South Bay Commuters Must Wait Awhile to Catch Ride With MAX

South Bay commuters will have to wait a few more weeks to catch a ride with MAX, the area’s new rush-hour bus system.

Luxury buses for the Municipal Area Express, originally scheduled to start Jan. 17, will be delivered so late the system probably will not begin full service until March 26, commuter program manager Robert Hildebrand said.

“I just hope it doesn’t hurt our ridership,” said El Segundo Mayor Carl Jacobson, vice chairman of the new system’s policy committee. “I think it’s going to be a great service, and I’d like to see it in operation.”

MAX, a joint creation of nine South Bay cities and Los Angeles County, will serve commuters on three former transit lines--the Hughes Commuter Bus Service, which shut down in 1986; former Rapid Transit District Line 685, which lost district funding in 1987 but has been continued under a contract with Rancho Palos Verdes and Torrance, and the Hermosa-Manhattan Commuter Service, which was shut down in 1986. All three lines end near El Segundo aerospace companies.

The system’s steering committee, made up of elected officials from the system’s founding cities, earlier this year approved a $2.8-million contract to buy 21 Spirit buses from Gillig Corp. of Hayward, Calif.

The 27 1/2-foot-long buses, which hold 25 people each, will feature plush seating, overhead reading lights, luggage racks and air conditioning.

All of the buses were scheduled to arrive by Dec. 20, but Gillig’s opening of a new plant in Hillsboro, Tex., to build the buses took longer than the company expected, Hildebrand said.

“Staff was aware that our schedule was beginning to slip, but we had no idea that it would be that much,” he said. “They’re getting everything smoothed out now.”

MAX organizers have considered leasing buses or starting up lines piecemeal to get the system rolling earlier, but Hildebrand fears neither approach would work very well.

Leasing buses would be expensive and would not provide the same luxury ride the new buses will, he said. Phasing in service could confuse new riders.

Policy steering committee members are scheduled to meet Jan. 8 to discuss their options.

Although the Gillig contract allows MAX to withhold $50 for each day a bus is late--about $67,000 if Gillig sticks to the new schedule--Hildebrand said he does not know whether system administrators will charge Gillig for the delay.

“It’s a way of getting back funds if a delay truly causes you direct costs,” he said. “We’re recommending the board wait until March, when all of the buses are in, to evaluate Gillig’s overall performance before making that decision.”

Hermosa Beach Mayor Roger Creighton, a member of the steering committee, said the board will use the delay to improve plans for the system.

Redondo Beach City Council members voted last month to ask MAX organizers to shift a portion of one line from Catalina Avenue to Pacific Coast Highway. At that time, the new system’s board did not think there was enough time to make the change.

The delay leaves just enough time to complete the studies needed for such a change, Creighton said.

“These things happen,” Creighton said. “There’s nothing that can be done about the delay, so you use the time to review everything you’ve done and make adjustments.”