Bowling by Bus : Rides: Many say that being able to leave their cars at home is crucial to the enjoyment of an evening at Hollywood’s famed arena.

Each summer, thousands of San Fernando Valley residents trek to a nearby cultural mecca to hear the sounds of orchestras, jazz bands, crooners and, occasionally, to see the sky light up with fireworks.

For many families, going to the Hollywood Bowl takes on some of the characteristics of a pilgrimage--a cherished tradition not only of sharing the arts under the stars, but of careful preparation for a journey into a crowded arena in near rush-hour conditions.

Concert devotees pack picnic baskets filled with everything from tapers to expensive wine, and then they must negotiate transportation. While some make their way by car, increasing numbers are opting to take BowlBus, coordinated by Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn. officials and public transportation authorities.

Last year, 100,000 people took the BowlBus--including many well-heeled Valley residents who otherwise never set foot on public transportation. Many say that the trip, which affords relief from traffic hassles and expensive parking, is a vital prelude to a relaxing evening at the Bowl, whose season continues through Sept. 14.

Among the converts to BowlBusing are Dan and Marion Hirsch of Woodland Hills, who last year began taking public transportation after driving to the Bowl since 1955.

“He loves it,” Marion Hirsch said of her husband.

“I wouldn’t drive anymore. I don’t like the inconvenience of having to sit in traffic,” her husband said.

Here is a chronology of a recent Saturday night excursion:

6:36 p.m.: Cindy Sanchez stands in front of the Sunkist building at Hazeltine Avenue and Riverside Drive in Sherman Oaks, one of 13 BowlBus Park & Ride locations in Los Angeles County. She and her two friends have brought along Mozart Festival wine to blend with the sounds of Antonio Vivaldi they soon will be hearing. They also have included homemade foccacio bread, pate and Brie for an evening with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

“I don’t like to drive down there. It’s a mess getting to the car,” says Sanchez, a respiratory therapist, who waits with fellow respiratory therapist Delia DeSasia and physician Merry Tetef. “I’ve gotten lost twice before. I thought the bus would be less stressful.”

They board the bus five minutes later, along with 11 others, and leave. Before the night is over, 73 people at the Sherman Oaks lot will have boarded four Southern California Rapid Transit District buses.

6:42 p.m.: Compared to a patriotic show that ran in early July at the Bowl, the chamber music concert featuring Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” is shaping up to be slow, at least in bus ridership from Sherman Oaks. Three nights earlier, nearly 700 people had thronged 16 buses leaving the Canoga Park BowlBus stand en route to a rousing “America the Beautiful” program, complete with fireworks.

Park & Ride dispatcher Steve Baltin stands outside the bus at the Sherman Oaks lot, greeting passengers and reminding them that the one-way fare is $2. The explanation isn’t clear enough to some, such as the Englishman who, a few nights earlier, put $50 in the fare box before anyone noticed that he had grossly overpaid the price for himself and four women. The man had asked for five tickets, to which Baltin replied, “Ten dollars.” The chap apparently thought the price was $10 each. Because the box can be opened by only certain personnel, there wasn’t anything that could be done at the Park & Ride lot, leaving the man to work out the problem with officials.

Fares from riders made up about a third of last year’s $900,000 total budget for the BowlBus Park & Ride and shuttle programs, said Maurice Vanegas, Park & Ride manager. The remainder of the budget comes from the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn. and Proposition A funds, derived from a sales-tax boost for the benefit of public transportation.

7:06 p.m.: Wine, strawberries, Diet Coke and “lite” microwave popcorn are on the menu for Rozanne Feldman, her daughter Deborah and their friend from Oakland, Carol Pollack. “She thinks she’s going to the movies,” Deborah Feldman, a Boston University journalism student, quips about her mother’s choice of snacks. In another breath, she editorializes on Los Angeles’ “crummy” bus system, adding that she thinks the wait for the BowlBus is too long. Most nights, buses are scheduled to leave from Sherman Oaks at 6:30 and 7:30.

Like most people interviewed at the Valley’s two BowlBus Park & Ride lots, Deborah Feldman says she rarely rides RTD buses. Trina Trongone, 25, who grew up in Northridge, admitted that she had never ridden an RTD bus before she boarded the BowlBus recently in Canoga Park.

7:23 p.m.: The third bus of the night pulls up to the Sherman Oaks stop while people seemingly appear from nowhere to get in line. “Welcome to the Hollywood Bowl, Line 651” flashes on the bus marquee as coins clink into the box next to the bus driver.

Two women add their money to the collection, but then get off the bus, realizing that they don’t have enough for the return fare. In a gesture that seems to sum up the generally convivial atmosphere, other riders who haven’t yet paid agree to reimburse the women’s money; the women decide to drive to one of the three shuttle lots near the Bowl, where the price of the shuttle is $1 per person each way.

7:32 p.m.: Joel Ballin and Nadia Galloon board the final bus traveling from Sherman Oaks to the Bowl. It’s his first time riding the bus to the Bowl. She has driven before, but will never do it again. Despite the convenience of riding on a clean, air-conditioned bus, Galloon says there is one part of the journey that she could do without: the pedestrian tunnel that all bus riders must take to return to their buses after the show.

“It’s a total claustrophobic nightmare,” the Sherman Oaks systems analyst says about the passageway under Highland Avenue. “Nobody walks. They just stand stationary. I didn’t think I was going to get out.”

7:52 p.m.: Bus driver Mohan Singh stops the coach at Highland and Hollywood Bowl Road. A young man boards the bus to tell passengers how to return to the bus after the concert. His mention of the pedestrian tunnel elicits a smile from Galloon.

8 p.m.: Thirty minutes before the scheduled show time, people are camped out on the asphalt inside the Hollywood Bowl, dining mainly on gourmet food.

In the box seats nearest the stage, couples sit face to face at wooden tables covered with fresh flowers, plastic champagne flutes, tiny bottles of Dijon mustard, and the like. They clean and stow away the fold-up tables; utensils are returned to picnic baskets and ice chests before the first note of music is heard at 8:45. But they continue to sip refreshments throughout the program and during a brief intermission.

10:37 p.m.: The concert has concluded and the cattle drive begins. Shoulder to shoulder, 12,015 people make their way out of the Bowl, 2 inches at a time. Some go to their cars, which are parked in tandem in the official parking lots for $8. Occasionally, leaving the lot can take some time if the owner of the car parked next to yours dawdles on the way back to the lot. Others dodge traffic to get to their cars parked on nearby streets. Bus riders are greeted by a man playing blues on a saxophone at the entrance of the narrow, short pedestrian tunnel.

11 p.m.: The last of the Sherman Oaks-bound passengers board a bus marked Line 651. Lawyer Stanley Lifton sits near the front, reveling in his memories of the music program and commenting on the intense eye contact among the members of the chamber orchestra during the performance. He and his wife, Evelyn, are season ticket holders and make their pilgrimage via BowlBus every Saturday night during the season.

“No way, Jose. I won’t go any other way,” says Lifton, who began riding the bus four years ago. North Hollywood resident Betty Konstantin, sitting nearby, agrees.

“It’s a dream. Coming out of parking lots is horrendous,” says the social worker who rides the BowlBus about 10 times a year. Her friends, who drove to the Bowl that night, are considering parking next time at the BowlBus shuttle lot at Barham Boulevard and Forest Lawn Drive near Universal City, one of three shuttle lots. An average of 80,000 people use this shuttle service each summer.

11:23 p.m.: The bus exits the Ventura Freeway at Van Nuys Boulevard and continues to the Sunkist building. People depart the packed bus and head for their cars. Tonight, the process will start again--with buses ferrying Valley music lovers to a Rodgers and Hammerstein concert at the Bowl.

CATCHING A RIDE

BowlBus Park & Ride locations:

Canoga Park (Line 653): Rocketdyne Division, Rockwell International Corp. parking lot, 8900 De Soto Ave. Departures at 6:05, 6:10, 6:30, 6:45, 7 and 7:30 p.m. (30-minute ride).

Sherman Oaks (Line 651): Sunkist Building parking lot, 14130 Riverside Drive. Departures at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. (20-minute ride).

Round-trip cost: $4 (advance tickets available from Hollywood Bowl box office or Ticketmaster outlets).

BowlBus Shuttle locations:

10801 Ventura Blvd. (Line 668): Near Lankershim Boulevard. Departures every 10 minutes, beginning at 6 p.m., with last bus at 8:30 p.m.

Lockheed Corp. Lot No. 19 (Line 669): At Hollywood Way and Valhalla Drive. Departures every 20 minutes beginning at 6 p.m., last bus at 8:30 p.m.

Barham parking lot (Line 670): 3700 Barham Blvd. Departures every 15 minutes beginning at 6 p.m., with last bus at 8:30 p.m.

Round-trip cost: $2 (available on concert evenings only).

Some shows have special departure times. Information: (213) 850-2000.