(TOP) Big Blue Bus Director Stephanie Negriff  tours  U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) through the  state-of-the-art maintenance facility on Colorado Avenue on Friday, July 2, 2010.

Big Blue Bus Purchased 15 new buses, including 10 hybrid, thanks to a $14.2 Million investment from the Economic Recover Act. The transit system is also making state-of-the-art upgrades to more than 300 bus stops.

(ABOVE) Santa Monica City Manager Rod Gould, Santa Monica Mayor Bobby Shriver and Mayor Pro Tempore Pam Oconors try out the new BBB Bus stop.

Ramon Espinoza, from Craftsman Concrete Cutting, cleans Big Blue Buses 200-foot long programmable glass art wall on Colorado Ave on Monday, June 28, 2010. The public art piece utilizing special translucent glass panels that change colors and patterns to simulate movement along its glass skin. The dynamic blue wall  is a series of curved segments composed of deep blue glass and silver metal. The wall, designed by noted artist Dan Corson, helps provide privacy for the expanded lot, and is visible both day and evening hours. In addition to its glass panels, the wall will also incorporate a unique bus stop at one end. 

Chris McNair, a graphic installer from Arete Design Imaging ADI , applies a holiday wrap onto a  Big Blue Bus on Monday, November 23, 2009, as part of the transit company's annual tradition that dates back to the early 1950s with the original candy cane bus. Big Blue Bus will roll out its popular fully wrapped holiday bus beginning the morning of Saturday, November 28. The bus will remain in service throughout the season until January 4. This year’s sponsor is the Cirque du Soleil’s production of KOOZA, and the bus will reflect the show’s vibrant colors, spirit and uplifting message. The festively wrapped 40-foot-long, clean fuel bus has become a traditional start of the holiday season in Santa Monica and other parts of Los Angeles. The holiday bus will travel a different route each day around the Big Blue Bus service area to ensure as many people as possible get a chance to see it – or ride on it – during the holidays. “The design of this year’s bus is just spectacular, a real head turner, and we think people are going to love it,” said Big Blue Bus Customer Relations Manager Dan Dawson. “We have so many people tell us they take pictures in front of the decorated bus every year with their families and friends, so the holiday bus has really become quite a nice tradition in the area.” This year’s new design features a major character of the KOOZA show poised against a backdrop of vivid purple, gently falling snowflakes and brightly wrapped red presents. The tagline exclaims, “There has never been a better time to dream.” Cirque du Soleil plans to charter the holiday bus for a special promotional tour around Los Angeles on November 27, one day before the official rollout. Scheduled stops include ICE at Santa Monica from 11 a.m. to noon, the Santa Monica Pier from noon to 12:45 p.m. as well as a stop at Hollywood and Highland from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. According to tour management, KOOZA-themed representatives will hand out candy canes and holiday cards promoting the holiday production of KOOZA, now playing at the Santa Monica Pier until December 20. The Big Blue Bus transports more than 80 thousand passengers a day around its large service area, which includes Santa Monica, West LA and downtown LA. For more information or high-resolution images of the holiday bus, please contact Francine Pares at 949-481-7559 or fpares@intelibrand.com. For more information about Cirque du Soleil or KOOZA, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com

 Santa Monica Mayor Pro Tempore Pam O'Connor and City Council Members Kevin McKeown  cut the ribbon during the Big Blue Bus grand opening ceremony of their new, state-of-the-art maintenance facility on Seventh Street on Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

After nine years of planning, and nearly three years of design and construction, Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus is ready to turn the key on its new state-of-the-art, environmentally significant maintenance facility. The project came in under budget and on time, and features the latest in sustainable transit maintenance technologies.

Big Blue Bus (BBB) Transit Software Systems Analyst Benjamin M. Steers configures the new real-time arrival sign at the Santa Monica Boulevard Third Street East Bound Bus Stop on Friday, July 10, 2009. The real-time signs are installed in 4 locations in downtown Santa Monica. They are located on Santa Monica and 3rd, Santa Monica and 4th, Broadway and 3rd, and Broadway and 4th. The signs provide real-time information via the computer radio systems. Using GPS technology the bus knows where is in realtion to its schedule. The information is sent back to the office where it is broadcast out to the signs. Steers has been working on implementing the real-time signs since September of 2003.

Rueben Frausto, 33, a graphic installer for I MAGIC, decorates a Big Blue Bus on Monday, November 24, 2008, as part of the transit company's annual tradition that dates back to the early 1950s with the original candy cane bus. This year's holiday bus looks like it is made out of gingerbread. The bus will start running throughout Santa Monica this Friday and continue through Jan. 2. It will run on all BBB routes rotating daily. ‘This is the only bus that looks good enough to eat,’ said Dan Dawson, marketing manager for BBB. The bus is sponsored by KJazz 88.1 FM.