MTA Puts the Brakes on the 'Nanny Express'
Amid raucous cheers aboard Metro Bus 576, Frozene Jones blew kisses, lifted a glass of something amber and bubbly and cleared her throat for a toast.
It was, after all, the final Christmas party in the last days of the beloved bus known as the "Nanny Express."
One of the longest of Los Angeles County's bus routes, the 576 will cease running next week as part of an efficiency effort by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
And Jones, a 70-year-old housekeeper in Beverly Hills who is the most senior and faithful rider of this particular bus, is retiring too.
"We've had some good times, mmm-mm, good times," Jones said as riders toasted and hugged one another on Friday, a few eyes moist with tears. "Oh, I hate to see my bus go. We're going to really all miss it."
Born in 1968 out of the Watts riots' ashes to improve access to jobs, the line ferried maids, cooks, butlers and others like Jones across the economic and geographic divides of Los Angeles. The current two-hour route zigzags 23 miles between gritty neighborhoods in South L.A. and the lush Westside communities of Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Pacific Palisades.
Over the miles and through the years, the riders gossiped, shared jokes and became tight friends. They celebrated birthdays and Christmas and collected money for those going through hard times.
And on the run that began at 7:52 Friday morning, 15 women and one man stepped onboard from street corners and bus benches along Vernon and Western avenues to share Christmas one last time. They brought trays of food befitting their membership in the United Nations of Los Angeles and turned the bus into a rolling clubhouse.
When the chugging motion made it difficult to serve food or pour sparkling cider, the driver briefly pulled over to the side of La Cienega Boulevard. As the engine idled, people formed a line down the aisle and along the metal poles and heaped their paper plates with food.
"We recognize it's a special line. It's the Nanny Express," said Marc Littman, spokesman for the MTA. "But the ridership on that line is heavily subsidized, and there's so much duplicate service. We have an operating deficit. We have to be as efficient as we can be." The last day of service is next Friday.
