2 New Shuttle Routes Go Into Service Monday

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation will inaugurate two shuttle bus services Monday to the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza and the Midtown Shopping Center, along routes that include stops at neighborhood post offices, senior-citizen centers and city parks.

John Gobis, a transportation department spokesman, said the new DASH bus service will make public transportation more convenient in the Crenshaw and Midtown communities, particularly for those who have no other options.

“There is a neighborhood or folksy flavor to this kind of bus service,” he said. “It’s intended to serve community needs for trips to the market, senior-citizen centers and other community-based programs.”

The Midtown route will begin near the Rimpau bus station at Pico and San Vicente boulevards and will wind its way south to the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, where it will meet the Crenshaw route. The circular Crenshaw route will go through the Baldwin Village and Leimert Park communities. Each route takes about 30 minutes to complete.

The service, which will cost 25 cents, will operate Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“It’s going to be very good for senior citizens,” said Leroy Reid, 78, a Crenshaw area resident. “RTD doesn’t go to the same places these buses go. Half the time you can’t ride the bus because the kids take it over. This will help us to go to the mall, the grocery store, drug store and the doctors’ offices.”

City Council members Nate Holden and Ruth Galanter, whose districts encompass the bus routes, said they hope that the new bus services will generate customers for area shopping centers and make transportation more affordable and accessible to senior citizens.

“It will generate more business but it will also help people to feel safer,” Holden said. “Rather than having to walk long distances in some areas where seniors are easy prey, they’ll be able to take the bus.”

In addition, Galanter said, the service will reduce traffic congestion. “When you have a successful shopping center, you have a lot of traffic,” said Galanter, whose district includes the plaza. “We want people to be able to get to the shopping center without having to take a car or taxi.”

Although the shuttle service is new to the Crenshaw and Midtown areas, similar services have been operating for years in other communities with varying degrees of success. DASH shuttles operate in downtown Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, Watts, Westwood Village, Hollywood, Fairfax and Van Nuys.

Michael Uyeno, supervising transportation planner, said the downtown Los Angeles shuttle is the most successful, averaging about 30 passengers an hour. On the other hand, he said, the Pacific Palisades bus run carries about a dozen passengers an hour, and Westwood Village weekend shuttle averages only five an hour.

Uyeno said the service is community-oriented, unlike the larger Rapid Transit District system, which has buses on longer routes crossing community boundaries. “We try to complement their service,” he added.

The city approved a $2.4-million contract with a private bus company to operate 12 shuttle buses in the Midtown, Crenshaw and Fairfax areas. The buses will be powered by natural gas, a cleaner alternative to gasoline, Uyeno said.

New DASH Routes

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation will kick off 25-cent shuttle bus service Monday in the Crenshaw and Midtown areas. The route, which includes stops at post offices, senior-citizen centers, parks and shopping centers, is expected to make the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza and the Midtown Shopping Center more accessible.