Foothill Transit

Infobox Bus transit
name = Foothill Transit

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locale = San Gabriel Valley
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service_type = bus service
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operator = Veolia Transportation
MV Transportation
First Transit [ [http://www.foothilltransit.org/EAlertTextOnly/Jobs.aspx Foothill Transit contracts with Veolia Transportation for management and administrative services and with MV Transportations and First Transit for operations.] ]
ceo =
website = [http://www.foothilltransit.org/ foothilltransit.org]

Foothill Transit is a joint powers authority of 21 member cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. It operates a fixed-route bus public transit service in the San Gabriel Valley of Greater Los Angeles, California.

Overview

The impetus for the formation of the transit agency was Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum. Schabarum, annoyed at the cutbacks of bus service by the SCRTD, wanted to secede from the larger agency and form his own transit agency. Schabarum, who hated the influence of trade unions, chose to use contractors to operate the service, and Foothill executives made the service essentially strike-proof by insisting that two different companies operate the two bus yards, even if it would cost more in the short term. However, due to bus industry consolidation, First Transit has operated both yards since 2001. Currently, both Foothill Transit yards are represented by unions (Arcadia by the Amalgamated Transportation Union and Pomona by the Teamsters Union), but past strikes at the agency have been less than successful due to the ability of one yard to operate the other yards' service. In addition, wages are less at Foothill than at other transit operators in the region, thus saving money.

Of note is that Foothill Transit does not directly pay anyone except its board of directors. All of its staff are employees of contractors, and all functions are contracted out. This becomes particularly prominent when Foothill management have to recuse themselves from recommending changes to be made to their contracts; issues like that are usually handled by the legal counsel hired by the board. Currently, bus service is operated by First Transit and management is handled by Veolia. Effective in August 2007, MV Transportation operates the Arcadia/Irwindale yard's service.

In 2002, Foothill Transit began purchasing CNG powered buses. By 2011, Foothill Transit will have a 100 percent CNG fleet.

Foothill Transit provides shuttle service to most events at the Rose Bowl from the Parsons engineering parking lot, located on Walnut St. and Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena.

Foothill Transit also provides park and ride buses to the Hollywood Bowl from Lakewood, El Monte, Pasadena, and Arcadia.

ilver Streak

The "Silver Streak" is Foothill Transit's bus rapid transit line operating between Montclair and Downtown Los Angeles. The service is unusually frequent compared with other area mass transit, and operates around the clock.

Wireless Internet Access

On June 26, 2006, Foothill Transit installed wireless Internet hubs on six 1200-series Orion V buses (F1208, F1236, F1237, F1258, F1260, and F1262) that were exclusively assigned to Line 699. Downstream bandwidth of 300 kbit/s was available on each bus. The test program was discontinued and wi-fi service was installed on the Silver Streak, currently the only route with wi-fi.

Fares

Fares as of January 1, 2008

"Cash / Metrocard Fares"

Because Foothill Transit retires most of their buses at the 12-year FTA minimum standard, many of their buses are sold off or leased to other authorities and operate for years afterwards. Notable lessees include Valley Metro (Phoenix), Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (operated by Transportation Concepts), Krapf's Coaches, Arizona State University, Monterey-Salinas Transit, Gold Coast Transit, Glendale Beeline, and Santa Cruz Metro.

References

External links

* [http://www.foothilltransit.org/ Official website]
* [http://www.foothilltransit.org/EAlertControls/Data/May2006.pdf May 2006 Footnotes detailing Silver Streak service]