VALLEYWIDE : New Commuter Bus Routes to Begin

Two new commuter bus routes from the San Fernando Valley to downtown and west Los Angeles began operating Monday as part of an effort by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation to get more motorists to use mass transit.

City transportation officials said they also plan to add a third route next week to take commuters from Chatsworth to Los Angeles International Airport and El Segundo.

The routes are designed to give Valley residents a faster alternative to the bus service provided by the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

“We are trying to look at areas that aren’t served by express-type service,” said Jim Lefton, a city transportation planner. “The demand across the Valley on the Ventura Freeway is pretty obvious.”

Route 409 from Sylmar to downtown will operate every 20 minutes, Monday through Friday from 6 to 9 a.m. southbound and 3 to 6 p.m. northbound. It will begin at Roxford Street and Foothill Boulevard and travel along Foothill Boulevard, stopping at the Sylmar Park-and-Ride lot at Foothill Boulevard and Paxton Street. It will continue to a stop downtown and then wind up at the USC campus.

One-way fare is $2.30, and monthly passes are $78. The entire trip is expected to take about one hour, Lefton said.

Route 573 starts at the Chatsworth Park-and-Ride lot at Chatsworth Street and Gaynor Avenue and stops at the Encino Park-and-Ride on Hayvenhurst Avenue and Magnolia Boulevard before continuing to Westwood and Century City. One-way fare is $1.50. Monthly passes are $54.

That bus will also run every 20 minutes Monday through Friday from 6 to 9 a.m. southbound and 3 to 6 p.m. northbound. Between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., it will operate in both directions every 45 minutes.

The buses were bought with a federal grant and contributions from the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the city of Los Angeles, Lefton said. The operating cost will come from money raised by Proposition A, a half-cent sales surcharge adopted by voters in 1980 for mass transit projects.