RTD Board to Vote on Permitting Free Shuttle for 6 Months

After a two-month dispute over a potential loss of bus riders, the Southern California Rapid Transit District board is slated to vote today on an agreement that would allow Glendale to expand its free Beeline shuttle service into the southern part of the city for at least six months.

Last spring, the Glendale City Council endorsed a plan to create a new Beeline route that would loop through the southern part of the city along Brand Boulevard and Central Avenue, with a stop at the city’s Amtrak station.

But RTD officials blocked the service, saying it would duplicate existing RTD routes and divert riders.

Under a compromise reached last week, RTD staff members have urged their board to grant a conditional six-month approval of the new Beeline service. The plan calls for an immediate survey of RTD riders along the proposed Beeline route, then a follow-up in six months to determine whether any riders have abandoned the buses for the free shuttles.

“If no diversion occurs, the six-month limit on the district’s consent will be removed,” RTD spokeswoman Andrea Greene said.

If the RTD board approves the agreement today, the southern shuttle is tentatively scheduled to begin Oct. 1.

Glendale staff members have argued that the line will serve passengers who need a short ride to and from restaurants, auto businesses, a hospital and other sites in the commercial district. They believe that few people are paying the $1.10 RTD fare to go just a few blocks along the route that the free shuttle will follow.

If riders are lost to the shuttle, Glendale may be asked to alter the Beeline route or reimburse the RTD, district officials said. The RTD estimates that almost 2,000 people a day board in Glendale along the proposed Beeline route on buses bound for Pasadena, Hollywood, Sherman Oaks and downtown Los Angeles.

The district is concerned about the route duplication in addition to potential fare losses, said Gary Spivak, interim assistant RTD general manager. “There are many areas of the Los Angeles region that have no bus service whatsoever,” he said. “We should be using our resources to make sure those areas are served.”

But Tom Horne, Glendale’s traffic and transportation administrator, believes that the survey will show that the RTD’s fears about the Beeline route are groundless. “Overall, we don’t think we’ll have a significant impact on them,” he said.