driving the big blue bus

After a 17-year career at the Orange County Transportation Authority, John Catoe took the wheel as director of the city of Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus in 1995. Since then, ridership has increased nearly 30%, from 17 million to 22 million per year. In 1998 and 1999, the Big Blue Bus line was the top-ranked transit system in the country, according to a University of North Carolina, Charlotte, study that rated everything from operating costs and ridership (three times higher than the national average) to fares, cost containment and service. The line also has won a TRANNY, the nonprofit California Transportation Foundation’s Oscar equivalent, for boosting bus ridership in this auto-loving metropolis.

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How is it that bus ridership increased so much in Santa Monica?

When we did what the public asked us for, they started to ride it more. Before we make any changes, we ask the public. The drivers, the mechanics and customers are our experts.

That sounds suspiciously like common sense.

A lot of government agencies fail to realize that we’re here for one purpose only: to serve our customers. “Here’s what we’re doing� fails most of the time. “What do you want?� is the better approach.

What did they ask for?

They asked for on-time service and performance quality. For example, instead of only one No. 10 bus an hour downtown, there’s now a bus every half hour. We expanded Saturday and Sunday service. That’s the feedback we got.

Do you ever feel like getting out from behind the desk, taking the wheel and driving the bus?

I can’t drive a bus--the drivers know it, and they’d laugh at me.

Any equivalent of frequent flyer or club class for the best customers?

We don’t care if a customer makes $2 or $20,000 per hour. So we don’t use terms like “choice customers,� because if you tell employees that some people are more special than others, then guess what, that’s how they’ll be treated.

Have you ever thought of privatizing the bus service?

I happen to be in the business of providing public transportation. I have a personal philosophy that government can sometimes be better than private. It doesn’t have to be substandard. You find that if you demand it, you get it.

With all the awards the bus line has garnered, you must feel pretty good being at the top.

If you tell yourself you’ve arrived at the top, then there’s only one way to go from there, down. So each day, look for something you can do better, maybe be more courteous or get a piece of equipment to work better. So you should never get to the point where you say, “You’re there.�

that’s my line

John Catoe’s three favorite Big Blue routes:

Route 3 the Lincoln Line, which starts at UCLA and runs to the Green Line near LAX. It’s “a convenient 50-cent ride to the airport.�

Route 7 the Pico Line, connects downtown Santa Monica to Rimpau and Pico boulevards. “It carries a wide array of riders, from students to service workers, and supports the economic viability of L.A.; transit at its best.�

Route 8 the Ocean Park Line, ferries riders from downtown Santa Monica, past Bundy Drive, to UCLA. It also takes Catoe’s son to and from school.