Culver City Invites Students & Families to Elenda Earth Day Celebration
On Tuesday, April 22, 2025 from 7 AM to 9 AM, Elenda Street will be closed to cars for a car-free school commute in celebration of Earth Day.
For one morning, CCUSD students at Farragut Elementary, CCMS, CCHS and Culver Park High will experience a car free route to school. Students will be able to walk, bike, skate, scoot or use transit without cars.
Students who travel to school on transit using GoPass will still be able to ride - all CCUSD students ride transit for free every day.
Culver City High School, Culver City Middle School and Farragut will be hosting Earth Day celebrations to promote climate-conscious decisions. Culver CityBus, Culver City PD and Culver City’s Sustainability Team will be distributing educational information in front of the high school as part of the celebration. Students will be encouraged to register beforehand and pledge to use alternative transportation that day.
The open streets event is part of the City-wide Culver City Safe Routes to School program that encourages families to rethink their commutes to school in an effort to reduce traffic and create safer, cleaner school communities. The event is supported by Culver City Police Department and Culver CityBus.
The first of its kind, two hour, open streets event will allow for kids to have one day with a car free route to school along CCUSD’s busiest school commute corridor. The event will also broaden conversations on safety, transportation and environmental issues. Parents are encouraged to park and walk with their students 3 blocks from their campus, or drop their students along Huron, Coombs, the parking lot at Culver/Elenda or at the pedestrian bridge, North of Ballona Creek.
“Providing students with safer routes to school is the cornerstone of the program” states Jim Shanman, Culver City Safe Routes to School Coordinator. “We are excited to host this one time event to demonstrate the value of removing cars from the equation and demonstrating to parents that parking just a few blocks away is not as hard as it seems”.
The street will be closed to car traffic starting at 6 AM and reopened at 9:30 AM. Parents that need to drive are encouraged to use side streets as alternatives, drop their kids off a few blocks from the school or use transit and avoid driving in this area altogether. Residents who will need to use their cars that morning are encouraged to park outside the event zone the night before.
Culver City is Dedicated to Improving Air Quality through Transit
Culver City has always been a progressive transit city, showing a strong commitment over the years to being a vital transportation resource. Culver CityBus provides significant value and enhances the wellbeing of the community by improving mobility options and continuing to advance the goals of environmental sustainability. Culver City has played a key role in improving the region’s mobility and air quality by helping to reduce car trips and vehicle miles travelled since 1928.
For more than twenty years, Culver City has relied heavily on alternative fuels to power the City’s fleet and has set a high standard for sustainable fleet operations. In 2004, the Culver CityBus transit fleet transitioned to 100% Compressed Natural Gas, becoming the first in the South Coast Air Quality Management District to do so, and the second in the State of California. Not only has the City’s commitment to alternative fuels achieved actual pollutant reductions within city limits, its efforts to incorporate advanced fuel technologies into its operations have been a model for transit agencies throughout the United States.
Named the California Transit Association’s Small Operator Transit Agency of the Year in 2020, Culver CityBus is the second oldest municipally owned bus line in California. Culver CityBus began operation on March 3, 1928, and over the past 95 years, passengers on Culver CityBus have enjoyed safe, reliable, convenient, and friendly public transportation service.
The Culver CityBus fleet is comprised of 54 compressed natural gas (CNG) and Battery Electric (BEB) buses. Culver CityBus operates seven routes, serving nearly 5 million riders annually with a service area encompassing 33 square miles, which includes the Westside communities of Venice, Westchester, Westwood, West Los Angeles, Palms, Marina Del Rey, Rancho Park, Mar Vista, Century City, Playa Vista and Culver City.
About Culver City
Culver City is a five-square-mile, urban community of 40,779 residents surrounded mostly by the City of Los Angeles but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. It is centrally located on the Westside near Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles International Airport. Culver City is particularly known for its well-run public school system, "small town" charm, growing high-tech and creative economies, and a dynamic downtown that is regionally known as a destination for restaurants, live theater, and art galleries.
