VENTURA : Bus Routes Pick Up Supporters, Critics

Changes in two Ventura bus routes have some passengers happy, some unhappy and a few residents fuming over bus traffic through their neighborhood.

The changes went into effect Aug. 18 and include a new route from the Buenaventura Plaza to the Ventura Harbor and back via residential streets. The bus runs hourly, sometimes with scant ridership.

The other change involves taking service off Thompson Boulevard in Ventura. The bus that runs from the Buenaventura Plaza to Ojai previously traveled on Thompson, but now it goes along Main Street, several blocks away.

About two dozen people have complained to South Coast Area Transit about the changes, said Maureen Lopez, director of planning and marketing for the bus company. SCAT’s board of directors will discuss the routes during a meeting at 10 a.m. on Oct. 9 at its 301 E. Third St. headquarters.

Lopez said the new route to the harbor was added in response to a demand for bus service and a city consultant’s recommendation. But some residents along Preble Avenue, Borchard Drive and Ocean Avenue are irked.

“They feel their streets were not developed to carry vehicles like buses,” Lopez said. “The traffic already is more than they want to bear.”

But others are thrilled that the squat, 20-passenger bus makes the trip.

On Tuesday, Elizabeth Koflanovich, 68, was one of only four passengers who rode the midday bus from the mall to the harbor.

“My heart would break if they take this bus off,” said Koflanovich, who rides it twice a week to attend art classes.

On the return trip there were six riders, including two teen-agers headed for the mall.

“Ridership is definitely lower,” Lopez said. “We expected it to be.” The new route, No. 12, hasn’t been promoted because of the complaints, she said.

The other change, on route No. 6C, has drawn complaints from people who find it difficult to catch the bus on Main Street rather than Thompson Boulevard.

“A lot of elderly and handicapped riders find the extra walk to Main Street difficult,” Lopez said. The switch was made to save money and allow people traveling from Oxnard to Ojai to make the trip on one bus.

But now the bus service on Main Street is crowded. “They have a lot of standing loads,” she said.