Santa Monica’s push to fully electrify the Big Blue Bus fleet received another significant boost last week, with the city securing $3 million in new grant funding to help purchase nine additional battery-electric buses.
The funding was awarded through the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) at its Aug. 20 meeting. The regional committee includes representatives from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board, Southern California Association of Governments, Metro and other transportation agencies, and invests vehicle-registration fee revenues in projects designed to reduce air pollution across Southern California.
City Manager Oliver Cho announced the award in his weekly newsletter, noting that the Department of Transportation had applied for the maximum available grant allocation in April. The $3 million will serve as the local match for the nine buses.
The award builds on a much larger investment in Big Blue Bus electrification already underway.
In April, Santa Monica broke ground on a $56 million zero-emission fleet and charging infrastructure project, funded largely through a $53.3 million grant from California’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. That project includes new zero-emission buses and major improvements to the Big Blue Bus yard, including charging infrastructure capable of supporting the agency’s growing electric fleet.
The TIRCP grant, awarded in 2024, was one of the largest state grants in Big Blue Bus history. The original award was described as funding 73 new zero-emission buses, along with chargers, bus-yard improvements and a backup generator.
The latest grant means Santa Monica can add another nine buses to that transition without having to shoulder the full cost locally.
Big Blue Bus currently operates 34 battery-electric buses, up from 19 electric buses reported by the city’s Department of Transportation at the end of fiscal year 2023-24. The agency is working toward a fully zero-emission fleet by 2032.
The transition is part of a broader effort to modernize the city’s bus system while making transit a more attractive alternative to driving. Big Blue Bus has simultaneously been expanding service through its Brighter Blue program, including more frequent service and expanded operating hours on several routes. The system is also on pace to exceed 10 million annual riders for a second consecutive year, after crossing that threshold for the first time since the pandemic in the previous fiscal year.
Electrification also represents a significant shift for an agency that has had to work through the practical challenges of transitioning a large bus fleet to battery power. The city’s current strategy pairs the purchase of electric buses with a major investment in charging infrastructure, allowing the agency to gradually scale up the number of electric vehicles it can operate.
The April groundbreaking marked the beginning of construction on an overhead gantry charging system designed to eventually support as many as 195 buses, providing the infrastructure needed to move beyond the current fleet of 34 electric buses.
The environmental benefits are a major part of the rationale for the investments. Replacing diesel-powered buses with battery-electric vehicles can reduce tailpipe emissions and improve air quality along routes and in neighborhoods served by the system. The state funding itself comes from programs specifically designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and improve clean transportation.
For Santa Monica, the new $3 million award is therefore less a standalone investment than another piece of a long-term strategy: use state and regional grants to accelerate the transition while building the infrastructure necessary to eventually operate an entirely zero-emission Big Blue Bus fleet.
With 34 electric buses already in service, 30 more planned for 2027, and another nine now supported by the new MSRC funding, the city is continuing to move toward its 2032 deadline.
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