The girl in red pants was terrified as three other girls dragged her out of the Big Blue Bus and continued beating her on the sidewalk.
The video of a girl beating another on a #9 Big Blue Bus (BBB), and then the fighting that continued on the street by the bus stop at the corner of Carey Street and Sunset Boulevard, was shocking.
Circling the News contacted Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock, who provided information about fares and school passes.
Everyone over the age of 5 is expected to pay. Senior and disabled rates are 50 cents for a single ride. There is a seven-day pass, which allows one to ride as many buses in a consecutive 7 day period for $14.
Students can ride Metro buses and trains (and the Big Blue Bus) for free with GoPass, and can pick up a GoPass Tap card from his/her school.
Brock was asked if passes could be taken away for behavior, such as fighting and he said, “Palisades Charter High School is solely responsible for the administration and distribution of passes for its students, and any passes rescinded would be at the school’s discretion.”
He was asked if a driver can refuse entry to someone who doesn’t pay.
“BBB drivers are trained to put the safety of passengers and themselves first,” Brock said. “They can deny entry to the bus under certain conditions if safe but are trained to contact BBB dispatch related to security concerns about a passenger.”
He added that “The City of Santa Monica also continues to advocate for greater safety protections at the state level. The city is advancing legislation in Sacramento (SB 1417-Allen) that would provide it the authority to ban anyone cited for committing certain prohibited acts from entering the Big Blue Bus system—authority that many other transit agencies in the state currently have.”
Currently a driver would not be able to ban the girl that started the fight from a bus, for example.
He was asked if police are called for incidents, such as the one that took place in the Palisades.
“Yes, absolutely,” Brock said. “Drivers are instructed to immediately contact BBB dispatch for any type of security incidents (including via covert alarm, if necessary), which then contacts SM or LAPD dispatch depending on the location of the bus. During last week’s incident, the driver did exactly that, and both a BBB Road Supervisor and LAPD responded to the scene.”
CTN contacted Palisades High School Principal and Executive Director Pam Magee and asked, “Did the girls in question on the video have a bus pass through Pali and if they have a pass, will it be rescinded next year?”
When she responds, the story will be updated.
(Editor’s note: Unfortunately, it seems there are no consequences if kids take the bus with or without a pass, with or without paying.)
Rescinding a bus pass for fighting on a bus is one step. But what I really want to know from Principal Magee is: have you identified the students involved? Have you contacted their parents and shown them the videos? Have you sat down, in person or via zoom, with the students and their parents and discussed what happened and why it happened? Have you interviewed the bystanders? Are school counselors involved? What consequences will you be imposing on those involved? What sorts of “social emotional learning” programs are mandatory at Pali? What new steps are you taking to prevent these incidents from occurring again? (And I don’t mean a wimpy letter to parents asking them, pretty please, to “check in” with their kids to ensure they are engaging in “productive activities” in the Village; I bet the girl throwing the punches thought she was being very “productive!”).
Is the girl who was beaten ok? No way to know?
it seems there are no consequences
THAT right there is the problem with the world today 🙁
Sadly, BT said it all. ALL.