Silver Streak (bus)

Silver Streak
Overview
Operator	Foothill Transit
Vehicle	North American Bus Industries 60-foot articulated bus
Began service	March 18, 2007
Route
Route type	Bus rapid transit
Locale	San Gabriel Valley, California USA
Start	Montclair Transcenter
End	Downtown Los Angeles
Length	38 mi (61 km)
Stations	17
Route map v t Legend Montclair Transcenter Begin use of San Bernardino Freeway Pomona Transcenter Azusa Av Vincent Av/Lakes Dr Westfield West Covina West Covina Pkwy/Toluca Av Puente Av End use of San Bernardino Freeway El Monte Begin El Monte Busway Cal State LA LAC+USC Medical Center Union Station End El Monte Busway Los Angeles St Spring St/1st St 1st St/Broadway 1st St/Hill St (Civic Center/Grand Park) ↓ Grand │ Olive ↑ 2nd St 5th St (Pershing Square) 7th St (7th St/Metro Center) ↓ Grand │ Olive ↑ ↑ Figueroa │ Flower ↓ Olympic Bl Pico Bl (Pico) Layover ← {{{previous_line}}}  {{{system_nav}}}  {{{next_line}}} →

The Silver Streak is a bus rapid transit route between Montclair and Los Angeles operated by Foothill Transit. Between the Montclair TransCenter and the El Monte Bus Station buses travel on the San Bernardino Freeway and between El Monte and Downtown Los Angeles they utilize the El Monte Busway. The service was introduced in 2007 in response to over-crowding on Foothill Transit route 480.

LA Metro’s J Line service, which also uses the El Monte Busway, was introduced in 2009 and since 2012 both agencies have offered a reciprocal fare program allowing pass holders to ride either route between Downtown Los Angeles and El Monte.

History[]

The express Silver Streak was introduced in 2007 in response to overcrowding on Line 480, Foothill's most popular line. The new service used higher-capacity vehicles and eliminated the many deviations and minor stops on Line 480. It was designed to appeal to discretionary riders.^[1] The route is also referred to as Line 707.^[2] Silver Streak was introduced with onboard Wi-Fi on the NABI articulated buses.

With the introduction of the Silver Streak, the 'Local Plus Service' on Lines 482, 486, 488, 492, and 494 was converted to local service only, and terminated at El Monte Bus Station; with Line 480 terminating at Westfield West Covina. Passengers were then asked to transfer to Silver Streak, 481 or Metro service to continue to Downtown Los Angeles.

On-board Wi-Fi was discontinued in 2009 due to low usage and to cut costs. Ridership of the Silver Streak fell since the introduction of the Metro J (Silver) Line in 2009.

In October 2012 the rebuilt and expanded El Monte Bus Station opened, and a joint fare program was introduced on the Silver Streak/Metro J Line. This allows the same ticket to be used on either service between the bus station and Downtown LA.

Fares[]

Metro and Foothill Transit passengers can now ride either the Metro J Line or Foothill's Silver Streak using each other's pass between Downtown Los Angeles and El Monte Station. The program is not eligible outside this range. The joint agreement range of the Silver 2 Silver bus program is only between El Monte Station and Downtown Los Angeles. The one-way fare is $2.75 for trips of any length, in contrast to the regular Foothill fare of $1.25. A discounted fare of $1.15 for seniors, the disabled, and Medicare card holders applies. Fares were free from the start of service until April 1, 2007.

List of stops, from East to West[]

Fleet[]

The Silver Streak 60-foot New Flyer XN60 like Metro J Line, some Metro Local, and some Metro Rapid routes. 42-foot NABI BRT buses (F1700-F1729, F2100-F2120) are used during late night and early morning hours and on weekends, with 40-foot NABI buses (F1500-1509), also 40-foot New Flyer buses (F2400-F2429), (F2500-F2529) used when the NABI 42-BRT buses are not available.

References[]