Of course you need to get permission from the bus company before taking a scene on their bus. It is necessary and needed so you must get their approval first!
Try to find a location that is suit to your scenes at lightsonlocation.com. As I know a lot of filmmakers search their filming locations in this site and because of it their searching of location makes easy and fast. But if you want, you can visit http://5401olympic.com and see if that place...
Of course you need to go on a various location owners and ask if you can film in their property because how can you have the location that you needed in your film if you won’t ask the permission of the location owners.
Hey, you know what “trailer” makes every viewer excited about the film that you are launching. What you did is not a trailer, how can we be excited on your film if the trailer was not good to watch? Anyway, it’s your first time so it’s okay to make a mistake. You have a lot of time to work on it...
Film Tools has great filming equipment online and the other one is Prokit. Both of them have the best gear that you are looking for. Try to visit their site to know more about them.