Transit Line Hits a Few Bumps in Its Debut

At least three drivers got lost, another got a ticket for not having a license plate on his bus and several passengers had to sprint through traffic when they discovered they were standing on the wrong corner.

Despite the glitches in Wednesday’s first-day service, 163 El Segundo aerospace commuters still managed to catch a ride to work on MAX, the South Bay’s new Municipal Area Express transit system.

The stubby 25-passenger buses began cruising the streets of the South Bay before the sun finished creeping above the horizon.

Commuters in San Pedro, Rancho Palos Verdes and Redondo Beach gathered beneath the bright violet, blue and white MAX map signs, waiting to try out the luxury buses--replete with reading lights and plush reclining seats--that they hope will let them leave their cars at home every day.

As commuters boarded, volunteers from various community groups pinned “I’m Driven” buttons on them, handed them complimentary newspapers and pressed MAX coffee mugs into their hands.

A joint creation of nine South Bay cities and Los Angeles County, MAX provides morning and afternoon rush-hour service 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 was continued until January under a contract with Rancho Palos Verdes and Torrance, and the Hermosa-Manhattan Commuter Service, or Herman, which stopped operating in 1986.

For most riders, MAX worked out fine, if a little late. For those traveling from San Pedro, however, delays averaged more than an hour, in part because one driver had trouble finding the starting point and another took a wrong turn into an El Segundo residential neighborhood.

Commuters studied schedules with raised eyebrows, noting several instances where the MAX system allowed as little as one minute to cover distances of several blocks.

Others complained that the new MAX line does not come to their San Pedro Air Force housing complex, as the old RTD Line 685 used to do.

MAX organizers sighed at the reports of trouble, promising to iron out the problems.

“No matter what you do to prepare them, there’s going to be mistakes made on the first day,” said Al Dirth, director of training for DAVE Transportation, the Long Beach contractor hired to handle the service.

Transit planners will gather complaints and suggestions over the next few weeks for possible changes in stop locations and scheduled times.

“We only printed a 90-day supply of schedules, so we can rework what we need to once we see what needs doing,” said Darlene Cochran, DAVE Transportation district manager.

The first-day turnout of 163 passengers, however, was encouraging. With only six morning and seven afternoon runs on each of three lines, Cochran said the new system can handle only 450 riders in the morning and 525 in the afternoon.

“I alternated between nightmares of no one (showing up) and 2,000,” Cochran said. “We knew we would be doing well if we got more than 100.”

Most riders on Wednesday were using free one-day passes included in more than 25,000 publicity kits distributed to El Segundo commuters at several major companies.

Some riders complained that the fares were too steep. Riders were charged $1.25 for short-distance commutes and $1.50 for those traveling from San Pedro and the south side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

“The RTD lines I’ve been using cost me about 53 cents a trip and they’re spaced so I never have to wait more than five minutes,” said John Eakins, a Hughes software engineer who regularly uses a discount pass to ride RTD buses to work.

Most major aerospace companies have agreed to discount the monthly $45 and $54 MAX passes by $15, but using a monthly pass still works out to roughly 70 cents a ride for short-range commuters. Some companies, including Hughes, will sell books of 10 MAX tickets for $5, but employees are limited to two books each month--only enough for two weeks of commuting.

Robert Till, a Hughes Aircraft worker who caught the San Pedro bus, said he collected a handful of the complimentary passes from colleagues.

“A lot of my co-workers were not interested in using this,” he said. “I guess it reduces their flexibility.”

To Till, however, MAX is long overdue.

“This area has a terrible transit system,” he said. “I think this is a very positive step.”

Most commuters took the foibles of first-day service in stride.

Arrie Allen, who drove the San Pedro route, mistakenly turned on Freeman Avenue from Manhattan Beach Boulevard in El Segundo. He sheepishly took directions from a dozen back-seat drivers after he ended up in a residential area filled with children walking to school.

“I’ll bet you are supposed to turn on Freeman Boulevard,” offered one woman, who said her daughter had once made the same mistake.

“It’s OK by me if I end up in Ventura,” said one voice from the back of the bus. “I don’t feel like working today.”

Allen apologized to disembarking passengers for the bumpy start.

“I promise we will be better tomorrow.”

Other drivers openly admitted not knowing their routes. When driver Johnny Bush approached the Hughes complex for the first time, he called out for assistance from his passengers.

“I’ve never been through here before, folks,” he said. “You’re going to have to show me where we’re going.”

Two of his seven riders patiently guided him through. In return, he let them out in mid-block, right in front of their workplace.

Bush took a wrong turn after leaving the complex, ending up several blocks off his route.

“I may not be on my route, but I’m not lost. I know exactly where I am,” called out the former RTD driver as he skillfully circled back to where he belonged.

MAX workers failed to install a locked vault on Bush’s fare box, an oversight that caused money and passes to drop straight to the floor.

“I’ll just put it in my pocket and hand it to you when I get in,” Bush told the frantic radio dispatcher who asked him if he could make do without a vault.

As Bush neared the end of his route, he passed a MAX bus being carefully inspected by a motorcycle policeman.

The driver of that bus, Gabriel Hernandez, said he was startled to be pulled over on his first day at the wheel.

“I asked him, ‘What did I do, officer?’ and he was real nice about it. I hadn’t done anything, thank you, Lord,” Hernandez said, noting that the officer stopped him because his bus had no license plate.

“He wrote the company a ticket for not having proof of registration or proof of insurance,” he said. “I didn’t even know the company’s address.”

Amused riders inconvenienced by the first-day foul-ups said they are rooting for the system.

“If it works out, I’ll sell my other car,” said Garry Jared, a Hughes systems operations test director who was enjoying his first public transit ride. “I’m a little surprised at the low ridership. When you think about how many thousands could use it, I thought it might be full today.”