Laguna Beach considers a transit shake-up
Laguna Beach staff members are proposing a host of strategies that stand to shake up the city’s public transportation system, which currently includes trolleys and a free van service for seniors.
The council on March 7 will weigh in on suggestions that include contracting with Uber, an on-demand ride service company, for a trial period and reducing the hours of the city’s mainline bus service, according to a city staff report.
The council was scheduled to discuss the topic Tuesday, but city staff adjusted the agenda after Mayor Toni Iseman voiced concern about the number of items scheduled to be discussed.
“I was worried about the length of the meeting,” Iseman said. “We don’t make good decisions after 11 p.m., and that looked to be a meeting that lasted until 1 a.m.”
“We try to balance out the meetings because it is very hard for members of the public to participate so late in the evenings especially on weekday nights,” Assistant City Manager Christa Johnson added.
City staff posted the original agenda on the city’s website Thursday. By 3 p.m. Friday, a revised agenda was listed, ahead of the required 72-hour notice to the public, City Clerk Lisette Chel-Walker said.
Also scratched from Tuesday’s agenda was a matter involving pedestrian access in the Temple Hills neighborhood, according to the city’s website.
Among the items scheduled for this Tuesday is an application from former city planner Monica Tuchscher to open a 23-seat tea and coffee house called Harmony Tea Bar at 305 Forest Ave., a spot previously occupied by shoe retailer Quattro Passi.
Laguna hired an outside company, IBI Group, to study the effectiveness of its public transportation, including buses and trolleys.
The city is proposing to eliminate mainline bus service on Saturdays and drop routes altogether in north and South Laguna, primarily because of lagging ridership, according to the staff report.
Buses currently travel through portions of Laguna from 6:50 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 9:50 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturdays.
Under the proposal, buses would run from 6:30 to 9 a.m. Mondays through Fridays and 2:15 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.
While the city has not “significantly altered” the bus service in recent years, ridership steadily declined from a high of 97,000 in 2010 to 84,137 last year, according to the staff report.
As for senior transportation, the city currently contracts with the nonprofit Sally’s Fund to provide rides for passengers at least 60 years old.
About half the rides per month take seniors to the Laguna Beach Community & Susi Q Center; the seniors also use the van service for trips to grocery stores and medical appointments as well as visits with friends and family, the staff report said.
The van service is an important but costly asset, and so the city is searching for ways to augment it, such as using Uber, according to the report.
Based on 2015 ridership results, it cost the city $26.04 per passenger using Sally’s Fund. The report says an Uber fare would be considerably less.
City staff members are recommending that the neighborhood trolley program — which began last summer on a trial basis, serving Top of the World, Bluebird Canyon and Arch Beach Heights areas for 15 weeks — continue on weekends.
Laguna officials have said trolleys offer greater flexibility because riders can flag them down, whereas buses have fixed stops.
The neighborhood trolley program was supposed to end Labor Day, but the council unanimously voted in late August to extend the service into the fall to more fully gauge its popularity.
The residential service was separate from the off-season weekend trolley program, which covers North and South Coast Highway from Labor Day through the third week of June.
In the summer, trolleys run daily on North and South Coast Highway and along Laguna Canyon Road, ferrying visitors to the city’s acclaimed art festivals.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
