Long Beach Transit
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![]() Long Beach Transit New Flyer GE40LFA | |
Parent | Long Beach Public Transportation Company |
---|---|
Founded | 1963 |
Headquarters | 1963 East Anaheim Street |
Locale | Long Beach, Paramount, Signal Hill, Carson and Lakewood, CA |
Service type | Bus service, Watertaxi |
Routes | 39 fixed routes |
Fleet | 220 |
Daily ridership | 53,400 (weekdays, Q1 2024)[1] |
Annual ridership | 17,780,100 (2023)[2] |
Fuel type | Diesel, Gasoline-electric hybrid, CNG |
Operator | Long Beach Public Transportation Company |
Website | lbtransit |
Long Beach Transit (LBT) is a municipal transit company providing fixed and flexible bus transit services in Long Beach, California, United States, in other communities in south and southeast Los Angeles County, and northwestern Orange County. Long Beach Transit also operates the Passport shuttle, Aquabus, and Aqualink. The service, while operated on behalf of the City of Long Beach, is not operated directly by the city (such as is done with the bus service operated by the City of Santa Monica), but by a separate nonprofit corporation, the Long Beach Public Transportation Company, operated for that purpose. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 17,780,100, or about 53,400 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Long Beach Transit receives its operating revenue from farebox receipts and state tax revenue distributed by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
History
Long Beach Transit began operation in 1963 with the acquisition of Long Beach City Lines and Long Beach Motor Bus Company from National City Lines. The primary service area of Long Beach Transit has been the city of Long Beach and to a limited extent the enclave city of Signal Hill, but it has also provided service to surrounding communities in Los Angeles County, including Lakewood, Cerritos, Norwalk, and Seal Beach in neighboring Orange County.
The company has operated various types of bus services. During the 1970s and 1980s, it also ran small shuttle buses in the downtown area, called DASH (for Downtown Area Short Hops), and because the routes were shorter, the fare was lower than on the regular buses.
Transfers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Long_Beach_Transit_2007_New_Flyer_GE40LF_-2709_%2818151398732%29.jpg/220px-Long_Beach_Transit_2007_New_Flyer_GE40LF_-2709_%2818151398732%29.jpg)
Originally, bus transfers could be obtained upon payment of $0.05 for local transfers, and $0.10 for "interagency transfers", which allow transfer to another bus line without additional payment (except for express service). Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, instead of using a common transfer with the route number punched on the transfer, each route had its own transfer with the route number printed on them. For transfers to other bus lines, Long Beach Transit used the consolidated Los Angeles County interagency transfer, which every bus company in Los Angeles County except RTD (now Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority) and Orange County Transit District (now Orange County Transportation Authority) used (both RTD and OCTD regular transfers worked for both their own buses and as an interagency transfer). The consolidated interagency transfer used by all the other transit agencies even had a check box naming the twelve bus companies in the county, and the driver would punch the box for the particular agency that issued the transfer.[3] During the mid-1970s (sometime between 1972 and 1976), for a period of six months, a special subsidy was available. All bus trips in Los Angeles County were reduced from approximately $0.80 to $1.25, to $0.25 on weekdays and Saturdays, and $0.10 on Sunday (bus trips outside the county were subject to the regular rate). As a result, the issuance of transfers was discontinued for all trips within Los Angeles County. When the subsidy ended, the old price returned and bus companies resumed issuing transfers.[3]
In the early 1980s, the company changed its transfer system. Instead of using books of transfers, every bus has a ticket printer, which issues the three types of transfers: regular transfers, which allow the user to transfer to a different route; "emergency" transfers (typically used if the customer becomes sick and has to get off the bus), which allow the user to get back on the same route; and interagency transfers, which allow the user to transfer to a different bus company (and gave the user an additional 1 hour of time before it expires), such as Orange County Transit, RTD (now LA Metro), Norwalk Transit and Cerritos Transit (now Cerritos on Wheels) buses. In case of machine failure, however, operators would still carry one book of each kind of transfers.[3]
Effective in 1999, Long Beach Transit instituted a day pass, and on July 1, 2005, it eliminated transfers within the system, although the interagency transfer is available for transfers to other transit systems.[4]
Water taxis
In addition to regular service, Long Beach Transit operates two year-round water taxi services: the 49-passenger AquaBus, and the 75-passenger AquaLink, which connects the major attractions of Downtown Long Beach, including the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach Cruise Terminal, and the RMS Queen Mary hotel. In 2023, the two water routes had a ridership of 62,200, or about 0 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
AquaBus
The 49-passenger AquaBus has six "ports of call": Dock 4 of the Aquarium of the Pacific, Queen Mary, Shoreline Village at Larry H. Parker's Lighthouse, Catalina Landing, Dock 7 of Pine Avenue Circle, and Hotel Maya. The fare is $1.
AquaLink
The AquaLink is a 68-foot catamaran that ferries up to 75 passengers to the most popular attractions in Long Beach Harbor and on to Alamitos Bay Landing. The fare is $5, and wheelchair boarding is available at Dock 4 near the Aquarium of the Pacific and at the Queen Mary.
Regular service
History
Originally, Long Beach Transit operated its bus lines as a consecutive set of route numbers, from 1 to 18. The numbers had no significance except that route 1 ran along State Route 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. (This is the same number currently used by the Orange County Transit Authority for its route that runs on Route 1.) Some routes had more than one routing; for example, the number 9 route ran from Downtown along 7th Street to California State University, Long Beach. All of the route 9 buses would continue along Bellflower Boulevard, whereupon one would terminate at Bellflower and Stearns Street; one would turn at Willow Street and continue along Woodruff Avenue; another would continue on Bellflower all the way to Alondra Boulevard; and another would also continue to Alondra but take a slight detour to the Lakewood Center shopping mall.
Possibly due to the successful renumbering which RTD had done in 1983, Long Beach Transit also decided to renumber its routes. In the mid-1980s, the company changed some of its route numbers, keeping the original 1- or 2-digit number and adding a single digit after the number. This was done to routes which split and serviced multiple streets and destinations. The route 9, as indicated above, was renumbered into routes 91, 92, 93, and 94, based on the street and destination while routes that only served one street and destination remained the same with their original 1 or 2 digit route number, example Line 1 which still remains. Additional routes have since been added, generally using the same system. For example, if a route extends part of an existing route, it takes the first one (or two) digits of the major route number, then adds a new additional digit on the end. This is why there is now a route 96, which did not exist at the time of the original route 9.[3]
On August 16, 2021, Long Beach Transit announced they would be extending their services to Carson with three new routes. They are set to launch on September 19, 2021.[5] At the moment, Long Beach Transit is focusing on the middle tier, which would connect riders to major destinations in and around the city, including Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, Carson High School, Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School, CSUDH, Metro A Line Wardlow and Del Amo stations, Carson Community Center/City Hall, and SouthBay Pavilion.[6]
Current routes
Route # | Description | Terminus | Major street(s) | Days of operation | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Del Amo-CSUDH | CSUDH | Del Amo station | Avalon Bl, Del Amo Bl | daily |
2 | Carson-CSUDH-Southwest Carson | Sepulveda Bl/Figueroa St | Central Av, Avalon Bl | Monday-Saturday | |
4 | Carson-Harbor UCLA-Del Amo Station | Carson St/Vermont Av | Del Amo station | Carson Street | |
8 | Carson-Wardlow-Harbor UCLA | 223rd St/Vermont Av | Wardlow station | 223rd Street | |
21 | Cherry | Garfield Av/Rosecrans Av | Downtown Long Beach station | Cherry Av | daily |
22 | Cherry | Lakewood Boulevard station | |||
23 | Cherry | Garfield Av/Petrol St | |||
Passport (37) |
Pine Av-Queen Mary Free Service |
10th St/Pine Av | Queen Mary | Pine Av | daily |
41 | Anaheim St./to PCH | CSULB | Wardlow station | Easy Av, Harbor Av, Anaheim St | daily |
45 | Anaheim St./to PCH | Santa Fe Av/Cowles St | Pacific Coast Hwy/Anaheim St | Anaheim St | |
46 | Anaheim St./to PCH | Downtown Long Beach | |||
51 | Long Beach Bl | Artesia station | Long Beach Bl | ||
61 | Atlantic/Artesia Station | Atlantic Av | daily | ||
71 | Alamitos-Orange | Rosecrans Av/Lakewood Bl | Alamitos Av, Orange Av | ||
81 | 10th St/CSULB | Downtown Long Beach | CSULB | 10th St, 7th St | weekdays |
91 | 7th St/Bellflower Bl | Woodruff Av/Alondra Bl | 7th St | daily | |
92 | 7th St/Woodruff Av | weekdays | |||
93 | 7th St/Clark Av | ||||
94 | 7th St | Los Altos Market Center | daily | ||
96 ZAP | 7th St ZAP | 6th St or 7th St/Long Beach Bl | CSULB | weekdays during Fall and Spring Semesters | |
101 | Carson St | Santa Fe Av/25th St | Carson St/Norwalk Bl | Willow St | daily |
102 | Willow St/Spring St | weekdays | |||
103 | Lakewood Mall | Lakewood Center | daily | ||
104 | Spring via El Dorado Park | Carson St/Norwalk Bl | |||
111 | Broadway/Lakewood Bl, Long Beach Airport | Downtown Long Beach | South St/Downey Av | Broadway | daily |
112 | Broadway/Clark Av | ||||
121 | Ocean Bl/CSULB | PCH/Clark Av | Catalina Express Landing | Ocean Bl | |
131 | Redondo | Wardlow station | Seal Beach (Electric Av/Main Av) | Redondo Av | |
141[7] | Artesia Bl | Artesia station | Los Cerritos Center | Artesia Bl | |
151 | 4th St | Cesar E. ChAvz Park | Colorado Lagoon | 4th St | |
171 | PCH | Villages at Cabrillo (Pacific Coast Hwy/Santa Fe Av) |
Seal Beach (Electric Av/Main Av) | Pacific Coast Hwy | daily |
172 | PCH/Palo Verde Av | Downtown Long Beach | Norwalk station Los Cerritos Center (172, M-F) | ||
173 | PCH/Studebaker Rd | ||||
174 | PCH to Ximeno | Ximeno Av/Pacific Coast Hwy | |||
175 | PCH to CSULB Only | Villages at Cabrillo | CSULB | weekdays | |
181 | Magnolia | Downtown Long Beach | Wardlow station | Magnolia Av | daily |
182 | Pacific | Pacific Av | |||
191 | Santa Fe Av/Del Amo Bl | Bloomfield Av/Del Amo Bl | Santa Fe Av, Magnolia Av | ||
192 | Santa Fe Av/South St | Los Cerritos Center | |||
405 | UCLA/Westwood Commuter Express (formerly Route 510) | Long Beach Airport | UCLA Gateway Plaza | Interstate 405 | weekdays |
Decommissioned routes
Route | Termini | Major street(s) | Fate | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Artesia Station | Long Beach Boulevard | Replaced with Routes 51, 52 | |
7
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Rosecrans Avenue | Orange Avenue
Alamitos Avenue |
Replaced with Routes 71, 72 (Route 72 decommissioned in 2019) | |
23
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Carson Street | Cherry Avenue | decommissioned; revived in 2020 as a new route | |
52
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Artesia Station | Long Beach Boulevard
Victoria Street |
decommissioned | Deviated from route 51 via Victoria St and Santa Fe Ave in North Long Beach |
62
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Alondra Boulevard | Atlantic Avenue | decommissioned | Ran alongside 61, & 63 until Artesia Blvd which then solo to Alondra Blvd |
63
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Artesia Boulevard | Atlantic Avenue | decommissioned | Served northbound during peak hours only |
66 ZAP
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Artesia Station | Atlantic Avenue | decommissioned |
Ran alongside Route 61, Partially 62, & 63 |
72
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Rosecrans Avenue | Orange Avenue
Alamitos Avenue Hunsaker Avenue |
decommissioned | Deviated from route 71 via Artesia Blvd, Atlanta Ave, Hunsaker Ave, and Alondra Blvd in Paramount |
176 ZAP
|
Villages at Cabrillo | LBCC Liberal Arts Campus | Pacific Coast Highway
Lakewood Boulevard |
decommissioned | Ran alongside 170s on PCH, and 111 on Lakewood Blvd |
193
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Del Amo Station | Santa Fe Avenue | decommissioned | Possibly decommissioned in favor of Route 1 due to its current route (see above) |
194
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Del Amo Station | Santa Fe Avenue
Hughes Way |
decommissioned | Possibly decommissioned in favor of Route 1 due to its current route (see above) |
Passport A
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Seal Beach | Ocean Boulevard
2nd Street |
Partially absorbed into Route 121, remaining portion absorbed into Route 131. | Free Service |
Passport B
|
Cesar Chavez Park(West)
Long Beach Transit Mall(East) |
Long Beach Transit Mall(West)
Colorado Logoon(East) |
4th Street(All Lines) | Replaced with Route 151 | Free Service
Only Route in the LBT to be split, rather than one |
Passport C
|
Downtown Long Beach | Queen Mary | Pine Avenue | Absorbed into Current Passport Route | Free Service |
Passport D
|
Long Beach Transit Mall | Traffic Circle
Atherton and Outer Circle |
Ocean Boulevard
2nd Street Bellflower Boulevard |
Replaced with Route 121 | Free Service |
Pine Avenue Link
|
Downtown Long Beach | Aquarium of the Pacific | Pine Avenue | Absorbed into Passport C, which in turn was absorbed into current Passport route | Free Service |
Fleet
As of 2018, Long Beach Transit's fleet is composed of mostly New Flyer buses, which are the GE40LF, GE40LFA, XN40, and XN60 models. It also has a large number of Gillig BRT+ models, a decreasing number of New Flyer D40LF models, and one Prévost coach used for charters. It also uses the battery-powered BYD K9 buses,[8] which are mainly used for the Passport zero-fare service.
Long Beach Transit has had several major firsts. It was the first agency to:
- Operate the General Motors RTS bus in the late 1970s, in addition to other variants
- Operate the first gasoline-electric buses in the world
- Use the first Gillig bus powered by CNG
The buses have four-digit numbers, of which the first two digits represent the year the bus was put into service. Buses numbered 90## (the ## representing number in fleet) entered service in the 1990s, 20## - 29## entered service in the 2000s, and 12## - 18## entered service in the 2010s.
Long Beach Transit buses are operated out of 2 yards:
- Headquarters
- Jackson Transit Center
Most buses are stored at the headquarters on Anaheim Street. The articulated buses are stored at the Jackson Transit Center bus depot in Paramount, CA. Both bus depots are located on Cherry Avenue.
Active fleet
Year entered service | Manufacturer | Model | Fuel type | Length (ft / metres) | Vehicle numbers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | Prevost | H3-45 | diesel | 45 (13.7 m) | 2000 | Used for charters only |
2002 | New Flyer | D40LF | diesel | 40 (12.2 m) | 2201-2239 | 2229 & 2237 are retired.
14 units are active and 12 are in the reserve fleet |
2005 | New Flyer | GE40LF | gasoline, electricity | 40 (12.2 m) | 2401-2427 | First gas-electric buses in the world to enter public service
2401 retired following an accident |
2005 | 2501-2522 | 2521 and 2522 were originally from OCTA | ||||
2007 | 2701-2715 | |||||
2008-09 | GE40LFA | 42 (12.8 m) | 2901-2925 | The only LFA buses to use gasoline
First buses to feature current red/orange livery | ||
2012 | Gillig | BRT+ | CNG | 42 (12.8 m) | 1201–1233 | 1201 is a 2011 demo unit and was Gillig's first CNG-powered bus |
2012 | 1301–1331 | |||||
2015 | 1521–1528 | |||||
2015 | New Flyer | XN60 | CNG | 60 (18.3 m) | 1501–1513 | |
2016 | BYD | K9 | electricity | 39 (11.9 m) | 1601–1610 | First electric buses in fleet |
2017–18 | New Flyer | XN40 | CNG | 40 (12.2 m) | 1801–1840 | Includes options for 89 buses until 2021.[1] |
2021 | BYD | K9 | electricity | 39 (11.9 m) | 16001-16016 |
Retired fleet
Year | Manufacturer | Model | Fleet numbers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | OBI | Orion II (02.501) |
101-110 | Used on AquaLink & The Passport. |
1992 | OBI | Orion II (02.501) |
111-115 |
|
1996 | OBI | Orion II CNG (02.501) |
116-120 | Used on AquaLink & The Passport. |
1992 | OBI | Orion II (02.501) |
121-124 |
|
1998 | OBI | Orion II (02.501) |
125-128 | Used on AquaLink & The Passport. |
1990 | OBI | Orion II (02.501) |
129-130 |
|
1973 | GMC | TDH-3302A | 144-147 | |
2000 | NFI | D40LF | 2001–2018 |
|
2001 | Chance | Opus | 2101-2130 | Used on Passport routes (A to D) until August 26, 2012.[9] |
2002 | NFI | D60LF | 2301-2313 |
|
1979 | GMC | RTS-03 (T7H-603) |
3501-3525 | 3508, 3507, 3524, 3522, 3520 & 3518 to Kitsap Transit 824-829. |
1965 | GMC | SDM-4502 | 4101 | |
1975 | GMC | T6H-4523A | 4201-4215 | |
1981 | GMC | RTS-04 (T8J-604) |
4401-4451 | |
1983 | GMC | RTS-04 (T8J-604) |
4452-4476 | 1984 models. |
1985 | GMC | RTS-04 (T8J-604) |
4477 | |
1987 | GMC | RTS-06 (T8J-606) |
4478-4491 | 1986 models. |
1965 | GMC | SDM-4502 | 4500 | |
1963 | GMC | TDH-4519 | 4516-4530 | |
1965 | GMC | TDH-4519 | 4531-4556 |
|
1966 | GMC | TDH-4519 | 4557-4561 | |
1968 | GMC | T6H-4521 | 4562-4576 | 4565 & 4574 to CyRide 869 & 872. |
1969 | GMC | T6H-4521A | 4577-4581 | |
1970 | GMC | T6H-4521A | 4582-4601 | |
1972 | GMC | T6H-4523A | 4602-4606 | |
1977 | GMC | RTS-01 (TH-8201) |
4701-4715 | First production RTS buses to be manufactured. |
1979 | GMC | RTS-03 (T8H-203) |
4716-4725 | |
1963 | GMC | TDH-5303 | 5101-5110 | 5110 to CyRide 884.
|
1964 | GMC | TDH-5303 | 5111-5125 | |
1967 | GMC | TDH-5303 | 5126-5130 | |
1989 | TMC | RTS-06 (T80-606) |
8901-8917 | Retired in 2004–05. |
1989 | TMC | RTS-06 (T80-206) |
8918-8927 | 8918-8925 were originally numbered 8951–8958. Retired in 2004–05. |
1991 | TMC | RTS-06 (T80-606) |
9001-9026 | 1990 models. Retired in 2004–05. |
1992 | TMC | RTS-08 (T80-608) |
9201-9220 | Retired in 2004–05. |
1993 | TMC | RTS-08 (T80-608) |
9301-9320 | Retired in 2004–05. |
1995 | NFI | D40LF | 9401-9420 | Retired in 2009. |
1996 | NFI | D40LF | 9601-9625 | Retired in January 2013. |
1997 | NFI | D40LF | 9701-9720 |
|
1998 | NFI | D40LF | 9801-9816 |
|
References
- ^ "Transit Ridership Report First Quarter 2024" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. May 23, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Remembering RTD and the "good old days" of cheap LA area public transit Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine, paul-robinson.us, January 9, 2012
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Carson Service | ridelbt.com Long Beach Transit".
- ^ "City of Carson City Council Meeting, July 20, 2021". City of Carson. July 20, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
- ^ "Summer 2022 Service Changes Summary | City of Torrance".
- ^ Branson-Potts, Hailey (27 April 2015). "Long Beach Transit agrees to purchase electric buses". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
- ^ Effective August 26, 2012, Long Beach Transit is making a few key changes to your service., Long Beach Transit. Retrieved on 27 August 2012.
- ^ www.facebook.com & www.facebook.com
Further reading
- Simon, Renee B. (2013). Long Beach Transit: 50 Years of Moving our Community Forward. Long Beach: Long Beach Transit. ISBN 978-0-615-76667-6. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
External links
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