Amtrak California
Amtrak California recently unveiled their new website. Passengers can book passage on Amtrak California train and also check on train stats. To view the new site click on amtrakcalifornia.com.
On November 8th Amtrak discontinued the following Thruway Bus Stops, Lebec, Baker, Beaumont, Rosamond, Thousand Palms, and the Van Nuys FlyAway stop due to low ridership. The buses that previously stopped at Van Nuys FlyAway will now stop at the Burbank Airport Amtrak Station.

Gold Coast Transit
On December 1st, GCT announced the installation of newly designed, easy-to-use, way-finding information panels at 275 bus stops strategically placed along highly traveled streets or "Transit Corridors" within Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Ojai. The new panels feature color-coded bus route diagrams and corresponding schedule information. The panels also display cumulative travel times for each route, showing passengers how much time they will spend on the bus.
At left is a sample of the new and improved bus stop signs being placed in service by Gold Coast Transit. (Information and graphic courtesy of GCT.)


Daily Service to Las Vegas
In November Silver State Trailways began daily bus service between Los Angeles, Orange County and Las Vegas. The service leaves southern California and Las Vegas in the morning. Fare for the service is $40 one-way and $70 round trip. For more information on pick-up locations or to make a reservation contact Silver State Trailways at: 800.812.7979 or visit them on the web at silverstatetrailways.com.


Metro
Metro will be making the following service changes on December 12.

• Line 42 will now operate as a branch of Line 40. Line 42A via La Cienega Blvd. will only operate evenings and nights.
• Line 71 will no longer serve the outpatient clinic behind County-USC Medical Center. Service will operate direct via Marengo Ave.
• Line 121 will now operate interlined with Line 120.
• Line 165 will operate direct via Empire Ave. in the vicinity of Bob Hope Airport (the deviation via Hollywood Way-Thornton Ave.-Ontario St. will be eliminated). This reroute was done to accommodate the wider turning ratio of the new compo buses.
• Line 168 will be canceled. Parallel service operates within a half-mile on Lines 158 and 167 (west end of line) and on Lines 233, 761 and 902 (east end of line).
• Line 177 will operate weekday peak-hours only until March 2011 to give staff time to develop a plan to transfer service to another agency. Midday service will be discontinued.
• Line 202 shortline trips (those not traveling south of Del Amo Station) will be eliminated, reducing service level to hourly on the northern part of line. The interlined Line 55-202 owl service is unchanged.
• Line 206's turnaround loop in Hollywood will be realigned. Southbound passengers will need to board at the layover zone on Vermont Ave. at Sunset Blvd. (facing north) or on Hollywood Blvd. at New Hampshire Ave. (facing west).
• Line 214 will be canceled. Parallel service operates within a half-mile on Lines 45 and 52/352 and on Torrance Route 1.
• Line 220 will continue to operate weekdays only (Saturday service discontinued). Further action will be considered as part of the Expo Line bus-rail interface.
• Line 256's turnaround loop in Altadena will be realigned. Service will now operate direct via Washington Blvd. and Lake Ave. to the layover at Lake Ave. & Mendocino St. (service north of Washington Blvd. on Hill Ave., Holliston Ave. and Mendocino St. will be canceled).
• Line 287 will be canceled west of Montebello Towne Center. Parallel service to both branches (First St. and Floral St.) operates within a quarter-mile on Lines 68 and 770. Service between Montebello Towne Center and East Los Angeles College will be replaced by an extension of selected Line 68 trips.
• Line 312 will now operate only northbound in morning peak hours, southbound in afternoon peak hours; reverse-direction limited-stop service and midday service will be canceled. Shortline Line 212 trips (terminating at Hollywood/Highland Station) will be scheduled to replace the canceled Line 312 trips.
• Line 439 will operate only weekday peak-hour service between downtown Los Angeles and Fox Hills Mall (all other times of day discontinued, service south of Fox Hills Mall canceled). The line is proposed to be replaced with an extension of Line 217 to La Cienega Station when the Expo Line begins operation. Replacement service between Washington/Fairfax Transit Hub and downtown Los Angeles is available on Lines 35 and 37; replacement service south of Fox Hills Mall is available on Culver City Line 6 and Rapid 6.
• Line 607 will now operate as a one-way clockwise loop; counter-clockwise service will be eliminated.
• Line 608 will be canceled. Portions of the route are duplicated by Lines 40/740, 42, 102, 105/705, 206, and 209, and by DASH Crenshaw and DASH Leimert Park.
• Line 620 will continue to operate hourly service (dropping from a 20-minute headway) for six months and will be reevaluated then.
• Line 626 will be canceled. Line 625 will operate selected trips to the Superior Court House.
• Rapid Line 711 will be canceled. New limited-stop Line 311 will operate weekday peak-hours, with the east terminal at Norwalk Green Line Station.
• Rapid Line 714 will be canceled. Weekday service will be increased on local Line 14.
• Rapid Line 715 will be canceled. Weekday service will be increased on local Line 115.
• Rapid Line 750 weekend service will be discontinued. Weekend service will be increased on local Line 150.
• Rapid Line 753 will be canceled. Weekday service will be increased on local Line 53.
• Rapid Line 762 Saturday service will be discontinued. Saturday service will be increased on local Line 260.
• Rapid Line 780 weekend service will be discontinued. Weekend service will be increased on local Line 180.
• Line 902 will continue to operate until the June 2011 service changes, at which time it is expected to be replaced as part of a service reconfiguration on Van Nuys Blvd.
• Rapid Express Line 920 will be canceled. Weekday peak-hour service will be increased on Rapid Line 720.

Foothill Transit
Due to a formal request from the City of Baldwin Park, the westbound Line 178 stop at the southeast corner of Baldwin Park Blvd. and Clark St. has been removed from service effective November 8th. Passengers can use the bus stop at Baldwin Park Blvd. and Park Shadow Ct., just south of Clark St.
Due to construction along Route 66 between Lone Hill Blvd. and Hunters Ridge in Glendora, Foothill Transit is expecting some delays in service for Line 187. The road construction is expected to last until January 2011.

Metrolink
On November 8th Metrolink made several changes to their schedules. Minor schedule changes were made on the Ventura County Line, on the Orange County Line, and on the Inland Empire-Orange County (IEOC) Line. Weekend service on the Antelope Valley Line and San Bernardino Line has undergone significant changes. With these changes some connections at Union Station were improved. Time was added to trains 609 and 808 between Oceanside and Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Stations to resolve ongoing conflicts on this single track portion of the system. No changes were made on the Riverside Line or on the 91 Line. For more information visit metrolinktrains.com.

NCTD Coaster
On December 4th, Coaster will operate a special Santa Train. The 90-minute trip includes decorations, party favors and visits from Santa and other holiday characters. The special train will depart Oceanside at 10 am and 1 pm. The tickets are $4 each for all ages and there is a limit of six per person. Tickets go on sale November 16th at the Oceanside Transit Center. For more information visit gonctd.com.

Santa Monica Big Blue Bus
Big Blue Bus has recently added their information to Google Transit. The Google Transit Trip planner gives passengers step-by-step directions with arrival and departure times. Big Blue Bus is one of many southern California transit operators whose information is now on Google Transit. Visit Google Transit at google.com.

PE Right-of-Way Meetings
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is hosting a series of meet- ings on the possible reuse of former Pacific Electric (PE) right-of-way between Paramount and Santa Ana. These meetings will be held in November and December. For more information about the study and upcoming community meetings, please visit scag.ca.gov or contact Philip Law, Project Manager at 213.236.1841 or law@scag.ca.gov.

Carson North/South Shuttle
Starting September 20th service on the City of Carson North/South Shuttle was reduced to two hours in morning and one hour in the afternoon. Midday and Saturday service was eliminated. For more information contact Transportation Services Manager Cara Rice at 310.952.1756.

Culver CityBus
Due to low ridership Culver CityBus is proposing a decrease in service along Line 7. The reduced service would run every hour 6:00am-9:00am and 2:00pm-6:00pm with no midday service. Saturday service would also be eliminated. If approved this change would take effect on Monday, January 3, 2011. A public hearing is planned for October 20th.
For more information on this hearing visit culvercitybus.com or call 310.253.6569.

Long Beach Transit
On August 28th, Long Beach Transit made several changes to their system.

• Routes 1 and 71/72 had weekday frequency reductions from 20 minutes to 30 minutes.
  
• ZAP buses were deleted on Route 66 and reduced on Route 96.
  
• Peak hour Route 103 now operates on school days only.
  
• Route 172 service on weekdays ends at the Cerritos Mall. Service to the Norwalk Greenline Station provided by Route 173.
  
• Routes 181/182 and Passport B had frequency reductions from 20 minutes to 30 minutes in the evenings.
  
• Passport C had an evening frequency reduction from 15 minutes to 20 minutes.

• Route 30: Eastbound buses will be realigned to turn around on Orangethorpe, Imperial Highway, La Palma, Fairmont, Fairmont Connector and Esperanza to Fairlynn.
  
• Route 59: Improve frequency from 90 minutes to 65 minutes on Saturdays. Frequency on Sundays will be improve from 90 minutes all day to 90 minutes in the AM and PM and 65 minutes midday.
  
• Route 76: Service will be realigned to travel on MacArthur, Jamboree, Bison, MacArthur and Bonita.
  
• Route 79: Service will be realigned to travel on Campus, West Peltason Drive, Academy Way, California and University.
  
• Route 83: Service will be realigned to serve the Anaheim Way/Orangewood intersection northbound and the Manchester/Orangewood intersection southbound.
  
• Route 129: Weekend frequency will be im- proved from 90 minutes to 65 minutes.
  
• Route 143: Weekend frequency will be im- proved from 75 minutes to 65 minutes.
  
• Route 175: Service will be realigned. Northbound buses will travel on University, Campus and current routing to North Irvine. Southbound buses will travel on Campus, Bridge, Harvard and University to Mariposa Villa.
  
• Route 211: Service will be realigned for eastbound buses exiting Golden West Transportation Center to travel on Center, Gothard, McFadden, Beach, Center, 405 Freeway to current routing.
  
• Route 213: Service will be realigned to travel on Harvard, Bridge Road/West Peltason, Academy Way and California.

Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica)
A new fare structure and two new passes were introduced on August 29th. A new 13-ride pass and a 30-day pass are now available for Blue Bus Rides. The 30-day is available in local and express versions.
Below are the basics of the new cash fare:

• Regular Fare: $1 Local / $2 Express
• Senior/Disabled: 50¢ Local / $1 Express
• Day Pass: $4 (Can be purchased on the bus)
• 30-Day Pass: $60 Local / $80 Express
• 13-Ride Pass: $6

• Minor schedule adjustments have been made to Routes 3, 4, 5, 18A, and 19.
• Routes 6A and 6B have been replaced by new Route 6 which follows the old 6A alignment. Service on the former Route 6B is now provided by Route 40.
• Route 10 now provides two-way service on Telegraph Road and will no longer serve Telephone Road or Main Street.
• Route 11 now provides two-way service on Telephone Road and will no longer serve Telegraph Road.
• Route 16 will now operate every 60 minutes, restoring service that was canceled in April.
• Route 18B has been eliminated.
• Route 40 has been extended to include stops between Johnson/Hummingbird and Telephone/Main that were previously served by Route 6B.

• Schedule adjustments were made to Routes 1, 4, 13, 15, 20, 30, and 832 to improve weekday service; to Routes 1, 7, and 15 to improve Saturday service; and to Routes 4, 6, 7, 13, 15, and 703 to improve Sunday service.
• Route 1 midday service on Sundays has been extended to Grossmont Trolley Station.
• Route 7 short line trips on Saturday now end at College Avenue instead of 69th Street.
• Routes 8/9 have undergone major schedule revisions.
• Route 11 Sunday service has been added between Hillcrest and Normal Heights as Route 11U.
• Route 27: Effective Sunday, September 12, the summer-only Sunday service will be discontinued. Saturday service resumes 90-minute frequency.
• Route 30 service between the V.A. Medical Center and UTC Transit Center on weekdays has been changed to operate on La Jolla Village Drive instead of Nobel Dr. and La Jolla Colony. Service on Nobel Drive and through La Jolla Colony will be replaced by a revised Route 201/202 (Super Loop). On weekends service has been extended from the V.A. Medical Center to the UTC Transit Center, via La Jolla Village Drive.
• Routes 201/202: Both routes have been extended south from Nobel Drive to serve La Jolla Colony, replacing the weekday Route 30 and adding weekend service to the area.
• Routes 832/833 Sunday service has been added with an hourly frequency from approximately 9:00am to 5:00pm.
• Route 870: New reverse-direction service has been added, with two trips from Kearny Mesa to El Cajon in the morning, and one trip from El Cajon to Kearny Mesa in the afternoon.
• Route 901 Sunday trips have been extended to operate between 12th/Imperial Transit Center and Iris Avenue Trolley Station.
• Route 929 Sunday service has been extended to operate to and from City College Trolley Station, instead of 8th Street Trolley Station.
• Route 992 weekday service has been extended from Broadway/4th to the City College Trolley Station.

• Routes 308/309 serve the Yucaipa area making connections with other Omnitrans routes at the new Yucaipa Transit Center. This service runs every 30 minutes Monday through Saturday and every 60 minutes on Sunday.
• Route 325 serves the Grand Terrace area and connects with other Omnitrans routes in Loma Linda and with the Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) in Highgrove. This service runs every 70 minutes, seven days a week.
• Route 365 serves Chino Hills and connects with other Omnitrans routes at the Chino Transit Center. This service runs every 60 minutes seven days a week.

• Schedule adjustments will be made on Routes 1, 11, 15, 29, 40, 49, 51, 61, and 79.
• Routes 3, 206, and 216 have been modified to serve the new Corona Transit Center which opened on September 7th.
• Routes 7, 8, and 22 will have schedule adjustments to improve connections at the Lake Elsinore Outlets.
• Route 11: The loop at Riverside, Meyer Dr., 6th and N Streets in Moreno Valley will be eliminated.
• Route 12 will travel from the Galleria at Tyler to Pierce & Sterling using Hole Ave. and Pierce St. and will no longer travel on Indiana Ave.
• Route 14 will terminate at the Galleria at Tyler and be combined with the revised Route 25. The service south of the Galleria will be replaced by a revised Route 12.
• Route 15 will be extended to Pierce St. and Sterling Ave. in Riverside via Magnolia and Indiana Avenues replacing a portion of the old Route 12.
• The schedules on Routes 16 and 19 will be adjusted to improve connections with routes at the Moreno Valley Mall.
• Weekday schedules on Routes 18, 19, 20 and 41 will be adjusted to improve connections with routes at Moreno Valley College.
• Route 25 will be merged with Route 14 and converted into one new route. Omnitrans Route 325 will replace RTA service in Grand Terrace along Michigan St.
• Routes 29 and 49 will terminate at the Downtown Terminal and longer serve Pine St. and Tequesquite Ave.
• Route 61 service to Haun Rd. in Menifee wil be discontinued due to low ridership.
• Route 202: A new stop will be added at Highway 76 and Camino Del Rey/Olive Hill Rd. in Bonsall.

Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica)
The City of Santa Monica has awarded a multi-year contract to NABI and has issued a Notice to Proceed for the purchase of nine forty-foot low-floor CNG transit buses. There are options to purchase up to an additional 58 buses over the 5-year contract period subject to approval by the City Council. These new buses will replace the last diesel buses in the Santa Monica fleet.

El Monte Station
In mid-August, the El Monte Station will close and be torn down to make way for a new terminal. The demolition and construction of the new terminal is expected to be completed in January 2012. A temporary terminal located in the parking lot will be used until the new terminal is complete. Originally opened on July 15, 1973, the El Monte Station was the focal point of the newly completed El Monte Busway. Aside from a major transit hub in the San Gabriel Valley the terminal is also the Greyhound Station for El Monte. The new terminal will be bigger and include a Foothill Transit store.
For more information on the project visit metro.net.

Glendale Beeline
Effective August 1st Glendale Beeline will no longer accept Metro passes or Metro TAP cards as valid fare. Beeline will still honor the Los Angeles County EZ-Pass. Beeline also offers 10-Trip cards for $2 and a 31-Day pass for $12. For more information call Beeline at 818.548.3960, #1.

Long Beach Transit Mall
On August 29th, First St. between Pacific Ave. & Long Beach Blvd. will be closed to all bus traffic to upgrade the Long Beach Transit Mall with public art, night lighting, new bus shelters and landscaping. This work has been made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. First St. will remain open to pedestrian traffic and Metro Blue Line operations.
Transit customers will board buses on Ocean Blvd. between Pine Ave. & Long Beach Blvd., on Long Beach Blvd. between Ocean Blvd. & First St. and on First St. between Long Beach Blvd. & Elm Ave. The project is expected to be complete in Spring 2011. Below is a diagram with the temporary boarding locations.

• Route 1 will be adjusted on weekdays to operate every 30 minutes after 7:00pm.
• Routes 5, 15, 20 and 22 will adjust on Saturdays to operate every 60 minutes.
• Service to the Sierra Way-46th-Sepulveda loop will be eliminated on Route 7.
• The eastern portion of Routes 8 and 9 will end at the new Yucaipa Transit Center on 5th and Yucaipa Blvd. and new OmniGo circulator Routes 308 and 309 will serve southeast Yucaipa.
• Route 10 will operate every 60 minutes between the hours of 8am and 1pm on all days.
• Route 11 will operate every 60 minutes Monday through Saturday.
• Routes 63, 65, 80 and 83 will operate every 60 minutes on weekdays.
• The southern portion of Route 65, starting at the Chino Hills Civic Center, will be replaced by OmniGo circulator Route 365. Service will operate every 60 minutes on all days.
• Weekend service will be eliminated on Routes 67 and 81.
• The Route 80 short trip Montclair to Ontario will be eliminated.
• Weekend Route 82 service will be eliminated west of Mulberry ending at Mulberry and Jurupa and extended on the north end to the Summit Beach Loop. Service along Walnut Ave. will be eliminated on all days.
• Route 215 will adjust weekend operations to every 60 minutes; weekday service will now begin at 5:05am and end at 10:00pm.
• The following routes will experience changes to running times and/or the elimination of some early morning and late night trips: Routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 19, 20, 22, 29, 61, 63, 66, 68, 80, 81, 82, 83 and 215.

• Route 3: Service will be reduced to every 30 minutes between 9am and 2pm.
• Routes 4 & 17: Interline on weekends to provide hourly service on each route in both directions.
• Route 21X: Eliminate Sunday service.
• Route 27: Reduce weekday service when Fall, Winter, or Spring quarter classes are not in session at UCSB.
• Route 2210: School booster route will be eliminated.

Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica)
Super 12 began its summer break on June 11th. Limited service begins on August 30th and full service begins on September 13th.
The following service changes went into effect on June 20th.

• Line 3 had a daily trip added departing Santa Monica at 11:45pm and serving LAX and the hotels on Century Blvd. Saturday evenings there is more frequent service from the Green Line Station to Santa Monica. For the summer only, early evening service has been added from Santa Monica to the Green Line Station on weekends.
• Line 7 and Rapid 7 had schedule adjustments for summer traffic.
• Line 9 added an early morning trip departing at 6:25am from Santa Monica to Pacific Palisades along with minor weekend schedule adjustments.
• Sunset Ride now operates every 20-25 minutes Monday-Friday.
• Mini Blue Beach Ride now operates on Monday only to the Annenberg Beach House pool. The Beach Ride travels along Pico starting at Virginia Ave. The first trip leaves at 10am and then departs every hour on the hour. Return trips begin at 10:30am and run hourly. Service does not run on July 5th and ends on August 30th.

• Line 178 will be rerouted from Merced to Los Angeles Street away from the residential area of the route. Service will operate hourly on weekends and remain on Pacific (no service to the Metrolink station in Baldwin Park).
• Line 184 will be canceled.
• Line 185 weekday service to the Industry Park and Ride will only operate 5:00am to 10:00am and 1:00pm to 9:00pm. There will be no weekend service to the Park and Ride.
• Line 195 will operate peak hours only.
• Line 269 service between 10:00am and 1:00pm will now operate hourly.
• Line 274 will end at Baldwin Park Metrolink and no longer serve West Covina. The line will also be rerouted from Crossroads to Workman Ave.
• Line 280 northbound service will end at Foothill and Azusa and eliminate service between Foothill Blvd. and Sierra Madre Ave.
• Line 281 will terminate at Citrus and Foothill Blvds.
• Line 284 will now operate peak hours only 7 days a week. The line will be rerouted from Cypress to Covina and will terminate at Eastland Center.
• Line 285 will operate commute hours only 7 days a week.
• Line 289 will now operate commute hours only weekdays only.
• Line 292 weekend service is canceled.
• Line 482 will be split; service between Pomona and Puente Hills Mall will remain Line 482 and new Line 282 will replace the western portion of Line 482 between Puente Hills Mall and El Monte Station. There will be hourly service on the new line during the midday.
• Line 493 trips will now begin and end at the Diamond Bar Park and Ride.
• Line 497 trips will now begin and end at the Chino Park and Ride.
• There will be a reduction in the number of Line 498 trips that begin at Foothill and Barranca.
• Line 851 will be canceled.
• The Line 853 trip to Pomona Transit Center will be canceled.

• Fairfax and Van Nuys/Studio City will be reduced to 30 minute service on weekdays and Saturdays.
• Lincoln Heights/Chinatown will be reduced to 30 minute service on weekdays and Saturdays, eliminate weekday service after 6:30pm and eliminate service on Sundays and holidays.
• Highland Park/Eagle Rock service will be eliminated along Yosemite Dr. and Colorado Blvd. east of Townsend Ave. Service on weekdays after 6:30pm and service on Sundays and weekends will be eliminated.
• El Sereno/City Terrace will now operate every 25 minutes seven days a week and on holidays.
• Hollywood service after 6:30pm on weekdays and on Sundays and holidays will be eliminated.
• Southeast, Wilshire Center/Koreatown, and Panorama City/Van Nuys will no longer have service after 6:30pm on weekdays.
• Crenshaw and Midtown will no longer operate on Sundays and holidays.
• Downtown Central City East, Downtown C, Downtown DD, Hyde Park Shuttle, Hollywood/ West Hollywood, and Warner Center (North & South) will be canceled.
• Northridge will have the AM & PM Commuter Service eliminated. The frequency will be reduced to every 15 minutes until noon; then service every 20 minutes until end of service.
• Downtown D will now operate every 15 minutes after 6:00pm.
• Wilmington will now end service at 7:00pm on weekdays.

• Line 142 will no longer serve the Customs House or Terminal Island. Service will now be every 30 minutes until 9:00pm and every 60 minutes after 9:00pm.
• Lines 413, 430, and 575 will be canceled. Line 431 will now serve Loyola High School on select trips due to the cancelation of Line 430.
• Line 419 will no longer offer service west of the Chatsworth Metrolink Station.
• Line 422 will have two westbound trips (6:29am and 6:44am) and two eastbound trips (3:50pm and 4:34pm) eliminated.
• Line 423 will no longer serve Borchard Road and the western terminus will now be at the Thousand Oaks Transit Center. The eastbound trip at 8:00am will be eliminated.

• Route 3 on Sundays has been extended to UCSD Hospital via 4th/5th Avenues. Service to City College Trolley Station has been discontinued.
• Routes 8 and 9 have been restructured as two separate routes (instead of a loop route): Route 8 serves West Mission Bay Dr. and Mission Blvd. Route 9 serves Sea World, Ingraham St., Crown Point, and Garnet Ave. Levels of service will be similar to the existing Route 8/9, and additional service will be provided throughout the summer.
• Route 27 has added summer only service that operates every 60 minutes from 9:00am to 6:00pm. This expanded summer service will operate through Labor Day. The Pacific Beach terminal has been moved from Bayard Street to Felspar Street near Mission Blvd.
• Route 44A service to the Sharp and Children’s hospitals area on Sundays has been replaced by Route 120. Sunday service eastbound from Clairemont Square (toward Old Town) now uses stops on Clairemont Drive (behind Clairemont Square). Route 120 on Sundays has been extended from Fashion Valley north to Health Center Dr. (Sharp Hospital area) and will operate hourly.