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# Postpone the bus fare increase
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/postpone-the-bus-fare-increase-editor/
- Published: 2002-05-21T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:17:40.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Downtown, #archive-import

*By Joanne Gamlin*

I believe the Big Blue Bus should postpone its 50 percent fare increase until Jan. 1\. The persistent confusion about the location of bus stops in downtown Santa Monica during the non-stop construction and the headaches this situation gives riders, its customers, is the reason I maintain fares should not rise on July 1.

I know I have tramped up and down Fifth Street searching for the Big Blue Bus triangle sign. Recently, I scoured Fifth from Santa Monica Boulevard to Broadway for the sign only to learn later that the stops were in the Fifth and Arizona area.

If you’re scheduled to arrive at a certain place and are dependent on a certain bus to get there, you could be in serious trouble if you cannot locate its downtown stops. Trouble could spread, too, when construction starts up on Main Street.

In sum, I suggest it would be good public relations for the bus company to postpone its fare increase until downtown construction has ended.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 21, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052102.pdf?ref=smdp.com)