Threat to Bus Ridership

I have been a passenger on the commuter express bus from Encino to downtown for the past 18 months. Those who ride this bus with me agree that this is an excellent service. However, in the recent months, there is an issue that we, the “commuter population,” find very distressing.

This service operates out of a park-and-ride lot owned by Caltrans at the corner of Hayvenhurst and Magnolia. Within the last month, there have been at least four cars stolen from this lot. If this pattern were to continue, I would think that it would seriously start to affect the ridership on this bus.

In a city that is crying out for volunteers to use “mass transit,” it would seem a shame to force those of us who don’t want to put another single-driver car on the road, who think that the cost of parking in the downtown area, not to mention a tax on parking, is outrageous and who really enjoy not having to face the stress of driving to downtown, back into our cars, just because no one with any authority will do more than turn a blind eye on our plight.

KATHRYN GRANT

Van Nuys