L.A. Approves Expansion of Commuter Line
The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved expansion of the Encino Park and Ride service and the Westlake Village commuter line to increase the number of daily bus trips downtown.
With the expansion, the service will operate six trips from Encino to downtown each weekday morning and six trips back each weekday evening, instead of the three now operating each way.
The additional trips will be provided via Westlake Commuter Express Line 423, which will travel from Westlake Village to downtown with a stop in Encino. The Westlake-downtown line now makes only one trip a day and does not stop in Encino.
Transportation officials said the increased service will be able to handle about 100 more passengers daily. About 160 riders a day now use the service.
Included in the $641,820 expansion is the purchase of four buses that are leased from the private firm that runs the line for the city, Laidlaw Transit of Van Nuys. The financing comes from the city’s allocation from Proposition A, a 1980 Los Angeles County tax measure that increased sales taxes half a cent to pay for transportation projects.
The Encino Park and Ride lot is at Magnolia Boulevard and Hazeltine Avenue. The Line 423 terminus is at Westlake and Thousand Oaks boulevards. The new service is expected to begin in about a month, city officials said.
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