The MAXimum in Transit : Bus Service Catches On With El Segundo Aerospace Commuters

When the MAX buses started rolling four months ago, planners weren’t sure quite what to expect.

The new transit system was founded on the premise that at least 200 commuters a day would willingly leave their cars at home and take buses north to the aerospace industries in and around El Segundo.

Still, transportation planners say, the introduction of any new mass transit project is a risky affair.

So supporters of MAX are quietly cheering the latest ridership reports, which show as many as 2,275 people boarding buses each week on the system’s three routes, which were projected to carry 2,198 riders a week. That means about 225 people are riding the bus round-trip every day.

“It looks like we should be right on target,” said Robert W. Hildebrand, program manager for MAX, formally known as the Municipal Area Express. But he injected a note of caution: “The service is still new. Talk to me next January. We’ll see where it goes.”

Although overall ridership is strong, one of the system’s three routes is carrying fewer people than planners had hoped.

On the so-called “beach cities” route closest to the coast, some buses are running less than one-quarter full. Route changes are being considered in hopes of bolstering ridership; a public hearing on proposed changes will be held this fall.

MAX is targeted to serve workers in the aerospace industry, and employers are clearly pleased.

“Our people are making very good reports about it,” said James B. Ardis, director of human resources at the Radar Systems Group of Hughes Aircraft Co. “People really do feel that it’s a special, tailor-made thing to meet their needs.”

Hughes employees have praised the airline-style seats, commuter-oriented routes and drivers’ helpfulness, Ardis said. “It’s not just ‘riding the bus.’ There’s more of a social experience to it than you might think.”

A TRW official also commended MAX’s performance.

“It arrives at the time our people need the system. They ride to Space Park in comfort and without fighting all the traffic and the hassle,” said William Wells, transportation department manager for the TRW General Services Division’s space and defense section.

MAX is a joint project of nine South Bay cities and Los Angeles County. Its first buses began running April 18 on lines taken from three older bus routes.

The line serving San Pedro--the most popular to date--is MAX Line 3, formerly Rapid Transit District Line 686 and later a Los Angeles Commuter Express line. The line that begins in Rancho Palos Verdes, MAX Line 2, resembles the former RTD Line 685. And the beach cities line, MAX Line 1, serves some of the same areas as Herman, the old Hermosa-Manhattan Commuter Service.

The project has a first-year operating budget of $940,000, with fare revenues estimated at $127,000. Half of the remaining funds are supplied by a Proposition A demonstration grant from the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which will decrease over the next three years. The rest comes from local cities’ share of Proposition A money.

MAX buses run every 20 minutes during morning and afternoon rush-hour periods. The buses make six trips north on each route each weekday morning, and eight trips south each night. The extra evening trips are needed because employees’ departures from work are scattered over a longer period of time than their arrivals.

Cash fares vary from $1.25 to $1.50, according to zone. Monthly passes are available for $45 or $54, and some employers offer subsidies.

MAX is especially popular among TRW employees, who constituted the largest group of commuters in a recent survey. Employees from two Hughes groups--Space and Communications, and Radar Systems--each made up 12% of MAX riders. The U.S. Air Force accounted for 10%, followed by Xerox at 8%, Aerospace Corp. at 8%, and Hughes Electro-Optical and Data Systems Group at 6%.

MAX organizers are monitoring the current debate over the possible departure of the 3,200-employee Air Force Space Systems Division from El Segundo. If the division moves, the 4,000-employee Aerospace Corp. in El Segundo, a nonprofit think tank that works closely with the space division, might also be lost, and MAX ridership could be hurt.

“We’re working very hard trying to keep the Air Force base here,” said El Segundo Mayor Carl Jacobson, vice president of the MAX Policy Steering Committee.

In view of the slow growth of the beach cities line, planners are surveying commuters about possible changes.

One problem is that the line duplicates only a portion of an earlier bus line, Hildebrand said. “Therefore, we’re just kind of starting from scratch.”

Hermosa Beach Mayor Roger Creighton added: “People who live in Hermosa and Manhattan are that close to the (El Segundo) employment center that they jump in their cars and drive.”

One idea being discussed is to reroute the beach cities line in El Segundo to speed up service to TRW. Planners are also looking into creating a park-and-ride lot at Riviera United Methodist Church in Torrance.

The San Pedro line may also be extended to serve an Air Force housing complex.

Those ideas and others will be reviewed at a public hearing at 5 p.m. Oct. 8 at Xerox Corp. in El Segundo. Changes would have to be approved by the MAX policy committee.