Long Beach Transit will resume bus service to Seal Beach more than a year and a half after two lines were cut short at the Long Beach border amid disagreements over where the new, larger buses could be re-routed within the neighboring city.
Long Beach Transit Routes 131 and 171, which ceased operations into Seal Beach in August 2012, will again be extended into the city starting June 1, a move that LBT says is the result of productive conversations between Seal Beach officials and LBT’s new President and CEO Kenneth McDonald.
“Seal Beach’s City Manager, Jill Ingram, reached out to LBT’s president and CEO not long after he took the position in summer 2013,” said LBT spokesman Kevin Lee. “After many great discussions, they decided it was in the best interest of Long Beach, LBT and Seal Beach to return service. Since then LBT and Seal Beach have been working closely on the details.”
At the root of the 2012 cancellation was the outcry from Seal Beach residents who spoke out against LBT’s request to re-route the lines, which used to traverse Long Beach along Pacific Coact Highway before weaving through Seal Beach via Main St., Electric Ave. and 5th St. The lines needed to be re-routed because LBT’s new environmentally sound buses–which are ten feet longer than their predecessors–could no longer fit on some of the streets and at a public forum on the topic, things allegedly got heated.
Though it is unclear precisely what was said, LBT’s former President and CEO Lawrence Jackson wrote a harsh letter to Ingram afterwards citing “colorful comments” made by residents and a Seal Beach City Council member as a factor in his decision to terminate lines 131 and 171’s service to Seal Beach.
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“Although it is best if I don’t go into the details of specific comments, Seal Beach City staff present can give you a sense of the ‘colorful’ comments from residents and the Seal Beach Council member,” Jackson’s letter said. “A prolonged dialogue putting one group of Seal Beach residents against transit users would not serve any useful purpose, but merely inflame deep-seated ugly feelings that were expressed during the meeting.”
According to Seal Beach, in 2010 and 2011 combined, these two routes provided transportation to almost 275,000 riders and their termination most adversely affected seniors, persons with disabilities, students and businesses.
Details of the lines’ new routes into Seal Beach are being finalized now and will go into effect as part of LBT’s June service changes.
“The 171 will have a slight modification of its existing route plus the addition of travel into Seal Beach which will be similar to where it used to travel, heading to Main,” Lee said. “The 131 route will continue to go to Alamitos Bay Landing like it does now, and then cross the bridge at Marina into Seal Beach, turn left on 1st, head over to PCH and continue to Main.”
Finalized maps, times and schedules will be available on Long Beach Transit buses and on lbtransit.com in May.
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