes against scheduled run �mes, the routes that operate closest to schedule tend to be shorter in distance, including Routes 15, 43, R12, and 41. The routes that have the greatest difficulty in opera�ng with run �mes close to scheduled are Rapid 7 and Rapid 3, and Route 17. The poor performance of Rapid 3 and Rapid 7 highlight the difficulty in opera�ng Rapid service along the Pico Blvd and Lincoln Blvd corridors without transit priori�zing infrastructure; these routes would benefit from addi�onal run �me, but that runs counter to their roles as Rapid services.
Figure 88: Actual Run Times vs Scheduled Run Times, Weekday Trips Source: Swi�ly
Low-Speed Hotspots
Speed on Big Blue Bus routes are primarily impacted by the heavy automobile conges�on that characterizes most corridors in the Big Blue Bus service area. The analysis has iden�fied corridors in which bus routes are running into speed issues and which would poten�ally benefit from speed and reliability improvements. These corridors have been designated as Key Corridors and Secondary Corridors.
Key Corridors includes corridors that have the highest level of potential benefits from speed and reliability improvements. These include routes with high ridership, high traffic volumes, and/or high frequency. This group includes:
• 4th Street, Downtown Santa Monica (Routes 1, 2, 3, R3, 7, R7, 9, R10, 18) • Santa Monica Boulevard (Route 1)
• Wilshire Boulevard (Route 2)
• Lincoln Boulevard (Route 3/Rapid 3)
• Pico Boulevard (Route 7/Rapid 7)
• Westwood Boulevard/Overland Avenue (Rapid 12)
• Centinela Avenue/Bundy Drive (Route 14)
Secondary Corridors includes routes running on streets that may have a specific hotspot or two, but overall are not as intense ridership generators or as high of frequency as the key corridors. This group includes:
• Ocean Park Boulevard (Route 8)
• Sawtelle Boulevard/Palms Boulevard (Route 17)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
R10 14 16 3 7 R7 R3 18 17 5 15 1 2 8 R12 9 43 41
Actual vs Scheduled Run Times
Weekday Trips
Shorter Expected Longer
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• Montana Avenue (Route 18)
Within these corridors there were also hotspots that serve as key contributors to speed and reliability issues within the corridor. These hotspots include:
• 4th Street in Downtown Santa Monica (Routes 1, 2, 3, R3, 7, R7, 9, R10, 18): This segment has below average speeds in all periods/direc�ons. This sec�on is par�cularly bad for Route 1, 7, R7, 8, and 18 turning le� from westbound Broadway onto southbound 4th Street. • Santa Monica Boulevard between Sepulveda and Barrington (Route 1): This sec�on has below average speeds in all periods/direc�ons, with the slowest speeds between Sepulveda and Sawtelle around the 405 interchange. Bus lanes are planned up to Cotner, right a�er the 405 underpass, under which bus delay is highest. There are several closely-spaced stops through this sec�on. • Lincoln Boulevard between Washington Blvd and Commonwealth Ave (Route 3): This sec�on has slow speeds in all periods/direc�ons, especially on the approach to Lincoln/Venice. The planned bus lanes stop short of resolving the most constrained sec�on through here. • Pico Boulevard between Redondo and Crenshaw (Route 7): This sec�on has speed issues in the AM and PM peak in the westbound direc�on. There are a series of turns to approach and leave Pico/Rimpau Transit Center, including a pull-out onto San Vicente followed immediately by a le� onto Pico.
• Pico Boulevard between the 10 Freeway and the 405 Freeway (Route 7): This sec�on has speed issues during the PM peak eastbound. Numerous major cross-streets and freeway ramps. • Cen�nela Avenue between Palms and Culver (Route 14): This segment has slow speeds in all periods/direc�ons. The slowest speeds are found when approaching Cen�nela/Venice during the PM peak, especially southbound.
• Bundy Drive approaching E Line (Route 14): This segment has slow speeds during the PM peak approaching sta�on.
• Many routes have slow speeds approaching major cross street intersec�ons. This can be seen in the examples above, and is present in many other hotspots (e.g. Cloverfield in Santa Monica, etc.).
4.4.4 Duplica�on and Redundancy of Services
Opera�ng duplica�ve or redundant services may impact the performance of a given route. Routes that operate within a short distance of services on parallel corridors may compete for riders. Big Blue Bus does not offer duplica�ve services outside of Rapid overlay service on the Pico Boulevard, Lincoln Boulevard and Westwood Boulevard. The existence of these overlay services is jus�fied by the fact that the rapid variants make less stops than underlying local services.
Big Blue Bus is not the only transit service provider that operates within the City of Santa Monica, thus it is also important to avoid redundancy with other service providers’ routes as well. For the most part, other service providers’ services within Santa Monica complement BBB service rather than compete with them.
It is worth no�ng that LA Metro also provides service along Santa Monica Boulevard (Metro Route 4) and Wilshire Boulevard (Metro Routes 20 and 720). The high ridership found on BBB Routes 1 and 2 show that these corridors have enough demand to sustain mul�ple routes, allowing BBB service and Metro service to complement one another in providing high frequency service along these important corridors.
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4.4.5 Rapid Service Evalua�on
Big Blue Bus operates a series of “Rapid” routes that operate with limited stop spacing to provide faster travel speeds and shorter travel �mes for riders. Rapid 10 is a freeway-based express service into Downtown Los Angeles. Rapid 12 operates on Westwood Blvd, and even though it has wide stop spacing, it does not have any underlying local service. Rapid 3 on Lincoln Blvd and Rapid 7 on Pico Blvd both operate on top of local underlays, so there are two separate services on the same corridor with different frequencies and stopping paterns. It is important to evaluate the rela�ve performance of the Rapid and Local services to see if they compete with or complement one another.
Local 7 operates every 14 minutes throughout the day with 58 Eastbound and 60 Westbound stops. Rapid 7 operates every 20 minutes throughout the day with 21 Eastbound and 22 Westbound stops. Combined, these services offer 7 trips an hour, which if spread out evenly, could be offered every 8-9 minutes.
Ridership data shows that rather than wai�ng the 20 minutes for the Rapid service, riders who board at stops shared by the two routes simply take the next available trip. For example, in the Westbound direc�on, 37% of boardings at shared stops are on Rapid 7 while 38% of trips at shared stops are on Rapid 7, so there is no obvious preference for the Rapid service. This is less true in the Eastbound direc�on where there is a slight preference for the Rapid, but it’s not significant.
Table 30: Service and Ridership Characteristics, Route 7 and Rapid 7 Eastbound Westbound
Local Rapid Local Rapid
Percent of Ridership at Shared Stops 56% 44% 63% 37%
Percent of Trips at Shared Stops 61% 39% 62% 38%
Travel Time 7th & Olympic to Western/Wilshire (AM Peak) 54 50 71 65 Travel Time 7th & Olympic to Western/Wilshire (PM Peak) 85 74 65 55 Rapid Travel Time Savings (AM Peak) 7% 8%
Rapid Travel Time Savings (PM Peak) 13% 15%
The rela�onship between Route 3 and Rapid 3 is similar to the one seen between Route 7 and Rapid 7, though the Rapid 3 only operates during the AM and PM peak. The split of ridership at shared stops between Route 3 and Rapid 3 seems to be primarily a func�on of the split of trips that each route provides at shared stops, which is to say, riders seem to be boarding on either route, with no preference of one service type over the other.
Table 31: Service and Ridership Characteristics, Route 3 and Rapid 3 Northbound Southbound
Local Rapid Local Rapid
Percent of Ridership at Shared Stops 92% 7% 91% 9%
Percent of Trips at Shared Stops 92% 8% 93% 7%
Travel Time Avia�on Sta�on to Arizona & 5th (AM Peak) 65 60 Travel Time Arizona & 5th to Avia�on Sta�on (PM Peak) 69 75 Rapid Travel Time Savings (AM Peak) 7%
Rapid Travel Time Savings (PM Peak) -8%
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4.5 Service Evaluation Key Takeaways The following are key takeaways from the Service Evalua�on which should be taken into considera�on when developing the COA recommenda�ons.
• BBB has not restored service to pre-pandemic levels to the same degree as their local peers.
Ridership in 2023 is 65% of 2019 while service is 70% of pre-pandemic levels. • Weekday ridership has shi�ed with less boardings between 6-7 am and more boardings between 3-4 pm which may reflect new travel paterns post COVID-19. • Weekday ridership decreased more than weekends post-pandemic, which is likely because of a larger decrease in commute and school trips which occur primarily on weekdays. • Routes with low service levels had the lowest ridership. Routes whose largest des�na�on was Santa Monica College, Routes 41/42 and 16, also had low ridership, this may be a result of a shi� to remote learning.
• Over half of the BBB bus stops generate fewer than ten boardings on an average weekday. This indicates there is a great opportunity for stop consolida�on or reconfigura�on to ensure that BBB’s resources are being aligned with where there is demand for service. • Big Blue Bus routes carried an average of 19.1 boardings per hour on weekdays in 2023, dropping from 25.8 in 2019.
• One of the factors contribu�ng to BBB’s produc�vity decline is that the overall weekday layover percentage doubled from 17% in 2019 to 34% in 2023. Weekend layover percentages are mostly unchanged.
• Passenger trip lengths on Rapid routes are only slightly longer than their underlying local routes.
This likely means that riders are using whichever route comes first instead of seeking our Rapid trips.
• No routes are currently mee�ng weekday OTP standard. Rapid routes are the lowest, which is interes�ng based on them having similar running �mes to their underlying local services. TMD has found that on-�me performance issues are 70% coach operator caused and 30% running �me related.
• Rapids have similar speed to their underlying local services. This probably was not the intent of the Rapid service when first deployed and speeding these routes or integra�ng them with their local routes should be considered.
• Opera�ng speeds are faster in 2023. This may be a contribu�ng factor to lower on-�me performance as traffic and ridership have slowly come back to pre-pandemic levels.