By Elissa Royal Santa Monica
On behalf of the Secret Society of Carless Santa Monicans, I would like to thank the Big Blue Bus for creating a Rapid version of the No. 3 bus at rush hour, and for proposing a bus-only lane on Lincoln Boulevard at rush hour.
I recently tried the Rapid No. 3 at around 7:30 p.m. and what a pleasure! Not just markedly faster, but also with a different clientele than the regular No. 3. My seat-mates on the Rapid No. 3 were very middle class, some tourists, no homeless, no “colorful characters.” While I hesitate to generalize based on a single ride, I’ve ridden the regular No. 3 dozens of times and the fringes of society were always better represented than the middle class. Hmm... call in the sociological researchers.
To make the Rapid No. 3 even more rapid, the folks at the Big Blue Bus are proposing that a stretch of Lincoln Boulevard be reserved as a bus-only lane during rush hour — east side in the morning, west side in the evening.
A limited-stop bus with a dedicated lane? Yes. Yes. Yes. If you want to get people out of their cars and onto the bus, you’ve got to make the bus ride fast. Anyone who has ridden the No. 720 Metro bus on Wilshire Boulevard during rush hour knows how much time is gained by the bus-only lanes in Brentwood.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 21, 2005. Read the original PDF.