VENTURA : Bus Rerouted After Residents’ Protests

The South Coast Area Transit bus route through the Ventura Keys will be cut back by about 80% in response to residents’ complaints about noise, vibrations and excessive traffic, a SCAT official said.

The SCAT board of directors voted Wednesday to change the route in July, veering the bus away from the upscale area, said Maureen Lopez, director of planning and marketing for SCAT.

The route will continue to go from the Buenaventura Mall to the Ventura Harbor and back.

Lopez said Keys residents had complained that the 13- to 17-ton buses were noisy and that they sent out vibrations that worsened cracks in their homes.

Residents had asked that SCAT move the route east of the Ventura Keys.

“They said they didn’t want it there at all,” she quoted residents as saying. The bus runs 12 hours a day.

Under the new route, the bus will travel along Harbor Boulevard, onto Beachmont, down Anchors Way to Spinnaker Drive and to the harbor, Lopez said.

The bus will pass houses on Beachmont only once an hour instead of twice.

The SCAT board’s decision reflects the recommendation of the city of Ventura’s ad hoc transportation committee, composed of three City Council members, she said.

The route had been discontinued in 1981, but based on continued requests for service, SCAT restarted the route in August, 1991, Lopez said.