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Foothill Transit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Foothill Transit is a bus transit company serving routes in the San Gabriel Valley of Greater Los Angeles, California.
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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, this has not been the case since 2001.) Currently, both Foothill Transit yards are represented by unions, but past strikes at the agency have been less than successful due to the ability of one yard to operate the other yards' service.
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.
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.
The Silver Streak is Foothill Transit's bus rapid transit line operating between Montclair and Downtown Los Angeles.
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 will exclusively be assigned to Line 699. Downstream bandwidth of 300kbps will be 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 as of March 18, 2007
Cash / Metrocard Fares
| Fare Type | Regular | Senior / Disabled / Medicare |
|---|---|---|
| Base Local Fare: | $1.00 | $0.50 |
| Silver Streak / Line 481 / Line 690: | $2.00 | $1.00 |
| 1Commuter Express: | $3.65 | $1.80 |
| 2Transfers: | $0.50 | $0.25 |
Passes
| Pass Type | 31-Day Pass3 | EZ Transit Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Adult Local: | $55.00 | $58.00 |
| Student Local: | $25.00 | $58.00 |
| Senior / Disabled / Medicare Local: | $18.00 | $29.00 |
| Silver Streak / Line 481 / Line 690: | $80.00 | $103.00 |
| Discount Silver Streak: | $40.004 | $51.50 |
| Commuter Express: | $130.00 | $133.00 |
| Discount Commuter Express: | $65.004 | $66.50 |
- 1 A Commuter Express trip is five zones. Foothill Transit zone fares do not correspond to LACMTA zone fares. The zone numbers are only used to equate the zone numbers with the EZ Pass.
- 2 Transfers must be purchased for $0.50, regardless of whether the customer is paying with cash or is using a pass. Transfers are good for up to three (3) hours, and can be counted as base fare for any transit agency to which Foothill Transit connects.
- 3 A 31-Day Pass' lifespan starts when the pass is first used, not at the beginning of the month, unless the pass was first used at the beginning of the month. For example, if the pass is bought on March 6, but first used on March 12, the expiration date of the pass is April 11 at 11:59pm, 31 days after it was first used.
- 4 Discount Silver Streak and Discount Commuter Express 31-Day Passes can be purchased by students, seniors, disabled, and Medicare card holders.
| Model | Length | Year | Bus Numbers | No. In Fleet | Fuel Type | Notes |
| Gillig Phantom | 40' | 1996-1998 | F1000-F1063 | 64 | Diesel | F1000-F1029 retired. F1013-F1015, F1040-F1045, F1056-F1063 have suburban seating. |
| Gillig Advantage | 40' | 2000 | F1100-F1176 | 77 | Diesel | |
| Gillig Advantage | 29' | 2000 | F1181-F1187 | 7 | Diesel | |
| Orion V | 40' | 2002 | F1200-F1265 | 66 | CNG | Suburban seating. Used almost exclusively on lines 493, 497, 498, 499, and 699. |
| Orion V | 40' | 2003 | F1300-F1350 | 51 | CNG | |
| NABI 40-LFW | 40' | 2004-2005 | F1400-F1474 | 75 | CNG | F1400-F1452 run from the Pomona Yard. F1453-F1474 run from the Irwindale Yard. |
| NABI 40-LFW | 40' | 2006 | F1500-F1509 | 10 | CNG | |
| NABI 60-BRT | 60' | 2007 | F1600-F1629 | 30 | CNG | These buses are only used on the new Silver Streak service. |
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, South Coast Area Transit, Glendale Beeline, and Santa Cruz Metro.