Parent | Long Beach Public Transportation Company |
---|---|
Founded | March 31, 1963 (60 years ago) |
Headquarters | 1963 East Anaheim Street |
Locale | Long Beach, Paramount, Signal Hill, Carson and Lakewood, CA |
Service type | Bus service, Watertaxi |
Routes | 38 fixed routes |
Fleet | 220 |
Daily ridership | 60,800 (weekdays, Q4 2023) [1] |
Annual ridership | 17,780,100 (2023) [2] |
Fuel type | Diesel, Gasoline-electric hybrid, CNG, battery electric |
Operator | Long Beach Public Transportation Company |
Website | ridelbt |
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 60,800 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.
Long Beach Transit receives its operating revenue from farebox receipts and state tax revenue distributed by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
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.
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]
In addition to regular service, Long Beach Transit operates two year-round water taxi services: the 49-passenger AquaBus, and the 75-passenger AquaLink [5] , 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 fourth quarter of 2023.
Route | Terminals | Via | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
AquaBus | Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific | Long Beach Queen Mary | Queensway Bay |
|
AquaLink | Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific | Long Beach Alamitos Bay Landing | Queensway Bay |
|
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. [6] 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. [7]
Route | Terminals | Via | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Passport [8] | Long Beach 10th St & Pine Av | Long Beach Queen Mary | Pine Av | |
1 [9] | Carson Cal State Dominguez Hills | Rancho Dominguez Del Amo station | Avalon Bl, Del Amo Bl |
|
2 [10] | Carson Cal State Dominguez Hills | Carson Figueroa St & Carriagedale Dr | Central Av, Avalon Bl |
|
4 [11] | Carson Carson St & Vermont Av | Rancho Dominguez Del Amo station | Carson Street | |
8 [12] | Carson 223rd St & Vermont Av | Long Beach Wardlow station | 223rd Street | |
21 [13] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Paramount Garfield Av & Petrol St | Cherry Av | |
22 [13] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Downey Lakewood Boulevard station | Cherry Av, Downey Av | |
23 [13] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Paramount Garfield Av & Rosecrans Av | Cherry Av, Paramount Bl | |
41 [14] | Long Beach Cal State Long Beach | Long Beach Wardlow station | Easy Av, Anaheim St |
|
45 [14] | Long Beach Cal State Long Beach | Long Beach Anaheim St & Santa Fe Av | Anaheim St |
|
46 [14] | Long Beach Cal State Long Beach | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Anaheim St |
|
51 [15] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Compton Artesia station | Long Beach Bl |
|
61 [16] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Compton Artesia station | Atlantic Av |
|
71 [17] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Downey Lakewood Bl & Century Bl | Alamitos Av, Orange Av |
|
91 [18] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Long Beach Alondra Bl & Woodruff Av | 7th St, Bellflower Bl |
|
92 [18] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Long Beach Woodruff Av & Alondra Bl | 7th St, Woodruff Av |
|
93 [18] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Long Beach Alondra Bl & Woodruff Av | 7th St, Clark Av |
|
94 [18] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Long Beach Bellflower Bl & Stearns St | 7th St |
|
101 [19] | Long Beach Santa Fe Av & 25th St | Hawaiian Gardens Carson St & Norwalk Bl | Willow St, Carson St |
|
102 [20] | Long Beach Santa Fe Av & 25th St | Hawaiian Gardens Carson St & Norwalk Bl | Willow St, Spring St, Wardlow Rd | |
103 [19] | Long Beach Santa Fe Av & 25th St | Lakewood Lakewood Center | Willow St, Carson St |
|
104 [20] | Long Beach Santa Fe Av & 25th St | Hawaiian Gardens Carson St & Norwalk Bl | Willow St, Spring St |
|
111 [21] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Lakewood South St & Downey Av | Broadway, Lakewood Bl |
|
112 [21] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Lakewood South St & Downey Av | Broadway, Clark Av |
|
121 [22] | Long Beach PCH & Clark Av | Long Beach Catalina Landing | Ocean Bl |
|
131 [23] | Long Beach Wardlow station | Long Beach Alamitos Bay | Redondo Av | |
141 [24] | Compton Artesia station | Cerritos Los Cerritos Center | Artesia Bl |
|
151 [25] | Long Beach Cesar E. Chavez Park | Long Beach 4th St & Ximeno Av | 4th St |
|
171 [26] | Long Beach Villages at Cabrillo | Seal Beach Electric Av & Main Av | Pacific Coast Hwy |
|
172 [27] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Norwalk Norwalk station | Pacific Coast Hwy, Palos Verde Av |
|
Cerritos Los Cerritos Center (weekdays) | ||||
173 [27] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Norwalk Norwalk station | Pacific Coast Hwy, Studebaker Rd |
|
174 [27] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Long Beach PCH & Ximeno Av | Pacific Coast Hwy |
|
175 [26] | Long Beach Villages at Cabrillo | Long Beach Cal State Long Beach | Pacific Coast Hwy |
|
181 [28] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Long Beach Wardlow station | Magnolia Av | |
182 [28] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Long Beach Wardlow station | Pacific Av |
|
191 [29] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Lakewood Bloomfield Av & Del Amo Bl | Santa Fe Av, Del Amo Bl |
|
192 [29] | Long Beach Downtown Long Beach station | Cerritos Los Cerritos Center | Santa Fe Av, South St |
|
405 Express [30] | Long Beach Long Beach Airport | Westwood UCLA | I-405 |
|
Galaxy Express [31] | Gardena Harbor Gateway Transit Center | Carson Dignity Health Sports Park | Victoria St |
|
Rancho Dominguez Del Amo station | Del Amo Bl |
As of 2024, 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 and BYD K9M buses, [32] as well as the relatively new New Flyer XE35.
Long Beach Transit has had several major firsts. It was the first agency to:
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:
Most buses are stored at the headquarters on Anaheim Street. The articulated buses are stored at the Jackson Transit Center bus depot in Long Beach, CA. Both bus depots are located on Cherry Avenue.
Make/Model | Fleet Numbers | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Gillig BRT CNG 40' | 1201 | 2011 |
|
Gillig BRT CNG 40' | 1202–1233 | 2012 | |
Gillig BRT CNG 40' | 1301–1331 | 2012 | |
New Flyer XN60 | 1501–1513 | 2015 | |
Gillig BRT CNG 40' | 1521–1528 | 2015 | |
BYD K9 | 1601–1610 | 2016 |
|
New Flyer XN40 | 1801–1840 | 2017–2018 | |
Prevost H3-45 | 2000 | 2000 |
|
New Flyer GE40LF | 2401-2427 | 2005 |
|
New Flyer GE40LF | 2501-2520 | 2005 | |
New Flyer GE40LF | 2521-2522 | 2005 |
|
New Flyer GE40LF | 2701-2715 | 2007 | |
New Flyer GE40LFA | 2901-2925 | 2008–2009 | |
BYD K9M | 16011-16024 | 2021 | |
New Flyer XE35 | 16025–16044 | 2022 |
Five (5) BYD C10M coaches and their associated charging infrastructure are on order and expected to be delivered in Q1 2024. These will provide service on LBT's 405 Commuter Express Route to UCLA.
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