Getting Around

By Delores Hanney

Always flush with imaginative ideas and the cash to fund them, Abbot Kinney – the milieu-maker of Venice, California – liked to do things with a flair. One of the most winning notions he brought into being, for his Italian-inspired settlement by the sea, was a pair of miniature trains. They were here from the very beginning in 1905, chugging over arching concrete bridges that spanned the canalways while circumnavigating the town site with frequent regularity. Initially they were tasked as the mode of transportation for schlepping prospective buyers of real property to check out the development’s offerings. Before long locals and vacationers were big enthusiasts of the five-cent service as well.

Even as Kinney’s ambitious Venice-of-America was still about the business of rising out of a marsh, he contracted with civil engineer John J. Coit to supervise the building of his Venice Miniature Railway made up of components similar to Coit’s own diminutive train then causing gladness at Eastlake Park in Los Angeles. Kinney commissioned two of them. Built by the Johnson Machine Works out of L.A. to a one-third scale, each consisted of a black Prairie-type engine and five 12-passenger cars that sometimes offered an al fresco ride, other times carried travelers beneath a fringed, awning-like top. Each one of the cars sported a lion’s head relief on the sides. And for a time, the dashing little engine from Coit’s Eastlake train lent a hand in Venice as a substitute.

By way of enrolling his younger kids into a kind of participation in the beachside resort venture, Kinney’s nine-year old son Carlton was listed as president of the Venice Miniature Railway on its State of California incorporation documents. Three years older, son Inne,s was named as Chief Engineer, though John Coit actually operated the railroad early on. Jauntily suited up in appropriately impressive uniforms, the boys were trotted out to take bows on ceremonial occasions or for visitations by dignitaries. One such event – in 1908 – was the gathering of 140 midwestern members of the National Association of Railroad Agents, at which time the annual inspection of Kinney’s Miniature Railway was executed for their edification.

A dog showed up one day and rapidly self-appointed himself as the mini railroad’s mascot. Buster Braun was a Spitz that had become dissatisfied with the situation at home after his people brought home a newborn baby. Hanging out at the roundhouse and riding atop the tender as the train percolated around town – at a normal cruising speed of 20 miles per hour – apparently alleviated the loving-attention deficit the new home conditions caused and gratified his breed’s natural herding instinct hereby undertaken, nontraditionally, with a rumbling mechanical assist.

Over the years the railway suffered a few modest catastrophes. Train number two smashed into an unseen-till-too-late grocery wagon witlessly left on the tracks. A boiler explosion took out engine number one as it was parked at the Windward Avenue turnaround. On another occasion a fire at the roundhouse caused heat damage to both engines when flames engulfed the building. The passenger cars were successfully hauled off to a safe spot. None of these resulted in human harm but a horse was hurt in the train-wagon collision.

On a more ebullient note, the miniature railway was a not unusual element in Kinney’s recurrent hosting of orphans for a day of jolly good fun in Venice: amusement-parking, hunting Easter eggs or whatever. The pintsized trains performed as a prop in train robbery spoofs carried out by passels of comely beachwear-clad cuties.

Though lacking the current tug of nostalgia blocked by their au courant status in Kinney’s time, trains still ranked high in appeal factor. Miniature trains, then as now, packed a special cachet. The photogenic images of the little Venice trains adorned copious quantities of postcards that were sent to friends and family by happy visitors and residents alike. They made tasty bait for attracting even more tourists and new dwellers to Abbot Kinney’s dream, where their own sprightly presence added to the environment’s inimitable élan.

They breathed their final chug as a Venice, California feature in February of 1925.

Ray Bradbury and the Free Monorail System

Ray Bradbury may have had his head in the sky for The Martian Chronicles and other amaz- ing stories set on other worlds and dimensions, but he knew a good thing here on Earth when he saw it.

In the early Sixties, the Alweg Monorail Company offered to build a 41.8-mile long trans- portation system free of charge. It would have included two lines extending east and west of downtown Los Angeles, and a third running through the Valley to downtown. Standard Oil (now Chevron) became active in lobbying against the plan. Only a few years earlier, Standard, Gen- eral Motors, Firestone Tire and others had bought up and derailed L.A.’s Red Car system, and nu- merous other urban railway companies through- out the country.

The Los Angeles Board of Supervisions quickly rejected the Alweg offer, over Bradbury’s strenuous objections. He recalled being thrown out of the meeting for making “impolite noises.”

The entire system would have cost $123 mil- lion to build ($740 million in today’s dollars), which Alweg would have been reimbursed for out of fare receipts. The company said it would consider more miles of the system if the County wanted it. The Alweg plan can be viewed at http://bit.ly/MvuWlV.

The towers for the tracks, and the tracks themselves, would have been built in a factory and assembled on the spot like a giant erector set. Since it would run down the center of existing streets the system could have been built and op- erating within months, not years. At the time of its proposal, Alweg had already built the Disney- land and Seattle monorails, both of which are still in service.

In contract, the “Subway to the Sea” began with a projected cost of $4 billion. The estimate has already increased to $9 billion and that is only as far as Westwood. Getting to the Sea will cost billions more. Bradbury objected to this waste of time and money, as well, stating that with the pleasant climate in Southern Califormia, monorails made more sense that subways.

Instead of $9 billion for a 10-mile long sub- way, we could have had, or still could have, 549 miles of monorails. That would give us a transit system approaching the coverage of the old Red Car lines, which the city and county ripped up. By the way, the subway won’t be completed until 2036. Bradbury must have been livid.

See more about the Solid Gold Subway at: http://bit.ly/ObL8Ko

–Jim Smith 

Summer in Venice, in 2062

By Jim Smith

Hello, and Welcome to Venice!

If you’re visiting the City of Venice this summer, there are some things you should know. Venice is easily accessible by mass transit and bike lanes and paths. You should have no problem getting nearly to the beach before you have to put your feet on solid ground. Venice is also one of the most economical excursions in Southern California. If you bring a picnic lunch and have a transit pass or bike, you may get away without spending a cent. But if you want to buy someone a gift, Venice artisans abound on Ocean Front Walk and Windward Avenue, all the way to the Lagoon.

You’ll have your choice of a party atmosphere beach or a place of peace and quiet, save only the waves crashing against the sea wall. When you arrive, just look for the Tram (Streetcar) on Pacific Avenue. It will take you from the end of the Venice Peninsula to the Santa Monica border. Actually, you can ride it all the way to the transit centers in downtown Santa Monica.

Extending the Tram into Santa Monica was the subject of a huge debate in Venice a couple of years ago. Many people did not want an easy link with this regional transit center since it would, they said, bring many more visitors into Venice. But in the end, what carried the day was the idea of having an easy link for Venetians to the old subway that runs downtown, the Expo line and the Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) bullet train to San Francisco.

Many Venetians won’t have a chance to kick back until after our city-wide Summer Solstice (June 20, 2062 at 6:11 p.m.) celebrations are over. In recent years, the Solstice celebration has become even bigger than July 4th (founding of Venice day). There is something going on during the Solstice on nearly every block. While the Solstice falls early in the evening this year, the parties will likely go all night!

If you haven’t been to Venice in a while, you might be surprised by the changes. In recent years, the City of Venice has been engaged in beautifying and restoring our crumbling town. The first order of business was building a sea wall to protect against the ever-higher waves due to global climate change. Flooding had been occurring with increasing frequency, with powerful waves pushing water for blocks into the center of town. That’s a thing of the past now. Our famous sandy beaches have been preserved. Only problem is there is now a looming wall between the beach and the ocean. It doesn’t bother the surfers, but if you just want to swim, check the low tide schedule before you come.

At last, Venice has become a center of the arts and culture, just as Abbot Kinney had in mind 150 years ago. That doesn’t mean that you can’t indulge in “cheap thrills.” There are plenty of Pot Houses in Venice. There’s a giant game arcade on Windward Avenue, a skate park on the beach, amusement rides on the pier, and other delights to enjoy with a consenting adult.

The City has helped the arts along with generous stipends for serious painters, sculptors, poets, musicians, thespians and others. In addition, the new Center of Performing Arts has just been completed at the location of the old bus yard on Main Street. The Greek Theater is state-of-the-art with 5,000 seats, and numerous rooms for small events, classes and exhibits. The University of Venice also holds many of its free classes at the new Center.

It is also the location of some of the best entertainment in Venice, the meetings of the Venetian Assembly. This body, open to all residents of Venice, can override the City Council, since it represents the will of the people. It takes a big issue to pack this hall. Smaller meetings are held at the City Hall/Post Office on the Lagoon. The first meeting to be held at the Center was about building a desalination plant to produce fresh, clean water for all of Venice. It’s an expensive project, the cost of which many residents did not want passed on in their water bills. A compromise was reached where half the cost will be spread out over 20 years in water rates, which will still be only a fraction of those charged by the Dept. of Water and Power. The other half will come out of the general fund. At least, we can soon say goodbye to water rationing. Others were concerned with an unsightly plant marring the view of the coastline. The good news is that it will be hidden under the Abbot Kinney Pier.

Another change you might notice is that some streets have disappeared. Ever since the private automobile went the way of the horse and carriage, we’ve been left with all that concrete and blacktop. This problem, of course, is worldwide, but in Venice we’ve taken the lead in some innovative solutions. The canals and the Lagoon (former traffic circle) are back. Digging out the old canals in Central Venice was so easy with new digging equipment that other neighborhoods are now talking about having canals in their front yards.

Other streets have become community gardens, mini-forest preserves, sculpture gardens and pleasant – but separate – paths for walkers and bikers. We also want to keep some streets just as they were before Peak Oil hit, and the cars went away. Our children might want to visit an old-time street that carried thousands of gas-guzzling, polluting cars with anonymous people locked away inside.

Don’t worry, in Venice many people have been getting by just fine for 150 years without an automobile. The city was founded before cars took over our lives. The Beats and many of the Sixties Generation scorned these vehicles that kept people so isolated. The use of bicycles and walking has always been a part of Venice, and so it is today. In addition, we now have Trams on Pacific, Rose, Venice, Washington and Abbot Kinney Blvds.

While you will encounter lots of people on a summer’s day on the Boardwalk, it won’t be like those photos in the history vids when hordes of people jammed every available space and often had fights with each other!

Venice once had gangs, dangerous drugs, wild car drivers, crime, and was occupied by Los Angeles. Nothing seemed to be repaired; trash, advertising, and graffiti accumulated; and in their frustration people lashed out at each other. Due to economic conditions, many people had to live in their vehicles or even on the streets. These were obviously unacceptable conditions that no longer exist.

If one of these “homeless people,” as they were called, somehow appeared in 2062, they would instantly be befriended by a passing Venetian who would take him or her to a hotel or hostel where the person could stay, and eat, until they were able to secure income. What a horrible life some people had to endure before the Occupy revolution, which ended foreign wars and put the needs of the people first.

Today, with rapid transit throughout California, people have nearly limitless choices for recreation. One behalf of the Welcome to Venice Committee let me say how pleased we are that you have chosen to visit our fair city.   

They’re Walkways, not “Side” walks

By Fred Owens

Venice – maybe it doesn’t say so in the tourist hype about all the weird people on the boardwalk and all the ultra-cool people on Abbot Kinney – is a walking community. It’s compact, you can get there from here, on foot, from Rose to Washington, from the beach to Lincoln — why bring your car, there’s no place to park anyway.

So I am thinking about the sidewalks and their state of disrepair. The tree roots heave up the sidewalks and the city of Los Angeles is years behind on the maintenance.  Los Angeles has more than 10,000 miles of sidewalks. It has been estimated that 4,700 miles are in need of repair at a cost of $1.2 billion.  And the city does not have that kind of money.

Property owners used to be responsible for sidewalk repairs, but in 1973, blessed with the chance to get the federal government to cover the cost, the city of Los Angeles took over the cost of repairs. Only a few years later the federal money ran out, and the whole repair schedule went south. Very few property owners have been willing to take up the slack.

So name your favorite walk. My favorite walk is from my sister’s house on California Ave, down to Abbot Kinney, and threading my way to Windward and the Boardwalk, past rose bushes and special gardens, observing small changes  — “I see they trimmed the clematis.”  I know this walk by heart and I know the roots and bumps and holes and I watch where I put my feet.

But I get tired of doing this. I am frustrated with the possibility of municipal reform, so I took direct action. I carried a coffee can full of gravel three blocks down the street and filled the hole in the sidewalk in front of Abbot’s Habit coffee shop. The hole was not so wide, but it was deep and you could easily fall and break your ankle. I filled it. Now I want to fix all the rest of the holes in Venice — the holes in the sidewalk, I mean.

That’s the easy part.  But the root humps – you might mark them with fluorescent paint or just learn to live with them, and think about how wonderful it is to walk to the beach, past the beautiful small gardens, and meeting people you know while you’re out for a stroll.

This is fine, except for one thing — the folks in wheel chairs and walkers, and parents with infants in strollers. They deserve a flat place to roll, because getting around town, people to people, store to store, beach to park and all that – everybody gets an equal chance at getting where they want to go.

So, even if we have our favorite walks, we still have a problem  — crumbling sidewalks and no money or plan to repair them.

I was in Manhattan Beach last week visiting a friend. We walked down to the beach. Their sidewalks are in very good repair and they don’t have any homeless people – I mean none I could see. I have no problem with Manhattan Beach being the way it is, but I wouldn’t want to be like them.

Venice is walking on another path, so watch for those tree roots, and if you see someone struggling with a wheel chair, then help them get where they want to go.

Metro Bus #733 Adds Stop at Abbot Kinney and Venice Blvds.

By Roger Linnett

When the Metro Rapid #733 bus line began last year it stopped at the corner of Venice Blvd. and Venice Way as did the Local #33. Then last fall the powers that be at the MTA decided to discontinue that stop for the #733. The result was that the #733 went from the Circle to Lincoln and Venice Blvds. without stopping in between, although the #33 continued to stop at both Venice Way and Abbot Kinney. However, only one of three buses that passed those intersections was a #33, causing riders to wait considerably longer.

This comes on the heels of the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus discontinuation of the #2 line in Venice and its partial replacement by the extension the #1 line. This reduced service through the heart of Venice to once each half hour. A lot of employees on Abbot Kinney Blvd. and local residents, who rely on public transportation, were forced to either wait an inordinate amount of time or walk to Lincoln for the #3 Blue Bus, or to the Circle to catch the #733.

Now, in their infinite, albeit glacial, wisdom the Metro powers have added a stop for the #733 at this major crossroads of our community. Since they rarely get an “Atta boy”, let the MTA know you appreciate their correcting this slight to Venetians at customerrelations@metro.net.

Are we doomed to have a second-rate bicycle network?

By Jim Smith

The Neighborhood Council’s grudging approval, in concept, of the proposed Main Street bike lanes, Sept. 20, came only after city officials said it was their way or the (car) highway. It would take months, even years, to implement any changes, said Los Angeles Dept. of Transportation (DOT) officials.

One of the problems with the plan that concerned the Venice Neighborhood Council (VNC) Board was the dangerous side-by-side lanes for cars, buses, trucks and bikes. If people on bikes try to keep their distance from the big vehicles, they run the risk of being “doored,” that is, hit by a driver’s door from a parked car when it suddenly opens.

Alex Thompson, president of Bikeside (who introduced himself as the other Alex Thompson), Board member Amanda Seward and I, spoke in favor of bikes and other vehicles being separated by parked cars. In other words, put the bikes by the curb, then parked cars and finally other vehicles in the center of the road. This arrangement is called buffered bike lanes and is used throughout Europe. It’s also being used more and more in the U.S., including New York City, Portland and Long Beach, among other cities. DOT officials protested that buffered bike lanes were not in their “toolkit.”

Apparently, DOT engineers and managers went to school when bikes were not an important consideration. They are auto-centric. They seem to consider bikes just another type of car, perhaps a two-wheeled car. It is similar to when personal computers were first introduced. Many people considered them just another form of typewriter, and called them Word Processors.

In fact, bikes are on the verge of radically changing the way we live. As bikes become more common than cars, commutes will become shorter, neighborhood stores will reappear, communities will become more sociable.

No one died for mistaking a computer for a typewriter, but bike riders are often seriously injured or killed because of unsafe road conditions. How many more car-bike crashes will it take before DOT stops whining about plan changes and starts implementing safe bike routes by means of buffered bike lanes, bike-only streets, car-only streets, education for auto drivers, more signage and sharrows, wider bike lanes, bike signals at intersections, reduced speed limit streets and other safety features.

Given their past performance, the entire DOT may have to be sent to reeducation camps to learn that bikes are not cars. Remember, these are the people who gave us a crosswalk on Abbot Kinney and Palms where pedestrians cannot tell if the light for cars has changed to green or if it is still red.

They are the people who, in a fit of sadistic humor, threw bikes, cars and buses together in one small lane (may the biggest SUV win!) on Abbot Kinney Blvd.

Now we have a Main Street bike lane where more than 700 bike riders will daily risk their lives. Santa Monica is currently studying changing its Main Street bike lanes to make them safer, a fact not mentioned by DOT at the VNC meeting.

The Main Street bike lane almost connects with the Venice Blvd. bike lane (another hazardous route). Almost, but not quite. If the geniuses at DOT had striped three blocks of Venice Way, from the Circle to the Library, it would have connected. Don’t they have maps downtown?

DOT was so desperate to get its plan approved by the VNC that it resorted to lobbying its Board. It urged people from all over Los Angeles to email or attend and speak in favor of DOT’s plan. One example: “Main Street bike lanes need your support! Please contact the Venice Neighborhood Council, and Council Member Bill Rosendahl’s office and let them know how much you want these lanes.” (http://ladotbikeblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/main-street-bike-lanes-need-your-support).

How odd is it that the mighty DOT would lobby a little neighborhood council? In fact, neighborhood councils are set up to reflect the feelings of their stakeholders, not the position of a city department. No one contacted by the Beachhead wanted to talk about this blatant breach of the rules. Not Bong-Hwan Kim, General Manager of the Dept. of Neighborhood Empowerment, not Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, and not several VNC Board members called by the Beachhead. One VNC Board member said off the record that it is not right, but it is done all the time.

It seems that we in Venice will be unable to have a say on things as simple as bike lanes until we have cityhood or until L.A. is truly occupied by its residents.

Big Blue Bus Shrinks in Venice

As of August 28, the #2 Big Blue Bus no longer runs through Venice, but will end its run at Main and Hill Sts. in Santa Monica.

The #1 Bus’s route has been extended to cover the part of the #2 route from the Circle to Venice HIgh School with the following changes.

The most noticeable change comes on the northbound (Venice to UCLA) run, which will begin at Main at Market Sts., the first intersection north of the circle. It will NOT leave from from beside the post office. Those busses that follow the old #2 route starting at Venice High will approach the circle on Windward and turn directly north onto Main. Only the southbound (UCLA to Venice) now stops next to the post office.

The southbound (UCLA to Venice) #1 only continues on to Venice High on weekdays, and the earliest run will leave its usual pick-up spot next to the post office at 6:44 am, and will run approximately every twenty minutes until 8:30 am and then every half hour after that. On the weekends the bus ends it run at Lincoln and California. It loops around behind the Ralph’s market complex and goes back up California.

The new schedule is available on the busses, at the Big Blue Bus Store on Broadway near the Promenade and at the Venice – Abbot Kinney Library. It is also posted at stops along the route and at bigbluebus.com.

–Roger Linnett

 

Easing The Automobile Out Of Venice

By Jim Smith

Getting around Venice can be a problem if you don’t have a car. Even then, if you park your car on the street, don’t even think about moving it on a sunny weekend, or nearly any time during summer days. First Friday can extend the problem well into the evening if you live in Central Venice, Oakwood or Milwood.

In spite of having a problem that affects thousands of Venetians, no one seems to be working on a solution. The MTA doesn’t care. Bill Rosendahl’s advisory transportation committee is too busy looking at the big picture to address intra-community transportation problems. There is no Venice committee or organization that addresses this issue.

What exactly is the problem? First of all, there are too many cars in Venice. When Abbot Kinney founded our city in 1904-05, there were few cars and not many places to drive one. Most visitors came to Venice on an excellent rail system. Locals mostly walked around the town which hardly extended east of what is now Abbot Kinney Blvd. Or instead of walking, they could hop on the tram that plied Ocean Front Walk. Many streets were canals and the remainder, with a few exceptions, were and are, narrow.

Until more affluent residents moved to Venice beginning in the 1980s, many Venetians either did not have a car, or had one car per family. In the 1970s, the energy crisis had made small Japanese cars popular.

Detroit struck back by mounting station wagon bodies on large trucks and calling them SUVs. Gasoline became plentiful again and was sold at the lowest prices ever (adjusted for inflation). The growing popularity of Venice as a tourist attraction meant thousands of big vehicles were competing for Venice’s anemic supply of parking places. In recent times, the supply has shrunk even more as the City of Los Angeles has put up restrictive parking signs and red curbs without regard to the needs of local residents.

Growing numbers of Venetians have abandoned their cars for short trips and recreation by bicycle. However, Venice has lagged far behind many biking cities in protecting bike riders and in providing them with equal rights with other vehicles (cars and trucks). The only buffered or separate bike path in Venice is on the beach. Biking down Lincoln Blvd. can be considered a suicide attempt. The ill-considered painting of sharrows on Abbot Kinney Blvd. makes riding a bike there more dangerous because it gives riders a false sense of security. Some cities in Europe have closed some streets to autos and other streets to bikes.

In Venice biking, skating and walking are three popular alternatives to driving. Some streets, particularly near the beach, should be considered for skating lanes.

Nobody walks in L.A., but lots of people walk in Venice, and always have. You might think that there would be lots of accommodations for walkers. There are a few. Ocean Front Walk is the best. No cars and no bikes allowed. Police cars and bikes constantly violate this rule (anyone want to make a citizen’s arrest?). They should not be allowed in vehicles unless it is a genuine emergency. They can walk, can’t they?

On the other hand, there is no crosswalk leading to our circle in front of the Post Office. In order to enjoy this park, one has to evade several lanes of cut through traffic coming from one of five streets. A paranoid Venetian might think the L.A. Dept. of Transportation was trying to kill us off. Further evidence for this belief can be found in the dangerous crosswalk connecting Rialto Ave. and Palms Blvd. at Abbot Kinney. The Beachhead has previously reported on the inability for pedestrians to see whether motorists have a green or red light.

If Venice was a city of its own, it would probably have a flourishing shuttle service and perhaps a street car. A shuttle in Venice could provide two functions. It could pick up visitors to the beach who could park in unused lots on Lincoln Blvd. or in the Marina. During the week and during the winter, the shuttle could pick up some of the thousands of seniors who live near the beach where there are few businesses that cater to people’s daily needs and take them to Ralphs, RiteAid, Ross and other stores along Lincoln Blvd. The shuttle could charge a relatively high single use fee and a relatively low monthly pass fee. This is the fee schedule that is used in Venice, Italy, and enables the city to derive a good income from tourists using its Vaporetto (water bus), while providing a needed and low cost service to residents.

Would there be enough ridership to make a Venice shuttle viable? Yes, if visitors were able to park more cheaply in distant lots, and if the shuttle was attractive.

If Venice was a city of its own, it could build a streetcar down Pacific Avenue from the Santa Monica border to the end of the peninsula, giving sunbathers their choice of 2.6 miles of beaches. The street car could be linked with shuttles that would depart from Rose, Venice and/or Washington and Pacific to circle around Venice on Lincoln and Abbot Kinney Blvd. Ultimately, cars would not be needed to get around our community. Meanwhile, both street cars and shuttles would share traffic lanes with cars.

If shuttles and street cars don’t get you where you want to go, there are always rickshaws. Electric or pedal powered three-wheel vehicles are used in many cities around the world and have made their appearance in parts of Southern California from time to time. It remains for one of Venice’s budding entrepreneurs to navigate the L.A.’s bureaucracy and buy about 20 of the easily obtainable vehicles. Don’t wait too long. Someone might beat you to it.

There is nothing in the suggestions above that is not being done already by progressive-minded cities of all sizes. The main drawback in Venice is that we have no city government of our own. We are dependent on the city of Los Angeles, which has shown a marked reluctance over the years to make any improvements in Venice unless it comes from bond-issue funds or is desired by one of the moguls that runs Los Angeles.

 

Blue Bus Cuts Back Service in Venice

By Mary Getlein

Changes are coming to the Big Blue Bus service in Venice. They were approved by the Santa Monica City Council on May 12 and will go into effect August 28.

The biggest change that will affect Venice bus riders is the elimination of Line 2, which will end at Hill St. and Main St. in Santa Monica. Line 1 will take over the route of Line 2 and will go from UCLA to Walgrove Ave, which is the same route Line 2 had. On weekends, however, some trips will end on Lincoln Blvd. instead of Walgrove Ave. In addition, Sunday frequency will be increased from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes between 11am and 8:30pm.

Whom does this change affect? The poor, disabled, young and old people of Venice. The number 2 line serviced a lot of people in Venice, going from UCLA to the Windward circle, to Abbot Kinney Blvd., California Ave. to Penmar and Walgrove Ave. It currently serves two sets of Venice children and young adults, the students of Mark Twain and Venice High. It’s a shame this service is being taken away from us, when so much has been taken away already.

The service changes are part of a three-year plan to allow for connections to the Expo Phase 1 light rail, which is scheduled to start in 2012.

The Big Blue Bus has planned similar changes for Lines 3, 5, 12, 14 and Super 12. If you want to register your complaints about these changes, you can contact them through www.BigBlue.com or you can call Customer Service at 310-451-5444.