Getting Around

By Lookout Staff

It’s always rush hour in Downtown Santa Monica, or so it seems, with concrete barricades blocking streets and “no-turn” signs prompting backups on the few roads that are accessible in the construction-wracked area.

Perhaps the best way to avoid the car crush is to hop on the Big Blue Bus for a 50¢ ride into the Bayside District. In March the Big Blue Bus reshuffled its service Downtown -- altering some of its lines and schedules -- to take advantage of the newly opened bus-only lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway. The new lanes are a key feature of the nearly completed Downtown Transit Mall.

“While people are sitting in their cars, people on the bus whiz by,” said marketing and public information director Dan Dawson.

Buses traveling westbound will travel down Broadway, while eastbound buses will travel on Santa Monica Boulevard. Bus lines impacted by the changes are the 1, 4, 7, 8 and 10.

For more information on bus line changes:

• Log onto the bus line's award-winning Web site at
  www.bigbluebus.com.
• Call the Bug Blue Bus’ customer service line at
  (310) 451-5444 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday
  through Friday.
• Pick up schedules on any bus line or stop by the
  Big Blue Bus Office at 612 Colorado Ave.