The story
Early history
Following National City Lines' sale of its Glendale operations to Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority in 1962, Glendale lacked a municipal bus system. To remedy this, the Glendale Beeline, operated by Pacific Busing, was launched in December 1984 as a shuttle bus system for downtown Glendale. Fares were 25 cents for general riders and 15 cents for the elderly and disabled. In 1985, a transfer agreement was reached with Southern California Rapid Transit District.
In 1989, the City of Glendale purchased the Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, and soon thereafter began acquiring surrounding properties with the intent of creating a transportation center to be used by Beeline.
After Pacific Busing was acquired by Laidlaw in 1989, it did not renew its contract to operate the Beeline. A new contract was awarded in 1990 to Medi-Ride, which already operated Glendale's "Dial-A-Ride" paratransit service.
After pausing fare collection in 1990, fares was reintroduced in 1993. The reintroduction of fares allowed Beeline to expand beyond downtown Glendale, adding service to Adventist Health Glendale, Glendale Community College and La Crescenta-Montrose. Restarting fare collection also enabled the city to upgrade its shuttle buses to full-size busses.
Following several safety incidents during Medi-Ride's operation of the Beeline, the Glendale City Council awarded a new, 3-year contract to Mayflower Contract Services in 1993.
With the 1992 introduction of Metrolink commuter rail, Beeline service was expanded to the Glendale Transportation Center. Following the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, Metrolink rapidly accelerated its expansion of its Santa Clarita line to the Antelope Valley, resulting in an increase in Beeline use.
Modern history
In 1999, the Glendale Transportation Center's adjoining bus station opened, thereby becoming an intermodal passenger transport center. On the 9.5-acre area surrounding the train station, a 750-space parking lot was built, landscaping and lighting was improved, and a bay for 10 buses was established.
Following Laidlaw's 2001 bankruptcy, the contract to operate the Beeline system was awarded to MV Transportation.
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In 2009, a compressed natural gas filling station opened at the Glendale Transportation Center.
In December 2013, Glendale Beeline became the first public transit agency in Los Angeles County to operate with all low-floor buses.
By 2016, Beeline had outgrown its existing maintenance facility, leading to the construction of an administration, maintenance and operations facility adjacent to the Glendale Transportation Center. Construction began in 2018. The RNL Architecture-designed facility provides dedicated parking for the transit fleet of 37 buses and 9 "dial-a-ride" vans, as well as staff vehicles.
By 2020, Glendale Beeline was facing criticism from environmentalists for relying on compressed natural gas vehicles instead of converting its fleet to electric buses. In 2022, Glendale was awarded $34.6 million in Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) funding from the California State Transportation Agency to electrify its bus fleet. The first electric Beeline bus debuted on Earth Day in 2025, with an additional twenty buses to be phased into the fleet over the following three years.
From Wikipedia’s article on Glendale Beeline, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4