The MOST UNRELIABLE bus company! Big Blue Buses DON'T SHOW…read moreUP half the time. Completely Undependable. Unprofessional. Sometimes the bus arrives 5 minutes early. The driver glances over, then steps on the gas and leaves. You walk to the bus stop ON TIME, they drive by & leave without you. If you are taking the last bus of the night, beware. The last bus DOESN'T SHOW UP and you are stranded there. The "Rapid 7" is the SLOWEST ride ever, drifting down Pico 10 miles an hour. Stopping for 5 minute breaks, pulling over & waiting for periods because the driver says "she's early." If you transfer to another bus, you'll miss it. PLAN ON BEING LATE FOR WORK. Big Blue Bus - SOMETIMES WE SHOW UP, SOMETIMES WE DON'T. But we expect you to pay us a fare.

Big Blue Bus is the Santa Monica municipal bus operator. They have many routes serving…read moreneighborhoods in West LA in addition to their local service in Santa Monica. Route 3 runs from Los Angeles International Airport to Santa Monica. I had a couple 8 hour layovers in LA to and from Australia, so I used that time to visit some areas that I haven't been to in the LA area. To catch this bus, you need to get to the LAX Transit Center. To get there from LAX, catch the free LAX Lot C shuttle bus on the arrivals level of the terminal you arrive at. If you see this bus on the departures level, they won't let you on. You have to catch the bus downstairs. The LAX Lot C bus drops you off across the street from the LAX Transit Center in which you can catch the 3. There are actually two versions of the 3. The Rapid 3 and the local 3. Both cost $1.25 to ride, but the rapid is faster as it skips some stops. While I had been told that traffic was bad in LA and that I should use Uber to get around, I found taking the 3 was pretty good except during rush hour traffic. Even then, traffic was slow but not at a standstill. I made it back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. For the return trip to the airport, follow the sign leading you to the shuttle back to LAX. It is located in the adjoining parking lot. I spent most of my layovers in LA in Marina del Rey which is a good spot. It is not too far away from LAX and there are plenty of places there to eat and drink. I wanted to check out Venice Beach, but the stops on the route are a bit of a distance away from the beach so it require some walking or a bus transfer. Ridership on this bus seems to be a mix of people who work at or near LAX, tourists and commuters. There were some characters on the bus, but typical of a big city like LA. Most people were just looking at their phones while riding. If you have a long layover at LAX, I would recommend checking out nearby neighborhoods like Marina del Rey and Venice. This bus is a good option to getting to those areas, but make sure you give yourself sufficient time to get back. Otherwise, I would opt for Uber for the return trip.

I came from the metropolitan city of New York so I am familiar with public transportation. When I…read morecame to LA, I was not expecting to take any kind of public transportation so when I found out the Big Blue bus in LA, I just had to try it out. To my amazement, it was cheap ($1.75), clean and efficient! I took this from Santa Monica and I was in Beverly Hills in no time!! This was a huge difference from the NY MTA buses even though the exterior looks exactly the same. The seats inside were colorful and the floors weren't sticky. It was well taken care of.

If there's anything I hate more than waiting in line, it's waiting for the bus, so I don't take the…read morebus that often. But when I do, I make sure to hop on the 704, which is pretty much the only bus I will take without hesitating. Since the 704 is a long and new bus, it's air-conditioned. Since it's August and 80-something degrees outside, the seats in my car get hot and I break into a sweat just opening the car door (just kidding, girls don't sweat) and I don't like that, so I take the air-conditioned 704, which is a comfortable temperature both at the time I get on and at the time I get off. And the 704 comes pretty often so I don't have to wait and wait and wait some more. Sometimes, an old lady might offer you a nickel and then a dime and then a dollar and when you don't accept she might get really upset. Watch out for the crazies. The trick to having a comfortable bus-ride is to have a really great don't-sit-next-to-me face, but if you're cute (like I am) it doesn't always work.

Bus drove right past me despite me visibly waiting there and i know it was the right bus at the…read moreright stop because i have done it before. Pick up and drop off is not very good

I currently work in the IBC - Irvine Business Center. That's the part of Irvine that's near John…read moreWayne Airport. The poor neglected middle child of Irvine. What do you mean Robert? You're near the friggin' airport! True, but the Spectrum area gets all the attention. They have the train station, they have the cool shopping area. Sure, we're close to south coast, and we have all those nifty protected right turns here, but public transportation from outside of Irvine kind of sucks for those of us that work or are starting to live here. Plus, we don't have things like those Grade 1 bike trails that are available to the spectrumites (i.e. San Diego Creek). Not no more. Irvine recently got fundage from OCTA to start this nifty little shuttle service that runs on 3 routes: the A - Route going from Tustin Metrolink to John Wayne the B - Route going from Tustin Metrolink to Jamboree/Michelson (Pacific Park Shopping Center) the C - Route which runs around the heart of the IBC in a circle like a 5 year old manchild on a couple of pixie sticks. So, it doesn't go EVERYwhere, but it can get you close enough to where you're going if you're a commuter (like moi) who's trying to drive less. Since it's a new service, everything is... well, new. The shuttles are nice and clean. They look like those "special" school buses, the type that almost look like they would do well in a "Mad Max" futuristic world with spikes and what not. I think the Bike Rack at the front really helps with that image. Oh yeah, they have bike racks, so you can pedal your way from your stop to your work/play area if you so desire. Really useful for those that pedal their way to Metrolink too. All in all, I like it. Right now, rides are free until Sept 1st 2008. Afterwards, the fee to ride breaks down like this: $1.00 Boarding During Peak Period (5:30a - 9:30a and 3:30p - 7:30p on Weekdays) $.50 Boarding During Off-Peak Period (9:30a - 3:30p Weekdays & All Day Saturday and Sunday) FREE Riders Presenting Valid Metrolink Pass/ Ticket for Rider Connecting to and from Tustin Metrolink Station Only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars? Limited run times (along with the limited train service Metrolink provides). I'd like to see more service (but that also goes with my want to see more trains). However, for a start, it's not bad =)

I would take this bus just about EVERYDAY from Washington and Fairfax all the way up to the…read moreGlendale galleria, basically around the corner from where I previously worked. It's a Metro Rapid line, so there are less stops for a somewhat quicker ride. The 780 would arrive on time and the driver was usually personable. Because this stop is a bus transit HUB, our group of passengers are the first on the bus - a definite advantage to strategically find a comfortable seat. The bus travels North up Fairfax Ave. and hooks a right on Hollywood blvd. Basically every morning and evening I'd get a little Hollywood / LA Tour. It passes the 10 Fwy, Canter's Deli, the Grove, TCL Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Highland Center, Pantages Theatre, The W., House Of Pies, Griffith Park, Los Feliz, Bigfoot's Lodge, Glendale Galleria, the Americana at Brand, The Oinkster (Eagle Rock), rides along the 210 Fwy, Paseo Pasadena.. To top it off it crosses the infamous Colorado 'Suicide' Street Bridge far East from Eagle rock going into Pasadena. It's a wonderful sight from the bus because its raised higher than other vehicles, so you can see a little beyond the railing giving you a beautiful view of what the San Gabriel Valley has to offer. Fair warning: there are moments where it gets ridiculously crowded on this bus. It's because it goes right through highly congested traffic arteries most LA natives know to avoid if they're going to drive themselves (Fairfax Ave, Hollywood Blvd, Vermont Blvd, Los Feliz Blvd and Colorado Blvd). It's a route a normal Angelino would NOT drive. But because you're not driving and you're the passenger, it truly is like a mini tour where you can take in the greater Los Angeles area without the hassle of being behind the wheel.

Great Inexpensive and Convenient way to Travel Los Angeles…read more I'm a LA NATIVE and proud of it, I guess.... =) and never really rode the Bus or the Public transportation system after High school. During high school I rode it allot although after that I stopped and got spoiled with driving so much all around LA, North side, east side and West Side, and really forgot about the Public Trans systems. The Buses are Clean and I felt Safe, not like back in the days... in the late 1990s.... Theirs plenty of space and connecting buses to get all around our Beautiful City we call home... I think we all Take For Granted the great things in front us, once in a while.

I rode the BUS for the 2nd time in the past 3 decades in Los Angeles. On this occasion it was the…read moreLADOT Commuter Express from Westlake Village to Broadway and Temple (Downtown Los Angeles). We hopped aboard at 5PM and arrived through HEAVY CRAZY traffic a bit after 7PM as scheduled!? One adult rides for $3 ... WoW. However it stopped all over the place on the way in in spite of it being a Commuter Express. Compared to driving your own car it is slow - but it is a convenient alternative if you're not driving. On this occasion we thought to try it as Friday traffic was bad and I was meeting someone who was already in downtown / thus we wanted to avoid having two cars to drive back. I found the web site for LADOT to be rather incredible. You get live positions and updated ETA on all their busses. The equipment / the bus itself was pretty nice - free of smells or wear and tear which you might see on other busses. The home page cites how they are experimenting with free wifi on some of their busses - however ours' did not have it. The driver was a young man who was observed as exceptionally courteous to us and other patrons. I was really impresed by observing him! However - I have to drop two stars because it was an EXHAUSTING experience riding on the bus. I don't know if that is fair - but it is how I feel about it. If not for the great positives - the equipment + superb driver + tech of the home page I'd have given this one star - I don't like long slow public transportation. I shudder to think how long a regular bus would take to transit the 40-50 miles into downtown LA from my area? I just decided to add a star to 4 - because the service on balance and as a whole was really exceptional. Superior by far over the other busses I've taken in other countries - cities and most certainly compared to the ONE other time I had taken a bus in the Los Angeles area 7or 8 years ago. They've really done a rather fine job with this route and this type of service.

LADOT, it is really good service, I use it in morning to my job at ucla , really fast service, BUT…read more!!!! The only problem is when I get off at 7 pm , I don't have time to run from ucla medical center to the bus stop , it is very inconvenient since is the last bus, please whoever from ladot managers if the service can be at least 15 minutes after 7 pm, or until 8 pm, since the nurses get off at 0730.it would be nice , many workers going to The Valley can use the service, more money for the company, and better service to the community it is a big inconvenience, when when we have car problems, hard to get to the west of valley. 761 bus takes almost 2 hours to some parts of valley. Thanks on behalf of all costumers needing the service.it will be appreciated extended service at least until 8 pm . When I had the chance to use 573 bus from ucla to The Valley it's very empty. Still give 5 stars. Adios

Thank goodness every time I take the Metro Rail A blue line here, I've never had any major issues…read more At peak times there always tends to be security or a police officer around so it's safer. It's convenient to stop at this station to and from the Kings hockey games as it's a short 5 minute walk to Crypto Arena. It's usually pretty clean. Be careful when you are crossing the tracks to look make sure you don't get hit by the train. The train attendant that dropped us off here was very courteous in letting us cross before leaving. Will definitely use this stop over and over.

Great stop if you go to the LA's Convention Center. It is on the Blue Line, it goes outdoors. For…read morethe convention center, you just cross, very easy to spot. I change at 7th street/Metro (coming from the Red Line) just for one stop. Convenient, you don't even need to tap again. Could this stop be cleaner ? For sure! I could use more security as well and better seating. Trains are usually nicer, cleaner, newer on this line!

The Douglas Station is where I exit the Metro Green Line to go to work. This station is more arty…read morethan the only other station I can compare it to that I've been which is the Norwalk station. There are artists renditions of spacecraft attached to the outside which catch your eye as you approach from the street. You'll also find words of wisdom pressed into the risers of the cement stairs as you walk up to the platform - take the escalator and you'll miss them. The two downsides to this station are 1) there is not much parking here and 2) the only connection you can make here is to the 125 Metro bus line.

On our way to LA for the Laker game with Marisa L, here's how we did…read more.. This stop is really quick. They open the doors and then close them within 30 seconds. Not to many people on the train on a tuesday around 2:00pm. It looked like there was interesting seating at this station. I guess when you're in El Segundo you get better seating than some of the ghetto train stations. Read some of my other reviews for the Super-Ghet, try to avoid trains. Overall a decent stop, but only spent 30 seconds here so not much input. Will I again? No! I will never take the Green Line to the Blue Line, ever ever again

An older station but the plaza surrounding the station is big and spacious but they could potential…read morereuse or convert some of it to business and housing to generate revenue. It's next to a big hospital so it's prob convenient for people that need to go see the doctors if they are off the red line. Pretty clean for an older station

A skip away from Hollywood Presbyterian, Children's Hospital and some many cafes, cuisines, shops…read moreand Los Angeles staples the Vermont/Sunset Red Line Station is usually a stop favorite when riding the local LA Metro for a day of going green on my two feet in my sneaks. The layout of the stop is unique like many others with bright lights and wide open space and designs reflecting the immediate area above with chrome beams, pillars, glass and constellation wall art. Lots of lush greenery as you make your way up or down for a return trip. One of the more upkept stations with easy to read maps of connecting services as well as caddy corner to a lot of surface city buses and connecting surfaces. I've been able to enjoy shows and events at the EL Cid, strut on down to Akbar, grab eats at Green Leaves and My Vegan Gold (a super favorite), get a check up at the hospital, hit up the local Vons as well as Bestie's (a plant-based health food and snack store) and even wait in line Vista Theater. Parking in the area is definitely a mission at times, but if you're going out for a day or night of EaHo/East Hollywood/Silver Lake/Los Feliz/Little Armenia excitement and a drink or more is on the to do list then absolutely put you faith in your walk and in your ride via the LA Red Line station of Vermont Avenue & Sunset Blvd