Transportation news for Santa Monica.
This Friday marks an important upgrade to Santa Monica’s transit system when the Big Blue Bus will begin service to the new LAX Transit Center. At 5:00 p.m., the reroute will become official for BBB’s Route 3 and Rapid 3.…
The Santa Monica Department of Transportation’s Big Blue Bus will host two public hearings to introduce proposed fare increases aimed at enhancing transit services and addressing rising operational costs. The first public hearing will be held virtually on Wednesday, April 2,…
Last month, the State of California released the Draft State Highway System Management Plan (SHSMP), a document required by the legislature every two years. SHSMP provides a ten-year prediction of statewide transportation funding needs. Despite the word “highway” appearing in…
Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Santa Monica) introduced AB 891, a bill that will require Caltrans to develop quick-build bike lane and intersection projects to improve safety on state highways for cyclists and pedestrians. A “quick build project” is a temporary,…
This story also appears at Streetsblog Los Angeles. Many Streetsblog readers and Metro riders already know this story: Metro ridership keeps on growing steadily. Recently released ridership data from January shows twenty-six consecutive months of increases. January 2025 saw 918,375…
Caption: This image from a presentation in March of 2024 shows the state’s plan for the next $35 billion of high speed rail funding. Only the top yellow part was from the federal government which will likely be pulled back…
Gesturing toward the nearly completed Wilshire/La Brea Metro station, U.S. Representative Laura Friedman warned “The Trump Administration proposed cuts to federal investments to support this stop, this train stop that is months away from opening.” “How crazy is that?” Metro…
(Editor’s note: You all know Todd, right? Welcome to Santa Monica Next!) Consequences may finally be coming for ill-behaved Big Blue Bus (BBB) riders. On Tuesday evening, the Santa Monica City Council preliminarily approved an ordinance that would establish a…
City Says It Doesn’t Need Another Vote to Close the Airport Ever since a federal judge approved a consent decree between the city and the Federal Aviation Administration that allows the city to close the airport on January 1, 2029,…
Even as the Palisades fire and other megafires shift the focus on public safety from transportation to wildfires made more likely by climate change, many in our community are still mourning the death of a 70-year old Santa Monica resident…
This story also appears at Streetsblog Los Angeles. Photo: Metro/Caltrans 57/60 Freeway expansion project construction this month by Joe Linton. Climate disruption is here. Right now. It’s past time that Southern California transportation heavyweights – including Metro and Caltrans –…
The following article also appears at Streetsblog California. Among the new members of the California legislature sworn in at the beginning of December are several who have listed bicycle and pedestrian improvements among their stated priorities. The new session has…
The following post was written by Mia Silver, SMDOT Traffic Engineer, and first appeared on the city’s website. You may have noticed a subtle shift on the streets of Santa Monica over the last few months. The speed limit adjustments…
It’s time for me, Streetsblog L.A. Editor Joe Linton, to make some predictions for calendar year 2025. Note that in the past, my rosy predictions were not all successful, so don’t take these for granted, either. Metro ridership will keep growing…
The following post also appears on Streetsblog California. Pedal Ahead, the administrator of the California E-bike Incentive project, has released a video explaining what you need in order to apply for the incentives. The first launch window opens at 6 p.m. tomorrow, Wednesday.…
