Beach bus to Santa Monica a cheap option for summer fun

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- If it's Friday, it's beach bus day in Los Angeles.

All summer until Sept. 3, a bus picks up passengers and takes them on a direct route to the beach in Santa Monica.

In East LA, the 10 a.m. bus picks up beachgoers at City Terrace Park.

For $2 passengers get a round trip direct route to Santa Monica Beach. Seniors pay $1.

The bus is paid for by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

A little more than an hour later, the beach bus pulls up to the Santa Monica Pier.

Beachgoers have about three and a half hours to have some fun in the sun before the bus heads back.

There are other public transportation options to the beach, but they involve transfers and a much longer travel time.

The East LA. route has about 500 riders each season.

At 3:15 p.m. the beach bus loads up and heads back to East LA.

You can get a beach bus in Altadena, Castaic, Duarte, East Los Angeles La Canada, Lancaster and Palmdale.