Long Beach Transit Combines Shuttle Routes

By Hanna Chu, Press-Telegram, Long Beach, Calif.

Feb. 15–LONG BEACH — In an effort to improve travel for downtown Long Beach visitors, Long Beach Transit announced improvements to its routes that start Sunday.

The Pine Avenue Link route, which currently serves Pine Avenue, Shoreline Drive, Pine Avenue Circle and the Aquarium, will be combined with Passport C, which serves the Queen Mary.

The new combined route, which will be called Passport C, will provide more frequent service for riders, with only eight to 10 minutes between Passport shuttle arrivals at each stop, said spokeswoman Marcelle Epley.

“Now customers can ride one bus and see all of the Long Beach downtown area attractions,” Epley said.

The wait time before the changes was estimated at 15 to 24 minutes during peak hours and longer in the mornings.

Passport C’s service frequency will also increase on Fridays and Saturdays and it will run until 1 a.m.

The former Pine Avenue Link did not travel on Pine Avenue between Eighth and First streets after 10 p.m.

Long Beach Transit wanted to link bus service with parking structures so that visitors could use the structures and ride the bus to their destination for free, Epley said.

“We are making it easier for downtown visitors, residents and workers to get around downtown quickly without having to get in and out of their cars,” said Larry Jackson, president of Long Beach Transit, in a statement.

Three new stops will be added that are equipped with the TranSmart GPS bus tracking technology, which uses an LCD screen to tell riders how many minutes remain until the next bus will arrive.

Two of the stops are on Shoreline Drive at the Pike parking lot and the aquarium parking lot, and the third new stop will be at Fifth Street, in front of Wal-Mart.

All lines west of Alamitos Avenue remain free and the rest are 90 cents per ride, Epley said.

For information, call L.B. Transit at 562-591-2301 or visit www.lbtransit.com.

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