A buy-one-get-one-free offer on Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus

If you’re vacationing in Southern California and your travels take you along the Westside routes served by Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus, you can take advantage of a buy-one-get-one-free offer to mark the expansion of the Expo Line between downtown L.A. and Santa Monica.

Seven new stations on the Expo Line opened May 20.

Here’s how this deal works: Buy a Transit Access Pass card -- a plastic Metro transit card that can be used over and over as you add fare amounts -- for $2. (If you already have a TAP card, you can add money to it, but you must go in person to the Big Blue Bus store at 1444 4th St. or the mobility center at Santa Monica City Hall, 1685 Main St.)

Let’s say you go to the Big Blue Bus website and buy a $14 pass. It will load onto your TAP card and automatically add a second $14 pass for free.

Where will that take you? You can ride on any Big Blue Bus (Express 10 requires a $1.25 upgrade). And if you choose to add individual transit rides — there’s another category called Stored Value, which is basically equal to cash — instead of adding a pass to your TAP card, the bus agency will match that value, up to $20. And Stored Value can be used as fare payment for any of the TAP participating agencies in L.A. County, including the Expo Line, Red Line and buses.

You also can buy Big Blue Bus passes in person at 1444 4th St. or 1685 Main St. in Santa Monica or online.

Info: Big Blue Bus

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UPDATES:

3:06 p.m. This post has been updated to add information about the Big Blue Bus’ Stored Value program.