Ride the Big Existential Bus

Gliding down Slauson Avenue near the Fox Hills Mall one morning, the green-and-white Culver City bus bears a curious destination sign: “Nowhere Particular.” Puzzled passersby who glimpse the enigmatic message are left to imagine the bus ambling pleasantly but pointlessly through Culver City, pausing to admire the view from the hills, maybe heading down Sepulveda to window shop.

It is the driver’s prerogative to flash the sign, says Dave Ashcraft, transportation director for the municipal bus line, but “I encourage them to use ‘Not in Service’ so as not to confuse the folks out there.” The “Nowhere Particular” sign has been around since the 1960s, when it originally read “Nowhere in Particular.” Apparently that was too long to fit on the new electronic signs. Even though Ashcraft says drivers rarely use it, the company bought 20 new buses last summer equipped with the code for displaying the message. “I haven’t found a reason to take it off yet,” Ashcraft says.