Back in April, the Big Blue Bus announced plans to design spiffy buses for the future, thanks to a partnership with the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Since then, Bus of the Future got a website and a blog, updated intermittently by 3 students working on the bus designs and by Big Blue Bus staff.

All of that comes to a head at the Alt Car Expo on Sept. 26 — when I’ll be one of the judges for the Bus of the Future competition!

Last week, as prep, I checked out what the students were up to. More about the designs later, but what I found fascinating was the fieldwork these students had done about the Big Blue Bus by, you know, riding it.

The photo-illustrated stories were hilar, i.e. “It seems there was a resident homeless person hanging out in the stop with a shroud over his entire body.” I guess you gotta live and ride in LA to relate and laugh at this….

Other funny stuff: Photographic proof of Big Blue Bus’ morphing, confusing, and uninformative signs. Keep in mind that BBB does a much better job than most. In contrast, the Metro will at times changes stops by like 7 blocks sans warning — or updates on the website.

Sad thing re: the Art Center visit: That place was so far away and so difficult to get to without making a full-day public transit commitment that I ended up driving. Oddly, there’s a strange sense of belonging in seeing one’s name on a stantion.

In other Big Blue Bus news: Line 7, which runs down Pico, has — as of yesterday — changed its name from Super 7 to Rapid 7. Apparently the Rapid 7 will “enhance” the services of the Super 7 — but I’ve no clue as to what exactly the changes are, since the info isn’t even on the website and my call hasn’t yet been returned. Anyone got an idea? [see update below!]

Other changes: Line 1′s getting a new branch dubbed “campus connector” to link up UCLA and SMC. Also, Line 14 and the Sunset Ride are getting additional trips. Happy riding –

Update, 8/20/08: I got the skinny on the new Rapid 7: The line’s got new, more techy buses with signal priority technology to keep the light green at intersections! Other changes: The timetable’s been readjusted, and the stop on 20th’s been removed.

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