SR-012709-9ac7_~
c;cvor City Council Report
Santa Monica
CityCouncil Meeting: January 27, 2009
Agenda Item: 9-A
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Stephanie Negriff, Director of Transit Services
Subject: Public Hearing Concerning Big Blue Bus Service Changes Including Re-
Route of Tide Ride
Recommended Action
Staff requests that the City Council conduct a public hearing and approve proposed Big
Blue Bus schedule and route changes consisting of service level enhancements and
reductions.
Executive Summary
Big Blue Bus proposes schedule and service frequency changes to Line 1, Line 3,
Rapid 3, Line 4, Line 5, Line 6, Rapid 7, Line 9, Line 10, Sunset Ride and Tide Ride to
better meet customer travel demand and to operate reliably through increased traffic
congestion. On some of these services, the extent of proposed changes requires a
public hearing. If approved, the changes would be implemented on February 15, 2009.
Background
Big Blue Bus constantly monitors passenger loads and schedule adherence on all
routes. Travel patterns shift over time with some services becoming more popular to the
extent of experiencing overcrowding while others become less relevant for the
community's travel needs. All services are evaluated according to a set of performance
measures established by the Service Improvement Program.
Services that carry. at least 60 passengers for at least two miles are identified as
needing more resources to adequately meet travel demand and ensure a desirable level
of passenger comfort. When fewer than 20 passengers per vehicle service hour are
being carried, service guidelines recommend "trimming" the schedule by eliminating the
1
least productive trips. Services that carry 15 or fewer passengers. per vehicle service
hour require significant reconfiguration or elimination.
On services that no longer operate on schedule because of increased traffic congestion,
there are several strategies that can restore schedule adherence including rewriting the
schedule to account for longer running times at the cost of one or two additional buses
and drivers to maintain the same frequency of service, implementing bus only lanes
through the most congested segments of the route, and installing signal priority
technology to extend the green cycle for buses running behind schedule, while
maintaining general traffio flow and reserving absolute priority for emergency vehicles.
The last two strategies do not require additional buses or drivers.
Discussion
Line 1, connecting Main. Street and UCLA via Santa Monica Boulevard, has daily on-
time performance problems because of increased traffic congestion and overcrowding,
One bus and driver will be added. every afternoon to re-establish reliability of the
scheduled ten-minute frequency on weekdays, 15-minute frequency on Saturday and
20-minute frequency on Sundays, adding 3,798 annual service hours. During the
midday, weekday service frequency would decrease from every 10 minutes to every 11
minutes.
Line 3 and Rapid 3 experience some of the greatest overcrowding on the BBB system
with as many as 38 standees recorded on some trips. On Line 3, connecting the Green
line, LAX and UCLA. via Lincoln Boulevard and Montana Avenue, one trip would be
extended on weekdays in the evening peak period from the Green Line Station to
Montana, increasing annual service hours by 150. On Rapid 3, one southbound trip at
1:35 p.m. and one northbound trip at 2:30 p.m. would be added to reduce the mid-day
service gap, adding 508 annual service hours.
2
Line 4, operating on San Vicente and Sawtelle Boulevards, is the least productive
service on weekends in the entire BBB system with only 17 passengers per vehicle
service hour on Saturdays and 13 passengers.per vehicle service. hour on Sundays. On
Line 4, weekend service will operate hourly rather than every 30-35 minutes. The last
hour of service on all days is also poorly utilized with no passengers at all recorded on
some trips. Under the proposal, the last trip every day would end at 8 p.m. The net
change would be an annual decrease of 3,379 service hours.
On Line 5, serving Colorado. Avenue and Century City, the last eastbound and
westbound trips in the evening will be eliminated weekdays and weekends due to
ridership of fewer than 10 passengers per service hour. One bus will be added in the
afternoon to allow for slower operating times due to traffic congestion. The net result
will be a decrease of 147 annual service hours.
On Line 6, the SMC Commuter, the route would be modified in the direction heading
from Santa Monica towards the Palms neighborhood to avoid picking up passengers on
20th Street at Pearl Street. Residents stated that the presence of passengers waiting at
this bus stop created an intolerable hardship for them. The new route will pick up on
Pico and buses will continue eastbound on Pico to Bundy where they would turn right.
Because the proposed alignment experiences more traffic congestion, it will require 115
additional annual service hours
On Rapid 7, Pico Boulevard, one trip would be added in the late morning when SMC is
in session. The trip will be timed for a major class dismissal when over 60 passengers
have been observed trying to board one bus. Rapid 7 was implemented in August 2008
and was immediately successful with 100 passengers or more counted on some trips.
The additional round trip will add 450 annual service hours.
On Line 9, the service to Pacific Palisades, evening ridership is approximately 10
passengers per vehicle service hour. One round trip would be eliminated every evening
3
resulting ih hourly service after 7 p.m. daily. There would be an annual decrease of 254
service hours.
On Line 10, the Downtown Los Angeles Freeway Express, on Sunday only, the first
morning trip to and from Union Station and one trip in the early evening to and from
Union Station would be eliminated. The morning trips proposed for elimination average
seven passengers per service hour while the evening trips average nine passengers.
There would be an annual decrease of 261 service hours.
The Sunset Ride connecting the Arboretum, Water Gardens, Pico and Sunset Park
Neighborhoods and .Airport Park with SMC campuses will operate at a 30-minute
frequency after 4:30 p:m. because of lower ridership at that time. There would be an
annual reduction of 508 service hours.
The TIDE Ride, connecting downtown with the south beach parking lots and Main
Street, has experienced a decline in ridership in recent years and has the lowest
productivity of all BBB services on weekdays with only 12 passengers per. vehicle
service hour. The current route duplicates the services of Lines 1, 2 and 8. The route
of the TIDE ride is proposed to be reconfigured to serve the Anneriberg Community
Beach-House (attached map). The new TIDE Ride would operate weekends only, all
year long between 9:45 a:m. and 6:30 p.m., with later hours added for summer. On
weekdays, the lower number of anticipated visitors to the Beach House and the
availability of parking nearby would not justify the expenditure of additional resources for
daily service. Big Blue Bus has bought two special Mini Blue vehicles that are small
enough to operate in the Beach House parking lot for. passenger drop off and pick up.
Operating on the entire proposed route in a one-way loop will result in a 30-minute
service frequency. Reconfiguration of the TIDE Ride will result in an annual savings of
4,898 annual service hours.
Public Outreach
4
Before considering a major schedule or route change to any transit service, the City
Council must hold a public hearing. Notice of this hearing was advertised in the Santa
Monica Daily Press on December 23, 2008 and posted in all buses thirty days prior to
the hearing.
In addition to the public hearing, community meetings were held on Monday, December
8, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. at the Fairview Library; on Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 10 a.m.
at the Ken Edwards Center and at 6:00 p.m. at the Westside Pavilion; and on Saturday,
December 13, 2008 at 10 a.m. at the Santa Monica Main Library. A total of 70
community members attended. The meetings were extensively promoted by "take-
ones" and pre-recorded announcements on all of the buses, by notice on
www:bigbluebus.com, by direct mailing and a-mail blast to over 600 households on the
Big Blue Bus subscriber list, on the Convention and Visitors Bureau's community events
online calendar, on the City's Environmental Programs online calendar, by UCLA and
SMC a-mail blasts to their students and staff, by a news release distribution resulting in
press coverage in the Santa Monica Daily Press and the on-line Santa Monica Outlook,
in the Biweekly City Manager's Office Update to City Council and by CityTV on-air
announcements. Special meetings were also held for key groups within the City
including a presentation to the board: of directors of the Convention and Visitors Bureau,
the Main Street Business Improvement Association and the Bayside District.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Implementation of all proposed. changes will result in a net savings of 4,299 annual
vehicle service hours. This results in a budgetary savings of $430,000 which will offset
a portion of unanticipated consequences of the volatility in Big Blue Bus fuel prices. A
significant net service reduction is unavoidable because of State budget reductions that
are anticipated to impact transit funding.
Prepared by: Paul Casey, Senior Transit Programs Analyst
5
City Manager
Attachment: TideRide Service Changes Spring 2009
6
Approved: Forwarded to Council:
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~~ Nearly 10 billion passenger taps were taken using public transit
nationwide in 2007-an 18.1% inirease compared with a decade.
earlier -according to the National Transit Database
Passenger 8efps, by mode of urhan public eranspoNation, 2009'
Number of trips, in millions ~ochange
'98 to'09
Bus. 5,278 71.0?6
Heavy rail 3,460 28,2
-0ommuter rail( 458 _20.3-
'. Light rail 418 52,3
Other modes ®220 4' 7
Demand responseu4 91 37.6
Vanpootl21 515.2.
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The cost of operating public transportation has increased more than
40% compared with a decade ago, but federal funding remains
~~ fairly flat Dollar figures shownare. m constant 2000 dollars.
Passenger trips. Federal funding Operating expense
(In 6111 ons) (In bal anaaf tlvllars) (In billions al Aailarz)
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9.8.4 9:90 25 ~25 $26:4'.
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Productivity of Big Blue Bus Services
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