Big Blue Bus

The agency was founded on April 14, 1928, as the Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines and the agency picked a unique blue color scheme for its buses, later leading to the Big Blue Bus nickname. It holds the distinction of being the second oldest public transit bus system still operating in Los Angeles County; only the neighboring Culver CityBus (founded March 4, 1928) is older. Santa Monica established the bus line in response to a fare increase on the Pacific Electric interurban trains between Santa Monica and Los Angeles. While independent from other agencies in the Los Angeles area, the Big Blue Bus has always offered connections to the other systems, most notably near the intersections of Pico and Rimpau Boulevards in the Mid-City section of Los Angeles. The historic transfer point was established by Santa Monica, the Los Angeles Railway and Pacific Electric Railway and is known today as the Pico/Rimpau Transit Center and is used the Big Blue Bus and Metro Bus. == Routes ==

Big Blue Bus operates 18 bus lines: 12 regular routes, 2 rapid routes, and 1 circulator route. On weekends and holidays with weekend service, the agency operates 10 bus lines: 9 regular routes and 1 rapid route. Local routes Sunday schedules are operated on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Rapid & Express routes == Bus fleet ==

Big Blue Bus currently maintains a fleet of 195 buses of various lengths including 29', 40', and 60' articulated, with 35-footers set to be delivered in 2025. All buses feature destination signs. Newer buses (units 1801 and later) feature white LED destination signs, while older units feature a variety of other colors. In 2024, the fleet was equipped with passenger information displays in place of the older dot-light signs. These are part of a fleet-wide communications system replacement with Clever Devices systems. The passenger displays currently feature a three-day weather forecast, upcoming stops with time to arrival, and the line's final destination. As part of this upgrade, electric buses also gain access to Clever's EV fleet integration software during the agency's transition to a zero-emissions fleet. This also enables The agency has determined that battery-electric buses can replace their CNG buses at current service levels with a 1:1 replacement ratio. Moreover, Big Blue Bus' 2011 NABI LFW 40' and NABI BRT 60' units have already exceeded their design life. The agency has subsequently delayed its fleet electrification deadline to 2031. Active fleet Awaiting Delivery Retired Future and electrification Following the success of Big Blue Bus' pilot with a prototype Gillig/Cummins BEB (unit 1827), the agency committed to only purchasing zero-emission vehicles moving forward. Big Blue Bus charges its electric fleet with 100 percent renewable energy. The second batch of battery-electric buses are expected in 2025. The agency has set itself a 2030 deadline for full conversion to zero-emissions operation, which as of February 2023, it has determined it can achieve with exclusively battery-electric buses. The agency is slated to replace vehicles as they reach the end of their useful service lives. Next to be replaced are El Dorado 32' BRT models, with delivery of replacement Gillig 35' Low Floor EVs slated for 2025. The agency's fleet of remaining NABI vehicles is the next group of buses to be replaced. Due to dynamic service changes, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ridership changes, amongst other factors, the agency is pursuing a more dynamic fleet replacement timeline than that which was outlined in their original CARB document. The agency has delayed its fleet electrification commitment to 2031. == Incidents ==

On November 20, 2012, a Big Blue Bus turned left in front of an oncoming motorcyclist, which resulted in the 25-year-old man's death. The accident occurred at approximately 10:33 a.m. at the triangular intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Marquez in the Pacific Palisades. Only buses are allowed to make the left turn, a maneuver that has been determined to be too dangerous for other vehicles. On June 7, 2013, Bus 4057 of Big Blue Bus was among several vehicles fired at during a thirteen-minute killing spree that left six people dead, including the gunman, and four others wounded. Three women suffered minor injuries aboard the bus, one from shrapnel-type injuries and the other two from injuries unrelated to the gunfire. Approximately two dozen people were inside the bus at the time of the shooting. The attack on Bus 4057 marked the first time a Big Blue Bus came under attack by a gunman in its 85-year service. On the morning of January 7th, 2025, service on Route 9 was discontinued due to the Palisades Fire. Express service was restored on January 27, 2026, with the reopening of the Palisades High School campus. == In popular culture ==

Speed Two humorous slogans Santa Monica Bank used on Big Blue Buses appeared in the film Speed. The bus operator in the movie is called the Santa Monica Intercity Bus Lines, a fictionalized version of the Big Blue Bus's official name, the Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines. Raymond Chandler In Raymond Chandler's novel Farewell, My Lovely, first published in 1940, he writes as protagonist Philip Marlowe, describing a scene in Bay City (Chandler's version of the City of Santa Monica): :"Outside the narrow street fumed, the sidewalks swarmed with fat stomachs. Across the street a bingo parlor was going full blast and beside it a couple of sailors with girls were coming out of a photographer's shop where they had probably been having their photos taken riding on camels. The voice of the hot dog merchant split the dusk like an axe. A big blue bus blared down the street to the little circle where the street car used to turn on a turntable. I walked that way." Curb Your Enthusiasm In the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode ”Namaste" (season 9, episode 7), Larry David is forced to catch a bus, an activity he is not accustomed to. The endeavor ends with Larry being kicked off the bus. The bus station is the Montana/San-Vincente station in Brentwood which serves lines 14 and 18. The Doors The lyric from The Doors song “The End” “The blue bus is calling us” is sometimes said to refer to the Big Blue Buses but according Ray Manzarek this is apocryphal. == References ==