SR 10-09-2018 3J
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: October 9, 2018
Agenda Item: 3.J
1 of 8
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Edward King, Director, Big Blue Bus, Transit Planning & Performance
Subject: Modifications to BBB Service, Design, Performance, and Evaluation
Guidelines
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the proposed update to the previously
adopted Big Blue Bus Service, Design, Performance, and Evaluation Guidelines.
Summary
Staff developed an update to the previously adopted Big Blue Bus Service, Design,
Performance and Evaluation Guidelines to meet Federal Transit Administration
requirements and remain eligible for federal funding. These guidelines provide an
objective and measured approach to formal service standards to analyze route
performance, and strategy to address routes and service that fall below measured
standards. Last adopted by Council in September 2013, the updated guidelines require
Council authorization to meet FTA requirements.
Discussion
Declining ridership has resulted in a need to update the service standards and
guidelines to meet current conditions. In addition, service investment and reallocation
will be based upon new passengers per revenue hour standards that group routes into
low-performing, average performing, and high performing services . The proposed
updated Guidelines:
add a new service category for demand response,
modify service span definitions and guidelines,
modify service frequency guidelines,
remove metrics for passenger load factor and passengers per revenue mile,
2 of 8
modify service effectiveness measurement to be based on passengers per
revenue hour allowing demand to drive service investment decisions.
add bus stop removal criteria, and
modify bus stop amenity standards.
Service, Design, Performance, and Evaluation Guideline Update
Changes to the Big Blue Bus Service, Design, Performance, and Evaluation Guidelines
include the following:
1. Add stop removal criteria to address infrequently used bus stops in the system.
2. Add nighttime lighting as a bus stop amenity.
3. Add shade as a bus stop amenity to address stops in Los Angeles where BBB is
barred from installing a shelter.
4. Change the “Very High” bus stop classification from 1,000 to 900 daily users to
expand the number of stops from five to seven. These stops are eligible for
multiple amenities.
5. Remove Passenger Load Factor metric.
6. Remove Passenger per Mile Metric and Adjust Performance Standards.
7. Adjust Span of Service Standards.
8. Adjust Frequency Standards.
9. Add demand response service design and performance standards.
Change 1: Add a new service standard for the removal of underutilized bus stops.
Reason: The BBB system has a total of 920 bus stops. There are approximately 200
stops with less than ten average daily passenger boardings and alightings. BBB can
improve travel times through the removal of underutilized stops by grouping passengers
at high volume stops, and speeding up the service for customers that are already on-
board. Stop spacing, route frequency, and span of service will be considered as part of
the review process when determining whether to remove a stop. For example, BBB
would avoid removing a stop if it created an undue hardship for customers by making
the distance between two stops excessive. Current stop spacing standards are a
3 of 8
minimum of half of a mile for Rapid routes and between 1,000 feet to a quarter of a mile
for Local routes.
Change 2: Update bus stop amenity standards to include nighttime lighting.
Reason: Through the annual passenger survey, customers suggested nighttime lighting
at bus stops as a way to help customers feel safer when waiting for the bus. Lighting
would also reduce customer pass-ups in the early morning and late evening hours when
there is limited visibility. Recent innovations in solar power would allow Big Blue Bus to
power nighttime lights and real-time displays using a single solar panel. Nighttime
lighting is proposed for bus stops with five (5) or more passengers boarding during the
dark hours (260 stops out of a total of 920 stops). Existing shelters in Santa Monica that
do not have lights would be retrofitted with lights. Stops with a pole would receive a pole
mounted solar unit. All systems would be solar powered and would not be connected to
the power grid.
Change 3: Update bus stop amenity standards to include shade.
Reason: Shade has been added as a new bus stop amenity to address the customer
experience at bus stops in the City of Los Angeles that do not have a shelter. In
community surveys, customers have let us know that higher temperatures are making
waiting without shade more of a burden. Most bus stops within Santa Monica received
shelters through the 2016 Bus Stop Improvement Project. Of the 920 total systemwide
stops, 605 stops are outside of Santa Monica. Big Blue Bus cannot install shelters in the
City of Los Angeles due to Metro’s exclusive advertising agreement with a private
contractor, which has not been responsive to requests to provide shelter at additional
locations. As such, Big Blue Bus is exploring other ways to improve the customer
experience at stops that have no shelter. One proposal would be the addition of shade
trees at these stops in partnership with the City of Los Angeles. Shade trees would
provide protection from the sun and rain and would benefit non-passengers by
improving air quality and the quality of life in nearby neighborhoods.
Change 4: Expand the Very High Volume classification to include stops with 900 or
more boardings instead of 1,000 or more.
4 of 8
Reason: Big Blue Bus has five stops that exceed 1,000 average daily boardings. These
stops are targeted for extra shelters to accommodate the large volume of passengers.
Lowering the threshold from 1,000 to 900 would add two additional stops: Rimpau
Transit Center and Santa Monica College, which have similar needs and ridership
patterns as the remaining stops with over 1,000 daily passengers. This would allow BBB
to recognize these two locations as important regional destinations that require special
attention when addressing amenity provisions.
Change 5: Remove passenger load factor metric as a key performance indicator an d
service quality measure.
Reason: Passenger load refers to how many people are on the bus at any given
moment compared to its capacity both seated and standing. Overcrowded buses may
require additional service to reduce the number of standing passengers. Big Blue Bus
has not found a data driven definitive method to measure passenger load to provide
meaningful insight into capacity issues. Maximum load on a single trip skews the data
up, making a trip seem overloaded even if it only had a single surge in r idership.
Conversely, average maximum load numbers skew the data down and does not
possess the granularity necessary to diagnose capacity issues by trip. When overload
conditions do occur, they are often lost in the averaging of the data and are brought t o
the attention of Big Blue Bus through customer and motor coach operator feedback.
As an alternative to using this measure, the Planning and Performance Division
conducts reviews of all customer feedback regarding overloading and reviews Motor
Coach Operator comments to identify overload conditions. The Division then reviews
the feedback and addresses overcrowding issues at each new service change. Finally,
a new Service and Schedules Task Force comprised of MCOs, Safety & Training, and
Planning Division staff will evaluate overload condition comments and feedback on a
quarterly basis.
Change 6: 1. Remove Passenger per Mile Metric and Adjust Performance Standards to
use passengers per revenue hour as the main key performance indicator and service
quality measure.
5 of 8
Reason: Passengers per revenue mile refers to the number of passengers carried in
relation to the number of miles that the bus drives while in service. This standard was
removed since miles do not consider the increase in traffic congestion that results in
higher operating expenses. Revenue hours are a more appropriate service
performance metric.
In addition, minimums and maximums have acted as a trigger for removal or addition of
service but have not supported reallocation of service to where p assengers need it
most. The new standard of using passengers per hour (PPH) seeks to increase
frequency of service in areas where passengers are using it most (high PPH) and
diminish service where passengers are using it less (low PPH). In this way, the service
supports passenger movement with corresponding allocation of resources.
Change 7: Adjust Span of Service Standards by changing “Major”, “Local” and
“Commuter” (Peak Only) corridor designations to “High Ridership” (over 2,500 daily
passengers), “Low Ridership” and “Commuter” (Peak Only) corridor designations and
allow for span of service to be adjusted based on ridership profiles of a specific route.
Reason: Designations of Major and Local imply factors such as road width and road
classification when determining span of service. In reality, Big Blue Bus has routes on
small streets that carry heavy passenger loads and routes on wide streets that carry
light loads. For that reason, Major and Local corridor designations do not always signal
a span of service that responds to the needs of the route. Determining a route span
based on the ridership profile customizes each route’s span of service to the needs of
the passengers using the route, causing increased efficiencies as service is run only
where and when truly needed.
Change 8: Adjust Frequency Standards from “Expected” standards to “Minimum” and
“Goal” standards.
Reason: Council has offered direction that BBB should seek to deliver a higher
frequency network and eliminate or change services tha t operate at extremely low
frequencies with low passenger loads. This direction was supported by customer
feedback which sited added frequency of buses as the number one desire of
passengers.
6 of 8
The current expected frequency standard does not offer clear guidance on elimination
of service and pursuit of a high frequency network. Conversely, setting minimum and
goal frequency standards supports the design and growth of promising service, while
supporting the elimination of extremely low frequency and low performance bus service.
If service cannot meet the minimum ridership performance standard at the minimum
frequency standard, then it is eliminated.
Change 9: Add demand response service design and performance standards as
follows:
Connects to, complements & encourages fixed route ridership.
Enables mobility in the BBB service area where fixed route does not meet
service standards (less than 12pph) at minimum frequency or is not feasible or
sustainable.
Replaced by fixed route service when a linear demand response zone reaches
12 passengers per hour in one direction or 24 passengers per hour bi-
directionally.
Base fare higher than comparable regular and SDM fares when fixed route
service is available to make the trip.
Farebox recovery remains above 20% for regular riders and above 10% for
Senior/Disabled/Medicare riders.
Reason: BBB has two demand response services, Blue at Night and MODE, and
expects to continue developing demand response models that test the effectiveness of
demand response at providing efficient and meaningful solutions to transportation
problems. These new service standards are designed to support sustainable
development of service and to guide implementation of new demand response models.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
07/28/15
(attachment A)
Council adopted Service, Design, Performance, and
Evaluation Guidelines
10/09/18
(attachment B)
Proposed update to the Service, Design, Performance, and
Evaluation Guidelines
7 of 8
8 of 8
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Some of these proposed changes will result in future financial impacts or budget actions
as a result of the recommended action. The addition of nighttime lighting as a bus stop
amenity will be funded through the “Bus Stop Lighting and Real-Time Displays” project
being considered separately for Council approval on October 9, 2018. The addition of
shade as a bus stop amenity may result in additional costs as BBB would partner with
an outside agency to receive free tree plantings and would then be responsible for initial
watering costs. The adjustment of the service standards for span and frequency will
guide BBB decision-making on where to allocate operating funds, which may or may not
result in additional funding, since service can be either increased or decreased based
on existing route performance. The addition of any services (including a micro transit /
on-demand pilot) are not anticipated to result in any additional operating costs because
they would be designed to net against costs savings generated from the elimination of
poor performing routes. Future financial impacts or budget actions will be submitted to
Council for deliberation.
Prepared By: Timothy McCormick, Transit Planning and Performance Manager
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Service, Design, Performance, and Evaluation Guidelines_Updated July 28 2015
B. REVISED Service Design Performance and Evaluation Guidelines_Updated
October 9 2018
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS – 1
SERVICE, DESIGN,
PERFORMANCE
AND EVALUATION
GUIDELINES
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS – 2
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS Contents – i
Contents
1 OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 .1
2 SERVICE DESIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .1
2 .1 Service Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .2
2 .2 Service Design Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .2
3 SERVICE PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 .1
3 .1 Key Performance Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 .2
4 SERVICE EVALUATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .1
4 .1 Data Needs for Service Evaluation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .2
4 .2 Service Evaluation Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .2
4 .3 Public Input & Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .3
4 .4 New Service Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .3
4 .5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .5
5 APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 .1
Appendix A: Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus Public
Hearing Procedures For Major Service Or Fare Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 .1
Appendix B: Sample Quarterly Route
Performance Analysis Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 .3
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS Contents – ii
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS overview – 1.1
1 Overview
Santa Monica presents a unique case for transit in greater
Los Angeles. While dense, it has historically been somewhat
geographically removed from the urban core of the region.
As a result, it encouraged the growth and success of its own
transit system to better cater to the distinct needs of Santa
Monica and its surrounding communities. Big Blue Bus has
successfully served this area since 1928, and continues to be
a highly-performing model for other transit agencies across
the country to follow.
today, Big Blue Bus is the primary transit provider for the City of santa
Monica as well as many surrounding portions of Los Angeles. service is
provided to many major area destinations and transit centers, namely
UCLA, the rimpau transit Center, the Culver City expo Line station, the
wilshire/western Purple Line station, the Aviation/LAX Green Line sta-
tion, and downtown Los Angeles.
the Los Angeles area is a highly dynamic region. As its population grows,
so does its need for higher-capacity transportation solutions, with mass
transit figuring prominently in regional provider LA Metro’s set of solu-
tions. the introduction of the first phase of its exposition Light rail Line
(expo) has had a substantial positive impact on areas from downtown Los
Angeles to Culver City and neighborhoods in between. By extending the
expo Line and increasing the level of connectivity between the already-
powerful santa Monica area and greater Los Angeles (expo Phase 2 is
scheduled for completion in 2016), there is substantial potential for mo-
bility growth in the city and its surroundings. Yet with this growth comes a
new set of challenges for transit in santa Monica. How can Big Blue Bus
ensure that it connects the people and businesses of santa Monica with
each other as well as with this new link to the greater Los Angeles area?
these standards will guide Big Blue Bus in ensuring that its service is
meeting the expectations of both passengers and taxpayers, and will
guide every change and investment in service as santa Monica’s mobil-
ity needs and wants evolve.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS overview – 1.2
This set of standards consists of three primary
components:
the service design standards lay out how Big Blue
Bus service should be designed and operated, for
existing as well as new services. the service perfor-
mance standards describe how Big Blue Bus ana-
lyzes its routes to ensure the highest possible level
of performance in terms of service effectiveness, ef-
ficiency, and quality for customers. the service eval-
uation process presents Big Blue Bus’ strategy for
analyzing, updating, and communicating its service
plans to ensure that it continues to provide service
that stays relevant to the needs of the City and its
residents, employees, and visitors.
Big Blue Bus is committed to the enforcement of Us-
Dot’s title vi regulations which state that no person
or group of persons shall be discriminated against
with regard to the routing, scheduling, or quality of
service of transportation provided on the basis of
race, color, or national origin.
ServiceDesign ServicePerformance ServiceEvaluation
Figure 1: Service Standard Components
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe DesiGn – 2.1
2 Service Design
Service design standards refer to how transit service is de-
signed, implemented, and operated on the street, from route
alignment and stop spacing to frequency and span of ser-
vice. The standards outlined in this section are not intended
to be absolutes, but guidelines to develop an efficient, effec-
tive transit network.
ServiceDesign
Bus Stop
Amenities
Vehicle
Assignment
Multiple
Service
Types
Stop
Spacing and
Placement
Service
Frequency
Span of
ServiceConnectivity
Service
Area
Coverage
Route
Design
Figure 2: Service Design
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe DesiGn – 2.2
2.1 Service Categories
At present, Big Blue Bus operates 20 fixed-route bus
services. Most of these are Local bus routes, which
operate on a set schedule and make local stops.
Big Blue Bus also operates several rapid (limited-
stop or express) routes with fewer stops and higher
speeds. Lastly, Big Blue Bus operates limited Com-
muter services, which supplement the other servic-
es provided during peak times of travel.
Based on current operating patterns, Big Blue Bus
service can be grouped into these three categories
based on the way the routes operate and their roles
in the transit network:
each category of service may have different stan-
dards and expectations based on the types of mar-
kets served and the operating protocols required.
wherever necessary, the service standards are
shown by category.
2.2 Service Design Standards
the dynamic nature of development in santa Monica
and western Los Angeles results in changing travel
markets and patterns in Big Blue Bus’ service area.
in order for Big Blue Bus to continue providing high
quality transit service, it is important for service
standards to monitor the quality of service provided
as well as determine where new services may be ap-
propriate or where services need to be adjusted and/
or discontinued.
Route design – the alignment of each route is a key
factor in its ability to successfully serve custom-
ers’ mobility needs. route design refers to route
directness, connections to key origins and desti-
nations, and how the route interfaces with other
transit services.
• Direct – Big Blue Bus routes should be de-
signed to serve origins and destinations via
direct pathways, minimizing out-of-direction
movements. this provides a faster trip to at-
tract more customers and fare revenue, while
minimizing the cost to provide service.
• Arterial – with the exception of some local ser-
vices, bus routes should serve major arterial
streets, avoiding smaller neighborhood streets.
• Grid Based – Big Blue Bus routes should be de-
signed in a grid-based structure, with higher-
frequency routes serving major corridors and
connecting on-street rather than deviating to
serve transfer hubs. A limited number of hubs
are exceptions forming the beginning or end
of routes and/or serving major destinations,
namely Downtown santa Monica and UCLA, as
well as rimpau terminal, expo Culver City, and
Green and Purple Line Metro rail stations.
• Intermodal Connectivity – Current Big Blue
Bus service is more oriented towards east-west
travel, with most major corridors positioned in
this way consistent with a majority of travel
patterns. with the coming expo Line Phase 2
(projected to be completed in 2016), which will
provide a frequent, high-capacity east-west
connection, Big Blue Bus will need to improve
Category Network Role Big Blue
Bus Routes
RAPID Provides high-frequen-
cy, limited-stop service
between santa Monica
and neighboring des-
tinations of strong
regional importance.
r3, r7, r10,
r12
LOCAL serves the greater
santa Monica area,
providing service along
major and secondary
corridors and serving
larger local destina-
tions and intermo-
dal connections.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7,
8, 9, 12, 14, 41
Crosstown, 44
sunset ride
COMMUTER Augments the local
network with addition-
al peak hour service to
key destinations.
6, 11, 13, r20
Table 1: Service Categories
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe DesiGn – 2.3
north-south connections to collect and distrib-
ute customers coming to/from expo. north/
south routes should focus on major arterials
wherever possible, and should be designed to
efficiently connect major destinations to expo
such as santa Monica College, UCLA, major
employers, major retail centers, medical facili-
ties, and visitor destinations.
Service area coverage – the service area cover-
age standard generally defines how transit service
will be provided in a certain area that meets Big
Blue Bus’ new service evaluation guidelines for
minimum transit demand. this includes defining
the maximum allowable walking distance to transit
services and how far apart stops should be placed
given the type of service that is being proposed or
provided currently.
• Medium Density Route Spacing – in general,
½ mile spacing between routes allows custom-
ers a maximum of ¼ mile walk (approximately
five minutes) to access service and is an appro-
priate standard for a grid-based bus system.
• High Density Route Spacing – within the dense
urban core of the santa Monica area (popula-
tion and employment densities of 30 residents
or jobs per acre and greater – roughly wilshire
Blvd. in the north to ocean Park Blvd. in the
south), service may be spaced as closely as ¼
mile between routes. several major regional
arterials are present in this area which warrant
bus service (wilshire Blvd., santa Monica Blvd.,
Colorado Ave., Pico Blvd., ocean Park Blvd.)
and all serve different regional and communi-
ties in Los Angeles County to the east.
• Low Density Route Spacing – outside of
the dense urban core (in areas with 10 to 30
residents or jobs per acre) service should be
spaced no closer than ½ mile between routes
except in extraordinary circumstances. Big
Blue Bus should avoid unnecessary duplication
of LA Metro or Culver City Bus service, except
where the corridor supports multiple service
types (e.g., rapid and Local).
• Rural Route Spacing – Areas with fewer than
10 residents or jobs per acre rarely provide
enough concentrated transit demand to gener-
ate ridership and meet Big Blue Bus perfor-
mance standards, and will only receive ser-
vice if significant trip generators or attractors
are present.
Connectivity – in order to maximize ridership and
avoid service duplication, it is important that cus-
tomers are able to transfer and connect to additional
service that takes them to their final destination, ei-
ther at major hubs such as downtown santa Monica
or on-street at major intersections. new services
should not only be designed as isolated routes, but
also as an important piece of the overall transit net-
work. A new route may enable convenient transfers
with existing services or provide connections be-
tween current routes and major destinations (“first
mile/last mile” connections).
Designing service to enable convenient transfers al-
lows Big Blue Bus to minimize service duplication,
since every route does not need to provide a one-
seat ride to the customer’s final destination. within
a limited-resource context, minimizing duplication
allows for a more effective use of resources.
• Big Blue Bus should seek to avoid duplicating
(overlapping) its own services or other services
to the maximum extent possible, by focusing
on providing frequent service on single routes
on a corridor (or rapid/Local pairs) rather than
providing less frequent service on several over-
lapping routes.
• Convenient transfers should be facilitated by
high frequencies (15 minutes or better, mini-
mum; 10 minutes, preferred) on major arterial
corridors. Frequency of service is discussed in
more detail below.
Span of Service – span of service defines how many
hours each day a specific route will operate. A lon-
ger span of service allows a route to capture more
riders throughout the day for a wider variety of trip
purposes, but also increases overall costs.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe DesiGn – 2.4
span of service standards are more important to de-
scribe by the type of market/corridor served than by
the category of service, as a Local route serving a
major regional corridor may have very different span
needs than a Local route serving a smaller, second-
ary corridor. it is also important that the route spans
be coordinated with each other to provide necessary
connecting services.
Major Big Blue Bus corridors including Pico, Lin-
coln, santa Monica, wilshire, and westwood Blvd.
should operate as follows:
Later service may be required on certain corridors.
Most other Local corridors should operate as follows:
Later service may be required on certain corridors.
Commuter service spans should be tailored to
demand patterns.
spans of service may need to be adjusted on certain
routes depending on the operating hours of connect-
ing services such as expo and the resulting demand.
During off peak hours, there may be over capacity in
areas where routes are close together. For this rea-
son, some routes may have a truncated span of ser-
vice on all or part of the route during off peak hours
in order to save resources and trim capacity. the ex-
pectation is that riders will walk the short distance
between routes and use the alternate service that is
running later or running off peak.
Service Frequency – service frequency defines how
long customers must wait for bus service. with high-
er frequencies, fewer customers are left waiting for
buses at any given time, which helps make the ser-
vice more attractive to potential riders. At the same
time, however, higher frequencies can significantly
increase costs by requiring more buses and drivers.
Frequent service (which enables customers to use
service “spontaneously” without consulting bus
schedules) is defined as 15 minute headways or bet-
ter. the following are minimum frequency standards.
• rapid routes should operate at 15 minutes or
better throughout a majority of the day (eve-
nings may require less frequent service), while
10 minutes or better may be warranted on ma-
jor, high-demand corridors. whenever possible,
rapid services should operate more frequently
than Local service on the same corridor, to allow
maximum customer convenience and greater
access to the faster, more efficient service option.
• Local routes should operate at a minimum
of 30 minutes or better throughout the day
and week. Local routes on major corridors
(especially those without rapid options) may
warrant much more frequent service (15 or
10 minutes).
• Commuter route frequency should be tailored
to demand volumes but should operate 15
minutes or better to allow spontaneous use
where supported by ridership.
whenever possible, headways should be designed
as “clock-facing” where service operates every 6, 10,
12, 15, 20, or 30 minutes – headways divisible by 60 –
where the same times repeat each hour. this makes
service easier for customers to remember and use
without consulting schedules. exceptions are per-
mitted where a route (usually with longer headways)
will be operationally inefficient (e.g. require an addi-
tional vehicle resource) with a clock-facing headway.
Stop Spacing and Placement – this standard involves
how far apart bus stops are spaced. stops spaced
further apart allow for higher bus speeds (minimiz-
ing travel time for passengers on the bus) but require
Weekday Weekend
START TIME END TIME START TIME END TIME
5am-6am Midnight 6am-7am Midnight
Table 2: Major Corridor Span of Service
Weekday Weekend
START TIME END TIME START TIME END TIME
5am-6am 9pm 6am-7am 9pm
Table 3: Other Local Corridor Span of Service
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe DesiGn – 2.5
customers to walk further to access service. stop
spacing standards differ by service type, with rapid
stops spaced further apart than Local stops.
• Rapid Bus Stop Spacing – rapid bus routes on
corridors also served by Local routes should
have stops spaced a minimum of ½ mile apart,
and should be placed at major destinations,
intersections, and transfer points. rapid stop
placement should be determined based on
overall spacing as well as ridership.
• Local Bus Stop Spacing – For Local servic-
es, stop spacing from 1000 feet up to ¼ mile
(roughly 1,300 feet) is desirable. Local service
on small streets can sustain the most close-
ly-spaced stops (since trip distances are usu-
ally short) while Local stops on major arterial
streets risk introducing unnecessary delay if
stops are spaced closer than 1,000 feet. exist-
ing stops with continuously low usage will be
subject to review for consolidation with other
stops or removal in order to increase service
speed and reliability.
• Commuter Service Stop Spacing – Commuter
services can either use Local or rapid-type
stopping patterns depending on the type of
service and passenger needs.
• Stop Placement – Far-side stop placement
is recommended wherever possible. Far-side
stop placement improves bus speed with and
without transit signal priority, and improves pe-
destrian and bicycle safety (crossing the street
behind instead of in front of the bus). it also
maintains a larger amount of curb space avail-
able for parking than nearside stop placement.
Corridors With Multiple Service Types – Big Blue
Bus currently operates three rapid/Local pairs on
the same corridor – Lincoln (3/rapid 3), Pico (7/
rapid 7), and westwood Blvd. (12/rapid 12). these
corridors are among the highest-ridership and high-
est-performing in the Big Blue Bus system. in or-
der to determine whether additional corridors may
warrant rapid/Local service, the following criteria
should be met:
• Performance. operating multiple service
types requires a significant investment in re-
sources and should only be implemented on
very high-performing corridors. Per section 3,
service Performance, corridors which perform
at 150% of system average or better may be
candidates for rapid/Local service.
• Major stops. Corridors which have several
high-volume stops interspersed with lower-
volume stops are good candidates for rapid/
Local service, as the rapid will serve a major-
ity of ridership by making only the major stops.
• Longer-distance travel or significant end-to-
end travel. Both Lincoln and Pico Blvd. are lon-
ger-distance corridors where delay reduction
has a significant impact. rapid 12 service along
westwood Blvd. shows significant end-to-end
demand between Culver City expo and UCLA.
shorter corridors with significant local turnover
are not good candidates for rapid/Local service.
• Corridors without Rapid service operated by
another provider. LA Metro operates rap-
id service along wilshire and santa Monica
Blvds., making them inappropriate for Big Blue
Bus competing rapid Bus service.
Vehicle Assignment
the Big Blue Bus fleet contains three sub fleets that
are assigned by service type as follows:
• Articulated 60-foot motor coaches
⁻the articulated 60-foot coaches are assigned to
rapid service routes that have higher demand and
less frequent stops. Given that there are not enough
articulated buses to supply all of the assignments
for rapid service, some 40-foot coaches are also
assigned to rapid service. the rapid assignments
with the highest average passenger loads are as-
signed the 60-foot articulated coaches due to the
coach’s higher capacity. within rapid service, bus-
es are assigned among routes to maintain fleets on
each route with an average age that does not ex-
ceed the system wide average.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe DesiGn – 2.6
• 40-foot motor coaches
⁻the 40-foot motor coaches make up over 80% of
the Big Blue Bus fleet. these buses are assigned
to the majority of the middle performing service as
well as to some rapid service as noted above. with-
in routes with 40-foot bus assignments, buses are
assigned among routes to maintain fleets on each
route with an average age that does not exceed the
system wide average.
• 32-foot motor coaches
⁻the 32-foot motor coaches are assigned to routes
with low ridership profiles and/or to routes that use
local streets. some 32-foot buses may also be as-
signed to routes that primarily use 40-foot coaches,
specifically at times when ridership is expected to
be light, such as nights or weekends. within routes
with mixed 40-foot and 32-foot bus assignments,
buses are assigned among routes to maintain
fleets on each route with an average age that does
not exceed the system wide average.
⁻the low number of vehicles in the 32-foot fleet (15
as of this writing), and the propensity to replace the
whole fleet at once means that there is little oppor-
tunity to assign a variety of vehicles in order to main-
tain fleets on each route with an average age that
does not exceed the system wide average. Buses
on routes with exclusive use of 32-foot vehicles are
currently younger than the system wide average and
will age on that route until they are replaced with
new vehicles, until such time as the 32-foot fleet is
large enough to enforce an average age policy.
Bus Stop Amenities
the Big Blue Bus service area contains the City of
santa Monica, where Big Blue Bus has significant
influence over bus stop amenities. At these stops,
amenities are allocated based on volume of activity
(total number of average daily boardings). Activity
levels are classified as follows:
note: Due to the rapid changes taking place in how
transit customers obtain information, allocation of
real time signage remains a fluid issue. Depend-
ing on technology developments, Big Blue Bus may
cease to provide these signs at stops, or may signifi-
cantly alter how they are allocated.
Parts of the Big Blue Bus service area that are out-
side of the City of santa Monica are allocated bus
stop amenities through a contract with a private pro-
vider through LA Metro. Big Blue Bus has no control
over bus stop amenities at those sites
Average
Daily
Boardings
Bus Stop
Classification
Amenities
Provided
49 OR LESS Low volume Public
information
kiosk
50-99 Medium volume Above plus
shelter and
seat
100-999 High volume Above plus
real-time
signage
1000 OR
MORE
very High volume Above plus
multiple shelters
or extra large
shelter
Table 4: Amenities Based On Ridership
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.1
3 Service Performance
Service performance standards are necessary to ensure
that all services are fulfilling their roles in the transit net-
work and contributing to the overall financial sustainability
of BBB. Performance should be measured regularly in or-
der to identify trends over time, and to allow prompt chang-
es to be enacted if necessary. Performance standards help
ensure that Big Blue Bus services are useful to customers
as well as cost-effective for the agency.
ServicePerformance
On-Time
Performance
Passenger
Load Factor
PassengersPer RevenueMile FareboxRecovery
Cost PerPassengerBoarding
CompositeIndex ofMeasures
PassengersPer RevenueHour
Service
Quality
Efficiency and
Effectiveness
Figure 3: Service Performance
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.2
3.1 Key Performance
Indicators
service performance may be measured using a
number of industry best practice key performance
indicators (KPis). these fall into two distinct groups,
the first focused on efficiency and effectiveness, the
second on service quality:
• efficiency and effectiveness:
⁻Passengers per revenue Hour
⁻Passengers per revenue Mile
⁻Farebox recovery
⁻Cost Per Passenger Boarding
⁻Composite index of efficiency and effectiveness
measures
• service Quality:
⁻on-time Performance (service reliability)
⁻Passenger Load Factor (identifying overloads)
3.1.1 Efficiency and
Effectiveness Measures
there are a number of external factors such as gas-
oline price, cost of parking, and state of the economy
that are at once fairly volatile, and also substantially
influential regarding our expectations for key perfor-
mance metrics. For that reason, while Big Blue Bus
does set minimum and maximum standards for per-
formance, the service is to be primarily measured
against the mean for the system. in this way, the
merits of individual routes can be accurately mea-
sured, while regulating for the effects of external
factors influencing overall ridership.
Passengers per Revenue Hour (PPH) – this KPi
measures service effectiveness or productivity based
on ridership (unlinked boardings) generated for each
hour of service operated.
Current Big Blue Bus route-level performance
for this metric ranges from approximately 10 pas-
sengers per revenue hour to almost 60 passen-
gers per revenue hour on weekdays, and from ap-
proximately 10 to 50 passengers per revenue hour
on weekends.
the following are the expected minimum thresholds
required to justify service. there are different mini-
mum expectations for each service category and
day of the week. some seasonal fluctuation in per-
formance is to be expected, as ridership to schools
and colleges may be lower during the summer, and
recreational ridership may be higher. Per the service
evaluation Process, service performance should be
reviewed quarterly but major service change deci-
sions should be based on annual data.
Passengers per Revenue Mile (PPM) – this indica-
tor is a measure of raw passenger generation per
mile that the bus operates, which does not account
for differences in service speed (unlike Passengers
Per revenue Hour).
Current Big Blue Bus route-level performance for this
metric ranges from less than 1 passenger per revenue
mile to 8 passengers per revenue mile on weekdays,
and from less than 1 passenger per revenue mile to 5
passengers per revenue mile on weekends.
expected minimum thresholds for passengers for
revenue mile are shown below. since rapid services
provide faster service (more miles in fewer hours),
they may not perform as well as Local services
in this category and therefore do not have higher
thresholds than Local.
Expected Minimum
Passenger Boardings
per Revenue Hour
CATEGORY WEEKDAY WEEKEND
rapid 40 35
Local 20 15
Commuter 20 -
Table 5: Minimum PPH Thresholds
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.3
Farebox Recovery – this indicator measures the
amount of service operating cost that is recouped
through farebox revenue, and is expressed as a
percentage. the higher the percentage, the higher
the amount of cost that is covered by farebox rev-
enue. routes which carry more riders per the
amount of service investment will have a higher
farebox recovery. Farebox recovery takes into ac-
count the cost of operation, the number of riders,
and the average fares that customers pay.
Cost per Passenger Boarding – this KPi measures
the cost to provide service on a per-passenger basis.
routes which carry more people per the amount of
service investment will have a lower cost per pas-
senger boarding. since operating costs are largely
driven by revenue hours, evaluating routes on a cost
per passenger boarding basis will yield similar re-
sults to the passengers per revenue hour analysis –
however, cost per passenger boarding can take into
account cost sharing or other funding relationships
that may reduce subsidy. if routes do not meet mini-
mum expectations for the other indicators above,
they must meet cost per passenger boarding expec-
tations to continue operation.
Composite Index of Efficiency and Effectiveness
Measures – the weakness of individual measures
of performance is that some routes may perform
poorly on certain measures even though the bus is
running at full capacity and performs well on other
measures. For instance, Big Blue Bus Line rapid 10,
which runs express (no stops) for more than half the
route, could receive a low performing Passengers per
revenue Hour score even when running full because
once the bus is loaded, there are no further opportu-
nities to open up new seats and gain more boardings
along the route. Depending on the relative number
of boardings on other routes, this could conceivably
result in a Low Performing score. each of the four
efficiency and effectiveness measures gives valuable
insight into performance, and yet, each measure will
favor certain routes and route profiles.
the advantage to the Composite index KPi is that it is
a blend of the values of the other four efficiency and
effectiveness measures, and gives a more a mea-
sured and balanced overall look at the performance
of each route against system averages.
the Composite index KPi is calculated by assessing
a ranking value between 1 and 20 to each route for
each of the other efficiency and effectiveness mea-
sures, and then adding those ranking figures for
each route to gain an overall ranking for the route. A
lower ranking indicates better performance (routes
are ranked with the number one route being the
highest performer and the number 20 route being
the lowest performer.)
Expected Minimum
Passenger Boardings
per Revenue Mile
CATEGORY WEEKDAY WEEKEND
rapid 2 1.75
Local 2 1.75
Commuter 2 -
Table 6: Minimum PPM Thresholds
Expected Minimum
Farebox Recovery Ratio*
CATEGORY WEEKDAY WEEKEND
rapid 16%14%
Local 12%12%
Commuter 12%-
*values to be updated regularly in accordance with BBB cost structures.
Table 7: Farebox Recovery Ratio
Expected Maximum Cost
Passenger Boarding*
CATEGORY WEEKDAY WEEKEND
rapid $4.50 $5.00
Local $5.00 $6.00
Commuter $5.00 -
*values to be updated regularly in accordance with BBB cost structures.
Table 8: Maximum Boarding Costs
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.4
3.1.2 Service Quality Measures
On-Time Performance – An on-time performance
standard defines a minimum threshold that Big Blue
Bus should meet regarding the percentage of total
daily trips that are recorded as on-time. on-time
performance reflects both the quality and reliability
of service, which can affect whether or not people
choose to use transit.
Big Blue Bus defines “on time” as one minute early
to 5 minutes late at each timepoint, disregarding
early arrivals at the final timepoint.
the goal of 85% on-time performance system-
wide is a common industry standard, which allows
for some level of service variability while main-
taining the reasonable expectation of reliability
for customers.
Passenger Load Factor – Passenger loads refers
to how many people are on the bus at any given
moment compared to its capacity both seated and
standing. if passenger loads are high which results
in overcrowded conditions, additional service may
need to be required to address the issue.
service quality issues with crowding are dependent
on the amount of time that customers must stand on
the bus. if crowding is a relatively brief phenomenon,
it does not justify the expense of adding additional
service. Conversely, on longer-distance express-type
service, it is not advisable to allow any standees due
to the amount of time that most customers spend on
the vehicle as well as the bus’ higher speeds.
overcrowding may be a result of high ridership
performance, and should therefore be evaluated
in the context of not merely relieving crowded ve-
hicles but providing higher service levels overall.
sustained crowding (e.g. not merely one or two
trips per day) of approximately 130% of seated ca-
pacity should be evaluated for the need to provide
increased frequency.
3.1.3 Relative Service
Effectiveness Measures and
Corrective Action Guidelines
Along with minimum performance standards, routes
will be evaluated in comparison with each other for
service efficiency and effectiveness. Big Blue Bus
will derive the systemwide average for each metric
and determine how each route performs compared
with the system average. For example, if the system-
wide average is 40 passengers per revenue hour,
and one route generates 30 passengers per revenue
hour, that route performs at 75% of system average.
Based on percentage of system average, the routes
will be evaluated within the following categories:
• Low-performing service: 50% of system aver-
age and below;
• Average-performance service: between 51%
and 149% of system average: and
• High-performing service: 150% of system av-
erage or better
the sections below include corrective action plans
for routes falling into the categories described above.
routes in the low and high categories may warrant
more intensive actions, while routes towards the
middle are adequately fulfilling their roles in the
network. routes at the cusps of each category may
be subject to the actions in the neighboring category
based on the best judgment of Big Blue Bus.
Category Passenger Load Factor
rapid on Freeway 100% of seated capacity
rapid 150% of seated capacity for two or
more miles
Local 150% of seated capacity for two or
more miles
Commuter 150% of seated capacity for two or
more miles
Table 9: Load Factor
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.5
Low-Performing Service (50 percent or lower
of system average)
if a bus route is found to be “low performing” (ranks
at or below 50% of the system average) on three or
more of the five efficiency and effectiveness met-
rics listed in section 3.1 for two or more consecutive
quarters in a row, the service is subject to a Correc-
tive Action Plan.
routes which rank within this category will be re-
viewed to determine their potential for improvement.
Corrective actions include any and all of the following
based on the best judgment of Big Blue Bus. routes
in this category may still meet expected minimum
performance standards as identified above – how-
ever, there may be room for improvement.
• Segment Level Analysis: A segment level
analysis of a low-performing service may high-
light a specific portion of the route that sig-
nificantly reduces the overall performance,
causing it to perform below the standard for
its service class. if a low-performing segment
is identified, it can be modified to attempt to
raise productivity for the route as a whole. if the
results of a segment level analysis turn out to
be inconclusive, however, modifications to the
entire route should be considered.
• Operational Analysis: often the difference be-
tween meeting and failing minimum perfor-
mance standards is one of vehicle resources.
realigning service to cover only critical seg-
ments or eliminating unnecessary delay (e.g.
deviations) are ways to reduce travel time
and save resources, thereby raising perfor-
mance levels.
• Change in Service Levels: Adjusting the ser-
vice levels of a low-performing route – by
any combination of frequency, span, or day of
week changes – may help to tailor the tran-
sit product to its market, and subsequently
increase productivity.
• Cost Sharing: exploring cost sharing or public-
private partnerships can reduce the amount of
subsidy required on low-performing services.
this is applicable for routes which do not meet
minimum performance standards yet serve a
need identified by businesses, schools, attrac-
tions, or other organizations that may be will-
ing to assist with funding operations in order to
continue service. routes that have cost-shar-
ing relationships will likely become Average
Performing or High Performing in the Cost Per
Passenger Boarding metric, but will still need
to meet least average performing standards on
at least two other metrics in order to avoid fur-
ther Corrective Action Plans.
• Targeted Marketing: Marketing tactics can
help to raise the public awareness of a route
in need of remedial action. Poor ridership may
be a result of a lack of public knowledge of a
route, and investing in marketing can reverse
this trend. this is especially the case for con-
centrated market groups like employment
centers, shopping districts, schools, hospitals,
agencies, and other major destinations.
• Rider Outreach: onboard surveys and rider
interviews are methods for gaining valuable
information on how a route can be improved.
these methods can reveal information about
popular destinations that a route may bypass,
or other aspects of a service that may be hold-
ing back ridership growth.
Using this information, Big Blue Bus will create a
Corrective Action Plan for improving performance.
the Corrective Action Plan will be formally imple-
mented in the next feasible service change window
given the limitations in place regarding public pro-
cess, public hearing (if required), and annual service
change calendar.
once a Corrective Action Plan and implemented, the
route must meet Average Performing or High Per-
forming standards on at least three of the five ef-
ficiency and effectiveness metrics for at least one
quarter within the first three successive quarters af-
ter implementation of the plan or face further action.
once a route reaches at least Average Performance
on three of the five efficiency and effectiveness met-
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.6
rics for at least one quarter, the process of Correc-
tive Action is deemed concluded, and any subse-
quent low performance is treated as a new event.
• Discontinuation: this is the final option for a
low-performing route that does not meet mini-
mum performance standards for at least three
successive quarters. it can be applied to a
route segment or the route as a whole. if none
of the aforementioned Corrective Actions are
successful in raising productivity to Average or
High Performing in at least three of the five effi-
ciency and effectiveness Metrics shown above,
discontinuation may be necessary to ensure
effective use of resources. Corrective Actions
shall be in action for at least three successive
quarters before service is discontinued, except
in extreme or unforeseen circumstances. the
effects on the routes’ transit-dependent rid-
ers will be considered when discontinuation is
an option.
Average-Performing Service (51 to 149 percent
of score average)
routes in this category are adequately fulfilling their
roles in the transit network, and no Corrective Action
is required. these routes will be monitored on an on-
going basis to determine whether their performance
improves, decreases, or remains steady. while no
particular action is necessary, ranking in this cat-
egory does not preclude service adjustments at the
discretion of Big Blue Bus.
• Actions: routes in this category perform well
as a whole. their average performance may
point to conditions where performance is con-
sistent equally throughout their length, or con-
ditions where there may be segments of very
high and also low performance. routes in this
category should undergo a trip-by-trip or seg-
ment-level analysis to determine whether they
are average overall, or include trips or seg-
ments which fall into the more extreme cat-
egories. segments which would be considered
low or very high performers are subject to the
actions detailed in those sections.
High-Performing Service (150 percent or higher of
score average)
routes ranking in this category suggest the need for
greater investment, as high performance may signal
overloading and passing passengers by due to ca-
pacity issues, as well as the presence of significant
latent demand.
Actions for high-performing routes include:
• Increase service levels: in order to maintain a
high quality of service, it is important to prevent
significant overcrowding on vehicles. increas-
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.7
ing service levels by adjusting the service’s fre-
quency, span, or days of week served can help
to alleviate this issue, as well as make service
more attractive to a wider pool of potential cus-
tomers, including those that currently drive.
High frequencies provide dependable service
with minimal waits, encouraging passengers to
arrive randomly without consulting a schedule.
• Introduce additional service types (Rapid):
High-performing corridors may warrant the
upgraded service quality of rapid bus service
with Local underlays. very high-performing
corridors will be analyzed for the need to intro-
duce new rapid service.
this category of routes constitutes the top-perform-
ing tier of the entire Big Blue Bus system and es-
sentially the system’s flagship service. it is very im-
portant to maintain a high-quality level of service as
well as to continue further investment. it is impor-
tant to monitor these routes and make investments
in key areas that are aimed at further improving
overall service.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.8
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.1
4 Service Evaluation
The service evaluation process is conducted in order to en-
sure the continued performance of individual services, as
well as the overall network. This evaluation is intended to
improve service design and productivity within categories,
which is important to ensure that Big Blue Bus offers a con-
sistent system that is easy for customers to use and easy for
Big Blue Bus to promote, manage, and administer.
ServiceEvaluation Title VI and
Environmental
Justice
Public Input
and Review
New Service
Evaluation
Data
Analysis
QuarterlyPerformanceAnalysis
Figure 4: Service Evaluation
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.2
4.1 Data Needs for Service
Evaluation Process
The performance measures discussed above
require the regular collection and updating of the
following data sources:
•Ridership: total number of boardings and on-
board load by route and day of the week will
be collected monthly. this data is available
through Big Blue Bus Automatic Passenger
Counter (APC) systems. through regular col-
lection of ridership data, trends over time can
be examined.
•Revenue: the amount of income generated on
a route-by-route basis will be gathered monthly.
•Resources: the number of vehicles, revenue
miles, and revenue hours per route by day of
the week will be collected from Big Blue Bus
scheduling information.
•Costs: the cost of providing service will be up-
dated on an annual basis for each vehicle type.
•On-Time Performance: Departure times at
each timepoint (and arrival at final timepoint)
are collected via Big Blue Bus Automatic ve-
hicle Location (AvL) systems.
•Community Considerations: the locations of
senior, disabled, and lower-income popula-
tions are important to consider in transit ser-
vice planning in order to ensure that these
groups are provided with mobility within the re-
gion. this information is available via Us Cen-
sus or American Community survey data. Cen-
sus tracts with concentrations of minority or
low-income populations above the service area
average are covered by title vi regulations.
Likewise, the presence of medical facilities,
nursing homes, and other community services
are given consideration to ensure that these
facilities are connected with the communities
they serve. this data will be collected through
cooperation with local planning and develop-
ment agencies.
•Business Arrangements: existing or proposed
arrangements with employers, educational in-
stitutions, and government entities are consid-
ered when evaluating route performance. For
cost sharing arrangements, the amount of sub-
sidy provided to operate service on a monthly
or annual basis (however the contract is struc-
tured) will be provided, as well as any condi-
tions on that subsidy. Any cost sharing should
be included in the cost per passenger boarding
metric to assure that services is represented
accurately regarding performance levels.
4.2 Service Evaluation
Schedule
Quarterly Route Performance Analysis – on a
quarterly schedule, service performance measures
will be reviewed according to the metrics and stan-
dards outlined below. see Appendix B for a sample
quarterly route performance analysis report.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.3
The quarterly report will include the following
Key Performance Indicators:
•Passengers per revenue Hour by route
•Passengers per revenue Mile by route
•Farebox recovery by route
•Cost per Passenger Boarding by route
•Composite index by route
•on time performance by route
•Passenger Load Factor by route
4.3 Public Input & Review
During any substantial changes to service (align-
ment or significant schedule changes), customer,
public, and employee input on recommendations re-
sulting from service evaluation are actively sought.
Current Big Blue Bus policy requires a public hear-
ing with the santa Monica City Council prior to:
•Any permanent change that increases fares on
the BBB’s service.
•A twenty-five percent (25%) or more reduction
of the number of daily transit revenue vehicles
miles of a route; i.e., the total number of miles
operated by all vehicles in revenue service for
a particular day of the week on an individu-
al route.
•A twenty-five percent (25%) or more reduction
of the number of transit route miles of a route;
i.e., the total mileage covered during one round
trip by a vehicle in revenue service on a par-
ticular route.
•Proposed introduction of a new route.
Detailed information on Big Blue Bus public hear-
ing procedures are contained in Big Blue Bus “Pub-
lic Hearing Procedures for Major service or Fare
Changes”, attached as Appendix A. in addition to the
public hearing process, Big Blue Bus employs vari-
ous outreach methods including:
•Publication on website
•information posted on buses
•Public meetings in various parts of the Big
Blue Bus service area
•notices to public officials, key stakeholders,
and community groups
•targeted surveys to riders of affected services
•e-communications to self-identified Big Blue
Bus passengers (those who provide contact in-
formation)
•“Ambassador” personnel stationed at key
bus stops and transit hubs to discuss service
changes with customers
Big Blue Bus will conduct public outreach one month
or more prior to a route change, depending on the
amount of service impacted. Customers, stakehold-
ers, and the general public are invited to provide
comment through the Big Blue Bus website, at pub-
lic meetings, through surveys, or at public hearings
with the santa Monica City Council. overall, BBB will
follow public outreach policy shown in Appendix A.
4.4 New Service Evaluation
As development patterns change and population
centers shift – and as transit options to santa Mon-
ica are expanded, as seen with the coming addition
of Metro’s expo Line – Big Blue Bus will analyze the
need for new services using the criteria listed below.
new services or improvements to existing services
are evaluated with respect to design standards and
consistency with adopted policy principles. service
investment decisions can provide incentives for
community support of transit in policy, funding, zon-
ing, and site design.
Planning and implementing new transit service re-
quires an examination of certain characteristics of
the proposed service area. the densities and demo-
graphic characteristics of a given service area, as
well as destinations served and integration with the
surrounding transit network, are key parts of transit
success. it is important to note that new service im-
fare media
change
or elimination
change
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.4
plementation is not dependent on any one factor be-
low, but arises from a combination of each of these
factors. to determine whether an area warrants new
transit service, Big Blue Bus will analyze the follow-
ing characteristics of a proposed service area:
• Population and Employment Density: A mini-
mum level of density (approximately 10 people
or jobs per acre) needs to be present in a given
area to support regular bus service. in general,
higher density areas are more conducive to ef-
fective bus service than low density areas due to
greater demand and potential ridership. Density
of the proposed new service area will be com-
pared to the densities of existing service areas.
• Transit Inclined Populations: Certain demo-
graphic groups are more inclined to use transit
than others such as seniors, the disabled, stu-
dents, low-income individuals, Millenials and
households without automobiles. in assess-
ing an area’s demand for transit service it is
be important to examine the presence of these
demographics groups and whether any unmet
needs are present. Census tracts with concen-
trations of minority or low-income populations
above the service area average are covered by
title vi regulations. while title vi areas are
not in themselves a warrant for service, they
should be considered as part of the decision-
making process.
• Parking shortages, high parking costs: there
are a number of worksite, recreation and shop-
ping destinations in santa Monica and the sur-
rounding sections of Los Angeles where free or
inexpensive parking is difficult to obtain. these
sites have a higher propensity for transit rider-
ship than similar sites with ample free parking.
• Transit Demand Management: A number of
schools and businesses in santa Monica and
surrounding Los Angeles offer subsidized
transit passes, and other programs to encour-
age their constituents to avoid driving single-
occupant automobiles. Depending on the pro-
gram features, these conditions can lead to an
increased demand for transit.
• Key Destinations: Connecting residents with
key destinations such as employment centers,
hospitals, schools, shopping, and entertain-
ment is a key factor in designing transit ser-
vice. Key destinations are those defined as
generating at least 150 daily transit boardings.
• Network Integration: Any new service should
avoid duplicating existing service (see ser-
vice spacing guidelines), and should link into
the existing transit network in a logical man-
ner to ensure that connections to other routes
and services provide attractive linked journeys.
with the arrival of expo light rail in santa Moni-
ca, first-mile and last-mile connections are ex-
pected to be a key component of BBB service.
• Projected Performance: in order to ensure
continued maintenance or improvement of
Big Blue Bus service productivity, new routes
should be projected to perform at levels that
meet or exceed the system average based on
the metrics outlined in the service Perfor-
mance section.
new services depend on budget availability and can
only be initiated when funding allows, either through
resource reallocation, additional fare revenue, or
new outside funding. introduction of new services
are subject to a trial period of one year to meet mini-
mum performance standards commensurate with
service category using the following process.
• new services will be examined quarterly to as-
sess whether they are meeting the minimum
service efficiency and effectiveness metrics.
• if at the conclusion of the first three succes-
sive complete quarters after implementation,
or any time thereafter, the service is found to
be “low performing” (ranks at or below 50% of
the system average) on three or more of the
five efficiency and effectiveness metrics listed
in section 3.1 for three or more quarters in a
row, the service is subject to a corrective action
plan and subsequent outcomes as discussed
in section 3.1.3.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.5
Title VI and Environmental Justice
Big Blue Bus complies with all United states Depart-
ment of transportation (UsDot) title vi guidelines
and prepares regularly scheduled title vi reports.
when evaluating potential service or fare changes,
Big Blue Bus will evaluate the effects of the changes
to discover if there are disproportionate impacts to
low-income or minority populations. title vi prohib-
its recipients of Federal financial assistance (e.g.,
states, local governments, transit providers) from
discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national
origin in their programs or activities.
4.5 Conclusion
Big Blue Bus is proud to be a trusted partner in mo-
bility in the dynamic santa Monica region. By setting
clear standards for service design, performance, and
evaluation, Big Blue Bus is committing itself to pro-
viding the most effective and efficient transit service
possible, with full accountability to those it serves.
through the use of these standards, Big Blue Bus
ensures that it will continue to provide a transpar-
ent and inclusive process in its decision making.
through our interaction with our stakeholders and
the community at large, it is our expectation that this
document will continue to evolve and adapt to the
changing needs of santa Monica and the surround-
ing Los Angeles area.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.6
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPenDiX – 5.1
5 Appendices
Appendix A:
Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus Public Hearing
Procedures For Major Service Or Fare Changes
1.BACKGROUND
santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus (BBB) is required by the Federal transit
Act, as amended through 1992, to establish a policy which defines a
process to solicit and consider public comment prior to raising fares or
implementing a major change of transit services.
2.BBB POLICY
A . It shall be the BBB’s policy that public comments be solicited
prior to:
i.Any permanent change that increases fares on the BBB’s service.
ii.A twenty-five percent (25%) or more reduction of the number of daily
transit revenue vehicles miles of a route; i.e., the total number of miles
operated by all vehicles in revenue service for a particular day of the week
on an individual route.
iii.A twenty-five percent (25%) or more reduction of the number of transit
route miles of a route, i.e., the total mileage covered during one round trip
by a vehicle in revenue service on a particular route.
iv.Proposed introduction of a new route.
B . It shall be the BBB’s policy that the following shall be exempt from
public comment and public hearing:
i.A minor change in fare or service. examples would be temporarily
reduced, experimental or promotional fares, minor reroutes or minor tem-
porary reroutes due to street construction(s) or minor schedule changes.
ii.experimental, seasonal or emergency service or fare changes expected to
exist fewer than one hundred and eighty (180) consecutive days in service.
if these changes ultimately continue to remain in effect for more than
one hundred and eighty (180) consecutive days, they will be the subject of
public comment and public hearing.
Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus Public Hearing Procedures For Major Service Or Fare Changes
that will be, or has been, operated
for more than twelve (12) months
fare or fare media
change
change
or elimination
six (6) months
six (6) months
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPenDiX – 5.2
3.PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
when required, the public comment process will be-
gin with the publishing of a legal notice seven cal-
endar days in advance of the public hearing date in
the local newspapers of general circulation. this no-
tice will set a specific place, date and time for one or
more public hearings. written comments will also
be accepted on the proposed changes seven calen-
dar days beyond initial publishing of the legal notice.
Legal notices will inform the public of the proposed
actions that initiated the public-comment process.
Press releases will also be prepared and sent to the
local media.
4.SCHEDULING PUBLIC HEARING(S)
the public hearing(s) will be scheduled and conduct-
ed by the City of santa Monica City Council at a time,
date and place to be designated. the facility utilized
for public hearings will be accessible to persons with
disabilities. special arrangements will be made for
sight or hearing impaired persons if requested at
least three days prior to the meeting.
5.PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCTING
PUBLIC HEARING
Forms will be available to attendees to register their
presence and desire to speak. Public hearings will
begin with a reading of the public notice, purpose
and proposed action that necessitated the public
hearing. After an explanation of the proposed ac-
tion is completed, the public will be invited to offer
their comments. the City Council will determine
the amount of time the public has to comment
during the public hearing.
6.DOCUMENTATION OF PUBLIC HEARING
official records of BBB public hearings on fare or
service adjustments will be generated by:
A . Affidavits of newspaper publications of
public notices .
B . Press releases conveying information on upcom-
ing public hearings .
C . Tape recordings and transcripts of proceedings .
7.ADDRESSING PUBLIC COMMENTS RECEIVED
All relevant comments received verbally or in writ-
ing at a public hearing, or as otherwise conveyed to
BBB prior to the established deadline, will be en-
tered into the public record of the comment process.
subsequent to the public comment period, staff will
evaluate and analyze all relevant comments received
and prepare a written report for consideration by the
santa Monica City Council.
8.CITY COUNCIL
the City Council will be notified by the City Manager
of all written public comment solicitations in ad-
vance of all scheduled public hearings on fare and
service adjustments. A summary of public feedback
received will be provided to the City Council along
with staff recommendation for final disposition of
the issues. Upon review by the City Council, the City
Manager will be directed accordingly to proceed with
or amend the recommended service and/or fare ad-
justments.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPenDiX – 5.3
Appendix B:
Sample Quarterly Route Performance Analysis Report
APRIL 1 - JUNE 30, 2013
Introduction
Line 7 continues to be the highest performing route in the Big Blue Bus system, followed by rapid 12, rapid
7, Line 14 and Line 3 in that order. Changes put into effect on June 16, 2013 increased service on two of these
lines, Line 7 and rapid 7, changing their base frequencies from every 15 minutes to every 12 minutes on both
lines. Additional changes that will go into effect on August 25th, 2013 will add service to the Lincoln corridor
by adding midday service on rapid 3. this is expected to relieve the frequent midday crowding that is currently
occurring on Line 3.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
P a s s e n g e r s p
e r R
e v e n u e H
o u r
Route
150% Mean: 66.4
Mean: 44.3
50% Mean: 22.2
Figure 5: Passengers per Revenue Hour by Route
0
2
4
6
8
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
P a s s e n g e r s p
e r R
e v e n u e M
i l e
Route
150% Mean: 7.17
Mean: 4.78
50% Mean: 2.39
Figure 6: Passengers per Revenue Mile by Route
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPenDiX – 5.4
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
F a r e b o x R
e c o v e r y
Route
150% Mean: 39.01%
Mean: 26.01%
50% Mean: 13.00%
Figure 7: Farebox Recovery by Route
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
C o s t p
e r P
a s s e n g e r
Route
150% Mean: $2.78
Mean: $1.85
50% Mean: $0.93
Figure 8: Cost per Passenger by Route
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
7 22 27 14 1 3 12 23 13 8 11 2 10 9 5 44 6 41 4 20
C o m p o s i t e I
n d e x R
a n k
Route (Ordered by Rank)
Figure 9: Composite Index
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPenDiX – 5.5
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
O n T
i m e P
e r c e n t a g e
Route
Goal of 85%
Figure 10: On Time Performance by Route
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
P a s s e n g e r L
o a d F
a c t o r
Route
Recommended
Maximum
Passenger
Load Factor
of 130%
Figure 11: Passenger Load Factor
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
T o t a l R
i d e r s h i p
Route
Figure 12: Total Ridership by Route
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS – 1
SERVICE, DESIGN,
PERFORMANCE
AND EVALUATION
GUIDELINES
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS – 2
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS Contents – i
Contents
1 OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 .1
2 SERVICE DESIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .1
2 .1 Service Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .2
2 .2 Service Design Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .2
3 SERVICE PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 .1
3 .1 Key Performance Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 .2
4 SERVICE EVALUATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .1
4 .1 Data Needs for Service Evaluation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .2
4 .2 Service Evaluation Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .2
4 .3 Public Input & Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .3
4 .4 New Service Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .3
4 .5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 .5
5 APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 .1
Appendix A: Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus Public
Hearing Procedures For Major Service Or Fare Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 .1
Appendix B: Sample Quarterly Route
Performance Analysis Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 .3
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS Contents – ii
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS overview – 1.1
1 Overview
Santa Monica presents a unique case for transit in greater
Los Angeles. While dense, it has historically been somewhat
geographically removed from the urban core of the region.
As a result, it encouraged the growth and success of its own
transit system to better cater to the distinct needs of Santa
Monica and its surrounding communities. Big Blue Bus has
successfully served this area since 1928, and continues to be
a highly-performing model for other transit agencies across
the country to follow.
today, Big Blue Bus is the primary transit provider for the City of santa
Monica as well as many surrounding portions of Los Angeles. service is
provided to many major area destinations and transit centers, namely
UCLA, the rimpau transit Center, the Culver City expo Line station, the
wilshire/western Purple Line station, the Aviation/LAX Green Line sta-
tion, and downtown Los Angeles.
the Los Angeles area is a highly dynamic region. As its population grows,
so does its need for higher-capacity transportation solutions, with mass
transit figuring prominently in regional provider LA Metro’s set of solu-
tions. the introduction of the first phase of its exposition Light rail Line
(expo) has had a substantial positive impact on areas from downtown Los
Angeles to Culver City and neighborhoods in between. By extending the
expo Line and increasing the level of connectivity between the already-
powerful santa Monica area and greater Los Angeles (expo Phase 2 is
scheduled for completion in 2016), there is substantial potential for mo-
bility growth in the city and its surroundings. Yet with this growth comes a
new set of challenges for transit in santa Monica. How can Big Blue Bus
ensure that it connects the people and businesses of santa Monica with
each other as well as with this new link to the greater Los Angeles area?
these standards will guide Big Blue Bus in ensuring that its service is
meeting the expectations of both passengers and taxpayers, and will
guide every change and investment in service as santa Monica’s mobil-
ity needs and wants evolve.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS overview – 1.2
This set of standards consists of three primary
components:
the service design standards lay out how Big Blue
Bus service should be designed and operated, for
existing as well as new services. the service perfor-
mance standards describe how Big Blue Bus ana-
lyzes its routes to ensure the highest possible level
of performance in terms of service effectiveness, ef-
ficiency, and quality for customers. the service eval-
uation process presents Big Blue Bus’ strategy for
analyzing, updating, and communicating its service
plans to ensure that it continues to provide service
that stays relevant to the needs of the City and its
residents, employees, and visitors.
Big Blue Bus is committed to the enforcement of Us-
Dot’s title vi regulations which state that no person
or group of persons shall be discriminated against
with regard to the routing, scheduling, or quality of
service of transportation provided on the basis of
race, color, or national origin.
ServiceDesign ServicePerformance ServiceEvaluation
Figure 1: Service Standard Components
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe DesiGn – 2.1
2 Service Design
Service design standards refer to how transit service is de-
signed, implemented, and operated on the street, from route
alignment and stop spacing to frequency and span of ser-
vice. The standards outlined in this section are not intended
to be absolutes, but guidelines to develop an efficient, effec-
tive transit network.
ServiceDesign
Bus Stop
Amenities
Vehicle
Assignment
Multiple
Service
Types
Stop
Spacing and
Placement
Service
Frequency
Span of
ServiceConnectivity
Service
Area
Coverage
Route
Design
Figure 2: Service Design
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe DesiGn – 2.2
2.1 Service Categories
At present, Big Blue Bus operates 20 fixed-route bus
services. Most of these are Local bus routes, which
operate on a set schedule and make local stops.
Big Blue Bus also operates several rapid (limited-
stop or express) routes with fewer stops and higher
speeds. Lastly, Big Blue Bus operates limited Com-
muter services, which supplement the other servic-
es provided during peak times of travel.
Based on current operating patterns, Big Blue Bus
service can be grouped into these three categories
based on the way the routes operate and their roles
in the transit network:
each category of service may have different stan-
dards and expectations based on the types of mar-
kets served and the operating protocols required.
wherever necessary, the service standards are
shown by category.
2.2 Service Design Standards
the dynamic nature of development in santa Monica
and western Los Angeles results in changing travel
markets and patterns in Big Blue Bus’ service area.
in order for Big Blue Bus to continue providing high
quality transit service, it is important for service
standards to monitor the quality of service provided
as well as determine where new services may be ap-
propriate or where services need to be adjusted and/
or discontinued.
Route design – the alignment of each route is a key
factor in its ability to successfully serve custom-
ers’ mobility needs. route design refers to route
directness, connections to key origins and desti-
nations, and how the route interfaces with other
transit services.
•Direct – Big Blue Bus routes should be de-
signed to serve origins and destinations via
direct pathways, minimizing out-of-direction
movements. this provides a faster trip to at-
tract more customers and fare revenue, while
minimizing the cost to provide service.
•Arterial – with the exception of some local ser-
vices, bus routes should serve major arterial
streets, avoiding smaller neighborhood streets.
•Grid Based – Big Blue Bus routes should be de-
signed in a grid-based structure, with higher-
frequency routes serving major corridors and
connecting on-street rather than deviating to
serve transfer hubs. A limited number of hubs
are exceptions forming the beginning or end
of routes and/or serving major destinations,
namely Downtown santa Monica and UCLA, as
well as rimpau terminal, expo Culver City, and
Green and Purple Line Metro rail stations.
•Intermodal Connectivity – Current Big Blue
Bus service is more oriented towards east-west
travel, with most major corridors positioned in
this way consistent with a majority of travel
patterns. with the coming expo Line Phase 2
(projected to be completed in 2016), which will
provide a frequent, high-capacity east-west
connection, Big Blue Bus will need to improve
Category Network Role Big Blue
Bus Routes
RAPID Provides high-frequen-
cy, limited-stop service
between santa Monica
and neighboring des-
tinations of strong
regional importance.
R3, R7, R12
LOCAL serves the greater
santa Monica area,
providing service along
major and secondary
corridors and serving
larger local destina-
tions and intermo-
dal connections.
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8,
9, 14, 15, 16,
17, 18, 41-42,
44
COMMUTER Augments the local
network with addition-
al peak hour service to
key destinations.
R10, 43
Table 1: Service Categories
DEMAND
RESPONSE
Blue @ Night
MODE
Connections to,
complements, and
encourages fixed-
route transit.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe DesiGn – 2.3
north-south connections to collect and distrib-
ute customers coming to/from expo. north/
south routes should focus on major arterials
wherever possible, and should be designed to
efficiently connect major destinations to expo
such as santa Monica College, UCLA, major
employers, major retail centers, medical facili-
ties, and visitor destinations.
Service area coverage – the service area cover-
age standard generally defines how transit service
will be provided in a certain area that meets Big
Blue Bus’ new service evaluation guidelines for
minimum transit demand. this includes defining
the maximum allowable walking distance to transit
services and how far apart stops should be placed
given the type of service that is being proposed or
provided currently.
•Medium Density Route Spacing – in general,
½ mile spacing between routes allows custom-
ers a maximum of ¼ mile walk (approximately
five minutes) to access service and is an appro-
priate standard for a grid-based bus system.
•High Density Route Spacing – within the dense
urban core of the santa Monica area (popula-
tion and employment densities of 30 residents
or jobs per acre and greater – roughly wilshire
Blvd. in the north to ocean Park Blvd. in the
south), service may be spaced as closely as ¼
mile between routes. several major regional
arterials are present in this area which warrant
bus service (wilshire Blvd., santa Monica Blvd.,
Colorado Ave., Pico Blvd., ocean Park Blvd.)
and all serve different regional and communi-
ties in Los Angeles County to the east.
•Low Density Route Spacing – outside of
the dense urban core (in areas with 10 to 30
residents or jobs per acre) service should be
spaced no closer than ½ mile between routes
except in extraordinary circumstances. Big
Blue Bus should avoid unnecessary duplication
of LA Metro or Culver City Bus service, except
where the corridor supports multiple service
types (e.g., rapid and Local).
•Rural Route Spacing – Areas with fewer than
10 residents or jobs per acre rarely provide
enough concentrated transit demand to gener-
ate ridership and meet Big Blue Bus perfor-
mance standards, and will only receive ser-
vice if significant trip generators or attractors
are present.
Connectivity – in order to maximize ridership and
avoid service duplication, it is important that cus-
tomers are able to transfer and connect to additional
service that takes them to their final destination, ei-
ther at major hubs such as downtown santa Monica
or on-street at major intersections. new services
should not only be designed as isolated routes, but
also as an important piece of the overall transit net-
work. A new route may enable convenient transfers
with existing services or provide connections be-
tween current routes and major destinations (“first
mile/last mile” connections).
Designing service to enable convenient transfers al-
lows Big Blue Bus to minimize service duplication,
since every route does not need to provide a one-
seat ride to the customer’s final destination. within
a limited-resource context, minimizing duplication
allows for a more effective use of resources.
•Big Blue Bus should seek to avoid duplicating
(overlapping) its own services or other services
to the maximum extent possible, by focusing
on providing frequent service on single routes
on a corridor (or rapid/Local pairs) rather than
providing less frequent service on several over-
lapping routes.
•Convenient transfers should be facilitated by
high frequencies (15 minutes or better, mini-
mum; 10 minutes, preferred) on major arterial
corridors. Frequency of service is discussed in
more detail below.
Span of Service – span of service defines how many
hours each day a specific route will operate. A lon-
ger span of service allows a route to capture more
riders throughout the day for a wider variety of trip
purposes, but also increases overall costs.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS SERVICE DESIGN – 2.4
Span of service standards are more important to de-
scribe by the type of market/corridor served than by
the category of service, as a Local route serving a
major regional corridor may have very different span
needs than a Local route serving a smaller, second-
ary corridor. It is also important that the route spans
be coordinated with each other to provide necessary
connecting services.
Major Big Blue Bus corridors including Pico, Lin-
coln, Santa Monica, Wilshire, and Westwood Blvd.
should operate as follows:
Later service may be required on certain corridors.
Most other Local corridors should operate as follows:
Later service may be required on certain corridors.
Commuter service spans should be tailored to
demand patterns.
Spans of service may need to be adjusted on certain
routes depending on the operating hours of connect-
ing services such as Expo and the resulting demand.
During off peak hours, there may be over capacity in
areas where routes are close together. For this rea-
son, some routes may have a truncated span of ser-
vice on all or part of the route during off peak hours
in order to save resources and trim capacity. The ex-
pectation is that riders will walk the short distance
between routes and use the alternate service that is
running later or running off peak.
Service Frequency – Service frequency defines how
long customers must wait for bus service. With high-
er frequencies, fewer customers are left waiting for
buses at any given time, which helps make the ser-
vice more attractive to potential riders. At the same
time, however, higher frequencies can significantly
increase costs by requiring more buses and drivers.
Frequent service (which enables customers to use
service “spontaneously” without consulting bus
schedules) is defined as 15 minute headways or bet-
ter. The following are minimum frequency standards.
• Rapid routes should operate at 15 minutes or
better throughout a majority of the day (eve-
nings may require less frequent service), while
10 minutes or better may be warranted on ma-
jor, high-demand corridors. Whenever possible,
Rapid services should operate more frequently
than Local service on the same corridor, to allow
maximum customer convenience and greater
access to the faster, more efficient service option.
•Local routes should operate at a minimum
of 30 minutes or better throughout the day
and week. Local routes on major corridors
(especially those without Rapid options) may
warrant much more frequent service (15 or
10 minutes).
• Commuter route frequency should be tailored
to demand volumes but should operate 15
minutes or better to allow spontaneous use
where supported by ridership.
Whenever possible, headways should be designed
as “clock-facing” where service operates every 6, 10,
12, 15, 20, or 30 minutes – headways divisible by 60 –
where the same times repeat each hour. This makes
service easier for customers to remember and use
without consulting schedules. Exceptions are per-
mitted where a route (usually with longer headways)
will be operationally inefficient (e.g. require an addi-
tional vehicle resource) with a clock-facing headway.
Stop Spacing and Placement – This standard involves
how far apart bus stops are spaced. Stops spaced
further apart allow for higher bus speeds (minimiz-
ing travel time for passengers on the bus) but require
Weekday Weekend
START TIME END TIME START TIME END TIME
5am-6am Midnight 6am-7am Midnight
Table 2: Major Corridor Span of Service
Weekday Weekend
START TIME END TIME START TIME END TIME
5am-6am 9pm 6am-7am 9pm
Table 3: Other Local Corridor Span of Service
High Ridership
Low Ridership
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS SERVICE DESIGN – 2.5
customers to walk further to access service. Stop
spacing standards differ by service type, with Rapid
stops spaced further apart than Local stops.
Corridors With Multiple Service Types – Big Blue
Bus currently operates three Rapid/Local pairs on
the same corridor – Lincoln (3/Rapid 3), Pico (7/
Rapid 7), and Westwood Blvd. (12/Rapid 12). These
corridors are among the highest-ridership and high-
est-performing in the Big Blue Bus system. In or-
der to determine whether additional corridors may
warrant Rapid/Local service, the following criteria
should be met:
•Performance. Operating multiple service
types requires a significant investment in re-
sources and should only be implemented on
very high-performing corridors. Per section 3,
Service Performance, corridors which perform
at 150% of system average or better may be
candidates for Rapid/Local service.
•Major stops. Corridors which have several
high-volume stops interspersed with lower-
volume stops are good candidates for Rapid/
Local service, as the Rapid will serve a major-
ity of ridership by making only the major stops.
•Longer-distance travel or significant end-to-
end travel. Both Lincoln and Pico Blvd. are lon-
ger-distance corridors where delay reduction
has a significant impact. Rapid 12 service along
Westwood Blvd. shows significant end-to-end
demand between Culver City Expo and UCLA.
Shorter corridors with significant local turnover
are not good candidates for Rapid/Local service.
•Corridors without Rapid service operated by
another provider. LA Metro operates Rap-
id service along Wilshire and Santa Monica
Blvds., making them inappropriate for Big Blue
Bus competing Rapid Bus service.
•Rapid Bus Stop Spacing – Rapid bus routes on
corridors also served by Local routes should
have stops spaced a minimum of ½ mile apart,
and should be placed at major destinations,
intersections, and transfer points. Rapid stop
placement should be determined based on
overall spacing as well as ridership.
•Local Bus Stop Spacing – For Local servic-
es, stop spacing from 1000 feet up to ¼ mile
(roughly 1,300 feet) is desirable. Local service
on small streets can sustain the most close-
ly-spaced stops (since trip distances are usu-
ally short) while Local stops on major arterial
streets risk introducing unnecessary delay if
stops are spaced closer than 1,000 feet. Exist-
ing stops with continuously low usage will be
subject to review for consolidation with other
stops or removal in order to increase service
speed and reliability.
•Commuter Service Stop Spacing – Commuter
services can either use Local or Rapid-type
stopping patterns depending on the type of
service and passenger needs.
•Stop Placement – Far-side stop placement
is recommended wherever possible. Far-side
stop placement improves bus speed with and
without transit signal priority, and improves pe-
destrian and bicycle safety (crossing the street
behind instead of in front of the bus). It also
maintains a larger amount of curb space avail-
able for parking than nearside stop placement.
•Stop Removal - Any stop with less than ten
total average daily weekday boardings plus
alightings will be considered for elimination
after a review of stop distances and
consideration of impact on the affected
passengers. Stop spacing, route frequency,
and span of service will be considered as part
of this review. In cases where removal is
necessary, the revised stop spacing distances
may deviate from the recommended
standards.
Vehicle Assignment
The Big Blue Bus fleet contains three sub fleets that
are assigned by service type as follows:
•Articulated 60-foot motor coaches
⁻ The articulated 60-foot coaches are assigned to
Rapid service routes that have higher demand and
less frequent stops. Given that there are not enough
articulated buses to supply all of the assignments
for Rapid service, some 40-foot coaches are also
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS SERVICE DESIGN – 2.6
•40-foot motor coaches
⁻The 40-foot motor coaches make up over 80% of
the Big Blue Bus fleet. These buses are assigned
to the majority of the middle performing service as
well as to some Rapid service as noted above. With-
in routes with 40-foot bus assignments, buses are
assigned among routes to maintain fleets on each
route with an average age that does not exceed the
system wide average.
•32-foot motor coaches
⁻The 32-foot motor coaches are assigned to routes
with low ridership profiles and/or to routes that use
local streets. Some 32-foot buses may also be as-
signed to routes that primarily use 40-foot coaches,
specifically at times when ridership is expected to
be light, such as nights or weekends. Within routes
with mixed 40-foot and 32-foot bus assignments,
buses are assigned among routes to maintain
fleets on each route with an average age that does
not exceed the system wide average.
⁻The low number of vehicles in the 32-foot fleet (15
as of this writing), and the propensity to replace the
whole fleet at once means that there is little oppor-
tunity to assign a variety of vehicles in order to main-
tain fleets on each route with an average age that
does not exceed the system wide average. Buses
on routes with exclusive use of 32-foot vehicles are
currently younger than the system wide average and
will age on that route until they are replaced with
new vehicles, until such time as the 32-foot fleet is
large enough to enforce an average age policy.
Note: Due to the rapid changes taking place in how
transit customers obtain information, allocation of
real time signage remains a fluid issue. Depend-
ing on technology developments, Big Blue Bus may
cease to provide these signs at stops, or may signifi-
cantly alter how they are allocated.
Parts of the Big Blue Bus service area that are out-
side of the City of Santa Monica are allocated bus
stop amenities through a contract with a private pro-
vider through LA Metro. Big Blue Bus has no control
over bus stop amenities at those sites.
Average
Daily
Boardings
Bus Stop
Classification
Amenities
Provided
5 OR MORE
OFF-PEAK
BOARDINGS
Low Volume
or more
Public
Information
kiosk
50 OR MORE
BOARDINGS
Medium Volume
or more
Above plus
shelter or
shade and
seating
100 OR MORE
BOARDINGS
High Volume
or more
Above plus
real-time
signage
900 OR MORE
BOARDINGS
Very High Volume Above plus
multiple shelters
or extra large
shelter
Table 4: Amenities Based On Ridership
ALL STOPS All Stops
Above plus
lighting
Bus Stop Amenities
The Big Blue Bus service area contains the City
assigned to rapid service. the ra pid assignments
with the highest average passenger loads are as-
signed the 60-foot articulated coaches due to the
coach’s higher capacity. within rapid service, bus-
es are assigned among routes to maintain fleets on
each route with an average age that does not ex-
ceed the system wide average.
of Santa Monica, where Big Blue Bus has
significant influence over bus stop amenities. At
these stops, amenities are allocated based on
volume of activity (total number of average daily
boardings). Activity levels are classified as
follows:
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.1
3 Service Performance
Service performance standards are necessary to ensure
that all services are fulfilling their roles in the transit net-
work and contributing to the overall financial sustainability
of BBB. Performance should be measured regularly in or-
der to identify trends over time, and to allow prompt chang-
es to be enacted if necessary. Performance standards help
ensure that Big Blue Bus services are useful to customers
as well as cost-effective for the agency.
ServicePerformance
On-Time
Performance
Passenger
Load Factor
PassengersPer RevenueMile FareboxRecovery
Cost PerPassengerBoarding
CompositeIndex ofMeasures
PassengersPer RevenueHour
Service
Quality
Efficiency and
Effectiveness
Figure 3: Service Performance
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.2
3.1 Key Performance
Indicators
service performance may be measured using a
number of industry best practice key performance
indicators (KPis). these fall into two distinct groups,
the first focused on efficiency and effectiveness, the
second on service quality:
•efficiency and effectiveness:
⁻Passengers per revenue Hour
⁻Passengers per revenue Mile
⁻Farebox recovery
⁻Cost Per Passenger Boarding
⁻Composite index of efficiency and effectiveness
measures
•service Quality:
⁻on-time Performance (service reliability)
⁻Passenger Load Factor (identifying overloads)
3.1.1 Efficiency and
Effectiveness Measures
there are a number of external factors such as gas-
oline price, cost of parking, and state of the economy
that are at once fairly volatile, and also substantially
influential regarding our expectations for key perfor-
mance metrics. For that reason, while Big Blue Bus
does set minimum and maximum standards for per-
formance, the service is to be primarily measured
against the mean for the system. in this way, the
merits of individual routes can be accurately mea-
sured, while regulating for the effects of external
factors influencing overall ridership.
Passengers per Revenue Hour (PPH) – this KPi
measures service effectiveness or productivity based
on ridership (unlinked boardings) generated for each
hour of service operated.
Current Big Blue Bus route-level performance
for this metric ranges from approximately 10 pas-
sengers per revenue hour to almost 60 passen-
gers per revenue hour on weekdays, and from ap-
proximately 10 to 50 passengers per revenue hour
on weekends.
the following are the expected minimum thresholds
required to justify service. there are different mini-
mum expectations for each service category and
day of the week. some seasonal fluctuation in per-
formance is to be expected, as ridership to schools
and colleges may be lower during the summer, and
recreational ridership may be higher. Per the service
evaluation Process, service performance should be
reviewed quarterly but major service change deci-
sions should be based on annual data.
Passengers per Revenue Mile (PPM) – this indica-
tor is a measure of raw passenger generation per
mile that the bus operates, which does not account
for differences in service speed (unlike Passengers
Per revenue Hour).
Current Big Blue Bus route-level performance for this
metric ranges from less than 1 passenger per revenue
mile to 8 passengers per revenue mile on weekdays,
and from less than 1 passenger per revenue mile to 5
passengers per revenue mile on weekends.
expected minimum thresholds for passengers for
revenue mile are shown below. since rapid services
provide faster service (more miles in fewer hours),
they may not perform as well as Local services
in this category and therefore do not have higher
thresholds than Local.
Expected Minimum
Passenger Boardings
per Revenue Hour
CATEGORY WEEKDAY WEEKEND
rapid 40 35
Local 20 15
Commuter 20 -
Table 5: Minimum PPH Thresholds
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.3
Farebox Recovery – this indicator measures the
amount of service operating cost that is recouped
through farebox revenue, and is expressed as a
percentage. the higher the percentage, the higher
the amount of cost that is covered by farebox rev-
enue. routes which carry more riders per the
amount of service investment will have a higher
farebox recovery. Farebox recovery takes into ac-
count the cost of operation, the number of riders,
and the average fares that customers pay.
Cost per Passenger Boarding – this KPi measures
the cost to provide service on a per-passenger basis.
routes which carry more people per the amount of
service investment will have a lower cost per pas-
senger boarding. since operating costs are largely
driven by revenue hours, evaluating routes on a cost
per passenger boarding basis will yield similar re-
sults to the passengers per revenue hour analysis –
however, cost per passenger boarding can take into
account cost sharing or other funding relationships
that may reduce subsidy. if routes do not meet mini-
mum expectations for the other indicators above,
they must meet cost per passenger boarding expec-
tations to continue operation.
Composite Index of Efficiency and Effectiveness
Measures – the weakness of individual measures
of performance is that some routes may perform
poorly on certain measures even though the bus is
running at full capacity and performs well on other
measures. For instance, Big Blue Bus Line rapid 10,
which runs express (no stops) for more than half the
route, could receive a low performing Passengers per
revenue Hour score even when running full because
once the bus is loaded, there are no further opportu-
nities to open up new seats and gain more boardings
along the route. Depending on the relative number
of boardings on other routes, this could conceivably
result in a Low Performing score. each of the four
efficiency and effectiveness measures gives valuable
insight into performance, and yet, each measure will
favor certain routes and route profiles.
the advantage to the Composite index KPi is that it is
a blend of the values of the other four efficiency and
effectiveness measures, and gives a more a mea-
sured and balanced overall look at the performance
of each route against system averages.
the Composite index KPi is calculated by assessing
a ranking value between 1 and 20 to each route for
each of the other efficiency and effectiveness mea-
sures, and then adding those ranking figures for
each route to gain an overall ranking for the route. A
lower ranking indicates better performance (routes
are ranked with the number one route being the
highest performer and the number 20 route being
the lowest performer.)
Expected Minimum
Passenger Boardings
per Revenue Mile
CATEGORY WEEKDAY WEEKEND
rapid 2 1.75
Local 2 1.75
Commuter 2 -
Table 6: Minimum PPM Thresholds
Expected Minimum
Farebox Recovery Ratio*
CATEGORY WEEKDAY WEEKEND
rapid 16%14%
Local 12%12%
Commuter 12%-
*values to be updated regularly in accordance with BBB cost structures.
Table 7: Farebox Recovery Ratio
Expected Maximum Cost
Passenger Boarding*
CATEGORY WEEKDAY WEEKEND
rapid $4.50 $5.00
Local $5.00 $6.00
Commuter $5.00 -
*values to be updated regularly in accordance with BBB cost structures.
Table 8: Maximum Boarding Costs
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.4
3.1.2 Service Quality Measures
On-Time Performance – An on-time performance
standard defines a minimum threshold that Big Blue
Bus should meet regarding the percentage of total
daily trips that are recorded as on-time. on-time
performance reflects both the quality and reliability
of service, which can affect whether or not people
choose to use transit.
Big Blue Bus defines “on time” as one minute early
to 5 minutes late at each timepoint, disregarding
early arrivals at the final timepoint.
the goal of 85% on-time performance system-
wide is a common industry standard, which allows
for some level of service variability while main-
taining the reasonable expectation of reliability
for customers.
Passenger Load Factor – Passenger loads refers
to how many people are on the bus at any given
moment compared to its capacity both seated and
standing. if passenger loads are high which results
in overcrowded conditions, additional service may
need to be required to address the issue.
service quality issues with crowding are dependent
on the amount of time that customers must stand on
the bus. if crowding is a relatively brief phenomenon,
it does not justify the expense of adding additional
service. Conversely, on longer-distance express-type
service, it is not advisable to allow any standees due
to the amount of time that most customers spend on
the vehicle as well as the bus’ higher speeds.
overcrowding may be a result of high ridership
performance, and should therefore be evaluated
in the context of not merely relieving crowded ve-
hicles but providing higher service levels overall.
sustained crowding (e.g. not merely one or two
trips per day) of approximately 130% of seated ca-
pacity should be evaluated for the need to provide
increased frequency.
3.1.3 Relative Service
Effectiveness Measures and
Corrective Action Guidelines
Along with minimum performance standards, routes
will be evaluated in comparison with each other for
service efficiency and effectiveness. Big Blue Bus
will derive the systemwide average for each metric
and determine how each route performs compared
with the system average. For example, if the system-
wide average is 40 passengers per revenue hour,
and one route generates 30 passengers per revenue
hour, that route performs at 75% of system average.
Based on percentage of system average, the routes
will be evaluated within the following categories:
•Low-performing service: 50% of system aver-
age and below;
•Average-performance service: between 51%
and 149% of system average: and
•High-performing service: 150% of system av-
erage or better
the sections below include corrective action plans
for routes falling into the categories described above.
routes in the low and high categories may warrant
more intensive actions, while routes towards the
middle are adequately fulfilling their roles in the
network. routes at the cusps of each category may
be subject to the actions in the neighboring category
based on the best judgment of Big Blue Bus.
Category Passenger Load Factor
rapid on Freeway 100% of seated capacity
rapid 150% of seated capacity for two or
more miles
Local 150% of seated capacity for two or
more miles
Commuter 150% of seated capacity for two or
more miles
Table 9: Load Factor
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.5
Low-Performing Service (50 percent or lower
of system average)
if a bus route is found to be “low performing” (ranks
at or below 50% of the system average) on three or
more of the five efficiency and effectiveness met-
rics listed in section 3.1 for two or more consecutive
quarters in a row, the service is subject to a Correc-
tive Action Plan.
routes which rank within this category will be re-
viewed to determine their potential for improvement.
Corrective actions include any and all of the following
based on the best judgment of Big Blue Bus. routes
in this category may still meet expected minimum
performance standards as identified above – how-
ever, there may be room for improvement.
•Segment Level Analysis: A segment level
analysis of a low-performing service may high-
light a specific portion of the route that sig-
nificantly reduces the overall performance,
causing it to perform below the standard for
its service class. if a low-performing segment
is identified, it can be modified to attempt to
raise productivity for the route as a whole. if the
results of a segment level analysis turn out to
be inconclusive, however, modifications to the
entire route should be considered.
•Operational Analysis: often the difference be-
tween meeting and failing minimum perfor-
mance standards is one of vehicle resources.
realigning service to cover only critical seg-
ments or eliminating unnecessary delay (e.g.
deviations) are ways to reduce travel time
and save resources, thereby raising perfor-
mance levels.
•Change in Service Levels: Adjusting the ser-
vice levels of a low-performing route – by
any combination of frequency, span, or day of
week changes – may help to tailor the tran-
sit product to its market, and subsequently
increase productivity.
•Cost Sharing: exploring cost sharing or public-
private partnerships can reduce the amount of
subsidy required on low-performing services.
this is applicable for routes which do not meet
minimum performance standards yet serve a
need identified by businesses, schools, attrac-
tions, or other organizations that may be will-
ing to assist with funding operations in order to
continue service. routes that have cost-shar-
ing relationships will likely become Average
Performing or High Performing in the Cost Per
Passenger Boarding metric, but will still need
to meet least average performing standards on
at least two other metrics in order to avoid fur-
ther Corrective Action Plans.
•Targeted Marketing: Marketing tactics can
help to raise the public awareness of a route
in need of remedial action. Poor ridership may
be a result of a lack of public knowledge of a
route, and investing in marketing can reverse
this trend. this is especially the case for con-
centrated market groups like employment
centers, shopping districts, schools, hospitals,
agencies, and other major destinations.
•Rider Outreach: onboard surveys and rider
interviews are methods for gaining valuable
information on how a route can be improved.
these methods can reveal information about
popular destinations that a route may bypass,
or other aspects of a service that may be hold-
ing back ridership growth.
Using this information, Big Blue Bus will create a
Corrective Action Plan for improving performance.
the Corrective Action Plan will be formally imple-
mented in the next feasible service change window
given the limitations in place regarding public pro-
cess, public hearing (if required), and annual service
change calendar.
once a Corrective Action Plan and implemented, the
route must meet Average Performing or High Per-
forming standards on at least three of the five ef-
ficiency and effectiveness metrics for at least one
quarter within the first three successive quarters af-
ter implementation of the plan or face further action.
once a route reaches at least Average Performance
on three of the five efficiency and effectiveness met-
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.6
rics for at least one quarter, the process of Correc-
tive Action is deemed concluded, and any subse-
quent low performance is treated as a new event.
•Discontinuation: this is the final option for a
low-performing route that does not meet mini-
mum performance standards for at least three
successive quarters. it can be applied to a
route segment or the route as a whole. if none
of the aforementioned Corrective Actions are
successful in raising productivity to Average or
High Performing in at least three of the five effi-
ciency and effectiveness Metrics shown above,
discontinuation may be necessary to ensure
effective use of resources. Corrective Actions
shall be in action for at least three successive
quarters before service is discontinued, except
in extreme or unforeseen circumstances. the
effects on the routes’ transit-dependent rid-
ers will be considered when discontinuation is
an option.
Average-Performing Service (51 to 149 percent
of score average)
routes in this category are adequately fulfilling their
roles in the transit network, and no Corrective Action
is required. these routes will be monitored on an on-
going basis to determine whether their performance
improves, decreases, or remains steady. while no
particular action is necessary, ranking in this cat-
egory does not preclude service adjustments at the
discretion of Big Blue Bus.
•Actions: routes in this category perform well
as a whole. their average performance may
point to conditions where performance is con-
sistent equally throughout their length, or con-
ditions where there may be segments of very
high and also low performance. routes in this
category should undergo a trip-by-trip or seg-
ment-level analysis to determine whether they
are average overall, or include trips or seg-
ments which fall into the more extreme cat-
egories. segments which would be considered
low or very high performers are subject to the
actions detailed in those sections.
High-Performing Service (150 percent or higher of
score average)
routes ranking in this category suggest the need for
greater investment, as high performance may signal
overloading and passing passengers by due to ca-
pacity issues, as well as the presence of significant
latent demand.
Actions for high-performing routes include:
•Increase service levels: in order to maintain a
high quality of service, it is important to prevent
significant overcrowding on vehicles. increas-
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.7
ing service levels by adjusting the service’s fre-
quency, span, or days of week served can help
to alleviate this issue, as well as make service
more attractive to a wider pool of potential cus-
tomers, including those that currently drive.
High frequencies provide dependable service
with minimal waits, encouraging passengers to
arrive randomly without consulting a schedule.
•Introduce additional service types (Rapid):
High-performing corridors may warrant the
upgraded service quality of rapid bus service
with Local underlays. very high-performing
corridors will be analyzed for the need to intro-
duce new rapid service.
this category of routes constitutes the top-perform-
ing tier of the entire Big Blue Bus system and es-
sentially the system’s flagship service. it is very im-
portant to maintain a high-quality level of service as
well as to continue further investment. it is impor-
tant to monitor these routes and make investments
in key areas that are aimed at further improving
overall service.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe PerForMAnCe – 3.8
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.1
4 Service Evaluation
The service evaluation process is conducted in order to en-
sure the continued performance of individual services, as
well as the overall network. This evaluation is intended to
improve service design and productivity within categories,
which is important to ensure that Big Blue Bus offers a con-
sistent system that is easy for customers to use and easy for
Big Blue Bus to promote, manage, and administer.
ServiceEvaluation Title VI and
Environmental
Justice
Public Input
and Review
New Service
Evaluation
Data
Analysis
QuarterlyPerformanceAnalysis
Figure 4: Service Evaluation
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.2
4.1 Data Needs for Service
Evaluation Process
The performance measures discussed above
require the regular collection and updating of the
following data sources:
•Ridership: total number of boardings and on-
board load by route and day of the week will
be collected monthly. this data is available
through Big Blue Bus Automatic Passenger
Counter (APC) systems. through regular col-
lection of ridership data, trends over time can
be examined.
•Revenue: the amount of income generated on
a route-by-route basis will be gathered monthly.
•Resources: the number of vehicles, revenue
miles, and revenue hours per route by day of
the week will be collected from Big Blue Bus
scheduling information.
•Costs: the cost of providing service will be up-
dated on an annual basis for each vehicle type.
•On-Time Performance: Departure times at
each timepoint (and arrival at final timepoint)
are collected via Big Blue Bus Automatic ve-
hicle Location (AvL) systems.
•Community Considerations: the locations of
senior, disabled, and lower-income popula-
tions are important to consider in transit ser-
vice planning in order to ensure that these
groups are provided with mobility within the re-
gion. this information is available via Us Cen-
sus or American Community survey data. Cen-
sus tracts with concentrations of minority or
low-income populations above the service area
average are covered by title vi regulations.
Likewise, the presence of medical facilities,
nursing homes, and other community services
are given consideration to ensure that these
facilities are connected with the communities
they serve. this data will be collected through
cooperation with local planning and develop-
ment agencies.
•Business Arrangements: existing or proposed
arrangements with employers, educational in-
stitutions, and government entities are consid-
ered when evaluating route performance. For
cost sharing arrangements, the amount of sub-
sidy provided to operate service on a monthly
or annual basis (however the contract is struc-
tured) will be provided, as well as any condi-
tions on that subsidy. Any cost sharing should
be included in the cost per passenger boarding
metric to assure that services is represented
accurately regarding performance levels.
4.2 Service Evaluation
Schedule
Quarterly Route Performance Analysis – on a
quarterly schedule, service performance measures
will be reviewed according to the metrics and stan-
dards outlined below. see Appendix B for a sample
quarterly route performance analysis report.
• Any permanent fare or fare media change.
•A twenty-five percent (25%) or more change
in the number of daily transit revenue
vehicles miles of a route; i.e., the total
number of miles operated by all vehicles in
revenue service for a particular day of the
week on an individual route.
• A twenty-five percent (25%) or more change
of the number of transit route miles of a
route; ie., the total mileage covered during
one round trip by a vehicle in revenue service
on a particular route.
• Proposed introduction or elimination of a
route that will be, or has been, operated for
more than twelve (12) months.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS SERVICE EVALUATION – 4.3
The quarterly report will include the following
Key Performance Indicators:
• Passengers per Revenue Hour by Route
• Passengers per Revenue Mile by Route
• Farebox Recovery by Route
• Cost per Passenger Boarding by Route
• Composite Index by Route
• On time performance by Route
• Passenger Load Factor by Route
4.3 Public Input & Review
Detailed information on Big Blue Bus public hear-
ing procedures are contained in Big Blue Bus
“Public Hearing Procedures for Major Service or
Fare Changes”, attached as Appendix A. In addition
to the public hearing process, Big Blue Bus
employs vari-ous outreach methods including:
• Publication on website
• Information posted on buses
• Public meetings in various parts of the Big
Blue Bus service area
• Notices to public officials, key stakeholders,
and community groups
• Targeted surveys to riders of affected services
• E-communications to self-identified Big Blue
Bus passengers (those who provide contact in-
formation)
• “Ambassador” personnel stationed at key
bus stops and transit hubs to discuss service
changes with customers
Big Blue Bus will conduct public outreach one month
or more prior to a route change, depending on the
amount of service impacted. Customers, stakehold-
ers, and the general public are invited to provide
comment through the Big Blue Bus website, at pub-
lic meetings, through surveys, or at public hearings
with the Santa Monica City Council. Overall, BBB will
follow public outreach policy shown in Appendix A.
4.4 New Service Evaluation
As development patterns change and population
centers shift – and as transit options to Santa Mon-
ica are expanded, as seen with the coming addition
of Metro’s Expo Line – Big Blue Bus will analyze the
need for new services using the criteria listed below.
New services or improvements to existing services
are evaluated with respect to design standards and
consistency with adopted policy principles. Service
investment decisions can provide incentives for
community support of transit in policy, funding, zon-
ing, and site design.
Planning and implementing new transit service re-
quires an examination of certain characteristics of
the proposed service area. The densities and demo-
graphic characteristics of a given service area, as
well as destinations served and integration with the
surrounding transit network, are key parts of transit
success. It is important to note that new service im-
During any substantial changes to service (align-
ment or significant schedule changes), customer,
public, and employee input on recommendations re-
sulting from service evaluation are actively sought.
Current Big Blue Bus policy requires a public hear-
ing with the Santa Monica City Council prior to:
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.4
plementation is not dependent on any one factor be-
low, but arises from a combination of each of these
factors. to determine whether an area warrants new
transit service, Big Blue Bus will analyze the follow-
ing characteristics of a proposed service area:
•Population and Employment Density: A mini-
mum level of density (approximately 10 people
or jobs per acre) needs to be present in a given
area to support regular bus service. in general,
higher density areas are more conducive to ef-
fective bus service than low density areas due to
greater demand and potential ridership. Density
of the proposed new service area will be com-
pared to the densities of existing service areas.
•Transit Inclined Populations: Certain demo-
graphic groups are more inclined to use transit
than others such as seniors, the disabled, stu-
dents, low-income individuals, Millenials and
households without automobiles. in assess-
ing an area’s demand for transit service it is
be important to examine the presence of these
demographics groups and whether any unmet
needs are present. Census tracts with concen-
trations of minority or low-income populations
above the service area average are covered by
title vi regulations. while title vi areas are
not in themselves a warrant for service, they
should be considered as part of the decision-
making process.
•Parking shortages, high parking costs: there
are a number of worksite, recreation and shop-
ping destinations in santa Monica and the sur-
rounding sections of Los Angeles where free or
inexpensive parking is difficult to obtain. these
sites have a higher propensity for transit rider-
ship than similar sites with ample free parking.
•Transit Demand Management: A number of
schools and businesses in santa Monica and
surrounding Los Angeles offer subsidized
transit passes, and other programs to encour-
age their constituents to avoid driving single-
occupant automobiles. Depending on the pro-
gram features, these conditions can lead to an
increased demand for transit.
•Key Destinations: Connecting residents with
key destinations such as employment centers,
hospitals, schools, shopping, and entertain-
ment is a key factor in designing transit ser-
vice. Key destinations are those defined as
generating at least 150 daily transit boardings.
•Network Integration: Any new service should
avoid duplicating existing service (see ser-
vice spacing guidelines), and should link into
the existing transit network in a logical man-
ner to ensure that connections to other routes
and services provide attractive linked journeys.
with the arrival of expo light rail in santa Moni-
ca, first-mile and last-mile connections are ex-
pected to be a key component of BBB service.
•Projected Performance: in order to ensure
continued maintenance or improvement of
Big Blue Bus service productivity, new routes
should be projected to perform at levels that
meet or exceed the system average based on
the metrics outlined in the service Perfor-
mance section.
new services depend on budget availability and can
only be initiated when funding allows, either through
resource reallocation, additional fare revenue, or
new outside funding. introduction of new services
are subject to a trial period of one year to meet mini-
mum performance standards commensurate with
service category using the following process.
•new services will be examined quarterly to as-
sess whether they are meeting the minimum
service efficiency and effectiveness metrics.
•if at the conclusion of the first three succes-
sive complete quarters after implementation,
or any time thereafter, the service is found to
be “low performing” (ranks at or below 50% of
the system average) on three or more of the
five efficiency and effectiveness metrics listed
in section 3.1 for three or more quarters in a
row, the service is subject to a corrective action
plan and subsequent outcomes as discussed
in section 3.1.3.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.5
Title VI and Environmental Justice
Big Blue Bus complies with all United states Depart-
ment of transportation (UsDot) title vi guidelines
and prepares regularly scheduled title vi reports.
when evaluating potential service or fare changes,
Big Blue Bus will evaluate the effects of the changes
to discover if there are disproportionate impacts to
low-income or minority populations. title vi prohib-
its recipients of Federal financial assistance (e.g.,
states, local governments, transit providers) from
discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national
origin in their programs or activities.
4.5 Conclusion
Big Blue Bus is proud to be a trusted partner in mo-
bility in the dynamic santa Monica region. By setting
clear standards for service design, performance, and
evaluation, Big Blue Bus is committing itself to pro-
viding the most effective and efficient transit service
possible, with full accountability to those it serves.
through the use of these standards, Big Blue Bus
ensures that it will continue to provide a transpar-
ent and inclusive process in its decision making.
through our interaction with our stakeholders and
the community at large, it is our expectation that this
document will continue to evolve and adapt to the
changing needs of santa Monica and the surround-
ing Los Angeles area.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS serviCe evALUAtion – 4.6
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPENDIX – 5.1
5 Appendices
Appendix A:
Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus Public Hearing
Procedures For Major Service Or Fare Changes
1.BACKGROUND
Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus (BBB) is required by the Federal Transit
Act, as amended through 1992, to establish a policy which defines a
process to solicit and consider public comment prior to raising fares or
implementing a major change of transit services.
2.BBB POLICY
A. It shall be the BBB’s policy that public comments be solicited
prior to:
i.Any permanent fare or fare media change.
ii.A twenty-five percent (25%) or more change in the number of daily transit
revenue vehicles miles of a route; i.e., the total number of miles operated by
all vehicles in revenue service for a particular day of the week on an
individual route.
iii.A twenty-five percent (25%) or more change in the number of transit
route miles of a route, i.e., the total mileage covered during one round trip
by a vehicle in revenue service on a particular route.
iv.Proposed introduction or elimination of a route that will be, or has been,
operated for more than twelve (12) months.
B.It shall be the BBB’s policy that the following shall be exempt
from public comment and public hearing:
Procedures For Major Service Or Fare Changes
i.A minor change in fare or service. Examples would be temporarily
reduced, experimental or promotional fares, minor reroutes or minor
temporary reroutes due to street construction(s) or minor schedule
changes.
ii.Experimental, seasonal, or emergency fare changes expected to exist
fewer than six (6) months in service. If these changes ultimately continue
to remain in effect for more than six (6) months, they will be the subject
of public comment and public hearing.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPENDIX – 5.2
3. PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
When required, the public comment process will be-
gin with the publishing of a legal notice seven cal-
endar days in advance of the public hearing date in
the local newspapers of general circulation. This no-
tice will set a specific place, date and time for one or
more public hearings. Written comments will also
be accepted on the proposed changes seven calen-
dar days beyond initial publishing of the legal notice.
Legal notices will inform the public of the proposed
actions that initiated the public-comment process.
Press releases will also be prepared and sent to the
local media.
4. SCHEDULING PUBLIC HEARING(S)
The public hearing(s) will be scheduled and conduct-
ed by the City of Santa Monica City Council at a time,
date and place to be designated. The facility utilized
for public hearings will be accessible to persons with
disabilities. Special arrangements will be made for
sight or hearing impaired persons if requested at
least three days prior to the meeting.
5.PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCTING
PUBLIC HEARING
Forms will be available to attendees to register their
presence and desire to speak. Public hearings will
begin with a reading of the public notice, purpose
and proposed action that necessitated the public
hearing. After an explanation of the proposed ac-
tion is completed, the public will be invited to offer
their comments. The City Council will determine
the amount of time the public has to comment dur-
ing the public hearing.
6. DOCUMENTATION OF PUBLIC HEARING
Official records of BBB public hearings on fare or
service adjustments will be generated by:
A. Affidavits of newspaper publications of
public notices.
B. Press releases conveying information on upcom-
ing public hearings.
C. Tape recordings and transcripts of proceedings.
7.ADDRESSING PUBLIC COMMENTS RECEIVED
All relevant comments received verbally or in writ-
ing at a public hearing, or as otherwise conveyed to
BBB prior to the established deadline, will be en-
tered into the public record of the comment process.
Subsequent to the public comment period, staff will
evaluate and analyze all relevant comments received
and prepare a written report for consideration by the
Santa Monica City Council.
8. CITY COUNCIL
The City Council will be notified by the City Manager
of all written public comment solicitations in ad-
vance of all scheduled public hearings on fare and
service adjustments. A summary of public feedback
received will be provided to the City Council along
with staff recommendation for final disposition of
the issues. Upon review by the City Council, the City
Manager will be directed accordingly to proceed with
or amend the recommended service and/or fare ad-
justments.
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPenDiX – 5.3
Appendix B:
Sample Quarterly Route Performance Analysis Report
APRIL 1 - JUNE 30, 2013
Introduction
Line 7 continues to be the highest performing route in the Big Blue Bus system, followed by rapid 12, rapid
7, Line 14 and Line 3 in that order. Changes put into effect on June 16, 2013 increased service on two of these
lines, Line 7 and rapid 7, changing their base frequencies from every 15 minutes to every 12 minutes on both
lines. Additional changes that will go into effect on August 25th, 2013 will add service to the Lincoln corridor
by adding midday service on rapid 3. this is expected to relieve the frequent midday crowding that is currently
occurring on Line 3.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
P a s s e n g e r s p
e r R
e v e n u e H
o u r
Route
150% Mean: 66.4
Mean: 44.3
50% Mean: 22.2
Figure 5: Passengers per Revenue Hour by Route
0
2
4
6
8
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
P a s s e n g e r s p
e r R
e v e n u e M
i l e
Route
150% Mean: 7.17
Mean: 4.78
50% Mean: 2.39
Figure 6: Passengers per Revenue Mile by Route
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPenDiX – 5.4
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
F a r e b o x R
e c o v e r y
Route
150% Mean: 39.01%
Mean: 26.01%
50% Mean: 13.00%
Figure 7: Farebox Recovery by Route
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
C o s t p
e r P
a s s e n g e r
Route
150% Mean: $2.78
Mean: $1.85
50% Mean: $0.93
Figure 8: Cost per Passenger by Route
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
7 22 27 14 1 3 12 23 13 8 11 2 10 9 5 44 6 41 4 20
C o m p o s i t e I
n d e x R
a n k
Route (Ordered by Rank)
Figure 9: Composite Index
SERVICE STANDARDS – BIG BLUE BUS APPENDIX – 5.5
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
O n T
i m e P
e r c e n t a g e
Route
Goal of 85%
Figure 10: On Time Performance by Route
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
140%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
P a s s e n g e r L
o a d F
a c t o r
Route
Recommended
Maximum Passenger
Load Factor of 150%
for Rapid (non-freeway),
Local, Commuter,
and 100% for Rapid (on-
freeway).
Figure 11: Passenger Load Factor
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 22 23 27 41 44
T o t a l R
i d e r s h i p
Route
Figure 12: Total Ridership by Route