City Council Approves Contract For Big Blue Bus-Expo Light Rail Project Study

At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, the council unanimously approved a $467, 113 contract with Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates  to study the best ways to integrate the City’s Big Blue Bus system with Expo Light Rail line, which is slated to open in Santa Monica in 2016.

Staff noted in its report that while only three of the stations will be within Santa Monica's city limits, the Big Blue Bus will service an additional five along the route to Culver City, including the stations at Bundy Drive, Westwood Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard.

According to staff, “Nelson/Nygaard will provide an integration study that will evaluate land use, key origins and destinations, market analysis, corridor analysis, and industry best practices in order to develop a comprehensive Service Integration Plan between BBB lines and the eight stations on the Expo Line in the BBB service area.”

Throughout the planning process, BBB staff would involve key stakeholders, including residents, neighborhood associations, business improvement districts, Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Santa Monica, Inc., and local businesses in a series of workshops designed to elicit public input about the process. BBB would also work closely with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and Culver CityBus to eliminate duplication of services where possible.

A set of public stakeholder meetings will be scheduled for either January or February of 2014, followed by analysis and a second set of meetings in the summer of 2014.  Public hearings regarding proposed system changes are planned for February of 2015 with implementation of proposed changes planned for later that year in August in order to be ready for the Expo opening in 2016.

Funding for the study will be a combination of 80 percent Federal-Section 5307 funds and 20 percent State Transportation Development Act funds.