Last updated
By Ron McMinn, Esq. | Last updated November 10, 2026.
Read this article in Español.
Los Angeles is putting cameras on city DASH buses to catch cars parked in bus lanes and at bus stops. That program is already in its warning period. It does not change the six-month deadline for an injury claim, and it does not send a DASH claim to LA Metro.
According to NBC Los Angeles on October 21, 2026, the Los Angeles City Council on October 21, 2026, authorized the installation of up to 50 cameras on city DASH buses. The report said the Los Angeles Department of Transportation would implement the program as of November 1, starting with cameras on 30 buses covering all downtown DASH routes (A, B, D, E, F, and Pico-Union), with a second phase after January 27, 2027. NBC Los Angeles on October 29, 2026 reported that LADOT would begin mailing warning notices on Monday, November 2, 2026, and that citations requiring payment would begin January 2, 2027.
The same October 29 report quoted LADOT General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo as saying that vehicles blocking bus stops can prevent operators from safely deploying wheelchair ramps and can force buses into general traffic. NBC also reported that DASH joins Metro, Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus, and Culver CityBus in using bus-mounted cameras to enforce parking restrictions in bus lanes and at bus stops.
If you were hurt on a DASH bus, a Commuter Express coach, or a Big Blue Bus, or one of those buses hit you, the first job is to name the agency. The claim generally goes to the City of Los Angeles or the City of Santa Monica, not to Metro Legal Services. This guide explains where each claim goes and the deadlines that still apply. For Metro buses, start with our how to file a claim after an LA Metro bus accident and our Los Angeles bus accident lawyer page.
Whose bus was it?
LADOT’s buses page describes DASH as frequent bus service in downtown Los Angeles and in neighborhoods across the City, and it describes Commuter Express as LADOT’s commuter service. Both are City of Los Angeles transportation services. A claim over a City bus, a City operator, or a City stop generally belongs with the City, not with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The Big Blue Bus About page says the Big Blue Bus is a City of Santa Monica department, governed by Santa Monica’s City Council. A claim over a Big Blue Bus generally belongs with the City of Santa Monica.
Metro is a separate public agency. A Metro bus may look like a city bus at a quick glance, but the name on the bus, the route number, and a photo from the scene usually tell you which system it was. If you are not sure, a lawyer can find out before the deadline. Filing with the wrong agency does not protect the deadline against the right one.
NBC reported that Culver CityBus also uses bus-mounted cameras for lane and stop enforcement. Culver CityBus is a separate city system. This article does not describe Culver City’s claim form or mailing address. Confirm the name on the bus and present a timely claim to the right city.
Where a DASH or Commuter Express claim goes
A claim against the City of Los Angeles is filed with the Office of the City Clerk, not with LADOT and not with the City Attorney’s intake desk as the first stop. The City Clerk’s Claim for Damage page lists three ways to file, and our City of Los Angeles claim guide walks through the same official instructions.
Online: the City Clerk says the City’s online Claim for Damages portal provides an immediate claim number and can be completed entirely online. The City also links a Spanish-language online form from the same page.
By mail: print the paper Claim for Damages form, sign it, and mail it to Office of the City Clerk, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, City Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90012. To have a form mailed to you, the City lists (213) 978-1133 or clerk.cps@lacity.org.
In person: deliver or fill out a claim form at the City Clerk, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, City Hall (the City says the entrance is on Main Street), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding City holidays.
The City Clerk says emailed or faxed claims are not accepted. The City’s claim form says claims can only be filed with the City Clerk. After filing, the City Clerk says the claim process transfers to the City Attorney.
Where a Big Blue Bus claim goes
Use the City of Santa Monica’s claim form, not Metro’s form and not the Los Angeles City Clerk portal. The Claim Against the City of Santa Monica form is titled “Claim Against the City of Santa Monica (for damages to persons or personal property).” It says completed claims must be mailed or delivered to the City Clerk, City of Santa Monica, 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401, and it says “NO FAX.”
The Santa Monica City Clerk’s Office page says the office is located at 1685 Main St., Room 102, Santa Monica, 90401, and lists office hours as Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and every other Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The form has a section “for claims against Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus lines ONLY.” It asks where you boarded, where the damage or injury occurred, the bus number, the line number, and the bus operator’s badge number, and it asks whether you were a passenger, a driver or occupant of another vehicle, a pedestrian, or an owner of other property. Write down those details at the scene if you can do so safely.
We did not find an official Santa Monica online injury-claim portal to match the City of Los Angeles portal, so this article does not say you can file a Big Blue Bus claim on the web. Use the paper form, and mail or deliver it as the form instructs.
If it was an LA Metro bus instead
Metro’s Legal Services page says to use Metro’s Claims for Damages form if you sustained an injury to person or personal property. It says completed forms are only accepted in person or by mail through the United States Postal Service, FedEx, or UPS, and that any claims received by email will be rejected and denied. The listed mailing address is LACMTA, Legal Services, One Gateway Plaza, MS: PL4, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Our how to file a claim after an LA Metro bus accident and LA Metro accident claims page explain the Metro process.
The six-month deadline is the same idea, with different offices
Government Code section 911.2 says a claim relating to a cause of action for death or for injury to a person or to personal property shall be presented not later than six months after the accrual of the cause of action. Most other claims have one year. Accrual is a legal question. Do not invent the start date from a news story about cameras.
The City of Los Angeles claim form, citing that statute, says claims for death, injury to person, or injury to personal property must be filed not later than six months after the occurrence. The Santa Monica form says the same six-month rule for death, injury to person, or personal property, and one year for damages to real property.
Under section 945.4, you generally cannot sue a public entity for money damages until a required claim has been presented and acted on, or deemed rejected. section 912.4 generally gives the public entity 45 days to act. If it does not act, the claim is deemed rejected on the last day of that period. After written notice of rejection, section 945.6 generally gives six months from the date the notice is personally delivered or mailed to file suit. If no written notice is given, a two-year period from accrual can apply instead.
If the six months have passed, section 911.4 allows a written application for leave to present a late claim, within a reasonable time not more than one year after accrual, with the proposed claim attached. Relief is not automatic. See our guide on a missed six-month government claim deadline.
A claim against a private driver, such as a motorist who hit the bus, generally follows the two-year injury deadline in Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. That longer deadline does not extend the government-claim period against the City or against Metro.
Cameras do not replace a claim, and footage is not released automatically
The new DASH cameras, and Metro’s existing program on Lines 70, 212, 720, 910, and 950 described on Metro’s Bus Lane Enforcement page, are parking-enforcement tools. They record vehicles that block bus lanes or stops. That is not the same thing as onboard or exterior video of a crash, a sudden stop, or a boarding injury, and it is not a promise that any video will be given to a claimant.
If you were hurt, write down the bus number, route, direction, stop, and time. Keep your TAP card or fare record. Photograph the scene and your injuries if you can do so safely. Ask, in writing, that the agency preserve onboard and exterior video. Do not assume a warning notice or a later citation in a bus lane means the agency will send you the file. Our article on Metro and DASH bus cameras and evidence explains that point in more detail, and our page on being injured by sudden bus braking with no crash covers injuries from a hard stop with no collision.
Talk to us
If you were hurt on a DASH bus, a Commuter Express coach, a Big Blue Bus, or an LA Metro bus in California, Win Attorneys handles government claims and bus injury matters statewide from our Tustin office. We speak Spanish and Vietnamese.
Call us at (657) 235-8097, reach us through our contact page, or start online with our intake form. Office: 17291 Irvine Blvd., Suite 210, Tustin, CA 92780.
This article is general information and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Frequently asked questions
Is a DASH bus the same as an LA Metro bus?
No. DASH and Commuter Express are Los Angeles Department of Transportation services for the City of Los Angeles. A claim over a City bus generally goes to the Office of the City Clerk, not to Metro Legal Services.
Where do I file a claim after a DASH or Commuter Express injury?
With the Office of the City Clerk. The City lists an online portal, mail to 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, City Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90012, or delivery in person at that office. The City says emailed or faxed claims are not accepted.
Where do I file a claim after a Big Blue Bus injury?
With the City of Santa Monica. The City’s claim form says completed claims must be mailed or delivered to the City Clerk, 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401, and it says not to fax the claim. The form has a section just for Big Blue Bus claims.
How long do I have to present the claim?
Government Code section 911.2 generally requires a written claim within six months for death or for injury to a person or to personal property. The City of Los Angeles and Santa Monica forms say the same six-month rule for those injury claims.
Do the new DASH cameras change the deadline or the claims office?
No. A parking-enforcement camera on a DASH bus does not change the six-month government-claim deadline, and it does not send a City bus claim to Metro.
Will the City or Metro automatically give me the camera footage after a crash?
No. Ask in writing that video be preserved. A camera ticket program is not the same thing as a claims-video release, and footage is not provided automatically.