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BUSES IN LOS ANGELES

 

Getting around LA by bus is one of the easiest forms of transportation. However, easy doesn't mean efficient. Taking buses in LA can often be a long and drawn out process. Buses are subject to heavy street traffic like the rest of the LA drivers face, and, their route systems can be large and complex, often requiring up to 2 or 3 buses to reach a destination. There are also a variety agencies that provide bus service in the LA area. LA County has the Metro where the buses are either solid orange or solid red. The city of Santa Monica operates its own bus service called The Big Blue Bus. These buses are solid blue and operate long the western edge of the city from LAX and Venice through Santa Monica and up into Brentwood and Westwood. Culver City also has its own bus route system, their buses, all green operate primarily in the Culver City area of Los Angeles.

 

Metro

Metro buses are operated by the County of Los Angeles and can be seen around the streets of Los Angeles in two distinct colors-all orange or all red. The all orange buses operate on the major Blvds and make stops about every 10 blocks. The red buses, or Metro Rapid as they are called, are the express lines designed to primarily take passengers from the west side of LA and into Downtown and East LA. It is recommended to stick mainly to the Orange lines. The Metro follows the routes of the main east/west roads (Wilshire, Santa Monica Blvd,) and North/South Roads (La Brea, Fairfax, La Cienega). It is possible to ride from every neighborhood in LA and see all the sights on the Metro buses although at a considerable longer time than it would take by car-even in heavy traffic.

 

The Big Blue Bus

The Big Blue Bus is operated by the city of Santa Monica and bases its route system mainly on the westside of LA in the beach communities of Venice, Santa Monica and LA areas of Brentwood and Westwood. The Big Blue Buses appear as they are named, buses that are painted all blue with big white lettering, "Big Blue Bus" on the side. The Big Blue bus routes parallel a lot of the same routes as LA's Metro buses. So by standing a bus stop you will either get a Big Blue Bus or the Orange/Red Metro bus. Big Blue Buses operate out of the bus depot at LAX and can easily (but slowly) transport arriving visitors from LAX to points up and down the west side and of course connect them to the Metro where they can go anywhere in LA.