Dear Daily Bruin Editorial Board:
We at Big Blue Bus were delighted to see you take on the cause of raising awareness of what might impede students from using the new Expo Light Rail, and we applaud your restating the planned Big Blue Bus options to the station, which are Big Blue Bus Routes 8 and 12 – soon to be combined with Rapid 12.
However, there was some information omitted from the article that I think may be of interest to members of the community. Shortly after the rail line opens on May 20, Big Blue Bus will introduce new Rapid 12 service on June 11. This new Rapid 12 will run a more direct route between Palms, the Westwood station and UCLA, and it will run more often, every seven to eight minutes in the peak times during the school year. It will also skip many of the local stops between the station and UCLA. As such, it will closely replicate the experience of an end-to-end shuttle, and with virtually no wait time at either end due to the high frequency.
Concerning your original point, while we agree with you that having to pay any fare does discourage ridership, we don’t agree that the solution is to overlap service that is already planned to handle the large loads of students. Although that would achieve the larger goal, it would waste resources on both sides. We think it better to work together to build integrated, coordinated transit systems that achieve the best use of resources, and help give UCLA students the best bang for their buck. Meanwhile, we will continue to work together on fares, routing, bus stops and all the pieces necessary for Los Angeles to become that inviting wonderful city that it promises to be. When we work together to make leaving behind our cars a convenient and affordable option, the possibilities are incredible.
Edward F. King
Director of transit services
Big Blue Bus