Beeline Bus Routes to Be Extended by 2 Miles

The Glendale City Council voted Tuesday to expand the city’s two Beeline shuttle-bus routes, adding service to a new medical center, a supermarket and a number of apartment buildings north of the Ventura Freeway.

The extensions, which add two miles of service, are a result of rider surveys and requests from senior citizens, said Kerry Morford, transportation specialist for Glendale’s Public Works Division. The expansion must be approved by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

Under the new service, scheduled to begin in late January, the shuttle buses will travel north on Brand Boulevard and turn left at Stocker Street, one mile farther north than the route’s current turnoff at Goode Street. On the other route, buses will begin traveling west on Arden Avenue to Pacific Avenue, where they will turn right and go to Glenoaks Boulevard, make an easterly loop and hook up with Brand Boulevard. Buses now turn east on Arden and south onto Brand.

City officials say the expanded routes will provide bus service to the proposed Soroptomist senior-citizen housing project at Monterey Road and Louise Street. Also to be added is a stop at Harvard Street and Isabel Avenue to provide public transportation to residents of Park Paseo, another seniors’ building.

Bus Wait to Be Longer

Expanded service will mean that times between buses will increase from the current 10 to 12 minutes to about 15 minutes during peak hours--from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.--and from 20 minutes to 30 minutes during off-peak hours.

City officials also intend to post time schedules at every third or fourth stop, Morford said.

The shuttle service, operated by Pacific Busing under contract with the City of Glendale, has been in operation since December, 1984. The buses are equipped to handle wheelchairs and cost 25 cents a ride.

Riders average about 250 daily, well below first city projections of 310. But Morford said that the number of riders has increased 20% since last year and that the expanded routes may attract even more.