Foothill Transit

Foothill Transit

Founded	1988
Locale	San Gabriel Valley
Service type	bus service
Daily ridership	41,096
Operator	Veolia Transportation MV Transportation First Transit
Web site	foothilltransit.org

Foothill Transit is a joint powers authority of 21 member cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. It operates a fixed-route bus public transit service in the San Gabriel Valley of Greater Los Angeles, California.

Overview

The impetus for the formation of the transit agency was Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum. Schabarum, annoyed at the cutbacks of bus service by the SCRTD, wanted to secede from the larger agency and form his own transit agency. Schabarum, who hated the influence of trade unions, chose to use contractors to operate the service, and Foothill executives made the service essentially strike-proof by insisting that two different companies operate the two bus yards, even if it would cost more in the short term. However, due to bus industry consolidation, First Transit had operated both yards from 2001 to mid-2007. Currently, both Foothill Transit yards are represented by unions (Arcadia by the Amalgamated Transit Union and Pomona by the Teamsters Union), but past strikes at the agency have been less than successful due to the ability of one yard to operate the other yards' service. In addition, wages are less at Foothill than at other transit operators in the region, thus saving money.

Foothill Transit's board of directors are the only staff employed directly by the agency. All other staff are employed by contractors, and all operations are contracted out. Due to this, Foothill management have to recuse themselves from recommending changes to be made to their contracts, instead deferring to the legal counsel hired by the board. Bus service is operated by First Transit at Pomona and MV Transportation at Arcadia/Irwindale. Management is handled by Veolia. Since August 2007, MV Transportation has operated the Arcadia/Irwindale yard's service.

In 2002, Foothill Transit began purchasing Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered buses. By 2013, Foothill Transit will have a 100 percent CNG fleet.

Foothill Transit provides shuttle service to most events at the Rose Bowl from the Parsons Corporation parking lot, located on Walnut St. and Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena.

Foothill Transit also provides park and ride buses to the Hollywood Bowl from El Monte, Pasadena, and Arcadia.

Routes

All service operated as of July 18, 2010 with notes on upcoming service changes where indicated.

Local Routes

Route	Terminals		via	Notes
178	El Monte El Monte Bus Station	City of Industry Puente Hills Mall	Los Angeles Street, Pacific Avenue, Valinda Avenue, Nogales Street, Colima Road	Selected trips serve the Baldwin Park Metrolink Station.
185	Azusa Azusa Avenue and Foothill Boulevard	City of Industry Puente Hills Mall	Irwindale Avenue, Glendora Avenue, Hacienda Boulevard, Colima Road
187	Pasadena Raymond Avenue and Walnut Street	Montclair Montclair Transcenter	Colorado Boulevard, Huntington Drive, Foothill Boulevard, Route 66
195	Pomona Valley Boulevard and Humane Way	Pomona Pomona Transcenter	Temple Avenue, Rio Rancho Road, Reservoir Street	Service operates Weekday and Weekend peak hours only.
197	Montclair Montclair Transcenter	Pomona Pomona Transcenter	Arrow Highway, White Avenue, Fairplex Drive, Orange Grove Avenue
269	El Monte El Monte Bus Station	Montebello Montebello Town Center	Santa Anita Avenue, Durfee Avenue
272	Duarte City of Hope	West Covina Westfield West Covina	Buena Vista Street, Baldwin Park Boulevard, Merced Avenue	Selected trips serve the Baldwin Park Metrolink Station.
274	Whittier Beverly Boulevard and Norwalk Boulevard	Baldwin Park Baldwin Park Metrolink Station	Workman Mill Road, Puente Avenue
280	Azusa Azusa Avenue and Foothill Boulevard	City of Industry Puente Hills Mall	Azusa Avenue
281	Glendora Citrus Avenue and Foothill Boulevard	City of Industry Puente Hills Mall	Citrus Avenue, Cameron Avenue, Sunset Avenue, Gale Avenue
282	El Monte El Monte Bus Station	City of Industry Puente Hills Mall	10/605 Freeways, Valley Boulevard, Gale Avenue
284	Glendora Route 66 and Grand Avenue	West Covina Westfield Eastland	Foothill Boulevard, Lone Hill Avenue	Service operates Weekday and Weekend peak hours only
285	City of Industry Puente Hills Mall	La Habra Beach Boulevard and La Habra Boulevard	Hacienda Boulevard, Colima Road, Whitter Boulevard	Service operates Weekday and Weekend peak hours only.
286	Pomona Pomona Transcenter	Brea Brea Mall	Mission Boulevard, Diamond Bar Boulevard, 57 Freeway
289	City of Industry Puente Hills Mall	Pomona Cal Poly Pomona	Colima Road, La Puente Road	Service operates Weekday peak hours only.
291	La Verne Foothill Boulevard and White Avenue	Pomona Pomona Market Place	Garey Avenue
292	Pomona Pomona Transcenter	Claremont Claremont Transcenter	Towne Avenue, Foothill Boulevard, Baseline Road	Service operates during Weekday peak hours only.
480	West Covina Westfield West Covina	Montclair Montclair Transcenter	10 Freeway, Mission Boulevard, Indian Hill Boulevard
482	City of Industry Puente Hills Mall	Pomona Holt Avenue and Indian Hill Boulevard	Colima Road, Golden Springs Drive, Holt Avenue	Selected trips serve the Lanterman Developmental Center. Selected weekday trips serve Gateway Circle.
486	El Monte El Monte Bus Station	Pomona Cal Poly Pomona	Amar Road
488	El Monte El Monte Bus Station	Glendora Citrus College	Ramona Boulevard, Francisquito Avenue, Grand Avenue
492	El Monte El Monte Bus Station	Montclair Montclair Transcenter	Santa Anita Avenue, Arrow Highway, Bonita Avenue
494	El Monte El Monte Bus Station	San Dimas San Dimas Park and Ride	Peck Road, Myrtle Avenue, Huntington Drive, Foothill Boulevard	Service operates weekdays only in the peak direction.

Express Routes

Services operate weekdays only in the peak direction. Line 481 is subject to reduced service between December 24th and December 31st.

Route	Terminals		via	Notes
481	Koreatown Wilshire/Western Purple Line Station	El Monte El Monte Bus Station	Wilshire Boulevard, El Monte Busway
690	Pasadena Lake Gold Line Station	Montclair Montclair Transcenter	210 Freeway, Foothill Boulevard

Commuter Express Routes

Services operate weekdays only in the peak direction. Commuter Express Routes are subject to reduced service between December 24th and December 31st.

Route	Terminals		via	Notes
493	Downtown LA Figueroa Street and 9th Street	Diamond Bar Diamond Bar Park & Ride	El Monte Busway, 10 Freeway, 605 Freeway, 60 Freeway, Colima Road, Golden Springs Drive	Service may operate on Valley Boulevard to/from Puente Hills Mall if the 60 Freeway is congested.
497	Downtown LA Figueroa Street and 9th Street	Chino Hills Chino Park & Ride	El Monte Busway, 10 Freeway, 605 Freeway, 60 Freeway, 71 Expressway	Service may operate on Valley Boulevard to/from Grand Avenue if the 60 Freeway is congested.
498	Downtown LA Figueroa Street and 9th Street	Glendora Citrus College Park and Ride	El Monte Busway, 10 Freeway, Grand Avenue
499	Downtown LA Figueroa Street and 9th Street	San Dimas San Dimas Park and Ride	El Monte Busway, 10 Freeway, San Dimas Avenue
699	Downtown LA Figueroa Street and 9th Street	Montclair Montclair Transcenter	El Monte Busway, 10 Freeway

School Supplementary Routes

Services operate weekdays only. Schedules subject to change June 1st - September 1st & December 22nd - January 3rd for Lines 853, 854, and 855.

Route	Terminals		via	Notes
851	West Covina Westfield Eastland	Glendora Foothill Boulevard and Valley Center Avenue	Glendora Avenue
853	Diamond Bar Golden Springs Drive and Copley Drive	Diamond Bar Diamond Ranch High School	Golden Springs Avenue
854	Diamond Bar Golden Springs Drive and Copley Drive	Diamond Bar Diamond Ranch High School	Golden Springs Avenue, Diamond Bar Boulevard
855	Pomona Pomona Transcenter	Claremont Mountain Avenue and Harrison Avenue	Indian Hill Boulevard

Silver Streak

Main article: Silver Streak (bus)

Route	Terminals		via	Notes
Silver Streak	Downtown LA Grand Avenue/Olive Street and Olympic Boulevard	Montclair Montclair Transcenter	El Monte Busway, 10 Freeway	24-hour service.

Wireless Internet Access

On June 26, 2006, Foothill Transit installed wireless Internet hubs on six 1200-series Orion V buses (F1208, F1236, F1237, F1258, F1260, and F1262) that were exclusively assigned to Line 699. Downstream bandwidth of 300 kbit/s was available on each bus. The test program was discontinued and wi-fi service was installed on the Silver Streak until it was discontinued there in Late March 2009.

Fares

Fares as of July 1, 2010

Cash / TAP Card Fares

Fare Type	Regular	Senior / Disabled / Medicare
Base Local Fare:	$1.25	$0.50
1Silver Streak (Peak) / Line 481 / Line 690:	$2.75	$2.75
Silver Streak (Off-Peak):	$2.75	$1.35
2Commuter Express:	$4.90	$4.90
3Transfers:	$0.50	$0.25

Passes

Pass Type6	431-Day Pass	EZ Transit Pass
Adult Local:	$70.00	$84.00
Student Local:	$33.00	$84.00
Senior / Disabled / Medicare Local:	$22.00	$35.00
Silver Streak / Line 481 / Line 690:	$105.00	$150.00 (P3)
5Discount Silver Streak:	$52.00	$63.50 (P3)
Commuter Express:	$170.00	$194.00 (P5)

• ¹ Peak fares apply on non-holiday weekdays from 4-10am and from 2-8pm.
• ² Commuter Express fares apply to Lines 493, 497, 498, 499, and 699. Metrolink Tickets not accepted. Transfers are worth $1.25 toward the full fare.
• ³ Transfers can be purchased for $0.50 using cash or a TAP card with a cash purse loaded (a TAP card is required either way for Foothill-to-Foothill connections). The transfer is then loaded onto the TAP card and is good for up to two hours. The transfer on the TAP card can also be counted as base fare for any TAP enabled transit agency as well. Paper transfers may be requested for connections to agencies that do not use TAP. They can be counted as base fare for any transit agency to which Foothill Transit connects.
• ⁴ A 31-Day Pass' lifespan starts when the pass is first used, not at the beginning of the month, unless the pass was first used at the beginning of the month. For example, if the pass is bought on March 6, but first used on March 12, the expiration date of the pass is April 12 at midnight, 31 days after it was first used.
• ⁵ Discount Silver Streak passes can be purchased by students, seniors, the disabled, and Medicare card holders. If the pass is used during peak hours on the Silver Streak, Line 481, or Line 690, the difference must be paid in cash.
• ⁶ All Foothill Transit passes are now sold on TAP cards only.

Bus Fleet

Active

Year	Model	Length	Width	Numbers	Fleet	Picture	Fuel Type	Notes
2000	Gillig Advantage	40'	102"	F1100-F1176	77		Diesel	Run from the Irwindale Yard. Some Retired.
2002	Orion V	40'	102"	F1200-F1265	66		CNG	Suburban seating. Used almost exclusively on Lines 292, 493, 497, 498, 499, 699, 853, 854, and 855 during the weekday peak hours. Run from the Pomona Yard. Also used on various local lines when they are not needed on express services as well as Rose Bowl & Hollywood Bowl services.
2003	Orion V	40'	102"	F1300-F1350	51		CNG	Run from the Pomona Yard.
2004	NABI 40-LFW	40'	102"	F1400-F1474	75		CNG	F1400-F1447 run from the Pomona Yard. F1448-F1474 run from the Irwindale Yard.
2006	NABI 40-LFW	40'	102"	F1500-F1509	10		CNG	Run from the Irwindale Yard.
2007	NABI 60-BRT	60'	102"	F1600-F1629	30		CNG	These buses are used exclusively on the Silver Streak, except on weekends. Run from the Irwindale Yard.
2009	NABI 42-BRT	42'	102"	F1700-F1729	30		CNG	Suburban seating. Used on the Silver Streak on weekends. F1700-F1724 run from the Irwindale Yard. F1725-F1729 run from the Pomona Yard.
2010	NABI 42-BRT	42'	102"	F1800-F1811	12		CNG	Suburban seating. Used on the Silver Streak on weekends.
2010	Proterra BE35	35'	102"	F2001-F2003	3		Electric	Branded as "Ecoliners" by Foothill Transit, soon to enter service on Line 291. It is the world’s first heavy duty, fast charging electric bus

Because Foothill Transit retires most of their buses at the 12-year FTA minimum standard, many of their buses are sold off or leased to other authorities and operate for years afterwards. Notable lessees include Valley Metro (Phoenix), Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Arizona State University, Monterey-Salinas Transit, Gold Coast Transit, Glendale Beeline, Santa Cruz Metro, Benicia Breeze, and Amtrak California (operated by SFO Airporter).

External links

• Official website
• May 2006 Footnotes detailing Silver Streak service